Wired To Grow

The shortage of information technology workers and engineers is being faced head-on in Nebraska, where a powerful partnership of community, business, government and academic leaders has created one of the most innovative technology and engineering complexes in the world. "The Peter Kiewit Institute is the best model I’ve seen in the nation to deal with the shortage of information technology workers," said Thomas Howell, program director of the National Science Foundation.

The new University of Nebraska Institute opened in June 1999 on a technology campus in Omaha shared with First Data Resources. It is a striking achievement of collaboration by the business and education communities of Nebraska.

The unique facility housing academic programs was created with goals to educate technology workers and engineers, retain the state’s brightest students, and become a world-class model for higher education in a state where people don’t need to look for jobs - jobs look for people. (Nebraska has the lowest unemployment rate in the nation).

Business interest in educating information technology workers and engineers intensified in 1992 after studies conducted by the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce indicated that much of the city’s future growth would be found in these high technology fields. The companies were here. The challenge was to train qualified workers. At the time, technology education was sparse in Omaha.

The need for expanded technology education was also a goal of the University which was able to respond to the business community with unprecedented speed. University of Nebraska President L. Dennis Smith and the Board of Regents made the Institute their number one priority.

Within eight months, courses from four departments in two separate colleges and two campuses were combined to create a new Institute of Information Science, Technology and Engineering. At the same time, the University and business community lobbied successfully for a $23 million appropriation from the state legislature to construct the new facility.

Business leaders saw a golden opportunity presented by First Data, one of Nebraska’s largest employers. A major credit card processor, First Data was considering a new technical facility if they could build on land across from their headquarters and co-locate with a University of Nebraska technology institute. FDR’s planned expansion in Omaha would create 2,000 jobs within five years.

The land owned by Douglas County had been used for a pari-mutuel horse racing track, which was losing money. But horseracing interests wanted to maintain their turf, and gambling interests wanted to expand gaming. Those were some of the obstacles to turning a 64-year-old horse track into a technology campus.

What brought attention to Omaha during the creation of the Institute is how the entire business community coalesced around the project. Led by the Omaha Chamber, business leaders formed a response team of community leaders to remove obstacles and secure the approvals needed. The Knights of Ak-Sar-Ben, a philanthropic group, forgave a debt held on the property. Even the area’s neighborhood groups went to bat for the campus, holding meetings and gathering signatures on petitions.

Thousands of people called their county commissioner in support of the project. Hundreds showed up at meetings to testify in support. Nebraska’s governor and legislative leaders announced budgetary support for the Institute. Omaha’s mayor and city council approved all zoning and tax increment financing plans.

New Year’s Eve 1996 gave the partners plenty to celebrate. That day, the Douglas County Board voted 6 to 1 to sell the property it owned to First Data. First Data promptly donated 70 acres of the land, valued at $5 million, to the University of Nebraska.

At the first sight of blueprints for the Institute, the University of Nebraska Foundation worked with the business community to raise $47 million of the $70 million needed for the initiative. The State of Nebraska appropriated the remaining $23 million as part of the state’s capital construction bill. The bill was signed into law by former Gov. Ben Nelson.

The Institute’s "virtual" groundbreaking on Sept. 10, 1997 was linked by satellite to Scottsbluff, a city on the western edge of Nebraska, to emphasize the statewide mission of the Institute. Groundbreaking for First Data’s 282,000-square-foot facility was on July 11, 1997.

The colleges that are housed in the Peter Kiewit Institute are the newly formed College of Information Science and Technology at the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) and the College of Engineering and Technology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL). The Institute’s role is to build synergy and collaboration between the two colleges and business and industry.

"The idea is to find ways we can have joint program offerings, joint research, and joint efforts between the faculty so we truly overlap and collaborate," said Winnie Callahan, the Institute’s executive director.

"The engineering professions have been pioneers in developing ways to effectively use computer technology," said Paul Seaburg, associate dean of the College of Engineering and Technology. "This synergism between Information Science Technology and our college opens new doors for each of us. It is amazing how cooperation blossoms when we share the same building."

