SDI Foundation Pledges $1.5 Million to Trine University

The $12.5 million project includes advanced technology, flexible labs and classrooms, and an active learning lab to foster creativity. Enrollment at Trine’s Allen School of Engineering and Computing has risen 72% in the past 10 years with engineering students accounting for more than 40% of the main campus population. The expansion will prepare students for careers in high tech areas such as hardware and software development, computer networking, cybersecurity and health informatics.

Steel Dynamics has been a long time supporter of Trine University through the SDI Foundation, providing major gifts toward the SDI/Keith E. Busse Athletic and Recreation Center and Thunder Ice Arena, as well as funding scholarships for Trine students. Students from the university have been welcomed by SDI for internship, co-op and employment opportunities.

The Steel Dynamics Foundation, Inc., awards grants to nonprofits in communities in which its employees live and work, prioritizing higher education, economic and community development, and human services.

“We believe a better-educated workforce creates a stronger economy with higher living standards and more opportunities for everyone to benefit from it, including those less fortunate,” states the foundation on its website.

“We are grateful for the SDI Foundation’s history of support and are eager to see the dividends this new investment in Trine University will pay for the greater Fort Wayne area, the state of Indiana, and the Midwest as a whole,” said Earl D. Brooks II, Trine University president.