The funds will go towards Florida Tech’s emerging ASCEND program
BREVARD COUNTY • MELBOURNE, FLORIDA – Florida Polytechnic University is set to receive $5 million in state funding for its newly established ASCEND program after Governor Ron DeSantis signed the 2024-2025 budget.
ASCEND combines state-of-the-art facilities with the University’s renowned faculty to foster technology relevance and workforce development primarily in support of Florida’s growing aerospace sector.
Through its Aerospace Cybersecurity Engineering Development (ASCEND) program, Florida Tech is educating and developing engineering students with resilience engineering skills to prepare them to work in industry and government agencies, either as part of a university partnership or in their own careers.
“The success of our enthusiastic, hard-working students is my top priority, and their future paths become even more meaningful when we can help prepare them for careers in fields that are important to the state of Florida and the nation,” said Florida Tech President John Nicklow.
“I want to thank Governor DeSantis and our legislative leaders, Representative Tyler Sirois and Senator Jim Boyd, for their great work in support of ASCEND.”
Overall, ASCEND will benefit industry by incorporating cybersecurity technologies, design resilience, and digital engineering into the curriculum and applied research.
The benefits of ASCEND’s education and applied research extend to other Florida industries. According to the Florida Department of Commerce, Florida’s defense sector is supported by more than 400 aerospace facilities, 20 major military installations and three spaceports, making it the state’s third-largest sector of the economy. It is essential that Florida Tech continue to support these structural elements of Florida’s industrial and defense base through related workforce development.
ASCEND’s unique capability to provide physical and cyber resilience testing and evaluation during design, development and manufacturing will see its underlying methodologies embedded across the university’s teaching and applied research environments.
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