The Institute’s new building opened in June 1999. A full complement of classes will begin in fall 1999; however, classes have already been held at other sites. The Institute was formed by charter in December 1995.

In July 1996, courses from four departments at the University of Nebraska at Omaha were combined into the new college of Information Science and Technology. This new college and the well-established College of Engineering and Technology collaborated with business and industry to create the Institute. A task force was formed at that time, comprised equally of business and academic leaders.

"The task force recommended new curricula that reflect the requirement for technical expertise as well as other skill sets necessary in the business world such as problem solving, group process, ethics, and handling and manipulation of data," Callahan said.

By making a lead gift of $15 million, the nonprofit Peter Kiewit Foundation was instrumental in ensuring the success of the initiative. The Institute was named for the late Chairman of Peter Kiewit Sons’ Inc., a Fortune 500 company located in Omaha that is one of the nation’s largest and most respected construction organizations. ;

A unique aspect of the University’s Institute is its willingness to partner with business, according to Kathy Eftekhari, director of education partnerships for First Data Resources. "Colleges have a reputation for being slow to change. But from the Institute I have seen an incredible willingness to work with the business community. I haven’t seen this at many colleges."

NU President Smith sees a willingness to work with the business community as vital. "Our responsibility is to provide the kind of training that businesses need to remain competitive in a global economy," he said. "The best way to do that is to interact with the business community."

The business community wants to be a partner with education. Business leaders have been continually proactive about growing their own talent in a city with 1,600 information technology positions and scores of engineering slots open at any given time in a state with the lowest percentage of unemployed persons in the nation.

In 1996, when the Kiewit Institute was just an idea, more than 250,000 vacant technology jobs were available in the United States. That number is growing by an estimated 90,000 workers per year. ;

"In all my travels, I’ve never seen an opportunity like the one you have. This is an opportunity to become the school of the future for information science and engineering," said Chuck Alexander, then president of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. He predicted that the Kiewit Institute in Omaha will become a national center for scientists and engineers.

"Omaha is probably one of the more advanced communities in the country when it comes to education and career initiatives, particularly in the area of information technology and engineering," said Peter Creticos of the National Alliance of Business in Chicago.

Business and Industry Unite with Academia;"In order to remain vital and viable, universities must respond to the changing needs of the people and communities they serve," said James Moeser, chancellor of the University of Nebraska — Lincoln. "Helping to grow the future workforce for Nebraska business and industry is a commitment we are making to the economic health of Nebraska."

"The Peter Kiewit Institute is probably the best thing that’s happened to businesses," said Jerry Wakefield, director of distance learning and student internships at the University’s Omaha campus. "It’s getting business involved in curricula development and other things. The most unique part in the level of technology that has been donated by U S West and Cisco Systems is being able to capture, store and deliver distance learning."

Mutual of Omaha, which gave $1 million to the Institute, also is giving time. Jim Hansen, Mutual’s chief information officer, is one of the first members of the new technology advisory group to the College of Information Science and Technology. ;

"They are seeking input from the business community, determining what we want in the student and trying to adapt their curriculum to what is needed," said Hansen. "That provides a much more rounded student who is going to be able to hit the ground running. This is unique. Other cities are trying to model that now."

Mutual is giving students at the Institute real-world experience through a current project carried out with IBM. ;"The College of IS&T will provide students to execute the project. IBM will provide the hardware and software resources. And we provide the project, a real-world business problem they can apply and take back to the college," Hansen said.

"The Institute in Omaha is unique in how they’ve pulled all the schools together," said Paula Dawning, general manager for AT&T in a four-state Midwest area. AT&T became an early partner with the Institute. "We connected them to our laboratories and have an ’angel’ designated," she said. "The angel (a company representative) consults on curriculum development and becomes an expert in residence." The AT&T Foundation also awarded a grant to the Institute. ;

"We’re working with the Peter Kiewit Institute on joint research to identify emerging wireless and intelligent network architectures as well as implement appropriate training," said Linda Wostrel, senior manager, product marketing for Compaq Telecom Wireless Division headquarters in Omaha. Compaq also plans to provide student internships and is exploring faculty-to- business as well as business-to-university relationships. ;

"The Institute is very progressive in its approach to bringing in qualified wireless intelligent network (IN) people," Wostrel said. "Universities across the nation are looking at what they’re doing here as a beacon for other universities to emulate."

