Funding cuts lead to staffing cuts at UMaine composites lab
PHOTO / COURTESY of the UNIVERSITY OF MAINE
Staffing at the University of Maine composites lab in Orono has been cut.
The University of Maine Advanced Structures and Composites Center on the Orono campus has laid off nine employees, in the wake of federal funding cuts.
The layoffs were effective June 6 and included engineers, scientists and technicians. In a message to employees, the center's leaders wrote that unanticipated pauses and delays in funding have required research projects to be slowed or rescoped, necessitating the layoffs.
“Regrettably, we must implement a carefully targeted employee reduction to align the size of our workforce with the level of resources available now and in the foreseeable future,” the center-wide communication stated.
“Our leading work in composite materials, advanced manufacturing, the GEM [Green Engineering and Materials] Factory of the Future, national defense, boatbuilding, transportation, housing and energy addresses pressing technical and societal needs,” the statement continued. “Looking ahead, we will continue to seek new research opportunities that build on these tremendous strengths and further diversify our funding portfolio.”
Federal dollars
Samantha Warren, chief external and governmental affairs officer for the university system,
said more than 85% of Advanced Structures and Composites Center's funding comes from grants and contracts from the federal government.
The center currently has close to 200 employees and employed 182 students during the past spring semester.
In April, the U.S. Department of Energy suspended three awards to ASCC totaling $15.8 million, with $3.3 million remaining to be paid out, for the floating wind turbine project. That suspension notice came just hours after the 375-ton concrete floating hull had been towed to Searsport, in preparation for a May installation in Penobscot Bay off of Castine.
Warren said the university will turn to non-federal funding sources to continue with that project.
“With the remaining $3.3 million in previously pledged federal funds currently unavailable, UMaine has reduced the scope of the research and is moving the project forward using existing resources, including industry partnership revenue and state funds.
“The floating platform was installed in state waters near Dice Head off the coast of Castine on May 15, consistent with the original expectations of the now-suspended federal award.”
Warren added that the university still plans to keep the platform in the water for 18 months to collect real-time data.
Without the funding, "researchers will be limited in their ability to analyze the findings and develop a commercialization plan for this revolutionary technology, which has industrial applications well beyond ocean energy," she said.
Payments to the university for other awards have also been delayed, Warren said.
“Additionally, several federal agencies, including the Energy Department, have announced a reduction in the rates they reimburse universities to support essential research expenses, though courts have paused implementation of the cuts," Warren said.
Since its founding in 1996 with funding from the National Science Foundation, the Advanced Structures and Composites Center has secured more than 300 patents, created 14 spin-off companies that spurred new Maine jobs and economic activity, and supported more than 2,900 students through paid research learning experiences at the center.
Warren said the university will not comment further on the layoffs, “as it continues to support affected employees and pursue restoration of federal awards and further funding diversification.”
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