Central State awarded $90,000 for diversity opportunity in science

Students going to classes on the campus of Central State University Monday Nov. 4, 2022. MARSHALL GORBY\STAFF

Students going to classes on the campus of Central State University Monday Nov. 4, 2022. MARSHALL GORBY\STAFF

Central State University’s College of Science, Engineering, Technology and Agriculture was recently awarded nearly $90,000 in funding and in-kind gifts that will help pay for training for future scientists and engineers from minority backgrounds. The university will work with Ohio State University on the initiative.

Abayomi Ajayi-Majebi, professor of Manufacturing Engineering at Central State University, said the Central State and Ohio State partnership program will focus on using data for public interest, with a focus on public health. Students will also have opportunities to present their experiential learning findings and research results at local and regional professional conferences.

“Through this partnership we will develop a paid internship program for at least four CSU undergraduate students who will work together with OSU students to address a public interest challenge,” Ajayi-Majebi said.

The university is one of 18 universities and colleges sharing $2.3 million from the Public Interest Technology University Network, a partnership that unites colleges and universities committed to building the field of public interest technology. Central State said the program will increase exposure to data science and analytics methods and techniques for students and address minority gaps in the workforce.

“The United States workforce will reach its optimum production capacity when all the nation’s talent is fully engaged,” said Morakinyo Kuti, Ph.D., dean of CSU’s science, agriculture and technology college, and director of Land-Grant Programs at CSU. “Central State University is proud to collaborate with other institutions of higher education to provide opportunities for underrepresented groups in the technology space.”

The 18 universities that have been awarded grants this year include Cal Poly State University, Case Western Reserve, Cleveland State University, George Washington University, Georgetown University, Georgia Institute of Technology, Georgia State University, Howard University, LeMoyne-Owen College, Miami Dade College, Northeastern University, Rochester Institute of Technology, Stillman College, The Ohio State University/Central State University partnership, University of California Santa Cruz, University of Chicago, University of Michigan, and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

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