Hopefully you have seen the press release from the EDB about
Infoblox renewing its lease in Tacoma for another six years. Growing from sixty
employees to over two hundred and twenty and counting is an amazing story. I
would like to take a moment to tell another one.
The company has many compelling reasons to extend their stay
and grow the company here. As Co-chair of the EDB committee on the five year strategic
plan for the recruitment and retention of the technology industry in the South
Puget Sound, I have been part of an initiative to identify and promote reasons
for dong so. One of top reasons for any company is the availability of a
qualified workforce and in particular those that are coming out of our
engineering programs.
When I came on board at the UWT over twenty years ago, I was
a member of industry (CEO of Free Range Media), teaching as an adjunct for a
group of students going through a computer science program. At the time, the
program was called Computing Software and Systems. I was also on Governor Locke’s
Council on the Internet, and it was not that long after that I came on board as
a staff member at the Institute of Technology. It was legislated into existence
and situated on the University of Washington Tacoma campus. Governor Locke
actually did the announcement during my class with the full contingent of UW
and State representatives on hand.
Thinking about where we began, with a cohort of around sixty
Computer Science students, and where we are now, I am amazed and impressed. We
are now the School of Engineering and Technology at the UWT. (There were many
good reasons for the name change and I am happy to talk about it if you would
like.)
We continue to grow and add programs, serving more students
each year and hiring world class faculty.
So do this with me.
Have you ever gone through a tunnel as a kid (or with your
kids) and had a contest to see if you could hold your breath all the way
through until the exit of the tunnel?
Okay, take a deep breath. At the School of Engineering and
Technology we now provide a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and Systems,
a Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering and Systems, a Bachelor of Science
in Information Technology, a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering, and
Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering and a Bachelor of Science in
Civil Engineering! Whew! Still in the tunnel, keep holding. A Master of Science
in Computer Science, a Master of Science
in Computer Engineering, a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering and a
Masters in Cybersecurity and Leadership. You can do it! I see the light at the
end of the tunnel up ahead! We offer Graduate Certificates in Software
Engineering, a Big Data Science Certificate and a minor in Applied Computing.
Oh yes, we also now have a Ph.D. in Computer Science.
You can breathe now.
Well over a thousand students are in our programs or are
prepping to enter them.
As you can imagine, I speak with members of the technology
industry and economic developers multiple times a week. I would be happy to speak with you as well,
or exchange a few emails if you would like to know more about our students, our
faculty, our research or the companies that have spawned from the campus.
https://www.tacoma.uw.edu/set/programs
