SOUTHFIELD ? Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) have always been part of the Lawrence Technology University’s curriculum, and now through a $20 million donation ? the largest ever received – LTU will create the Marburger STEM Center to expand those efforts.

Earlier this week, LTU announced the $20 million anonymous donation and said the money would be earmarked for the ?Proud Heritage, Bold Future? campaign for an investment in STEM programs at the University. The center is named after Richard Marburger President Emeritus, Professor Emeritus and Senior Advisor for both the College of Engineering and the College of Arts and Sciences.

LTU President Virinder K. Moudgil, in an interview with MITechNews.Com, said when asked why the University has decided to dedicate this funding to STEM: ?STEM has always been part of Lawrence Tech University’s heritage.?

The Marburger Center will provide leading edge technology tools and concepts to create a state-of-the-art learning environment. The proposed STEM Center, with sophisticated tools, will add a whole new level of integrated learning for the students.

Recent reports contend the United States will have more than one million job openings in STEM-related fields by 2018; yet, according to the U.S. Bureau of Statistics, only 16 percent of U.S. bachelor?s degrees will major in STEM fields. The report said, as a nation, the U.S. is not producing nearly enough STEM graduates to supply current and future demand. However, strong efforts to build the University?s STEM program gives hope to solving this dilemma, in part, through the largest donation LTU has received in its 81-year history.

Innovation in technology-oriented education is not new to Lawrence Tech. The University pioneered a laptop computer program, providing hardware and software to students that they will use in the real world. Since most LTU students are already in the work force, they can easily transition from a classroom to the job and receive value immediately.

?We will continue to push boundaries for the traditional limited STEM programs as we see today in other Universities,? Moudgil said.

Moudgil said academic programs should be responsive to the needs of the workplace, a major incentive as to why the STEM efforts will reach out to ensure a positive impact in the Detroit economy. LTU plans to work closely with industry leaders and companies to bridge the gap from the University to the workplace. Moudgil said LTU will encourage collaboration, mentorship, and direction from industry to guide its efforts.

The new STEM Center will also enable Lawrence Tech to expand its STEM outreach programs to K-12 students. The ideal scenario is to introduce grade-school students to STEM subjects at a younger age in hopes of increasing young peoples? interest in this field. Through this approach, Moudgil said he hopes to attract new students to the University, while pushing graduating students to become more engaged, and thus, more successful in a STEM career. It is just one way that these efforts will positively affect the local community, he said.

The new vision of Lawrence Tech is to define STEM education with new initiatives that resonate among the next knowledge hungry generation, he said. The STEM Center will help find new ways to capitalize on synergies between different STEM-related disciplines.

Lawrence Technological University, http://www.ltu.edu, is a private university founded in 1932 that offers more than 100 programs through the doctoral level in its Colleges of Architecture and Design, Arts and Sciences, Engineering, and Management.

Nicole Johnson is spearheading MITechNews.Com’s efforts to publicize efforts to promote and develop more STEM education, particularly for women. If you have a STEM story idea for Johnson, email her at [email protected]