Kansas State professor Siny Joseph, three others, receive grant for targeted skills development to advance manufacturing

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Kansas State University Polytechnic Campus has received a $398,100 grant from the Kansas Department of Commerce to support the needs of the advanced manufacturing industry in Kansas by reskilling and upskilling workers affected by the coronavirus pandemic, according to a Dec. 18 press release from the University.

The principal investigators for the grant are Indian-American associate professor of economics Siny Joseph;Troy Harding, interim department head; Michael Pritchard, assistant professor of computer systems technology, and Mark Jackson, professor of mechanical engineering technology. They are all faculty members in the Department of Integrated Studies at K-State Polytechnic.

“Success with grants at an unprecedented time of budget shortfalls highlights the importance of investing in research and innovative educational programs so we can come out stronger in the long term,” Joseph is quoted saying in the Dec. 18, 2020, press release.

“We are proud of our faculty for identifying this need and using their expertise to proactively create a solution to benefit the advanced manufacturing industry — as well as Polytechnic students,” said Alysia Starkey, CEO and dean of K-State Polytechnic.

“The purpose of the Higher Education Advanced Manufacturing and Information Technology Equipment Grant program is to support the needs of advanced manufacturing companies in Kansas,” said Jackson, the primary author of the proposal. “The program will also allow the campus to extend the same targeted program skills to secondary school partners, such as USD 305 in Salina, to further develop skills that enhance manufacturing pathways in high schools.”

Joseph has a Bachelor of Economics degree from Gujarat University, with an MBA from West Bengal University of Technology. She did her Ph.D from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Her research interests include product differentiation and policy implications on markets and trade and she is also interested in economic impact assessment of regional economies, according to her profile on the University website.

Joseph’s areas of specialization include Food Policy, Industrial Organization, and
Econometrics.