Enhancement of Materials Technology for Manufacturing

NSF-Sponsored Advanced Technology  Education (ATE) Program NSF Grant DUE ATE 0070835

Edmonds Community College (EdCC) in Lynnwood, WA, was awarded a three-year  grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF), which will help shape the teaching of materials technology in manufacturing for high school and community college students.  The project was lead by Dr. John M. Rusin, college engineering instructor, along with project co-director Dr. Thomas G. Stoebe, Professor, Materials Science and Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle.

The three-year grant established a permanent materials technology laboratory and a resource center at EdCC, gathering the latest in materials science training and curriculum information from around the country.  Teaching training was conducted through special workshops/institutes, web pages created for project materials, and selected training modules distributed as multimedia CD's.

In addition to a permanent facility at Edmonds, EMTECH utilized partner sites at high schools, community colleges, universities, professional organizations, and industry located throughout the nation as required for training and special workshops.

During the grant period from August 1, 2000 through July 31, 2003, 16 workshops and 13 summer institutes were held by the EMTECH program to train high school teachers in how to use Materials Science and Technology (MST) in their classes.   The workshops were held in 7 different states (CA, MO, NM, NY, OH, VA, WA) with 284 teacher participants attending resulting in 358 participant-days.   The summer institutes were held in 7 different states (FL, MI, MO, NM, OH, VA, WA) with 314 teacher participants attending resulting in 1761 participant-days.  For combined workshops and institutes, there were 598 teacher participants resulting in 2119 teacher-participant days. 

In addition to workshops and institutes, 21 papers were presented that were attended by 1170 teachers, professors, and administrators.  These papers were held at conferences of eight national organizations: American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE), American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES), ASM International, Education – Now and the Future, Federation of Materials Societies (FMS), National Science Teachers Association (NSTA), National Tech Prep Network (NTPN), and Washington Science Teachers Association (WSTA).

The EMTECH grant ended on July 31, 2003