The University of Central Florida will expand energy research and workforce development with the help of a longtime partner.
Siemens Energy signed on Oct. 28 as the school’s latest Pegasus Partnership, an enhanced agreement UCF has reached with several companies, including Orlando Health, AdventHealth, Nemours Children’s Health and Addition Financial.
As a part of the deal, Siemens Energy will provide at least $5 million to help students prepare for careers in the industry and more.
The Germany-based company already funded $13 million in research at the school since 1996, and more than 900 UCF alumni are employed by the company. Siemens Energy has more than 3,500 Central Florida employees, according to Orlando Business Journal research.
Siemens Energy expanded its Orlando Innovation Center in 2022 from 17,000 to 30,000 square feet, so it could grow its partnerships with the private sector as well as universities like UCF.
Rich Voorberg, president of Siemens Energy for North America, told Orlando Business Journal that the partnership is important to meet its need for workforce. In North America at any given time, it has more than 600 to 1,000 open requisitions for staff on average.
“We need these types of partnerships,” Voorberg said. “We’re announcing new factories and growing consistently and the biggest question I get from a lot of people and some of my leaders in Europe is if we have enough people. That’s a concern we have worldwide.”
Florida has the nation’s fourth-most energy industry workers, with 351,934, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. The state added 9,562 jobs from 2022 to 2023.
“We are both deeply committed to advancing energy technologies and preparing the next generation of leaders in energy, strengthening the workforce in an industry critical to our state and nation’s future,” UCF President Alexander Cartwright said in a prepared statement.
Winston Schoenfeld, vice president for research and innovation with the college, told OBJ that the goal is to break down the barrier between the university and industry. Cartwright has a stated plan to have the university be an entity where businesses are combined with UCF in such a way that people don’t recognize where each entity begins or ends.
“If you are talking about these sandboxes you create where industry and academia are working together, that requires a lot of trust, but that requires a common interest of value that both see,” Schoenfeld said. “When we look for partners, we look for like-minded types who are truly interested in engaging at a level where we could not do by ourselves.”
Meanwhile, the university aims to be among the top 25 public research universities in the country. UCF wants to increase annual research and development expenditures from $239 million in 2022 to $350 million in 2027, as well as grow full-time equivalent faculty from 1,787 in 2022 to 2,100 in 2027.