Senators Flanagan and LaValle Announce Major Funding To Meet Demand For Engineering Degrees at Stony Brook University

Stony Brook, NY, August 16, 2018 -- Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan (2nd Senate District) and Chairman of the Senate’s Higher Education Committee Kenneth LaValle (1st Senate District) announced the award of $25 million in funding to Stony Brook University that will enable the university to begin the initial phases for developing a new engineering building on campus.  The funding will enable Stony Brook University to continue leading the effort to educate and train more engineers to live and work in the region and the state.

“This funding will help bolster the academic pursuits of the young men and women who come to Long Island to study while helping improve our economic climate.  By creating the facilities needed to attract these talented young people and by providing them with the education they need to work and stay here, this new facility will help foster a brighter future for them and for our region.  Under the leadership of President Stanley and the faculty, this funding will be put to good use and we look forward to seeing this new building come to fruition,” stated Senator Flanagan.

Senator Ken LaValle said, “The new engineering building is critically important for our region to continue to attract preeminent students to SUNY Stony Brook.  The upgrading of the facilities is essential to meet the growing demand of the Engineering department and provide the Long Island workforce with the talent necessary to succeed.  I am pleased that Senator Flanagan and I were able to provide the support to expand the program. ”

"Once again, Senator Flanagan and Senator LaValle have secured needed funding for facilities that will enable Stony Brook University to continue on a path of attracting the best and brightest students and faculty," said President Stanley.  "A new engineering facility will help Stony Brook meet the  demand for one of our fastest growing schools on campus and will help foster a pipeline of engineering talent and innovation to the region's workforce and economy."

Stony Brook is one of the major producers of engineering graduates within SUNY and faces challenges of surging enrollments and aging inadequate facilities to support engineering instruction that aligns with industry expectations.  The new building that Senators Flanagan and LaValle have secured funding for will address the enrollment growth and support New York State's workforce and entrepreneurship needs over the coming decade. 

The new facility will promote active learning, inspire creativity and emphasize innovation and entrepreneurship through the most innovative teaching and learning methods that will elevate and set a new standard for engineering excellence.

The new academic building will be designed with active-learning studio classrooms and spaces, and the resources needed to turn student ideas into innovation and discovery.  It will support the significant growth in the engineering and computer science fields by providing modern space for experiential learning, industrial quality labs, and entrepreneurial maker spaces, which in turn will enhance the focus on engineering-driven medicine, energy systems for sustainability, resilient cities and ecosystems, cybersecurity and AI-driven discovery.

Most importantly, the new facility will provide our entire region with a chance to be at the center of a burgeoning field that will create high-paying jobs and real opportunity for the residents of the region.  The aim is to provide students with new opportunities, empower their skills and encourage them to stay on Long Island after graduation to work in an industry where they can truly make a difference in the world.

“In today’s era of extraordinary growth in engineering and computer science, Stony Brook must stay ahead of the technological advances to continue to educate the next generation of change-makers, global innovators and entrepreneurs,” said Fotis Sotiropoulos, Dean, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Stony Brook University.  “We are grateful to Senator Flanagan and Senator LaValle for their ongoing commitment to Stony Brook University and generous support of our efforts to provide the highest level education to our outstanding students, who will continue to fuel the technology pipeline and drive economic growth here on Long Island and in New York State.”

“The Long Island engineering community salutes the leadership of Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan and Senator Ken LaValle in recognizing the need to create a state-of-the-art engineering school at SUNY Stony Brook.  The State’s awarding of a $25M grant will not only enable the University to attract the best and the brightest engineering school candidates but also will facilitate the planning and engineering design of a national center of engineering excellence.  The professional engineering community champions the State’s initiative to address the nation’s dearth of critical engineering graduates necessary to address the future technological and infrastructure challenges that our country is facing,” John D. Cameron Jr., P.E., Founder and Managing Partner of Cameron Engineering & Associates, LLP.

“It’s critical for the state to provide funding for projects to support education in STEM.  These programs are essential to develop the talent to meet the business needs for highly skilled professionals in NYS.  As a growing regional architectural and engineering firm it is critical to our success to have people trained in the services we provide to our surrounding communities.  The commitment of Stony Brook University to develop the top talent in the nation would be a great asset to support companies like ours,” said, Liz Uzzo, Senior Vice President of Human Resources at H2M Architects and Engineers.

“As a Computer Science graduate of Stony Brook, I understand first-hand the caliber of students and engineers that graduate from the school.  However, in today’s fast-paced world, especially in the engineering sector, trends and technologies evolve at an incredible rate, and it’s absolutely crucial for the students of Stony Brook University to be trained on the latest equipment and technology in order to be able to produce at a high level and be extremely valuable to organizations as they graduate.  Our company is headquartered on Long Island and we heavily recruit from Stony Brook, but it takes time to train young engineers so that they deliver value to the organization.  By building a brand new facility at Stony Brook, with state-of-the-art equipment, the graduates coming out into the workforce will be of a higher caliber, this training process will be far shorter, and they will be able to perform at a high level much sooner, and they’ll be able to face real-world challenges head-on.  This facility will be a cornerstone for Stony Brook as the next generation of engineers comes through the school and I am honored to be a part of it,” added Rahul Alreja of VJ Technologies, Inc.