The National Center for Autonomous Technologies (NCAT) was formulated through the National Science Foundation’s Advanced Technological Education (NSF ATE) program. The NSF ATE program has been funding innovation at two-year colleges for over 25 years focusing on the education of technicians for the high-technology fields that drive our nation’s economy. The ATE program supports curriculum development; professional development of college faculty and secondary school teachers; career pathways to two-year colleges from secondary schools and from two-year colleges to four-year institutions; and other activities. 

Fields of technology supported by the ATE program include, but are not limited to, advanced manufacturing technologies, agricultural bio-technologies, energy and environmental technologies, engineering technologies, information technologies, micro- and nano-technologies, security technologies, and learning, evaluation, and research. 

As the first national ATE center in autonomous technologies, NCAT is crafting, adapting, and implementing educational resources and serves as a resource hub for evidence-based research on the knowledge and skills needed to meet workforce demands while increasing the quality and diversity of the highly skilled technical workforce.