Did You Know?

FLATE's administrative core is a partnership between St.Petersburg College, the College of Engineering at the University of South Florida and Hillsborough Community College. The Center is housed at Hillsborough Community College on its Brandon Campus under the leadership of Campus President, Dr. Carlos Soto. It occupies 1500 square feet of office space and shares the laboratory resources of the manufacturing/engineering technology program.

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FLATE Chronology

The Florida Advanced Technological Education Center (FLATE) began with ideas that grew from collaborations with industry and college partners over ten years ago. The table below highlights some milestones.
1995
January	USF College of Engineering develops total technician training program for Lucent Technologies
1997
June	Lucent, FL High Tech Council, USF College Engineering begin to develop Tech 4 Education Consortium
1999
June	NSF-ATE $1,000,000 award to Tech-4 Educational Consortium grant for “Tech-4 Electronic Workforce Development System” includes HCC and USF in Co-PI's
2001
January	FL-ATE begins its monthly meetings with its identified stakeholders
April	HCC, SPC and USF submit a pre-proposal for an NSF-ATE Regional Center
December	FL-ATE leadership meet with Florida Department of Education Vice Chancellor, Nancy Cordill, to alignment Career and Tech A.S. programs with industry needs
2002
April	NSF-ATE awards HCC $70,000 planning grant for Manufacturing Ed. Center
October	NSF-ATE awards USF College Engineering and HCC $500,000 High School Technology Initiative grant
November	HCC awarded $100,000 from the FL High Tech Corridor Council for highly automated training equipment and training
2003
February	FL-ATE website (www.fl-ate.org) launched
March	FL-ATE co-sponsors Bay Area Manufacturing Association first annual manufacturer’s conference
May	HCC hosts Academic-Industry Briefing and Workshop for Florida Community Colleges with programs in manufacturing and related technologies
October	SPC hosts FL-ATE reception to reinforce the benefits of the center for Tampa Bay manufacturers
2004
July	NSF-ATE awards $2,700,000 for statewide Manufacturing Ed. Center (FLATE)
August	FLATE’s, Principal Investigator and Executive Director, Dr. Marilyn Barger, named Motorola Educator of the Year
2005
June	FL-ATE submit proposal to Workforce Florida for creation of the Banner Center for Manufacturing at HCC Brandon Campus
December	FL-ATE primers “Made in Florida” video at Manufacturing Association of Florida Annual Summit

2006
June	Workforce Florida Inc. awards Banner Center for Manufacturing to FLATE at HCC- Brandon.
August	FL-ATE reviews its draft Curriculum Frameworks developed for A.S. Engineering Technology Degree with MSSC Certification pathway together with the FLDOE leadership
2007
March	Florida Department Education approves FLATE designed A.S. Engineering Technology Degree Frameworks with its MSSC Certificate for college credit
August	3 State Colleges implement A.S. Engineering Technology Degree programs
December	Florida Department Ed. approves MSSC Industry Certification as the first Statewide Articulation Agreement for College credit using Industry Certification (MSSC)
2008
June	NSF-ATE awards additional $2,700,000 to continue and expand FLATE operations
July	FLATE develops and offers its first independent student summer robotics camp
August	NSF-ATE awards $118,000 to coordinate joint ATE Centers dissemination activities
2009
January	FLATE hosts first Manufacturing Stakeholders Summit
July	FLATE (Dr. Barger, PI & Executive Director) invited to be a member of the National Association of Manufacturers Education Council
2010
January	FLATE publishes Release 2 of “Made in Florida” video
February	FLATE invited to testify with FESC to the Private College and Public University Policy Committee of the Florida House of Representatives
May	Tenth Florida State College System college adopts A.S. Engineering Technology Degree program
May	FLATE invited by NSF to submit a second renewal proposal.
July	FLATE’s summer robotics camp program adds 2 all girl and 3 remote site sessions
July	FLATE receives the HiTEC “Innovative Program” Award
August	NSF-ATE awards $176,000 to continue joint ATE Centers dissemination activities.
August	NSF-ATE awards $99,000 for pilot project with Tknika, a Spanish government technical training institute for faculty in San Sebastian, Spain
November	FLATE awarded Florida Association of Community Colleges (FACC) Occupational & Workforce Commission Exemplary Practice Award for its "Unified Statewide Approach to Meet the Needs of Florida’s Hi-Tech Industry”
November	SPC awarded the Florida Department of Education Chancellor’s Best Practice Award for its implementation of the FLATE Engineering Technology degree
November	FLATE develops a tool for program enrollment data validation for FLDOE
December	FLATE launches new “Made in Florida” website (www.madeinflorida.org)
2011
June	FLATE awarded STEMflorida 2011 Best Practice for Integrating Needs of STEM-Enabled Programs into Engaging Curriculum and Educational Outreach Resources
June	FLATE hosts its first Energy summer camps for students in partnership with FESC
June	FLATE recognized for proactively meeting a US Department of Labor call to action for granting college credit for short-term workforce training
June	FLATE hosts its first Engineering Technology Summer Institute
August	FLATE partners with Junior Achievement for high school summer robotics camp
September	FLATE Executive Director identified by NAM as an expert for peer-to-peer leadership model for integrating MSSC standards
September	FLATE creates first annual statewide college/energy workshop with FESC
October	FLATE named finalist for 8th Annual TBTF Industry Achievement Awards
October	FLATE awarded 2 Best Practices Awards from NCPN for curriculum content
October	FLATE submits renewal proposal for continued NSF-ATE support
November	FLATE presents its 5th annual awards at 8th annual Florida Manufacturing Summit
December	FLATE validates ET Core course alignment to MSSC standards using student testing and defining common student outcomes
2012
Feb	FLATE receives Communicator Award for "Made in Florida" video
Mar	Epsilon Pi Tau inducts Dr. Marilyn Barger for excellence in Technological Education
Apr	SCF opens its new ET labs in Venice Florida
May	IHMC partners with FLATE to offer summer robotics camps in Ocala
May	8 ET students from 4 different colleges complete 3 week training in FLATE's Iberian Partnership for Technician Excellence program in the Basque Country, Spain.
Jul	Brad Jenkins recognized as HiTEC Educator of the Year
Jul	FLATE completes $240,000 equipment upgrades to A.S. E.T. college laboratories
Aug	NSF funds 2 FL ATE projects ($1.1M) to expand ET degree efforts in Florida
Aug	SPC opens it $1.1M Collaborative Center for Emerging Technologies (CCET) in support of ETt
Sept	BCC expands ET degree to Cocoa campus
Sept	FLATE recognized for its supporting workforce curriculum role in HCC's recognition for its overall sustainability commitment with the first Green Genome Award from AACC SEED
Sept	NSF awards HCC unprecedented 3rd round of full center funding for FLATE
Sept	DOL recognizes FLATE's foundational role for the $15M Florida TRADE Manufacturing grant
Nov	FL Career Pathways Network honors FLATE with 2 leadership Best Practices; “For Providing pathways to manufacturing careers”; “For seeding partnerships with “Made in Florida” Industry Tours”
Dec	14th Florida College adopts the A.S.ET Degree

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