Dean Humphrey, student quoted in Press Herald article on state’s need for engineers
The University of Maine College of Engineering was mentioned in a Portland Press Herald article about the state’s rising need for engineers. According to a UMaine analysis, the Maine economy has gained more than 800 new engineering jobs in the last decade, and each engineer working in the state adds $560,000 to Maine’s gross domestic product. However, approximately 27 percent of Maine’s engineering workforce is 55 or older, laying the groundwork for impending shortages, said Dana Humphrey, dean of the College of Engineering. With intense national competition for recent engineering graduates, Maine companies look primarily to the college to recruit new employees, according to the article. “If Maine thinks it can solve its shortage of engineers by bringing them in from other places, it is not going to happen,” Humphrey added. “It is going to have to produce its own.” Gregory Smiddy, who will graduate from UMaine in May, already has a job lined up at Pratt and Whitney in North Berwick, the article states. The job lets him work in aviation and keeps him close to his family, Smiddy said. “I really lucked out; I couldn’t be happier with my position once I get out of school,” he said. “To be able to stay in Maine and have a job I really like is something else, it is amazing.” UMaine is the dominant source for engineering degrees in the state, the article states. Enrollment at the college has increased 74 percent since 2001. Humphrey said an incoming freshman class has 450–500 students.