High Tech By Jim Sluss, Ph.D., interim president, University of Oklahoma – Tulsa
The nature of work is changing as new technologies and automation are continually introduced into the workplace, necessitating an educated workforce that has the skills, training and adaptability for learning to meet the needs of high-tech job creators. With significant foresight, leaders from the business, government, nonprofit and higher education communities joined forces many years ago to respond and, as a result, regional access to higher education, particularly in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) programs, has never been better. The Tulsa Regional STEM Alliance works to grow the pipeline of preK-12 students that are academically ready to pursue higher education, whether at the college level or with a focus toward a skilled high-tech trade. High school graduates living in Tulsa County are eligible to receive 100% funding for tuition and fees to attend Tulsa Community College (TCC) through the Tulsa Achieves scholarship program, making TCC an ideal starting point for collegebound students. The Tulsa Higher Education Consortium, with generous support from the Schusterman Family Philanthropies, brings TCC together with six area universities to improve transfer student success for those moving on to pursue bachelor’s degrees. Coupled with a broad offering of STEM-focused master’s and doctoral research degree programs, this nextgeneration workforce can meet the needs of current and future job creators.
with industry, government and nonprofit organizations. For example, as a founding partner, GKFF recently committed an initial $50 million to establish Tulsa Innovation Labs (TIL) to bring strategic focus to Tulsa’s economic development activities in the hightech domain. The University of Tulsa (TU), which has long been at the forefront of research and education in cyber security, recently partnered with TIL to establish the Cyber Innovation Institute at the TU School of Cyber Studies. To create a pipeline of qualified students, TIL partnered with TCC to establish the Cyber Analytics and Skills Center. Oklahoma State University-Tulsa has a robust materials science and engineering program developing advanced materials for energy, medical, electronics, aerospace and defense technologies. The University of Oklahoma-Tulsa is a leader in self-organizing and 5G cellular networks incorporating artificial intelligence, machine learning and big data analytics, as well as testing the susceptibility of medical devices to interference from wireless networks.
The 21st century innovation environment is exemplified by disruption, the acceleration of technology development, and easy access to information on a global scale. Tulsa is prepared for this environment and tomorrow’s high-tech researchers and innovators — engineers, scientists, technologists and health care professionals — can be found today in the classrooms and laboratories of Tulsa’s comprehensive research universities, regional universities, community colleges, technology centers, and primary and secondary schools.
Jennifer Hankins works for Tulsa Innovation Labs, an organization to bring strategic focus to Tulsa’s economic development activities in the high-tech domain.
To retain this talent, the Tulsa Regional Chamber, the City of Tulsa and the George Kaiser Family Foundation (GKFF) have launched Campus Tulsa, a new initiative to encourage college graduates to begin their careers in the Tulsa region and create diverse and inclusive work environments in which they can thrive. Tulsa’s research community is growing, fostered by leading-edge investigations into focus areas such as cybersecurity, aerospace and defense, health and biosciences, advanced materials, energy technology and data analytics. This research is being conducted within our comprehensive universities in partnership
|
tulsacouncil.org V I S I O N T U L S A 2 0 2 2
83
