New CSU center takes aim at tech-worker shortage

FORT COLLINS — Colorado State University is making a bid for regional leadership in the field of technology management with its Product Realization Institute for Strategic Technologies, now under development.
An interdisciplinary program, the institute will focus on preparing engineers and managers in the computer and electronics industries to facilitate the product-development process.
The idea for the institute came about when executives from Storage Technology Corp. of Louisville approached CSU officials, said CSU engineering dean Steve Bolander. The data-storage and retrieval industry needs to move products rapidly from research to delivery, he explained.
"Product life cycles are so very short, that if you don˜t know how to move quickly, you˜re just going to be too late to market," Bolander said. "Someone else will get there first."
Worldwide competition has made the matter that much more urgent in the last 10 years, Bolander noted. The institute˜s research arm will develop methods and strategies to speed the process.
Added to this need is the shortage of managers and engineers who understand how to manage technology strategically in the fast-changing market.