The purpose of Mod 0001 is to extend the RFI closing date to November 10, 2016. The Department of Energy (DOE) funds university-led traineeship programs that strategically address workforce training needs in key technical focus areas.The following objectives guide DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Advanced Manufacturing Office’s (AMO) traineeship efforts:
Advance the DOE mission relative to advanced manufacturing – DOE funded Traineeship Programs are designed and implemented to advance specific Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) workforce competencies required for the DOE’s unique mission to ensure America’s security and prosperity by addressing its science, energy, and environmental challenges.Address priority STEM workforce needs and identified gaps – DOE funded Traineeship Programs focus on advancing those critical STEM disciplines and competencies specifically relevant to the EERE and AMO missions where other U.S. Government or academic workforce development programs either do not exist or where DOE-relevant applications are not being leveraged to support specific DOE mission responsibilities. In July 2015, EERE released a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) to address emerging needs in graduate training enabling preparedness for the field of advanced Power Electronics Engineering careers beyond those in academia. As a result, EERE made two competitively-selected awards supporting five-year graduate-level programs in Power Electronics Engineering, leveraging existing DOE assets including the wide band gap National Network for Manufacturing Innovation (NNMI) Institute, PowerAmerica.
The purpose of this Request for Information (RFI) is to gather from industry, academia, research laboratories, government agencies, and other stakeholders on issues related to future EERE-funded and AMO-funded graduate-level Traineeships. This RFI is not a FOA; therefore, DOE is not accepting applications at this time. All responses to this RFI must be provided as an attachment (in Microsoft Word format) to an e-mail message addressed to AMOTraineeship@ee.doe.gov. Responses must be received no later than 5:00pm (ET) on November 10th, 2016. The full content of the RFI can be found below.