The company that gave Nebraska its jump start toward a first-class technology institute, First Data Resources, continues active involvement with its campus neighbor. A University of Nebraska consultant, Professor Yong Shi, carried out a project with First Data’s analytics group on multiple criteria decision-making and decision tree in credit card portfolio management. The company also offers faculty fellowships to give instructors a better understanding of how First Data utilizes technology.

"They get hands-on experience so their students don’t know more than they do," said Kathy Eftekhari of First Data. "We anticipate more of that," she said. "Right now our partnership with the Institute is in creating current and future employees. The University has created, not only for us but other businesses, a mainframe curriculum track." As of March 1999, First Data employed 50 interns; two-thirds of them are technical.

"I can’t speak highly enough of the (University of Nebraska’s) Institute’s desire to work with us and understand what we want entry-level employees to have under their belt when they graduate," Eftekhari said.Experts in Residence

Some of America’s premier high-tech companies loan their top information technology experts to the Institute to provide a real-world element to the academic mix. Jimmie Haines, a 45-year veteran with the Boeing Corp, became the Institute’s first "expert in residence" in 1997, spending a year there. Haines noted that he knew of no other educational institution in the country that had taken such a dramatic step in working with business and industry in shaping a curriculum.

Although Boeing had lent executives to other colleges, the experience in Omaha was a first for IBM. The company sent software engineering consultant, Bill O’Brien, to spend half of his time in Omaha helping University of Nebraska administrators develop courses of study. He identifies areas of the curriculum where IBM can lend expertise and brings in other IBM specialists for specific projects. IBM had spent a year studying universities in which to invest IBM resources. O’Brien said Nebraska was a "hands-down winner."

"I visited many universities across the nation to select one worthy of spending IBM resources. The Peter Kiewit Institute was my clear choice," he said. "The principal players here have vision, and the Institute is at least one full year ahead of any other institution in the country in terms of actual implementation," O’Brien said at the news conference announcing the partnership.

The experts-in-residence help faculty stay current on technology and offer a business perspective in shaping curriculum.

An Offer Hard to Refuse: Scholarships, Grants, Internships;The Peter Kiewit Institute is weaving together a web of incentives that makes it hard for students to turn down. Scholarships, financial support, mentors, internships each year with local technology companies, and opportunities to work on research projects give students more than enough reasons to select the Institute for their education.

One major appeal to many students are the Scott Scholarships, provided by the private foundation of Walter Scott, Jr., chairman emeritus of Peter Kiewit Sons’ Inc., chairman of Level 3 Communications and chair of the Institute’s board of policy advisors.

The four-year Scott Scholarships are awarded annually to outstanding high school students in Nebraska and western Iowa who are pursuing degrees from one of the two colleges at the Institute: the new UNO College of Information Science and Technology and the UNL College of Engineering and Technology.

Students receive scholarships from $3,500 to $7,500 annually for four years if they maintain at least a 3.2 grade point average. But that’s not all they receive. A stipend for room and board is provided for out-of-town scholars. Scholars benefit from the help of two mentors, one from the college and one from a business in their field of interest. Based on their academic achievement, many also receive personal computer systems from Omaha-based Inacom Inc.

One of the first Scott Scholars is sophomore Chris Wittrey of Blair, Neb., who wants to be a computer engineer. He looked at three other schools, including MIT, before choosing the Peter Kiewit Institute in Omaha. He said the University of Nebraska engineering program is as good as MIT’s and will be as well known in a few years.

