The MATE Center: Providing Leadership to Improve Our Nation's Marine Technical Workforce
Authors: Sullivan Deidre , Zande Jill , Hall Jim , Lunsford Tami 
Published: October 2008

The Marine Advanced Technology Education (MATE) Center, headquartered at Monterey Peninsula College in Monterey, California, is funded by the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Advanced Technological Education (ATE) and has been in existence since 1997. The MATE Center is a national network of community colleges, high schools, universities, research institutions, marine industries, professional societies, and working professionals. The mission of the MATE Center is to improve marine technical education and in this way help to prepare the nation's future workforce for ocean-related occupations.

Introduction

The MATE Center strives to be the nation's leading organization for supporting, enhancing, and expanding marine technology education at community colleges, high schools, and universities. The ocean economy is large and diverse, accounting for twenty percent of our national economy and supporting one in six jobs in this country (1). Marine technology is vital to national security, transportation and commerce, energy and exploration activities, telecommunications, recreation and tourism, fisheries and aquaculture, search and recovery, environmental assessment and regulation, and research. Although these economic sectors are diverse, the technology behind them has many similarities. These include: the collection and use of data from remotely operated vehicles and acoustic instruments; the use of advanced computing systems, such as GIS, for organizing and managing data; and the use of electronics and microelectronics for power, controls, and miniaturization in a remote, harsh environment. The need for highly qualified technical professionals who can design, build, operate, and maintain this technology has never been greater. A concerted effort is required to ensure that our workforce is prepared for an economy currently and increasingly dependent on ocean activities and the technologies that make these activities feasible.

Core Activities of the MATE Center

The MATE Center is supporting, enhancing, and expanding marine technology education at community colleges, high schools, and universities in a variety of ways. The accompanying six articles that follow, explain in detail the core activities of the MATE Center. The core activities of the MATE Center include:Identiying and defining marine technical occupations and the knowledge, skills, and personal attributes that men and women need in order to perform well in them. This process is described in the following article "MATE Center: A Strategy for Improving the Marine Technical Workforce"Supporting institutions interested in developing or improving marine technology programs by facilitating national and regional partnerships among high schools, community colleges, universities, industry, government organizations, and professional societies. See "MATE Center: Partnering with Educators and Educational Institutions"Developing marine technology curricula. The MATE Center has developed a variety of currilcum products including a detail resource book that will be released later this year "Introduction to Underwater Vehicle Design". See "MATE Center ROV Competitions for Students: Partnering with Industry and Professional Societies to Help Meet Work Force Needs" for details.Providing faculty development for high school, college, and university educators focused on marine technology (including submersible technology, ocean data collection and analysis, marine career awareness, and the marine applications of GIS). Please see "MATE Center: Summer Institutes Providing Faculty with the Skills and Experiences to improve their Curriculum."