Regional Advanced Tooling Center
The Regional Advanced Tooling Center has been setup as a one-stop shop for the tooling needs of the region providing advanced tooling engineering, technology, research and development (R&D), testing and validation, fabrication, maintenance, professional development, and education/training including credentialing programs. Tooling operations are conducted across UTRGV College of Engineering and Computer Science (CECS) campuses (EASFC, EENGR, and BVOTS 104). The Center is managed at the CECS level with the Dean as the Director.
The mission of this initiative is to allow the Regional Advanced Tooling Center and CECS to establish a strategic presence in the Lower Rio Grande Valley region. The vision of the Center calls for the assurance of sustainable world class advanced tooling engineering knowledge and fabrication ability for the region to enhance a prosperous and innovative manufacturing sector in the Rio South Texas Region. The Center’s mission has become more critical since the Coronavirus Pandemic has taken hold of the region, pointing out the dire need to strengthen US/Texas advanced manufacturing and tooling capabilities in order to reduce the reliance on foreign countries.
Funding for the Center enhances recruitment and allows the University to attract a greater number of students who are seeking access to engineering education and will continue to grow innovation in the region and support the expansion of the regional manufacturing industry. The increase in opportunities and technology-based economic development will continue to promote the Center and UTRGV as a catalyst for sustainable economic growth in the South Texas region. Furthermore, the enhanced real-world advanced manufacturing engineering environment that this funding makes possible, exponentially helps students with training opportunities and prepares them for 21st century jobs and leaders in addressing the technological challenges of the future.
