Grant will boost SWT regional semiconductor initiative

SAN MARCOS, TEXAS – A grant from the Society of Manufacturing Engineers will bolster a Southwest Texas State University initiative aimed at training students to work in the region’s high-tech industries.

The grant of nearly $200,000 from SME will be matched with state funds to provide a pool of almost $400,000 to develop curricula and purchase equipment to train students in automated manufacturing systems and semiconductor manufacturing.

Grants such as these help develop our programs in technology and physics and have an enormous significance in terms of workforce development for the Central Texas region and its semiconductor and high technology manufacturing industries,” said Vedaraman Sriraman, director of SWT’s program in manufacturing engineering.

This is the second grant SWT has received from SME in the past three years. The society awards approximately five grants annually to support efforts in manufacturing education. SWT received $87,000 from SME in 2000.

The support has also allowed SWT to form partnerships with community colleges that smooth the way for students to transfer from associate degree programs into SWT’s manufacturing engineering bachelor’s degree program. SWT also is playing an important role in training community college faculty in the use of semiconductor fabrication equipment.

Based in Dearborn, Mich., the SME is the world’s leading professional society supporting manufacturing engineering.