"I chose Omaha because there was a good chance I’d have an internship for the full four years of college. Businesses work really closely with the school. I get the corporate knowledge and come out of school ready to hop into a better position than normal."

Grants totaling more than $100,000 have been made available to faculty and students. The Walter and Suzanne Scott Foundation presented entrepreneurial grants of $10,000 each to five proposals selected from those submitted by institute students. Two women seniors who proposed designing and building a steel bridge were among the first to receive grants. The grants are intended to stimulate creativity.

"Walter Scott thought that if a student had a great idea for a business entrepreneurial startup and needed seed money, we ought to provide the needed funds," Callahan said.

The Omaha World-Herald Foundation also initiated grants in 1998 for University of Nebraska faculty and business and industry representatives to work on engineering, information science and technology projects. The grants are intended to jump-start the collaboration between the College of Engineering and Technology and the College of Information Science and Technology. Faculty members spend time in the business world learning about high-tech problems facing industry.

Companies are eager to provide internships to Institute students in order to keep the best and brightest at home. The internships are three-pronged, Callahan said. Students work more than 15 hours a week in the technology world, get academic credit and get paid. The faculty fellow program sends instructors out into the business world, where they both contribute and bring back knowledge of the real world to their students. The third prong is a business internship program. People from business and industry come into the university setting for special projects, teaching and collaborative research.A Campus Tour and Look Inside A Unique Institute

Spreading out on land where horses once hoofed it to the finish line are the Peter Kiewit Institute, an active sports field, and a high-tech First Data Resources building. A residence hall for students and a conference center will be added in fall 1999, and there is consideration of another building to house a research and technology facility.

Inside the Peter Kiewit Institute are programs being used as models by other schools throughout the nation. A stop at the 192,000-square-foot structure is rewarded by a wide-open view of a unique building that is, at the same time, a teaching tool. A look up shows exposed connections and cross braces indicative of the building design that enables the entire space to serve as a living laboratory.

In other buildings, the infrastructure is hidden. At the Institute, it is openly displayed so students learn from the electrical wiring, the heating and cooling systems, computer networking and other facets of the building’s construction. Using computers, students can make changes in a system’s setting and watch the effects, such as the changes in air flow, water pressure or temperature.

Visible from outside is a large, sloped roof area that houses the Structures Laboratory, another unique component at the Institute. A 25-ton overhead movable crane allows materials to be put in place inside the 5,000-square-foot area. Structural assemblies for bridges or buildings can be tested for strength and design integrity against a react ion wall that can withstand 600,000 pounds of pressure.

"No one that we’re aware of has a similar facility," Callahan said.

On first entering, visitors see a two-story, collaborative, computer-user laboratory with inside rooms for special applications by smaller groups. Students work as teams. Visitors from around the country say the lab will serve as a model for other institutes.

Engineers from local companies come to the facility to conduct experiments. Telecommunications companies donated the equipment in the telecom labs, which are designed to be easily upgraded without significant reconfiguration. These labs put technology and engineering education in the grasp of every Nebraskan and others throughout the nation.

"We have the capability to deliver distance learning through the Nebraska Educational Telecommunications satellite system to facilities that have downlink capabilities, including the learning centers at the community colleges and state colleges," said Jerry Wakefield, director of UNO’s distance learning and student internships. "We will start offering interactive distance learning classes this fall."

Through articulation agreements with community colleges and the three state colleges, the Institute is enhancing the other colleges’ programs.

The Institute uses the Internet, fiber-optic cable and satellite communications for distance learning. U S West has donated equipment for the three distance learning rooms with a value of more than $500,000.

The building is designed to foster the planned overlap between the information science and engineering colleges. An example is the second floor laboratory for faculty and graduate assistants, which focuses on architectural engineering for heating and air conditioning. Students majoring in information systems better understand how design hardware is used through the crossover with engineering.

Another unique example of crossover takes place in the transportation laboratory, where a three-year, surveillance study of traffic along some of Omaha’s busiest streets starts this fall. Undergraduate students in civil engineering team with electronic engineering students to manipulate the hardware and students from computer science in managing the data.

