Kronos, Raytheon and 23 Others Recognized for Collaborations
04/11/2019
By David Perry
As an undergraduate, Iderson Daveiga landed a co-op job at Raytheon, getting hands-on, professional experience while earning his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering. After graduating in December 2018, Daveiga was offered a full-time job at Raytheon, which had also awarded him a scholarship to help pay for his education.
“Now, I’m working at my dream job right out of college,” Daveiga said after addressing a crowd of 150 who had gathered at UML’s Innovation Hub in downtown Lowell at an event to celebrate the university’s partnerships with industry.
At the event, the university recognized Raytheon and Kronos, a Lowell-based workforce management solutions provider, as its top two industry partners. It also acknowledged 23 additional companies that have deep collaborations with the university on a variety of fronts.
Chancellor Jacquie Moloney emphasized the importance of the university’s partnerships with businesses for students, faculty, the community and industry. Each year, UML works with more than 90 industry partners on a variety of initiatives, including research, job training and workforce development.
“We want to be your go-to university for everything. The students you need, the employees you hire … We know how to help you to get bigger, to get better and become more competitive,” she told the crowd.
Aron Ain, chief executive officer for Kronos, already knew that.
“UMass Lowell is really important to us in so many dimensions,” said Ain, whose $1.4 billion company has hired between 200 and 300 UML graduates, has endowed scholarships and maintains internships and co-op programs with UML student talent. “When I see other CEOs in the Boston area, I tell them, ‘You won’t see Kronos recruiting MIT and Harvard graduates.’”
“UMass Lowell is really important to us in so many dimensions.” -Kronos CEO Aron Ain“What’s that about?” they ask him. “I tell them, we have UMass Lowell,” he said.
Arlene Parquette, UML’s associate vice chancellor for industry partnerships and economic development, introduced the different levels of participation for industry partners, which cover financial investment as well as engagement in such areas as research, talent acquisition (internships, co-ops and hiring graduates), corporate education, sponsorships and scholarships.
“We want to give back to you,” said Parquette. “This is a way to expand the relationship, to forge even stronger the ties.”
Chris McCarroll of Raytheon, co-director (with Prof. Craig Armiento of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering) of the Raytheon UMass Lowell Research Institute (RURI), noted that since January, Raytheon has hired 49 UMass Lowell alumni. Overall, there are more than 700 UMass Lowell graduates working at the company, he said.
“This is our state school, where we get people from first,” said McCarroll, who has an office on campus. Armiento has an office at Raytheon, too.
The university benefits, as does the business partner, from the resources each offers the other.
“We understand each side of the equation,” McCarroll said.