It’s a simple act that almost all of us perform each day—we pick up our cell phones, send a text, make a call, or search for directions using an app; and it’s all a direct result of applied sciences.
New York City is the future home of a state-of-the-art engineering and applied sciences campus. In July, Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced that the City issued a request for proposals to build the institution.
Recent studies show that degrees in those fields lead to the highest paying jobs right out of school, but why? Because, experts say, applied sciences are part of virtually everything in your life.
“Applied means you’re looking for research that’s going to lead to real commercial activity,” said Lance Collins, Dean of Engineering at Cornell University. “The products that are produced impact everyone– from apps, new services in your hospital to new devices in your home.”
Cornell is one of several major universities vying to shape the best proposal for the initiative.
“This is a really exciting opportunity from our perspective,” said Collins.
City officials carefully considered several sectors before deciding the most growth potential lies in engineering and applied sciences. They first determined the one thing that would have the most dramatic impact on the city’s growth. The New York City Economic Development Corporation posed the question to hundreds of business owners and industry leaders.
“The answer we repeatedly got was although NYC has excellent applied sciences institutions, we just don’t have enough of them,” said Seth Pinsky, president of the NYCEDC.
The economic potential is endless. Companies are cashing in through applied sciences by using marketing analytics to determine the preferences of consumers through online ads and other techniques.
Because we are all affected by applied sciences, there is the possibility for an extraordinary boost from a campus here in NYC. The city predicts the school will bring $6 billion in overall economic activity and 30,000 jobs.
“The emerging tech sector is already happening and now we are accelerating it,” said Collins. “This campus, if successful, will generate small companies and small companies do a lot of hiring.”
Schools have until October 28 to submit proposals. Potential locations for the campus include the Navy Hospital campus at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, the Goldwater Hospital campus on Roosevelt Island or on Governors Island.
