"happy holidays!" by mel5545 is licensed under CC BY 2.0 .

In this issue...

• Happy Holidays – and It’s Time for ARDC to Take a Winter Break
• Upcoming Community Deadlines and Notices
• Grantee Updates from the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) and The ARRL Foundation
• ARDC Team Spotlight
• Come See Us at TechFest and HamCation!
• Contact Us!
• ARDC's Mission

Happy Holidays – and It’s Time for ARDC to Take a Winter Break

ARDC will close for the year beginning on Saturday, December 16, 2023, and we’ll return to the office on Tuesday, January 2, 2024. During our closure, you can continue to submit grant applications on our website. We'll be reviewing them in early February.

From the ARDC team, we hope that you and yours have a fantastic holiday season. Thank you all for a great 2023, and we’ll see you in 2024!

Upcoming Community Deadlines and Notices

Next Grant Application Deadline: The first deadline for submitting a grant application in 2024 is February 1. Applications received after this date will be reviewed after April 1, 2024 (no fooling!), so get your applications in now.

Grantee Updates from the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) and The ARRL Foundation

Recent Report from the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) Provides Valuable Insights on the Positive Impacts of their Collegiate Leadership Institute (CLI)

The Society of Women Engineers (SWE) is an organization that promotes diversity and inclusion in STEM fields. Through a grant supported by ARDC, they have recently published a report on their Collegiate Leadership Institute (CLI), a program geared toward providing undergraduate students with knowledge, skill sets, and leadership needed to become leaders in their engineering and / or technology careers. The goal of the report was to study the impact of the CLIs effectiveness in supporting women in engineering, namely underrepresented women from HBCUs and HSIs and women of color. A mixed-methods approach was used for obtaining data, including surveys and focused group discussions. Through this report, they found that encouraging more women of color to pursue STEM-related graduate studies is a multifaceted approach, where these women are effectively empowered via exposure to STEM pathways, soft skills development, engagement with professionals, as well as a focus on self-advocacy and leadership.

A further summary of their findings can be found in their recently published blog post titled A Pathway to Holistic Development and Professional Growth for Women of Color in STEM.

National Foundations Announce $2.1 Million for the Next Generation of Amateur Radio

Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC) and The ARRL Foundation announced a three-year commitment with over $2.1 million in combined funding to support scholarships for radio amateurs, radio technology for classroom teachers, and amateur radio club grants. This commitment reinforces a strong shared vision between ARRL  The National Association for Amateur Radio® and ARDC to invest in the future of amateur radio through programs supporting the next generation of radio amateurs. more...

ARDC Team Spotlight

In this month’s spotlight, we highlight TAC member Rich Gopstein (KD2CQ). Rich is completing his first year on the TAC: he found out about the opportunity at the 2022 Hackaday Superconference, where our Technical Director, Jon Kemper (KA6NVY), asked if he’d be interested in volunteering. Rich brings a wealth of experience from his tenure in IT infrastructure and information security, having held management positions at RCA, GE, Harris, and Bristol-Myers Squibb, with expertise spanning networking, information security, and cloud computing. While serving on the TAC, Rich has dedicated his efforts to the Point-of-Presence (PoP) subcommittee. Here, he has not only been involved with the design and development of the new 44Net infrastructure, he is also part of the team working collectively to design, build, and test the new PoPs, as well as develop configurations for popular routers to integrate these new advancements. Outside of ARDC, Rich extends his volunteer efforts to AMSAT, where he contributes to code for their new GOLF satellites, and also to the Philadelphia Folksong Society, assisting with their IT needs.

A giant thank you to all of our 2023 committee members for your contributions toward carrying out our mission at ARDC. Between making grants, guiding the development of 44Net, and ensuring that our ARDC spaces are welcoming and positive places to be, we couldn’t do this without you!

Come See Us at TechFest and HamCation!

As the 2024 conference season begins, you’ll be able to find ARDC at the following events:

• TechFest – January 13, 2024, Lawrenceville, GA
• HamCation – February 9 - 11, 2024, Orlando, FL

Contact Us!

We always want to hear from you:

• Visit our website: ardc.net
• General info: contact@ardc.net
• Information and questions about grants: giving@ardc.net
• 44Net issues: contact@ardc.net
• Groups.io: ardc.groups.io

Twitter / X: @ARDC_73
Facebook: Amateur Radio Digital Communications
LinkedIn: Amateur Radio Digital Communications

ARDC's Mission

The mission of Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC) is to support, promote, and enhance digital communication and broader communication science and technology, to promote amateur radio, scientific research, experimentation, education, development, open access, and innovation in information and communication technology.