Purdue Fort Wayne lands $803K grant to support metallurgy, cybersecurity labs
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Purdue University Fort Wayne has been awarded an $803,000 grant from the Don Wood Foundation to establish new and improved labs, new courses and degree options to elevate training in advanced manufacturing.
The grant, announced Tuesday by the university, will fund a two-year initiative at the College of Engineering, Technology, and Computer Science. The first phase will include the purchase of new equipment and focus on training for that equipment by fall semester. The second phase will include designing the new labs, developing courses and creating degree options.
The plan is to establish new labs for metallurgy and cybersecurity and modernize two existing labs dedicated to fluids and pneumatics and power machinery.
“Each piece of technology we are going to add because of this generous gift from the Don Wood Foundation plays a vital role in preparing our students for careers in industries that drive our region, especially advanced manufacturing,” Gary Steffen, an associate professor and director of the School of Polytechnic, said in a news release. “Cybersecurity, in particular, is a growing concern in today’s manufacturing environment, especially as more systems become interconnected through the Internet of Things. Having a dedicated lab ensures our students are ready to protect these critical, data-driven systems and infrastructure.”
A 2023 report by industry nonprofit Conexus Indiana and global market analytics firm Lightcast said Indiana was at an “inflection point”: to maintain its status as a leader in advanced manufacturing and logistics, the state must build the workforce of the future. Job growth was expected to reach 5-10% by 2026.
The new and upgraded labs provided by the Don Wood Foundation grant also are expected to pay immediate dividends for manufacturers.
“We plan on making our new facilities accessible to our advanced manufacturing community,” Sherif Elfayoumy, the steel dynamics dean of the College of Engineering, Technology, and Computer Science, said in the release. “This will give small and medium-sized businesses access to resources they would not have otherwise.”
The grant is at least the fourth significant initiative of the Don Wood Foundation this year to boost the economy of the Fort Wayne area.
In February the foundation and a handful of other organizations announced the launch of a months-long study to examine how to grow the Fort Wayne area’s music economy, Inside INdiana Business reported.
Later that month, The J. Kruse Education Center in Auburn announced that it received a $712,000 grant from the Don Wood Foundation to create a hands-on experience for students to learn about careers in manufacturing.
And in March, the foundation and a group of other workforce and economic development organizations launched an effort to increase student career exploration by bringing more employers into the fold.