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Last month, the NSF ATE-funded Centers Collaborative for Technical Assistance (CCTA) presented a webinar named “Developing Stakeholder Partnerships Internally and Externally for Successful Grants.” I participated with two other Center directors for both the webinar and a follow-up online question and answer session with participants who wanted to dig in deeper. Some important summary points surfaced as an end result of this Q&A experience: (a) when starting to consider working together for common goals, it’s important to stop and consider why partnerships and collaboration are desirable, needed and important. Remember that good partnerships can grow into working collaborations; (b) when approaching new, potential partners you may want to develop a script AND possibly send a hand-addressed letter (not email). In all situations, however, before engaging in any way, it's critical to be fully prepared. Here are some “to do’s”: (1) have a clear and concise “ask” – (know what you wan...

Robotics Open House  To celebrate National Robotics Week (April 8-16) FLATE is hosting a robotics open house at Hillsborough Community College in Brandon. The open house will be on Thursday, April 13 from 3-6 p.m., and will feature a number of activities and stations geared to spark local students’ interest in robotics and STEM education and related career pathways. Featured activities include: programming a robotic arm and EV3 robots, learning to operate a 3D printer, watching a demo of an electric car, meeting local robotics teams-including a demo of a 6ft humanoid robot, learning about the engineering technology program at HCC and other Florida colleges, meeting local manufacturers- including members from FIRST VISTA, and getting up-close and personal with Jane, FLATE’s humanoid robot. Plus, enter a raffle drawing for a chance to win a FREE week of the FLATE robotics summer camps! To RSVP for this FREE event visit our Eventbrite page , or contact Janice Mukhia, FLATE’s Project ...

FLATE offers several outreach initiatives that are designed to spark students’ interest in STEM and manufacturing. One of FLATE’s ongoing efforts to reach out to local students is through Engineering Technology (ET) Experience Tours. These tours place an emphasis on hands-on problem based learning, and strive to capture students’ interest in STEM and robotics, give them a realistic view of the skills needed in high-tech manufacturing jobs, and motivate them to pursue high-tech and high-paying careers. This spring, FLATE will be hosting ET Experience Tours at Hillsborough Community College (HCC) Brandon Campus. Most recently, students from Burns Middle School participated in an ET Experience Tour on March 28. The 8th grade class that visited was part of an Aerospace Technology program. This program gives the students high school credits while they are still in middle school. This was the first time Burns Middle School has participated in an ET Experience Tour. The tour began with stude...

FLATE and the Florida Association for Career and Technical Education (FACTE) are working together to coordinate the 2017 FLATE Awards and recognition program. The FLATE Awards are geared to recognize secondary and post-secondary educators, and industry professionals for their outstanding contributions to promote and support technology education and career awareness in manufacturing. Awardees are recognized under three separate categories and include individuals in many manufacturing areas including economic development, industry, education and administration. FLATE award winners are selected from nominations submitted from across the state. Nominees are judged by an Awards Committee made up of industry representatives from FLATE’s Industrial Advisory Committee and FACTE. The Awards Committee reserves the right to select award recipients that do not meet FACTE’s membership requirements. 2017 Awards: FLATE Distinguished Manufacturing Secondary Educator-of-the-Year Award FLATE Distinguish...

  So far this spring, FLATE has been involved in several STEM outreach events in our local Tampa Bay community. While all these events were different, they all had a similar goal: to encourage participation in STEM fields.  March 8: USF Women in Entrepreneurship Breakfast Hosted by USF CONNECT, the Women in Entrepreneurship Breakfast is Tampa Bay’s premier forum developed to inspire and empower women to reach their entrepreneurial goals. Around 170 individuals attended the event, which took place on International Women’s Day and offered great networking opportunities for FLATE. The FLATE team met a great group of females from around Tampa Bay and several other Florida communities, and distributed information regarding women in manufacturing. The event provided inspiration from a panel of female professionals as they shared their experiences, trials and errors, and offered insight into the world of business. The panelists included three very successful University of South Flori...

Analysis: Data from a test evaluation of a miniature implanted pump, pump DP-3ml, for insulin delivery was obtained by a biomedical technician. In its normal implanted operation mode, power consumption (energy use) is an important characteristic of the pump. For this particular pump design, the pump is expected to use a total of 0.70 Joules of energy upon completion of the 3.5 second test. The technician knows that the energy used is the product of the power (joules per second) and the time (seconds) the pump is operating. Thus, the technician can examine the data collected and determine if the pump meets the test design criteria. The question: Does p ump DP-3ml meet test criteria? YES or NO?       Submit your answers below this blog post, or at www.fl-ate.org.  Answers will be revealed in the May edition of the FLATE Focus.