Professional Development Opportunities
The CAAT supports and funds academic, general public, and industry outreach education and professional development. This page will list the CAAT’s recent and upcoming professional development efforts for educators. These may include conferences, instructor training, workshops, and more. If you are interested in professional development for industry, please visit our
Professional Development Opportunities page for industry.
NACAT 2017 Conference
Drive-in' the Motor City
July 17-20, 2017
The CAAT and Macomb Community College hosted the 2017 North American Council of Automotive Teachers (NACAT) Conference at our South Campus in Warren, MI.
The conference offered quality training sessions and workshops, a trade show, and opportunities to meet some of the best trainers and educators in the automotive industry.
Conference Information
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2017 Summer Professional Development Course
Advanced Automotive Technology
July 10 & 11, 2017
9:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m.
Advanced Technology Education Center (ATEC)
Wayne State University
14601 E Twelve Mile Road
Warren, MI 48088
This workshop was designed to provide fundamental concepts of the emerging technology in advanced automotive technology to:
- Community college instructors
- 4-year college/university engineering and technology faculty
- High school science and technology teachers
- Automotive industry professionals
Those attending this workshop will
- Explore state-of-the-art advanced automotive technology including fuel-cell systems for vehicles, cooperative connected vehicles, and lightweight materials for automotive applications.
- Discuss the emerging automotive technologies, course curriculum and lab development with professionals and peers
- Receive a certificate of completion accredited by
Wayne State University, course materials, and a $200 stipend
Download the Course Flyer and Application Form.
If you have any questions, please contact Marsherry Jarrett at 313-577-9410 or
yeh@wayne.edu.
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2017 CAAT Conference
Driverless Cars, but What is Driving the Workforce?
April 28, 2017
The event featured keynote speaker, Kay Stepper, Vice President, Head of Regional Business Unit Driver Assistance & Automated Driving at Robert Bosch LLC.
The conference included:
- Technology updates on connected and automated vehicles, fuel cells, and lightweighting. (Macomb Community College)
- Workplace Reports from Oakland Workforce Development/Oakland County Michigan Works! and Workforce Intelligence Network (WIN)
- A panel discussion on workforce needs with representatives from industry and academia
- Curriculum development updates by Macomb Community College
Participants earned 2 NATEF Credits for attending the 2017 CAAT Conference.
Conference Information
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2016 Summer Professional Development Course
Electric-Drive Vehicles Technology
July 21 & 22, 2016
9:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m.
Vehicle Technology Training Center
Automotive Technology
Erie Community College
5885 Big Tree Road
Orchard Park, NY 14127
This workshop was designed to provide the fundamentals of electric-drive vehicle powertrain configurations, electric propulsion components, energy storage systems, and light weighting materials to:
- Community college instructors
- 4-year college/university engineering and technology faculty
- High school science and technology teachers
- Automotive industry professionals
Those attending this workshop will explore state-of-the-art advanced automotive technology including electric-drive vehicles, connected vehicles, energy storage systems, and light weighting materials.
Workshop participants will receive a certificate of completion accredited by
Wayne State University, course materials, and a $200 stipend.
Download the Course Flyer and Application Form.
If you have any questions, please contact Chelsea Dundas at 313-577-0800 or
FZ6043@wayne.edu.
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2016 CAAT Conference
The Road to Autonomous Vehicles
May 6, 2016
Macomb Community College
South Campus, K building
This FREE event, offered by the Center for Advanced Automotive Technology (CAAT), was held at Macomb Community College's South Campus in Warren, MI, on Friday, May 6, 2016.
Participants learned about the many complexities involved in the development of automated and connected vehicles, including the infrastructure needed to support these high tech vehicles. There are also many legal, insurance and cybersecurity concerns that must be addressed by the industry and government before full implementation of autonomous (self-driving) vehicles can occur. The conference included a keynote presentation on the future of the automotive industry by Jeff Klei, President of Continental North America, and three Tech Talk sessions on the Challenges, Infrastructure and Cybersecurity of automated and connected vehicles. Our impressive lineup of Tech Talk speakers and panelists provided insights on these complex issues from industry, government and educator perspectives, providing attendees with the information necessary to assess the technical training needs of future workers in advanced automotive technology.
Visit our
conference page for complete details.
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2015 Fall Professional Development Course
Electric-Drive Vehicles Technology
December 17 & 18, 2015
9:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
Department of Industrial Systems and Technology
Jackson State University
Jackson, MS 39217
This workshop was designed to provide the fundamentals of electric-drive vehicle powertrain configurations, electric propulsion components, energy storage systems, and light weighting materials to:
- Community college instructors
- 4-year college/university engineering and technology faculty
- High school science and technology teachers
- Automotive industry professionals
Those attending this workshop explored state-of-the-art advanced automotive technology including electric-drive vehicles, connected vehicles, energy storage systems, and light weighting materials.
