Portland Software Company Creates New Engineering Scholarships
Contact: Mohamad Musavi, (207) 581-2243
Ellis Corson, (207) 775-1660
George Manlove, (207) 581-3756
ORONO — The University of Maine’s Electrical and Computer Engineering Department will offer three new scholarships beginning this fall, thanks to the generosity of a Portland software development company, whose CEO says he wants to proactively help keep Maine young people in-state.
Kepware Technologies’ founder, president and chief executive officer Corson Ellis is providing UMaine’s Electrical and Computer Engineering Department three annual scholarships of $7,500 each for the foreseeable future, he says.
Kepware designs and builds drivers and other software that allows automated manufacturing equipment to communicate, and is growing at a 30 percent rate presently. Ellis plans to increase growth to 40 percent in the coming year. The company employs 45 people, up from 30 last year, and employs several UMaine engineering graduates. In the last two months, Kepware has hired two permanent employees and two co-ops from UMaine. Its vice president and chief technology officer Tony Paine is a graduate of the electrical engineering program at UMaine.
Ellis is concerned about what he views as “a crisis in education in the United States.”
“There isn’t enough support for engineering education,” he says. “If we don’t create more support, we’re going to lose more jobs overseas. The most important thing is that somebody’s got to step up to the plate and help American engineering students. We want to make it affordable. There are a lot of kids who cannot afford to go to engineering schools.”
Ellis adds that investing in the UMaine engineering scholarships “is an investment in the country and an investment for Maine so we can continue generating engineers. We want Maine kids to stay in Maine and work. And we’re interested in having a close relationship with the graduates so that we have a shot at hiring them. It’s a win-win-win situation.”
Information about the new scholarships is available on the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department website. Mohamad Musavi, chair of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, says the department will advertise the scholarships as students return to campus.
“These are among the top scholarships at the university,” he says. “It is also important for people to understand that while low-paying traditional jobs are being lost, new well-paying engineering jobs are being created in Maine by Kepware and other high technology companies.”