SWERVE Project Lead Investigators Present at Advanced Technical Education Conference

Michelle Leidel, SFSC dean of applied sciences and technologies, and Terry Conrad, Computer Science instructor, attended the 2025 National ATE Principal Investigators’ Conference in Washington, D.C., Oct. 29-31. Leidel serves as principal investigator and Conrad serves as co-investigator on SFSC’s Student Work Experiences in Remote and Virtualized Environments (SWERVE) project. They attended the conference, in part, to make a presentation on the College’s progress and accomplishments through its SWERVE project.

SFSC’s SWERVE project expands student access to virtualization by providing Associate in Science Network Systems Technology students with remote, flexible virtual machine (VM) hosting. It reduces reliance on costly, aging lab hardware while embedding project and system management skills in virtualization. Students gain hands-on learning aligned with workforce needs. Outcomes will be shared across the Florida College System through state and regional presentations, offering an integrated model for curriculum design, faculty training, vendor partnerships, and student accessibility.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) awards Advanced Technical Education (ATE) grants. The NSF awarded SFSC $650,000 toward its ATE program, SWERVE, in May 2023. The grant (DUE 2302322) runs through April 2026.

Through the 2025 National ATE Principal Investigators’ Conference, the American Association of Community Colleges, with the support of the NSF, brings together more than 850 NSF ATE grantees and their project partners to focus on the critical issues related to advanced technological education.