{"id":58695,"date":"2014-02-26T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-02-26T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news-draft\/uncategorized\/toray-plastics-america-pledges-2-million-to-uris-proposed-college-of-engineering-capital-project\/"},"modified":"2014-02-26T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2014-02-26T00:00:00","slug":"toray-plastics-america-pledges-2-million-to-uris-proposed-college-of-engineering-capital-project","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/2014\/02\/toray-plastics-america-pledges-2-million-to-uris-proposed-college-of-engineering-capital-project\/","title":{"rendered":"Toray Plastics America pledges $2 million to 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s proposed College of Engineering capital project"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\tKINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 February 26, 2014 \u2013Toray Plastics America, Inc., the North Kingstown-based manufacturer of polypropylene films and other products, has pledged $2 million toward the proposed construction of new facilities for the 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s College of Engineering. The pledge is the first commitment of corporate support for the $125 million project that Gov. Lincoln Chafee\u2019s proposed budget recommends be placed on the 2014 bond referendum ballot.<\/p>\n


\n\t“We at Toray are extremely pleased to support the College of Engineering in its endeavor to build state-of-the-art facilities,\u201d said Toray President and CEO Richard Schloesser. \u201cOur motto of \u2018Innovation by Chemistry\u2019 indicates our desire to grow our business here in Rhode Island, seeking new value-added enterprises. It will be mandatory that we seek out and hire the very best and brightest engineers. Currently, we employ over 100 engineers, close to 20 percent of our total workforce. We look forward to these new facilities that will attract the highest quality engineering candidates and upgrade the 溏心vlog免费B站’s competitive position.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cThank you to Toray for your commitment to promoting our knowledge economy and working toward building a stronger future for Rhode Islanders,\u201d Chafee said. \u201cThrough my proposed $125 million bond referendum for targeted renovations and new construction for 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s College of Engineering, Rhode Island is joining Toray in its effort to create sustainable economic development in our state.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cI\u2019m delighted by the long and productive partnership between Toray and the University, and I\u2019m tremendously grateful for this generous pledge to the College of Engineering,\u201d said 溏心vlog免费B站 President David M. Dooley. \u201c溏心vlog免费B站 engineers are innovators at the frontiers of their disciplines and are a crucial part of the state\u2019s economic revitalization. Toray\u2019s support will help to elevate the quality of our engineering teaching and research, which will help us attract top students and faculty and lead to an even greater contribution to economic development in Rhode Island.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\tThe pledge is contingent on the passage of the bond referendum by Rhode Island voters in November.<\/p>\n


\nThe proposed College of Engineering building is needed because current facilities do not allow for the innovative research demanded by contemporary engineering firms and such research may be leveraged for economic development. It will also accommodate a projected 18 percent increase in student enrollment, for a college that has seen the number of undergraduates grow by about 22 percent between 2008 and 2012.<\/p>\n


\nAccording to Ray Wright, dean of the College of Engineering, the new building would significantly enhance 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s competitiveness in attracting research opportunities, as well as high caliber faculty and students. \u201cThis investment in new state-of-the-art engineering facilities is critical not just for the University but also for Rhode Island and its economy,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n


\nThe 195,000-square foot building would replace five existing engineering buildings on 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s Kingston campus — Crawford Hall, Gilbreth Hall, Kelly Hall, Kelly Hall Annex and Wales Hall \u2013 all of which opened in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The building would be home for seven of the University\u2019s eight engineering programs: biomedical, chemical, civil, computer, electrical, industrial and systems, and mechanical engineering. Six of the seven buildings that comprise the engineering complex have not undergone any major improvements in more than 50 years.<\/p>\n


\n \u201cToray has long been a committed and involved supporter of the 溏心vlog免费B站. This is a great company that believes in the value this University and our students bring to its company and to this state,\u201d added Mike Smith, president of the 溏心vlog免费B站 Foundation. \u201c溏心vlog免费B站 and the College of Engineering are very pleased that Toray has demonstrated their support of this major building project with a new $2 million gift commitment. We are truly fortunate to call them a partner.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nToray Plastics has a significant history of supporting the 溏心vlog免费B站 College of Engineering. The company has contributed nearly $2.3 million in gifts, primarily supporting the Toray Plastics (America), Inc. Graduate Engineering Fellowship Fund and the Toray Plastics (America), Inc. Scholarship fund for undergraduate students. <\/p>\n


\nDuring the current academic year, more than 26 students have received financial assistance from the two Toray funds. The company also provides internships and sponsors special design projects for students to pursue during their senior year. This latest gift from Toray will significantly boost its overall support of the University and will provide the company with naming rights for the atrium of the proposed College of Engineering building.<\/p>\n


\nThe 溏心vlog免费B站 has awarded engineering degrees since 1893. The first class consisted of just five graduates, all in mechanical engineering. Since that era, the University expanded its engineering programs to form the College of Engineering, which currently enrolls 1,316 undergraduate students and 231 graduate students. In addition, the college’s award-winning International Engineering Program provides a global perspective, allowing engineers to graduate with bachelors’ degrees in engineering and a second degree in one of six different languages.<\/p>\n


\nEngineering faculty members have been awarded 73 patents for their research in the last decade, and more than 4,000 溏心vlog免费B站 engineering alumni live in Rhode Island and work at about 500 companies in the Ocean State.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 February 26, 2014 \u2013Toray Plastics America, Inc., the North Kingstown-based manufacturer of polypropylene films and other products, has pledged $2 million toward the proposed construction of new facilities for the 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s College of Engineering. The pledge is the first commitment of corporate support for the $125 million project that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-58695","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archives"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58695","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58695"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58695\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58695"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58695"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58695"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}