Aligning Academic Offerings with Industry Needs and Facility Construction, While Making Space for Relevant Public Private Partnerships (P3s)

Abstract

Metropolitan State University of Denver (MSU Denver) has been educating students for Colorado’s urban workforce for over fifty years. The following case study of MSU Denver’s new Aerospace Engineering Sciences (AES) Building reveals the roles played by partnerships among universities, faculty, and local civic and industry leaders in creating new curricula and facilities. The new Advanced Manufacturing Sciences (AMS) curriculum and specialized labs will be “game changers” for manufacturing in Colorado, because they provide flexible maker-spaces that encourage the iterative, changing interaction among students, faculty, and industry essential in an evolving economy. Nurturing such places for collaboration fosters self-sustaining curriculum enrichment.