Workshop participants received a certificate of completion accredited by
Wayne State University, course materials, and a $200 stipend.
Download the course materials.
If you have any questions, please contact Joshua Routhier at 313-577-5386 or
joshua.routhier@wayne.edu.
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2015 CAAT Conference
Future Cars, Future Workforce
2015 CAAT Conference a Great Success!
The CAAT hosted its annual conference this year on May 1, 2015. We were pleased to have approximately 130 attendees representing 11 States and 2 Countries, 11 universities, 18 community colleges, 9 School Districts, and 25 industry employers.
Last but certainly not least, we would like to send a very special "thank you" to our conference speakers, who shared a wealth of information with our conference attendees on the current direction of the automotive industry, and the workforce needed to support the many new and emerging advances in automotive technology.
- Jeff Gilbert, Reporter for WWJ Newsradio 950 and CBS Radio News
- Robert Healey, Head of EV Infrastructure, BMW NA
- Matt Smith, Program Manager, Michigan Department of Transportation
- Kristin Dziczek, Director, Industry and Labor Group, Center for Automotive Research
We hope this year's CAAT Conference was both enjoyable and informative! Check out the conference presentations, they are all posted on the CAAT website so you can explore the information or share it with colleagues and friends.
Download the presentations from the 2015 CAAT Conference, and visit the
CAAT website.
Thank you to our conference sponsors for their participation and ongoing support of this annual event.
Last but certainly not least, we would like to send a very special "thank you" to our conference speakers, who shared a wealth of information with our conference attendees on the current direction of the automotive industry, and the workforce needed to support the many new and emerging advances in automotive technology.
- Jeff Gilbert, Reporter for WWJ Newsradio 950 and CBS Radio News
- Robert Healey, Head of EV Infrastructure, BMW NA
- Matt Smith, Program Manager, Michigan Department of Transportation
- Kristin Dziczek, Director, Industry and Labor Group, Center for Automotive Research
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STEM Success for Women - Telesummit
The CAAT joined
IWITTS and several other NSF ATE Center partners to promote a FREE STEM Success for Women Telesummit on Empowering Educators to Recruit and Retain More Women in STEM. The event was held April 13-16, 2015. In this virtual telesummit, funded by the
National Science Foundation, some of the country's leading experts shared best practices for increasing the number of female students in STEM career pathways.
Deans, administrators, instructors and counselors left this virtual conference with immediate action steps to jumpstart their recruitment efforts and help their female students succeed. Focused exclusively on solutions backed by hard data and demonstrated outcomes, this was a can't-miss event for educators--particularly at the community college level --serious about achieving balance in their STEM programs and securing high retention rates for their female AND male students.
Chandra Brown, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Manufacturing, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, joined 10 other top experts and practitioners to discuss recruiting and retaining women in STEM Education. Other ATE Centers partnering to promote the event included
Mentor Connect,
SpaceTEC,
TeachingTechnicians.org,
Weld-Ed and
EvaluATE. For more information about this free event, please visit the event
web page.
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2014 Summer Professional Development Course
Electric-Drive Vehicles Technology
June 7 & 8, 2014
9:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
Lorain County Community College
1005 N Abbe Road
Elyria, OH 44035
Gene Liao at the Workshop
This workshop was designed to provide the fundamentals of electric-drive vehicles’ development, design, manufacturing, and marketing to:
- Community college instructors
- 4-year college/university engineering and technology faculty
- High school science and technology teachers
- Automotive industry professionals
The workshop focused on vehicle electrifications, road load, hybrid powertrains and components, future trends, power electronics such as traction motors and invertors, controls, and hands-on exercises.
By attending and completing this workshop, participants received a certificate of completion accredited by
Wayne State University, course materials, and a $200 stipend.
Download the presentations from the course.
If you have any questions, please contact Joyce Lien at 313-577-5386 or
joycelien@wayne.edu.
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2014 CAAT Conference
You Can't See the Future in the Rearview Mirror
2014 CAAT Conference
This free conference by the Center for Advanced Automotive Technology (CAAT) was held at Macomb Community College's South Campus on May 2, 2014. The event was targeted towards automotive industry workforce development representatives as well as secondary and postsecondary automotive educators, counselors, and school administrators.
The conference theme You Can’t See the Future in the Rearview Mirror was inspired by how the rapid pace of change in the automotive industry will continue and, in many ways will accelerate in part due to increasing fuel economy standards and the new technology needed to meet them. This conference examined the coming era for vehicle manufacturers and suppliers and what these changes in technology mean for educating and training the talent needed to support the industry now and in the future. Presentations were provided by representatives from government, industry, and education in a keynote session and technical session.
To learn more about this conference,
visit its page on our website or
download the presentations from it in our
Resource Library.
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Check out our
Resource Library and
Webinars page for additional professional development resources for educators!