The Vermeer Charitable Foundation has awarded a $400,000 grant to support the engineering program initiative at Central College.
The four-year pledge will support Central’s Bachelor of Science in engineering program, which was approved by the college’s board of trustees last spring. The program is a component of Central’s strategic plan, which commits the college to make accelerated investments in academic programs of student interests that fill global needs.
Partnerships with Vermeer Corp., Pella Corp. and Precision, Inc. (PPI), offer unique possibilities for Central students: teaching, funding, shared equipment, real-world projects, internships, co-ops and career opportunities.
Students have expressed considerable interest in engineering at Central. Since the program was announced, Central has already experienced a 36 percent increase in applications from prospective engineering students. National studies indicate the employment outlook for engineers remains strong both regionally and nationally for the foreseeable future.
With this gift, Central will continue to build its undergraduate engineering program, which has included the addition of two new faculty members and a current search for a third. Central engineering students will study electronics, thermodynamics, materials and dynamic systems, physics and mathematics. The new major will prepare graduates for jobs in engineering immediately after graduation or for graduate programs in engineering.
“The Vermeer Charitable Foundation is a treasured partner and we are extremely grateful to the foundation and the families for this investment in Central students,” said Mark Putnam, president and member of the executive committee of the Iowa Governor’s Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Advisory Council. “The foundation’s support enables Central to establish this quality program to which we are committed. We look forward to extending our partnership with Vermeer Corporation in engineering to include internship opportunities for students while at the same time building the engineering workforce for our regional partners.”
Central is a recognized leader in STEM education, with approximately 20 percent of students graduating with a major in a STEM field, 50 percent of whom are women, well above the national average. Central graduates are admitted to graduate engineering programs across the country, and 95 percent of the college’s physics majors are admitted into their first- or second-choice graduate school.
Central graduates who focused on engineering have gone on to work for major companies like Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, Fisher Controls, Epic Systems Corp., Musco Sports Lighting, Burns & McDonnell, Johnson Controls and Rockwell Collins, in addition to Pella-based companies Vermeer Corporation, Pella Corporation, and Precision Pulley and Idler, Inc. (PPI).
