The Senate Financial Institutions, Economic Development & Trade committee this morning heard Senate bill 6139, which seeks to reauthorize the Joint Center for Aerospace Industry Technology (JCATI).
JCATI was established by the Legislature in 2012 with a $3 million biennial appropriation to fund seed grants for research in the aerospace industry at state institutions of higher education. About $1.2 million of those funds, on average, have funded research projects at WSU each biennium.
The center is scheduled to sunset on June 30 and Senate bill 6139 would extend the date to June 30, 2030.
“JCATI helps the aerospace industry advance cutting-edge ideas without effecting their current production needs while students are receiving hands-on industry experience” said Beth Hacker, JCATI program manager, in her testimony to the committee. “JCATI-funded research projects have benefited 65 professors and 392 Washington engineering students.”
The bill now waits to be voted on in committee.