By LESLIE EIKLEBERRY
Salina Post
U.S. Senator Jerry Moran was in Salina this morning to help Kansas State University Salina Aerospace and Technology Campus announce the largest corporate gift to an academic program in K-State history.
The $10 million gift from General Atomics Aeronautical Systems will enable K-State Salina to create the General Atomics Aerospace Innovation Ramp, a first in the campus's aerospace history.
Headquartered in San Diego, General Atomics is the world leader in unmanned aerial systems. The company invents and pioneers modern solutions in a variety of areas, including military, security, governance, and environmental operations, according to information on the company's website.
The announcement was the first of a number of announcements to occur over the next several years concerning changes to make K-State Salina one of the premier learning spaces in the country for aerospace education, according to K-State Salina Dean Alysia Starkey.
"For the last three years, the campus has been conversing with industry partners to determine future workforce needs and working to adjust programmatic offerings for the aerospace needs of the future. The new campus master plan and planned developments will anchor the teaching and research activities of the new aerospace programs in the years to come," K-State Salina noted in a news release.
"There's always a huge challenge to attract talent into this very technically complex business," said Linden Blue, General Atomics CEO. "We're competing within the country. We're competing worldwide. So it's a great pleasure to be a part of Kansas State and what you're trying to do here for the aviation industry."
Since 2017, K-State Salina and General Atomics "have collaborated on projects focused on advancing the aerospace industry," the news release noted.
Moran said that the idea that came about several years ago had become much more significant.
"Significant for K-State Salina, significant for Kansas State, but most important to all of us, significant to this State of Kansas, and our nation," Moran said. "Kansas State University, when it is doing well, the State of Kansas does well. The good news here is today that Kansas State University, and particularly K-State Salina, is advancing a cause that will be significantly changing the nature of opportunities for people here at this institution."
The innovation ramp will encompass the southernmost portion of the K-State Salina campus and transform its footprint, revitalizing land that was home to the former Schilling Air Force Base, Starkey said. The innovation ramp will include the area west of Scanlan Avenue and north of Beechcraft Road.
K-State Salina's campus master plan calls for this space to eventually also be home to the Kansas Advanced Simulation Center, the K-State Salina Advanced Air Mobility Center of Excellence, Aviation Maintenance Training Center, Advanced Composites Lab and a state-of-the-art engineering teaching facility and model factory, according to information from K-State Salina.