United Technologies Corp. announced Tuesday a $10 million investment to create a UConn engineering institute to train the next generation of UTC talent.
The UTC Institute for Advanced Systems Engineering at UConn will receive $7.5 million over five years from the Hartford conglomerate as a cash gift, with an additional $2.5 million to fund research specifically for UTC engineering projects. The $7.5 million cash gift is one of the largest in UConn’s history, according to the university.
The $10 million comes as UTC is increasing its focus on aircraft and building systems, which are becoming increasingly complex. The investment in the UConn systems engineering center is designed to train an up-and-coming workforce who want to design and create even more advanced products that are efficient, reliable, cheaper and with greater capabilities, UTC said in its announcement.
The new engineering institute aligns with UConn’s goals from the Next Generation Connecticut initiative, seeking to focus student studies on science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).
UTC subsidiary Pratt & Whitney of East Hartford in April donated $8 million to UConn along those same STEM goals for an advanced additive manufacturing laboratory at the University of Connecticut’s Depot Campus in Storrs. The State Bond Commission also gave UConn $20 million to create the UConn Tech Park for faculty and students to pursue STEM research.
UTC and UConn have a 85-year history of working together, as the university is one of the main feeders of engineering talent to the technology conglomerate. UTC also has an employee scholar program, which has resulted in more than 700 employees receiving UConn degrees.
