“We are gratified to be able to bring our manufacturing and engineering expertise to the Energy Innovation Center and to expand on RMU’s work in meeting the needs of the Pittsburgh region’s workforce,” said Maria Kalevitch, Dean of the RMU School of Engineering, Mathematics and Science.“We all know the challenge that our hometown faces in educating and training highly qualified employees who will sustain the momentum that has made Pittsburgh a national model of economic revitalization. RMU is meeting that challenge head on,” said Kalevitch. The 200,000-square-foot Energy Innovation Center features research, education, and job training programs by the Pittsburgh region’s leading corporations, universities, and health care providers – including Covestro, Carnegie Mellon University, Penn State, and UPMC. The LEED Platinum certified building is a living laboratory for sustainable energy practices and technologies. “The EIC is eager for this collaboration to begin. We envision working with RMU on every element of this center’s mission,” said Robert Meeder, President and CEO of Pittsburgh Gateways Corporation, the nonprofit organization that founded, owns, and operates the Energy Innovation Center LP. “We are well aware of the university’s major strengths in energy, workforce development, innovation, corporate relationships and applied research,” said Meeder. The February 6 ribbon-cutting at the Energy Innovation Center also kicked off RMU’s celebration of the 20th anniversary of the School of Engineering, Mathematics and Science. The school opened in 1999 with 22 students and today enrolls approximately 900 students across 16 degree programs, including the state’s only ABET-accredited bachelor’s program in manufacturing engineering. The school is a partner in America Makes, a national public-private collaboration in 3D printing and additive manufacturing technology. It is also the home of RMU’s elite Actuarial Science program, one of only 17 in the United States designated a Center for Actuarial Excellence by the Society of Actuaries.