With all the intelligent transportation systems now in use, students need to know how to work with transportation systems in a smarter way," said Dr. Libby Jones, assistant professor of civil engineering, who heads up the transportation lab. "Transportation engineering anymore is a multidisciplinary field. We’ve designed the laboratory so it integrates research and education environments and makes it accessible to undergraduate students."

"We can do things other universities cannot, because we have this stream of data," she said. "Other universities have transportation labs, but it’s my understanding that they’re not bringing in computer scientists and network engineers, students and instructors to deal with database management and so on."

On the third floor, a special projects laboratory can be reconfigured for business use. The laboratory can serve eight to 10 companies at one time.

"We’re striving for niche engineering and information science technology that result in fast, efficient solutions to business problems," Callahan said. "Our partnerships involve a whole arena of disciplines."

"The Decision Support Room is indicative of what we’re attempting to do," said Tom McClung, interim dean of the College of Information Science and Technology. "We have the capability to interface with business and industry through technology. We can have students working on real-life problems being addressed by industry. Students learn how to work in group settings and use what is relevant in the business world.

"For example, we look at how a company manufactures a product to see if a curriculum can be developed to allow a better process using information technology. This involves business and industry representatives, students and faculty from both colleges," he said. "We’ve put together a model that can be emulated across the country between the academic and business worlds," McClung said. "Pulling together engineering and information science and technology so we can collaborate across those disciplines and concurrently build interdisciplinary programs is unique.";

On the third floor are laboratories with so much high-voltage equipment that furniture, doors, and even the students must be grounded. Students wear special bracelets. Copper wire runs through the floor tiles of the Twin Telecom Laboratories.

Joining the complex this fall will be a four-story residence hall of four-bedroom apartments and an adjacent building with multipurpose meeting rooms for classes and seminars. The $15 million facility will house 164 students on the east side of the sprawling technology campus in mid-town Omaha.

The residence hall and conference building will be built under a lease arrangement with the Suzanne and Walter Scott Foundation. Under the arrangement approved by the University of Nebraska Board of Regents, the nonprofit foundation will turn the buildings over to the university after 40 years.

Scott Scholarship students, who now number 100, will receive first priority for the rooms on the technology campus. Space in the residence hall also will be used to temporarily house visiting scholars, experts-in-residence and faculty.

On the main UNO campus, a residence hall for 576 university students also will open this fall. The residence halls are the first for the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

Under discussion is a proposal for another building on campus that would be a research and tech transfer facility. "We’re in the process of conceptualizing a technology facility that would also be an incubator for startup companies and an applied research center," Callahan said. "We’re taking the concept to business to determine their interest and validate our focus." Leaders and Visionaries

The collaborative interest of the business community did not end with the creation of the Peter Kiewit Institute. Business leaders participate on the Institute’s Board of Policy Advisors, made up of 11 members from business and industry. They are appointed by NU President L. Dennis Smith,

The Board meets quarterly to address issues ranging from finance to education. Members make sure the business community remains supportive, and that the Institute remains responsive to business needs. Walter Scott Jr. chairs the group.

Representatives from both the Lincoln and Omaha campuses make up the Coordinating Council for the Institute. The Council, chaired by a vice chancellor for academic affairs from each university campus, meets monthly to oversee the academic planning and governance of the Institute.

Faculty members from both colleges make up the Faculty Advisory Committee, which looks for ways the colleges can partner. Both colleges also have Business Advisory Committees, which contribute ideas and act as a sounding board for initiatives and innovative change. Academy of Excellence

Support for students begins even before they start college. Forty of Nebraska’s top high school sophomores in math and science will spend a week at the Institute in July. Each student will bring along his or her favorite math or science teacher to participate in a new initiative called "The Academy of Excellence."

