Binghamton, NY – Standing at Binghamton University today, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand announced new bipartisan legislation to bolster manufacturing education at universities and train the workforce to meet the growing demands of the 21st century manufacturing sector. Gillibrand introduced The Manufacturing Universities Act of 2015, a bipartisan bill that would designate 25 universities as ‘Manufacturing Universities’ and provide schools with incentives to better align their educational offerings with the needs of modern manufacturers. The legislation will provide qualifying universities grants of $5 million per year, for a four-year period, that will help universities enhance their engineering programs to emphasize manufacturing skills, incentivize partnerships with local manufacturers, increase internship and cooperative education opportunities for students, and help more recent graduates launch new manufacturing businesses.
Manufacturing contributes $1.8 trillion to the American economy annually and manufacturing jobs pay more, contribute more jobs to the local service economy, and the sector has a higher multiplier effect than any other. Yet many manufacturers are unable to fill open positions because prospective employees do not have the requisite training. The Society of Manufacturing Engineers predicts that the number of unfilled manufacturing jobs could increase to 3 million by 2015. According to a 2014 New York Federal Reserve report, more than 30 percent of New York manufacturers said it was difficult to retain skilled workers, which had increased from 24 percent the previous year and 22 percent two years prior. According to the State University of New York (SUNY) Science Technology Engineering and Math (STEM) careers, which include jobs in manufacturing, are growing 2.5 times faster than other fields in New York. These jobs demand higher skills, as is proof by the fact that over 70 percent of the STEM workforce in New York State have at least a bachelor’s degree.
“If we want our local businesses to expand and grow the Southern Tier’s economy, then we need to make sure our workforce has the skills and training to match,” said Senator Gillibrand. “No job should go unfilled and no company’s expansion should ever be inhibited because there aren’t enough trained workers. This legislation will equip more students with the advanced manufacturing skills and experience necessary to meet growing demand and ensure New York’s manufacturing sector remains innovative and globally competitive.”
“We thank Senator Gillibrand for championing university-industry partnerships and for working to strengthen the education of engineers with the goal of bolstering America’s advanced manufacturing efforts,” said Binghamton University President Harvey Stenger. “Binghamton has a long history of collaborating with industry and we are honored she is announcing her Manufacturing Universities Act on our campus.”
“We highly value the collaborations we have with industry,” said Krishnaswami “Hari” Srihari, dean of The Watson School of Engineering and Applied Science. “Our academic offerings combined with the real world experience that our graduate research associates receive is first rate. Senator Gillibrand is to be commended for recognizing the merits of these partnerships and for working to help academia and the private sector create even stronger ties to accelerate research initiatives that will lead to additional innovative manufacturing practices and more opportunities for our graduates.”
“Innovation’s close collaboration with this public university has directly benefited our firm, employees, customers, and ultimately the health of millions of patients served,” said Thomas Boyer, Innovation Associate’s chief operating officer. “We believe this successful relationship can act as a model for small business to access the resources and talents needed to compete and thrive in the global marketplace.”
Gillibrand’s legislation would help prepare more engineers for careers in innovation and advanced manufacturing by designating 25 universities as ‘Manufacturing Universities’ that will focus on advanced manufacturing and engineering. The legislation would establish a program within the Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) charged with designating the 25 schools as ‘Manufacturing Universities.’ Designated schools would receive $5 million per year for four years to meet specific goals, including focusing engineering programs on manufacturing, building new partnerships with manufacturing firms, growing training opportunities, and fostering manufacturing entrepreneurship. The program would be run by the Director of the NIST, in coordination with the Secretaries of Defense and Energy, and the Director of the National Science Foundation, among others.
In order for a school to receive the ‘manufacturing university’ designation and funding, universities will be required to apply and submit a plan for goals to be achieved within four years. The plan will describe how the university will:
- Improve engineering programs to emphasize manufacturing;
- Increase the number of joint projects with manufacturing firms;
- Increase the number of students who participate in for-credit internships and cooperative education;
- Increase the number of students who receive bachelor’s, master’s, or doctoral degrees in engineering, in disciplines related to manufacturing;
- Cover the costs of equipment and facilities necessary to carry out its manufacturing goals;
- Increase the number of new manufacturing businesses launched by recent graduates;
- Oversee interdisciplinary programs related to manufacturing innovation and productivity across all various university colleges, departments, and programs;
- Designate an appropriate individual to oversee and coordinate activities as a result of this plan. The person may be designated as a “Chief Manufacturing Officer;”
- Structure the manufacturing engineering program to positively impact the local economy;
- Recognize and reward faculty, including through decisions of tenure, for developing new means to increase interactions with manufacturing companies.
Gillibrand introduced the legislation on March 18th along with U.S. Senators Chris Coons (D-DE), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI). Companion legislation was introduced in the U.S. House Representatives by Representatives Elizabeth Esty (D-CT), Chris Collins (R-NY), Paul Tonko (D-NY), Rodney Davis (R-IL), Patrick Meehan (R-PA), and Mike Thompson (D-CA) and is cosponsored by Representatives Richard Hanna (R-NY), Bill Foster (D-IL), John Katko (R-NY), Tim Ryan (D-OH), Norma Torres (D-CA) and Brian Higgins (D-NY).
This bipartisan legislation has been endorsed by Association of American Universities, the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities, The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, the Precision Metalforming Association, the National Tooling & Machining Association, the University of Rochester, the Rochester Institute of Technology, the State University of New York (SUNY) System, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Syracuse University, Clarkson University, Alfred University, Dow, DuPont, and Siemens.