Contact: Joe Farris
External support of more than $20 million is expected to go into infrastructure and specialized faculty positions at Mississippi State as the university gears up to support a planned Nissan Motor Co. plant near Canton.
The state's proposed incentive package that helped attract the giant automaker also includes $3.6 million a year in annually recurring funds that will support university research and outreach activities.
Mississippi State officials including representatives of the College of Engineering and the National Science Foundation/MSU Engineering Research Center played a key role in negotiations leading to Nissan's choice of a Mississippi site, said university President Malcolm Portera.
"This state owes Wayne Bennett, Don Trotter, Brad Carter, and our support staff an extraordinary amount of credit for this accomplishment," Portera added. Bennett is dean of engineering; Trotter, ERC director; and Carter, associate provost for information services.
The university's research and development capabilities with applications to manufacturing and the automobile industry formed a critical part of the state's proposal, Portera said. Exact details of how the Nissan-related investments at MSU are to be used will be worked out in conjunction with the company.
Tentative plans are to use state funds to establish a Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems on the main campus. The $9 million center will draw heavily on the capabilities of the Engineering Research Center and will provide computing equipment, analytical equipment, fabrication equipment, and testing facilities that can support Nissan and other major industries.
The university also will establish a $6 million Engineering Extension Center near the plant site. High-speed telecommunications and Internet links will connect the MSU campus, the Engineering Extension Center near Nissan, and Holmes and Hinds community colleges, which will provide worker training for the company.
MSU also is working with Jackson State University to develop plans for cooperative efforts in support of the project.
The Nissan incentive package includes funding for three endowed faculty chairs in areas of MSU strengths that are important to Nissan. Those include product design, manufacturing operations, and computational engineering.
Annually recurring funds will include about $3.2 million a year to help strengthen the research base that supports the auto industry. Other funding will help maintain and expand Internet and telecommunications links and support outreach efforts that will involve other institutions and elementary and secondary schools.
Mississippi State's Research and Curriculum Unit, which works already with industries throughout the state, will partner with Nissan, state officials, and community colleges to design curricula and training materials for workers at Nissan and affiliated companies. Direct worker training will be provided through the community colleges.
Mississippi State currently ranks 59th in overall research and development volume among the nation's public universities and expects to move into the top 50 within three years. The College of Engineering ranks 42nd in the nation in research expenditures.
The university already has research-based affiliations with companies including Boeing, Ford Motor Company, Litton-Ingalls Shipbuilding, Mitsubishi, Northrop Grumman/Logicon, and Raytheon/E-Systems, among others.
MSU has associations with government research agencies including Jet Propulsion Laboratories, NASA, and the Office of Naval Research.
With about 2,700 engineering students at the bachelor's through Ph.D. levels and about 120 engineering faculty, Mississippi State is prepared to provide a steady stream of technically competent graduates and consulting expertise to Nissan and other companies, Portera said. The university has averaged about 470 engineering graduates a year in recent years.