The Sunshine Skyway Bridge is a Florida icon. Civil & Coastal Engineering Professor Emeritus John Schmertmann was responsible for the geotechnical services in the project as part of his firm, Schmertmann & Crapps.

 

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Industry

The University of Florida College of Engineering enjoys a long and robust history of collaboration with industry in the state of Florida, nationally and internationally.

Industrial partners support the college's research, education and outreach missions through such avenues as sponsoring research projects of interest to the companies, mentoring students and serving on the Dean's Advisory Board and department advisory boards. The college also provides companies with an overview of our activities in our annual meeting of the Engineering Advisory Council.

Industry partners have a wide variety of ways to get involved with research and innovation. The College of Engineering Integrated Product and Process Design program, now in its tenth year, gives senior undergraduates the opportunity to work in small multidisciplinary teams under the guidance of faculty coaches and industrial liaison engineers on real industry projects. Students receive experience designing and building authentic industrial products for sponsoring companies, receiving practical experience in teamwork and communication.

Since 1995, over two-thirds of the projects have come from repeat industry sponsors, with 242 projects undertaken and more than 1,400 students participating. Students develop the technical, leadership, management and people skills needed to succeed in the evolving field of engineering.

University-industry collaborations often lead to long-term partnerships, creating a pipeline for innovations to swiftly reach the market for which they were created - these partnerships also present job opportunities for UF students.

With help from the UF Office of Technology Licensing, hundreds of technologies have been transferred from the College of Engineering to private industry. Once in the marketplace, these technologies improve the lives of millions, benefiting society and creating jobs to support and grow our community.