Excerpt from the Dayton Daily News
Intel’s plan to invest $20 billion in a semiconductor production facility in the New Albany area has alerted Ohio’s public universities and colleges they will be needed to train a new workforce.
Local universities and community colleges say they are unsure exactly what their involvement will look like, as the process is still early, but they are in talks with organizations to better understand what to expect.
Kevin Willardsen, an economics professor at Wright State University, said he expects universities to particularly benefit from the new company, as more trained and skilled jobs will be open and more skilled technology workers will be needed.
“It certainly should do wonders for the computer science department at Wright State and University of Dayton,” Willardsen said.
The Inter-University Council of Ohio, which represents Ohio’s public universities, said in a news release that Intel plans to invest in partnerships over the next decade with Ohio’s universities, community colleges and the U.S. National Science Foundation to drive research and create semiconductor-specific curricula for two-year and four-year programs.
