Based on the program's recognized success and his expertise in STEM education,[7] Charles Vela was asked to serve on numerous NSF and Congressional panels in science, mathematics and engineering education;[8] it is through this manner that NSF was first introduced to the acronym STEM. One of the first NSF projects to use the acronym[citation needed] was STEMTEC, the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Teacher Education Collaborative at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, which was founded in 1998.[9]