POTSDAM -- U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand announced legislation to help colleges, including Clarkson University, "strengthen their engineering programs to meet the demands of the modern manufacturing industry."

The Manufacturing Universities legislation authorizes the Department of Defense "to support training at U.S. universities to help equip students with skills to compete in the 21st century manufacturing workforce," GIllibrand said.

Universities would be selected through a competitive grant-based process and would tailor their educational curriculum to the needs of modern U.S. manufacturers. The provision passed the Senate as part of the Fiscal Year 2017 National Defense Authorization Act and now heads to the President for signature.

“The Manufacturing Universities legislation will give students many new opportunities and resources to pursue careers in manufacturing,” said Gillibrand. “I fought to include this provision in the NDAA because in recent years, high-tech manufacturing companies have struggled to find qualified prospective employees to fill open positions. This provision will help our manufacturers overcome this challenge and takes important steps to give students the skills they need to compete in the 21st century manufacturing workforce.”

The 2017 National Defense Authorization Act passed by Congress Dec. 6 authorizes the Department of Defense to support industry-relevant, manufacturing-focused engineering training at U.S. universities.

Universities and other participating organizations would be selected through a competitive grant-based process and required to better align their education programming with the needs of modern U.S. manufacturers, focusing engineering programs on development of industry-relevant advanced manufacturing skills, building new partnerships with manufacturing firms, growing hands-on training opportunities for students, and fostering manufacturing entrepreneurship.

This provision is based on the Manufacturing Universities Act backed by Gillibrand.