Lockheed Martin is giving a $1 million grant to Metropolitan State University in an effort to shape the workforce of the future in manufacturing affordable, innovative spacecraft.
The funds, to be distributed over four years, establish an on-campus Lockheed Martin Additive Manufacturing Laboratory, where students can use a state-of-the-art 3-D printer to design and create aerospace components. The grant also establishes an endowed director of the Advanced Manufacturing Sciences Institute.
“This grant is an investment in the futures of the students at MSU Denver an d the aerospace community,” says Brian O’Connor, vice president of production and operations at Lockheed Martin Space Systems. “Emerging manufacturing technologies will create possibilities we can only dream of today, like printing an entire satellite from the ground up or printing complex parts that we can’t machine using traditional methods. We’re helping students design with those new concepts in mind so the next space missions are innovative, affordable and faster to market.”
The grant was announced during the inauguration of MSU Denver’s new $60 million Aerospace and Engineering Sciences Building, a 117,000-square-foot building that is designed to integrate aerospace science; industrial design; civil, mechanical and electrical engineering technology; computer science; and computer information systems. Advanced Manufacturing Sciences classes will begin this fall.
“With support from key partners like Lockheed Martin, MSU Denver can offer students education opportunities that directly address workforce needs on Colorado’s key industry clusters,” says Stephen Jordan, president of MSU Denver. “Students now have the rare opportunity to work with technology and equipment used by some of the top advanced manufacturing companies in the world.”
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Margaret is a veteran Denver real estate reporter and can be contacted
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