Collins Aerospace aims to redefine futures in Iowa with $210,000 donation for STEM education

• Investment supports Collins Aerospace’s goal of inspiring students in K-12 to pursue career opportunities in engineering and technology
  
• Donations to NewBoCo, Kirkwood Community College and the Iowa Children’s Museum

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (March 12, 2020) - Collins Aerospace Systems, a unit of United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX), has announced a commitment of $210,000 to support Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education programs in Iowa.

A grant of $100,000 will go to NewBoCo to support its K-12 computer coding workshops and engineering project learning programs, which provide hands-on experience and aim to inspire youth to pursue STEM-related fields. A portion of the donation will go towards supporting NewBoCo’s Code.org program which, through professional and curriculum development, aims to ensure every child in Iowa has access to computer programming courses in school.

Kirkwood Community College will receive $60,000 to support two major STEM initiatives. The first is the school’s Project Lead the Way program that gives students a chance to tackle real-world engineering challenges, preparing them for a degree in a STEM-related field. K-12 work-based learning programs will also be supported with the donation, which gives students a chance to experience a real job in the industry before entering college.

A donation of $50,000 will also go to the Iowa Children’s Museum in Coralville, Iowa. The funds will be used to support the museum’s ‘STEM Smart’ programming and revitalize the museum's ‘Take Flight’ exhibit.

The donations are part of the company’s corporate social responsibility program called Redefining Futures, which helps focus the company’s efforts to increase its impact locally and globally by aligning resources. One of the key pillars of the program is to focus on engaging and inspiring youth, with an emphasis on improving the under-representation of girls and minorities, to enter STEM fields.

Based on a recent report released from the Iowa STEM Council, there were over 14,000 STEM job vacancies statewide. From 2017 to 2019, enrollment in high school engineering and technology courses decreased by 7-percent.

“To meet the workforce demands of tomorrow, we must begin building a pipeline of talent today,” said Phil Jasper, president, Missions Systems for Collins Aerospace. “We, no doubt, will continue to see an increase in jobs requiring STEM-related skills, particularly in Iowa. With investments in STEM education programs, Collins Aerospace is playing a key role in inspiring kids at an early age to become the next great innovators.”