ATE Regional Center for Nanofabrication Manufacturing Education

ATE 纳米制造制造教育区域中心

• 批准号: 0532646
• 负责人: Stephen Fonash
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Pennsylvania State Univ University Park
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2005
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2005-09-01 至 2010-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0532646&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: ATE; Regional; Center; Nanofabrication; Manufacturing

The Regional Center has resulted in associate degree programs in nanofabrication at 20 institutions across Pennsylvania including every Pennsylvania community college. To provide opportunities for associate degree graduates, the Center has supported baccalaureate-level nanotechnology programs at eight Pennsylvania public universities including Penn State, with articulated 2+2 pathways. The Center also offers professional development programs for educators and industry personnel, and outreach programs for secondary school students. Key features of the Center are its broad approach to education in all nanotechnology application areas, and its emphasis on the hands-on laboratory experience provided at the Penn State site of the NSF sponsored National Nanofabrication Infrastructure Network (NNIN).Evaluation and oversight of Center programs and activities have taken place continuously during the four years of operation. External evaluators including the Western Michigan University and the Center's formal evaluator, Professor Melvin M. Mark, as well as Center staff, have assessed the Center. The NSF National Visiting Committee and a separate industrial advisory board also provide oversight and guidance for the Center. Activities for the renewal period are based on findings from these evaluations and oversight bodies. The activities are:Curriculum Improvement: Because of the Center's broad approach, nanotechnology is being incorporated into a widening range of degree programs at Center partner institutions, including biology, chemistry, physics, and industrial technology. The Center is continuously updating nanofabrication curricula to accommodate students from increasingly diverse fields.Development of New Learning Tools: As nanotechnology permeates more areas of education and industry and thereby generates more interest, the limits of the Center's "centralized facility" model are becoming apparent. To augment this model, the Center is developing, piloting, and refining hands-on nanotechnology learning activities and instructional materials that can be delivered in classrooms across the state, incorporating web-based remote equipment access.Outreach and Student Recruitment: Outreach to female and disadvantaged minority communities is ongoing. The Center website is continuously maintained and upgraded, and additional promotional videos are being produced and disseminated. The Center's outreach programs reach large numbers of female and minority secondary students. These students are encouraged toward a goal of increased matriculation into associate degree programs.Industry Outreach: The Center is expanding efforts to identify Pennsylvania companies using nanotechnology and promote Center students as potential workers for these companies. Further, the Center is undertaking a research effort to improve understanding of employment trends and emerging job opportunities in nanotechnology, and using this information to support outreach and student recruitment efforts.The intellectual merit of this renewal proposal lies in its potential to contribute to improved understanding in a number of education-related issue areas such as higher education collaboration, student participation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education, educator professional development, and others. The proposal will have broad impact because it further develops a proven program addressing the growing need for nanofabrication workers.

该区域中心已经在宾夕法尼亚州的20个机构开设了纳米制造的副学士学位课程，包括宾夕法尼亚州的每一所社区大学。为了给副学士学位的毕业生提供机会，该中心支持了包括宾夕法尼亚州立大学在内的八所宾夕法尼亚公立大学的学士级纳米技术课程，并提供了明确的2+2途径。该中心还为教育工作者和行业人员提供专业发展计划，并为中学生提供外展计划。该中心的主要特点是其在所有纳米技术应用领域的广泛教育方法，并强调在美国国家科学基金会资助的国家纳米制造基础设施网络（NNIN）的宾夕法尼亚州立大学站点提供的动手实验室经验。在四年的运作中，对中心项目和活动的评估和监督一直在不断进行。外部评估人员包括西密歇根大学和中心的正式评估人员Melvin M. Mark教授以及中心工作人员对中心进行了评估。美国国家科学基金会国家访问委员会和一个独立的工业咨询委员会也为该中心提供监督和指导。续期期间的活动以这些评价和监督机构的调查结果为基础。课程改进：由于中心的广泛方法，纳米技术正在被纳入中心合作机构越来越广泛的学位课程，包括生物、化学、物理和工业技术。该中心不断更新纳米制造课程，以适应来自日益多样化领域的学生。新学习工具的发展：随着纳米技术渗透到更多的教育和工业领域，从而产生了更多的兴趣，中心“集中设施”模式的局限性变得越来越明显。为了增强这一模式，该中心正在开发、试点和改进动手纳米技术学习活动和教学材料，这些活动和教学材料可以在全州的教室中提供，并结合基于网络的远程设备访问。外展和招收学生：正在向女性和弱势少数群体社区外展。中心网站不断得到维护和升级，并正在制作和散发更多的宣传录像。中心的外展项目覆盖了大量的女性和少数民族中学生。这些学生被鼓励朝着增加进入副学士学位课程的目标迈进。产业拓展：该中心正在扩大努力，以确定宾夕法尼亚州使用纳米技术的公司，并促进中心的学生成为这些公司的潜在工人。此外，该中心正在开展一项研究工作，以提高对纳米技术就业趋势和新兴就业机会的了解，并利用这些信息支持外展和学生招聘工作。这一更新提案的智力价值在于，它有可能有助于提高对许多教育相关问题领域的理解，如高等教育合作、学生参与科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）教育、教育工作者专业发展等。该提案将产生广泛的影响，因为它进一步发展了一个成熟的项目，以解决对纳米制造工人日益增长的需求。