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The University of New Haven announced it has acquired the Railroad Salvage property in West Haven. The acquisition includes the existing 130,000 square-foot building as well as the surrounding 12-acre lot located directly across from the university’s main campus.

"This acquisition signals a significant step in the strategic vision of the university and our intensified focus on preparing the next generation of an elite global workforce," said Jens Frederiksen, Ph.D., president of the University of New Haven. "The university has experienced tremendous growth over the past decades, and there is more demand than ever for our graduates and their unique blend of hands-on experience, can-do spirit, and drive to excel."

To meet this demand and to ensure that students are career-ready across every sector of industry, the university has launched numerous initiatives, including a preferred corporate partnership program and a requirement that all incoming students upload their resumes to a robust career management platform.

"Our new Research and Development Center will serve as a focal point for private industries to engage the university on an entirely new level." President Frederiksen

For President Frederiksen, this is part of the value proposition of an ever-evolving higher education sector, and, by extension, an institutional mandate to deliver a return on investment for University of New Haven students. The university has an outstanding tradition of promoting curricula and an overall experience that is deeply market-responsive, with an emphasis on experiential learning and continuing education.

In this spirit of bridging the divide between higher education and industry, the university intends to use the Railroad Salvage property to establish a pioneering research and development center that focuses on the state of Connecticut’s advanced manufacturing industries and the key intersection of university research, innovation, and workforce development.

Specifically, the Research and Development Center will look to stimulate the regional economy by delivering research products in emerging advanced manufacturing areas and providing workforce training to address the demand for skilled professionals in the field and an increasingly dynamic global labor force.

In addition to additive manufacturing, the emerging elements of advanced manufacturing embodied in Industry 4.0 — artificial intelligence (AI) and cybersecurity — will contribute to the pervasive needs of supply chain resiliency and Smart Industry Readiness.

"The University of New Haven has consistently ranked among the top 5 colleges and universities in Connecticut for research expenditures, with a growing national profile from major granting agencies such as the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, and the National Security Agency," said Michael H. Ambrose ’84, ’19 Hon., chair of the university’s Board of Governors who had a 38-year career at Sikorsky Aircraft, where he held many executive roles, including chief engineer and vice president of engineering & technology.

"This is a critical moment for the university to really amplify its impact, and this requires strategic capacity building," continued Ambrose. "This is arguably the most important long-term investment for the university in the coming decades, and we are very excited about the future. It is well documented that these are challenging times for higher education. It is imperative to strengthen the university’s comparative advantages while sharpening the focus on operational efficiency to promote a sustainable and resilient business model for the future. We envision this Research and Development Center as a key revenue-generating opportunity for the University."

The new Research and Development Center will align strategically with Connecticut’s need to support defense, biomedical, and other industries, strengthening the State’s objectives to maintain and grow its leadership role in these domains. It will bring together stakeholders in academia, government, and industry. Leveraging the expertise, diverse perspectives, and multidisciplinary talents of faculty, students, CEOs, managers, and technicians from small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) will permit cutting-edge research and practical real-world challenges to be simultaneously addressed.

"Our new Research and Development Center will serve as a focal point for private industries to engage the university on an entirely new level," said President Frederiksen. "By establishing a physical presence on campus, companies will have direct access to students, research, and innovation in a manner that will inspire new opportunities and untapped synergies. Programming the Center will remain a dynamic and ongoing process as projects and research agendas continually evolve. We are beyond excited about the possibilities for the Center and the multitude of ways that industries and organizations can partner to prepare the next generation of an elite global workforce."