The U.S. is now in the midst of a once-in-a-century transformation of its energy infrastructure. The clean and renewable transition began in the electric sector and is now rapidly enveloping the areas of building operations, space heating, and transportation. The energy industry has a large and rapidly growing need for a skilled technical workforce, and this presents a current and future challenge for the two-year college community.
The CREATE Energy NSF ATE National Center will be a champion to lead this transition, addressing the needs of energy faculty and programs nationwide while building the capacity for U.S. industry to compete in the dynamic and growing energy marketplace that underpins the global economy.
The bulk of existing American energy infrastructure was built more than fifty years ago, and these aging systems are becoming antiquated, obsolete, increasingly unreliable, and uneconomical to operate. As a result, the U.S. is now experiencing a once-in-a-century transformation of its energy infrastructure. The clean and renewable transition began in the electric sector and is now rapidly enveloping the areas of building operations, space heating, and transportation. The energy industry has a large and rapidly growing need for skilled technicians, and this presents a current and future challenge for the two-year technical college community.
The CREATE team represents a group of schools that have extensive experience leading NSF ATE grant projects, and the team includes experienced PIs who are leaders among the NSF ATE community. CREATE’s scope, breadth, and geographical reach has steadily grown over the past several years, and the organization is eager to embrace the role of an NSF ATE National Center.
The mission of the CREATE Energy Center is to produce a skilled technical workforce necessary to implement the transformation of the world’s energy industries. This mission will be realized by empowering two-year college faculty and academic programs to champion new energy technologies and to ensure American competitiveness in this fast-changing sector.
The mission of the CREATE Energy Center is to produce a skilled technical workforce necessary to implement the transformation of the nation’s energy industries. This mission will be realized by empowering two-year college faculty and academic programs to champion new energy technologies and to ensure American competitiveness in this fast-changing sector.
The CREATE Energy National Center will bolster connections between high schools, two-year colleges, and employers to build stronger career pathways for energy technicians. The center will be led by several female PIs and senior personnel serving as role models for women in STEM careers, and the center will launch a new initiative to broaden participation and improve gender equity in the energy sector.
Through the PIs’ various networks and mentoring connections, the center will engage several rural community colleges and minority serving institutions that are new to the NSF ATE Program. Most importantly, by facilitating the transformation of the American energy sector, the CREATE Energy National Center will advance American competitiveness, will deliver substantial economic benefits to American consumers, and will provide unprecedented improvements to the environmental health of the nation as the country transitions from legacy fossil fuels to clean and smart energy sources and technologies. This will ultimately benefit not only the United States, but the entire global community as a whole.
To learn more about CREATE, visit our About Us page.
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This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant #2201631. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National ScienceFoundation.
