FAMU welcomed U.S. Senator Marco Rubio to campus today. Sen. Rubio met with President Larry Robinson, Ph.D., FAMU-FSU College of Engineering J. Murray Gibson, Ph.D., and Interim School of Architecture and Engineering Technology Dean Andrew Chin about an upcoming, cutting-edge proposal.
A primary focus of his visit was to discuss the establishment of the Construction & Infrastructure Technology Innovation Center of Excellence (“CITIC”) at FAMU.
The CITIC proposal is an innovative multidisciplinary partnership between FAMU’s core academic schools and the private sector that is focused on global sustainable infrastructure development.
The proposal is designed to help with disaster recovery, support military tactical operations and create new STEM-based jobs for underrepresented minorities.
The goal of the proposal would be accomplished through the development of innovative construction and infrastructure technology and the involvement of FAMU’s research, science, engineering, architecture, and technology disciplines in conjunction with private and public sector partners.
These entities are jointly committed to putting FAMU on the forefront of 21st-century technologies and directed research to develop sustainable infrastructure. This includes housing water/wastewater and power in order to improve disaster recovery, improve military forward operating bases establishment and to create new science and technology-based job skills for underrepresented minority populations.
Rubio also met with FAMU students and faculty and discussed topics such as alternatives to traditional student loans and campus safety.