"This pilot program will be a week of hands-on experiences in different program areas," Callahan said. "We will familiarize students and teachers with the types of learning opportunities in the field of IST&E and the companies that are hiring. A part of our plan is to encourage them to take higher level science and math classes in their high school junior and senior years."Business Seminar Series;In January 1999, the Institute, in partnership with the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce kicked off what will be an annual seminar series for students attending the Institute. Some of Omaha’s top CEO’s attended the first in a four-part series, when the topic was economic development and job searches.

Students rubbed elbows at dinner with high-profile executives such as construction executive Bob Campos; Bill Henry, executive vice president of First National Bank, and Mogens Bay, president of Valmont Industries. The series is designed to give students networking opportunities as well as knowledge of business practices not covered in their fields of study.Omaha’s High-Tech History

People not knowledgeable about Omaha’s history are surprised at the abundance of technology companies in the area. The foundation for the city’s technology future was laid in 1948 when the Strategic Air Command (now called U.S. Strategic Command) was established at Offutt Air Force Base near Omaha. A sophisticated telecommunications infrastructure was put in place to support SAC’s defense mission in the Cold War.

Fifty years later, development for commercial use has produced one of the most advanced telecom infrastructures in the nation in Omaha’s five-county metropolitan area. Omaha companies benefit from access to major east-west and north-south fiber-optic lines; Omaha was among the first cities in the nation to develop a fiber-optic cable network.The Peter Kiewit Institute’s Unique Partnership;;;;;;;

The unusual partnership that created one of the most innovative technology complexes in the world included:

• University of Nebraska, a statewide system of more than 50,000 students on four campuses, created the $70 million (including public and private funding) initiative. The Peter Kiewit Institute will provide education statewide, using the latest in distance learning technologies.;

• First Data Resources. One of Nebraska’s largest private employers got the ball rolling with a proposal to share a technology campus with the University of Nebraska. FDR invested $10 million to acquire the property, donating half of the land to the University of Nebraska.

• A Community Response Team made up of civic and business leaders and organized by the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce took the lead to rally the business community. Business leaders set a goal to raise $47 million in private funds for construction, equipment, scholarships and recruitment of top-caliber faculty for the Peter Kiewit Institute.
• The Nebraska State Legislature unanimously voted "yes" to provide $23 million in state funds toward the construction of the building and also provides ongoing financial support for its operation. State tax increment financing also gave the project impetus.
• Douglas County approved the sale of the Ak-Sar-Ben land, which the county owned, for $10 million, after thorough debate, negotiations and public hearings.
• The City of Omaha’s approval of tax increment financing was key to building infrastructure that will accommodate the new campus. The city’s investment totals $8 million.
• The Knights of Ak-Sar-Ben, which sold the land to Douglas County in 1994, forgave a total of $22.75 million in debt as its contribution toward the technology project. The 100-year-old philanthropic group forgave a $10 million promissory note, and $12.75 million was donated to the project by bond holders.
• Aksarben Future Trust. Key to the future of the plan was the formation of a seven-member group made up of business, community, government and university representatives to oversee the use of the remaining 200 acres of Aksarben land, including a coliseum, for recreation and other future use.

• Neighborhood associations in the area raised 6,000 signatures in 72 hours to support the project, and the community as a whole responded to newspaper ads, 9 to 1 in favor of the project.

Omaha’s Technology Companies;;Omaha’s reputation as a center of technology draws companies to its borders every year.

Of the six Fortune 500 companies with headquarteres in Omaha, five are heavy technology users: Mutual of Omaha, ConAgra Inc., Inacom Inc., Peter Kiewit Sons’ Inc. and Union Pacific Corporation. (Union Pacific’s corporate office will complete its move to Omaha in July 1999 to join its subsidiary, Union Pacific Railroad. The railroad’s headquarters has been in Omaha since the 1860s.) The other Fortune 500 company in Omaha is Berkshire Hathaway, founded by Warren Buffett, the company’s legendary chairman, who makes his home in Omaha.

"Only 10 other cities have more Fortune 500 companies than Omaha," said Rod Moseman, vice president of economic development for the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce. "We’re tied with such cities as Los Angeles, Minneapolis and Boston."