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Maine Science and Technology Foundation May 29, 2002

USM engineering school collaborates with tech colleges to promote manufacturing technology major

The University of Southern Maine's School of Applied Science, Engineering and Technology (ASET) has teamed up with four of the state's technical colleges to create a manufacturing technology program. The new program is designed to meet the increasing need of Maine manufacturers for employees with a bachelor's degree in manufacturing technology.

"I'm very pleased to announce that ASET's Department of Technology and Central Maine Technical College, Eastern Maine Technical College, Northern Maine Technical College and Southern Maine Technical College have created a true 2+2 program in manufacturing technology," said John Wright, dean of the USM school. "As a result, qualified graduates of the manufacturing technology or machine tool technology programs at those technical colleges can be automatically accepted as juniors in ASET's bachelor's degree in manufacturing technology."

The new program comes at a time when the supply of four-year graduates is decreasing in Maine, the dean said. A signing ceremony to formally launch the joint program will be held at 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday, June 4, 2002, in the John Mitchell Center on the Gorham campus of USM.

The event will be held in USM's "Learning Factory," a newly renovated facility that will give students hands-on experience with the latest technologies used in world-class manufacturing. Though the factory will not be officially dedicated until this fall, the signing ceremony will give guests an opportunity for an early preview of the most advanced facility of its kind in northern New England, Wright said.