Responding to Future Need for Electrical Engineers and Computer Scientists in Texas, Corporations Unite to Ask Congress for Funding

5/12/2003

From: Mary Richards, 703-741-7530 or mrichards@golinharris.com

AUSTIN, Texas, May 12 -- Sixteen members of the Texas Congressional delegation urged the House Appropriations Committee to provide $2.5 million for engineering and technology education through the Texas Engineering and Technical Consortium (TETC). Responding to a projected increase in demand for engineers in the state of Texas, 34 universities, seven corporations and the state of Texas have formed an unprecedented consortium to increase the number of electrical engineering and computer science graduates. The seven companies involved in TETC have committed more than $3 million to the TETC program and include some Fortune 100 corporations: Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Applied Materials, Hewlett-Packard (HP), Intel, Motorola, National Instruments (NI), and Texas Instruments (TI).

Both corporate and university leaders praised the Texas Congressional Representatives for their strong support of TETC. "I believe that the TETC program is essential to the future of engineering programs at colleges and universities in Texas and nationally, as well as to the future of industries reliant upon engineers," said John Halton, executive director of TETC.

At the height of the high-tech economy, the need for engineers in Texas drastically outpaced the available workforce. High-tech employment in Texas increased 52 percent between 1994 and 2000, according to the American Electronics Association and the National Bureau of Labor Statistics. Yet, from 1990 to 1999, there was only a five percent increase in electrical engineering and computer science graduates with Bachelor of Science degrees from Texas universities, according to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. The future need for engineering graduates and an aging workforce is also a critical issue for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), as cited following the recent shuttle disaster.

"While the weak economy of the last two years has led to significant downsizing in the technology industry, the long-term growth outlook is positive," said Ray Almgren, vice president of National Instruments. "Technology industry growth in the U.S. is important to the health of our economy. Thus, it's critical to invest in the future workforce now, just as it is critical to invest in research and development for future products."

"A $100,000 investment in TETC is about the cost to recruit and hire two experienced engineers," according to Tegwin Pulley, vice president of Texas Instruments and chair of the TETC Board. "That same amount invested in TETC, along with similar participation by other companies, has a stronger impact by working to double the number of electrical engineers and computer science graduates, and establishes much-needed relationships with the colleges and universities educating the workforce."

TETC provides grants to Texas colleges and universities with electrical engineering and computer science degrees. Grant activities receiving TETC funds foster faculty outreach and training, student involvement and mentoring, retention through increased preparedness and career exposure, and non-traditional student recruitment among other techniques. In just the first round of funding, 33 grants were allocated to 23 universities. With only about one-third of the potential funding available in the first round of grants, participating universities project a 13 percent increase in enrollment in electrical engineering and computer science. Visit http://www.tetc.us http://www.tetc.us for additional information and http://tetc.engr.utexas.edu/education.cfm for details on university partners.