Three faculty members from the University of New Mexico-Los Alamos, will be attending a National Science Foundation (NSF) conference in Washington DC, October 23-25.

Dr. Irina Alvestad, Dr. Kate Massengale and Professor Don Davis will be attending ATE@20: Sustaining Success and Advancing Innovation. ATE stands for Advanced Technological Education and is a special grant opportunity offered to two-year schools by the NSF.

Attendees represent two-year colleges, business and industry, secondary school systems, four-year colleges and research & development centers covering projects in a wide variety of areas such as: information technology, engineering technology, micro- and nanotechnologies, chemical technology, biotechnology, and others.

The American Association of Community Colleges is running the conference with support from the NSF. This conference is for Principal Investigators on grants and will bring approximately 850 people to focus on critical issues related to advanced technological education.

A Principal Investigator is the individual responsible for the success of a grant funded program, and complying with the financial and administrative policies and regulations outlined in the grant.

Dr. Massengale said, “We are going because we are Principal Investigators on NSF ATE grants, and we hope to network and capitalize on NSF-funded resources to improve our programs. Also, as we learn more about NSF ATE grant opportunities, we plan to write additional grants.”

Dr. Alvestad is currently working on a new five-year, $500,000 NSF grant proposal, Increasing the Impact of Engineering Education in the Early Undergraduate Years.

Dr. Alvestad noted, “UNM-LA received a National Science Foundation Advanced Technician Education grant, titled A Model for Improved Technological Education in Northern New Mexico, for its Applied Technologies program for $874,000 over three years.” She added, “UNM-LA also received a second NSF ATE grant for $337,000, Reinvigorating IT Education with Cyber Security.”

Due to cuts in state funding, UNM-LA continues to pursue alternative sources of funding, such as grants, to initiate, improve, and sustain programs. Funding for participation in the conference is part of the NSF grant award.

For more information about the UNM-LA Applied Technologies program funded by NSF ATE grants, visit http://www.appliedtechnologiesunmlosalamos.com/