The University of Mississippi‘s new Industry Engagement Council is poised to maximize relationships between the university and private industry, creating strategic alliances that are beneficial to both. Mississippi industries such as Viking Range, in Greenwood, and Ingalls Shipbuilding, in Pascagoula, have partnered with the university’s Haley Barbour Center for Manufacturing Excellence. At Viking Range, a quartet of students looked at increasing the effectiveness of a 15-ton punch-press machine the company uses to fabricate metal. As a result of this partnership and the collaboration fostered by the IEC, the university has ongoing discussions with Ingalls and Viking regarding ways to empower workforce and community development for the region.
