School of Engineering funding increases to strengthen young workforce at Micron
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Syracuse University’s College of Engineering and Computer Science will see a 50% increase in funding over the next approximately five years as central New York anticipates the arrival of Micron’s new $100 billion semiconductor manufacturing plant in Clay.
Leaders in the college said the investment will go toward helping students prepare for careers in the field, specifically with expanded support for internships and educational resources.
“For Syracuse to do its part in order to meet the workforce demands of Micron, we really have to be able to produce many more engineers and computer scientists, which is why we’re looking at this 50% growth,” said Cole Smith, dean of ECS.
Duncan Brown, vice president for research and the Charles Brightman endowed professor of physics, said the goal of the funding increase is a transformation of ECS that will provide more opportunities for students in several areas of science and technology.
“The investments the university is planning on making in the College of Engineering and Computer Science are going to enhance research, which attracts the best students and provides opportunities for our undergraduates to get engaged in authentic, cutting-edge research in a variety of disciplines,” Brown said.
Mike Haynie, SU’s vice chancellor for strategic initiatives and innovation and Barnes Professor of Entrepreneurship in the Martin J. Whitman School of Management, said another key part of the funding will help encourage interaction in classrooms. Brown said the funding will cover advanced manufacturing technology that will help predict machine errors, allowing students to be on the frontlines of solving problems.
The funding will have holistic impacts on the community beyond SU and Micron, Smith said, because of the greater implications in engineering, computer science and health care at the state and national levels.
“We are contributing to the quality of life in the region and to the advancement of knowledge, which again goes far beyond Micron,” Smith said.
The new Micron plant is set to be the largest semiconductor manufacturing facility in the northern hemisphere, with an expected 9,000 jobs available directly related to the plant and another 50,000 jobs added to the area after all four facilities are completed.
“One of the things that I think we don’t have our heads around, because this has never been done on the scale yet, is just how transformative this will be for the central New York region for the New York economy,” Brown said.
