July 25, 2012
By Budd McLaughlin, The Huntsville Times
HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- The Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne NASA Mentor-Protégé agreement with Alabama A&M has been called historic by officials with the aerospace company and the university.
"These landmark partnerships have a significant impact on our ability to provide our students the experiences that make them competitive," said A&M President Dr. Andrew Hugine.
"We welcome the opportunity to play an integral role in the continued success of this project with NASA and Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne."
The NASA Mentor-Protégé program encourages prime contractors to help Historically Black Colleges or Universities, such as Alabama A&M.
"The ability to mentor and share knowledge is crucial to the growth and development of our nation's students," said Paul Fowler, director of supply management at Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne. "Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne is honored to be part of a program that will help young people maximize their potential and become leaders in their chosen professions after college."
The agreement with Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne is administered through NASA headquarters and sponsored by the Marshall Space Flight Center.
As part of the two-year agreement, Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne will mentor A&M students and provide business and technical development; workforce readiness workshops; job search and career education advice; job shadowing; lecture series; engineering-knowledge transfer opportunities and other career-readiness activities.
Along with universities, the program, established in 2008 by NASA's Office of Small Business Programs, also pairs large companies with eligible small businesses and institutions to establish long-term relationships, enhance technical capabilities and enable them to successfully compete for larger, more complex prime contract and subcontract awards.
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