The special focus is on innovative science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, and on the educational programs that are developing technicians for the high performance workplace of advanced technologies in these areas. NSF says that ATE projects and centers will result in major improvements in advanced technological education, serve as models for other institutions, assure that students acquire strong backgrounds in mathematics and science, and yield nationally usable educational products. Below is a brief summary of an ATE-supported project that relates especially to chemistry. Two other projects will be described next month. The 2-year colleges involved have educational programs that have as a goal the preparation of graduates directly for jobs in the chemical process industry.

PACT Industrial/Academic Collaboration

The Partnership for the Advancement of Chemical Technology (PACT) is supported by ATE at Miami University Middletown in Middletown, Ohio. PACT is an industrial/academic collaborative committed to creating a well-educated, chemistry-based work force. The PACT consortium includes two-year and four-year institutions, school districts, industry, government, professional societies, and the private sector; all of whom share the goal of bringing chemistry and chemical technology education into closer alignment with the skills, methods, problem solving, and content used in today's industrial and governmental laboratories. PACT has created a three-part approach to provide for increased integration of industrial-based experiences into the two-year college and high school curricula: faculty enhancement short courses; student enrichment and outreach; and curriculum and materials development.

The faculty enhancement short courses are developed in collaboration with industry and offer college and high school teachers of chemistry, science, and/or industrial technology a variety of opportunities to enhance their understanding of chemistry and chemical technology, particularly as used in industrial and governmental laboratories. Short-course formats range from one-day seminars to two-week residencies at host universities. Successful short courses include Chemical Technology Fellowship, Analytical Problem Solving, Topics in Biochemistry Technology, Industrial Organic Chemistry, Polymer Chemistry, and the Industrial Internship Program.

The student enrichment and outreach component has offered high school and two-year college students practical experiences beyond the classroom through the PACT Ambassadors program. Practicing or retired chemists, chemical technicians, and engineers work with high school and two-year college faculty to engage students in multi-phase workshops, seminars, and concept-based demonstrations and activities. The curriculum and materials development component has highlighted the collaboration between college and high school faculty and industrial partners. These efforts will lead to the dissemination of a series of activity-based monographs, including detailed instructions for discovery-based investigations that challenge students to apply principles of chemical technology, chemical analysis, and good laboratory practices in solving problems that confront practicing technicians in the workplace.

PACT has also hosted two forums for discussion of the chemical technology curriculum and laboratory experiences. Over 25 two-year college chemical technology faculty members have participated.