Thu, 24 May 2007
Short introduction: Today we’re here with Kim Grady. Kim is the
Founding Director and PI for the NetWorks, an NSF online digital resource center. MATEC NETWORKS is one of 3 ATE manufacturing and engineering technology centers that offer a collection of resources online. NETEC, MERC Online, are the other centers. MATEC NETWORKS is part of MATEC and located in Tempe, Arizona. Gordon: Kim, what exactly is a digital library? Well, our digital library is a convenient and easy way to locate valuable resources for teaching and learning. It's also a way to share self-created and favorite classroom ready resources. Mike: Why another digital library, what is the need and mission and vision? Believe me, being an advocate of not reinventing the wheel, I asked myself that question many times. What I have come to realize is that NetWorks and the other online resource centers that are part of the NSF ATE program are working together to "Beat Google." We are aggregators of resources in our technology areas. Not only that we have criteria for the resources that make it into our collections. How many times have you been disappointed in search results on the WWW? Either there is just too many to sift through or they are not the quality or type that you need. With NetWorks you get the resources you need for instruction. That's why we think we can be a time-saving tool. Gordon: What types of material do you collect? Well, we focus on material in the Semiconductors, Automated Manufacturing, and Electronics technology area so you will see resources that relate to the science of semiconductor processing, instrumentation and controllers used in automation environments, and tons of electronics and electricity resources. You heard me use the term, classroom ready earlier. Classroom ready means it is easily implementable into a class or training room. You won't find a lot of research papers for example on our site. We search for and create material that can be used in an engaging presentation, a lab write up, or a student activity. We also believe that material that help faculty learn fits our definition of classroom ready so you will also see things like reports on emerging technology and tutorials on hot topics such as rapid prototyping. Mike: How do you build your collection, what programs do you have in place and what results have you seen so far? Our NetWork and relationships, NetWorks staff of industry and marketing professionals seek out resources using tools of their trade. Our National Externship Program allows faculty to gain knowledge and skills in emerging technology areas that can be brought back in to the classroom and disseminated through NetWorks. To learn more about the National Externship Program, log on to matecnetworks.org
Direct download: Kim_Grady_Interview_Final_mixdown_2.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 12:25pm EDT |
Thu, 24 May 2007
Introduction: Mike Lesiecki is the Founding Director and PI for the
MATEC ( http://matec.org ), an NSF national center. With its partners in education and industry, MATEC develops programs, materials, and training that enables students, faculty, and technicians to continuously master the evolving competencies in science, mathematics, technology, and communications required by the workforce of the semiconductor, automated manufacturing, and electronics industries. MATEC is located in Tempe, Arizona. Mike Q: Mike, what is the history of MATEC and how has it evolved over the course of its funding? MATEC was established in 1996 as the 7th ATE center (today there are 33.) The center is a member of the division of academic affairs at the college. Initially founded in close collaboration with the semiconductor manufacturing industry the center made a strategic decision to expand to electronics and highly automated manufacturing to better serve its users. Today MATEC is an umbrella organization with distinct strategies to develop relevant materials, provide faculty professional development and to encourage awareness for high tech fields The center houses the MATEC national resource center called MATEC Networks as well as projects in highly automated manufacturing and electronics funded by the NSF. Industry sponsors a unique career awareness program called high tech U that is produced by the center. The SAME-TEC national conference will be held for the 11th year this summer in Dallas. As you can see the center has evolved fro m a single focus to a multiple project, multiple funding source model all designed to support technical education at the community college level First 10 years to develop material, next 4 years after that to disseminate material, what has he done to make sure MATEC was successful in both of those endeavors. First and foremost was the use of industry subject matter experts coupled with our own instructional design and media people this insures relevancy. Just building the materials and electronic delivery system does not mean people will come. o We sponsored workshops and conferences for professional development and we stressed incorporation of our materials into existing programs o Our delivery system was web based from the beginning and adaptable Networks, our resource center, now is designed for access to these resources as well as national resources to help faculty find what they need in a one stop fashion. We seek strategic linkages with industry through SEMI, SIA, TPIC and partners such as Intel and TI Gordon: What are the products and services that make up the MATEC Organization now? We have adopted a modular approach and our core materials comprise 50 semiconductor, 24 electronic and 7 highly automated manufacturing modules. Skill standards - Our NRC features these resources and others in a customized experience for faculty that includes unique opportunities for faculty externships. Industry accesses our materials through a partnership with Semizone - 10th and 11th graders experience high tech u - Contracted expertise in curriculum development (SCME) - Same-tec conference MATEC's funding sources are wide, from NSF grants to industry projects. Mike Q: How do all of those fit together to achieve MATEC's vision: to be the worldwide leader in education and industry collaboration, supporting the ongoing development of a highly skilled workforce? I think the real key is the diversity of funding sources. We do not depend on any single source. For example the Maricopa colleges fund about 28% of our operations, grants about 50% and sales of products and materials plus revenue from conferences and industry specific projects provides the other 25%. That's the money side. To support the ongoing development of the workforce it is all about partnerships. Let me give you examples o Albany NY o HTWI o WRE o HTU Also for partnership development our Resource center, MATEC Networks under Kim Grady, has led the formation of a network of ATE resource centers to help leverage their work and joint efforts. In the end what does it mean to be a leader in this area? It means to convene a partnership or to take on an initiative that no one school or educational institution could do alone. And do this for the benefit of all. Gordon: What is the rationale of Maricopa Community College District, a local community college, for supporting a national center in a local environment? We are very fortunate here, MATEC enjoys one of the highest level of financial support given to a center by a host college. This is due in part to the vision of the founding Chancellor and vice Chancellor, now both retired, who felt a college could and should reach outside its service boundaries and offer leadership on a national level. Today we have a new administration and finances are tighter yet the commitment to MATEC as an exemplary model is still very strong. There are political questions that surround the roles and mission and mission creep of a community college also. This challenges us in turn to always look for ways to return value to our college. In the end the administration sees it as the right thing to do. For that we are very thankful. Mike Q: What's on the horizon? Our national advisory board has nudged (well pushed) us towards the topic of community college pathways to engineering degrees. This idea is getting a lot of play and we hope to garner some significant foundation support launch a national five year project. Stay tuned! |