YSU Gets $636K Grant to Equip Innovation Center

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – The Ohio Department of Higher Education has awarded Youngstown State University a $636,751 grant from the Regionally Aligned Priorities in Delivering Skills program.

The grant will be used to purchase equipment for industrial maintenance training programs at the Mahoning Valley Innovation and Commercialization Center under development at Fifth Avenue and West Commerce Street downtown.

The training equipment will benefit students at YSU, Eastern Gateway Community College and county career and technical centers, as well as area manufacturers, said Mike Hripko, YSU associate vice president of research.

“The focus of this effort is providing training for workers who will be responsible for keeping our expensive and highly sophisticated advanced manufacturing equipment maintained, up to date and running,” he said.

The state has allocated $4 million in capital funding for the center in 2019-2020, in addition to $3 million in state capital allocations in 2018-2019. YSU has also received $1 million from the Appalachian Regional Commission and $2 million from the U.S. Department of Economic Development for the project. The university will raise an additional $14 million through an ongoing capital campaign led by the YSU Foundation.

Hripko credited Darrell Wallace, YSU associate professor of manufacturing engineering, for his leadership in obtaining the latest grant.

“This award is part of YSU’s ongoing strategy of sharing high-value assets across multiple institutions to eliminate redundancy, mitigate costs, and maximize students’ exposure to industrial quality equipment,” Wallace said.

Among the equipment to be funding by the grant are trainers from Amatrol; a CNC certification cart; a BGA and SMD rework and repair station; a protolaser; and a collaborative industry robot.

SOURCE: YSU News Center

Pictured: Rendering of the center’s interior.

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