Salisbury University (SU) students pursuing a career in engineering received a boost recently when representatives from K&L Microwave Inc. presented the Salisbury University Foundation Inc., $30,000 to help fund lab equipment and scholarships.
The contribution was the third installment of a $150,000 endowment from K&L. The endowment will create an opportunity for students from the Eastern Shore to pursue degrees in engineering at SU through programs in the Richard A. Henson School of Science and Technology's Physics Department.
"K&L is the first industrial-based local company that stepped up to the plate to make a contribution in its area to the Henson School," said Tom Jones, dean of the Henson School. "It is a good partnership."
The endowment will allow SU to offer a new $2,500 scholarship, the K&L Microwave Engineering Scholarship, starting next year, Jones said. The contributions also help buy necessary equipment, including network analyzers, function generators and oscilloscopes, for the university's K&L Microwave Engineering Laboratory.
K&L also is taking a hands-on approach to education at SU, according to Asif Shakur, physics faculty at SU. Engineers from the company serve as instructors for some of the electrical engineering courses.
"We can have folks who have industry experience and those who have technical experience come in to help our students," he said. "The right blend of people is important, and thanks to K&L, we have that."