College and Industry Commitments Sought for FAMTEC

by Eric Lanke
NFPA CEO

The funding application for FAMTEC is moving forward. If successful, funding through the Advanced Technological Education (ATE) program of the National Science Foundation (NSF) will be awarded and launch a nationwide network of technical and community colleges that provide education and produce qualified candidates for the technical workforce needs of the fluid power industry. Twice before we have alerted you to our on-going work in this area and, as a result, 19 community colleges and 24 industry members have so far expressed interest in supporting this activity. Thank you!

We are now entering a new phase in our planning process. Binding commitments from interested community college and industry partners will be necessary so we can determine the most viable communities for the initial FAMTEC locations and engage the most committed stakeholders in our final planning and grant submission process. To help you understand the obligations you will be asked to take on, we have provided links to several key documents:

• FAMTEC Project Summary
• FAMTEC MOA and Academic Commitment Template
• FAMTEC MOA and Industry Commitment Template

Please review these documents carefully. If you wish to be considered for this level of involvement, return the appropriate and completed commitment template no later than April 22, 2016 to Alyssa Burger at alyssa@umn.edu. Questions can also be directed to Alyssa at that email or by phone at (612) 624-4991.

This is a major new initiative for NFPA but, if successful, it has the potential to profoundly improve the quality of the fluid power technical workforce in the United States. Thank you, one and all, for your consideration.