Specifically, Foxconn would need 1,600 process equipment engineers, 463 integration engineers and 300 computer-integrated manufacturing engineers. Ian Roberston, the dean at the College of Engineering at UW-Madison, said he believes that UW System, along with other schools in the area, would be able to address Foxconn’s workforce needs — as well as those of other companies in the state — but it would require growing the number of engineering students enrolled at undergraduate institutions.
Over the past few years, UW-Madison’s engineering school has completed a series of renovation projects on its laboratory and facilities, Robertson said, and it has the capacity to handle an additional 500 to 600 students.
What it doesn’t have is the necessary faculty and staff numbers to handle an influx of students that large, he said.
“I’m confident that we can increase our capacity, with an appropriate investment, in order to meet that demand,” he said.