University of California Receives $57 Million In-Kind Software Grant from Siemens PLM Software

Grant Used to Create Research and Training Facilities at Four Campuses.

Berkeley, Calif. and PLANO, Texas – Siemens PLM Software, a business unit of the Siemens Industry Automation Division and a leading global provider of product lifecycle management (PLM) software and services, today announced an in-kind software grant with a commercial value of US $57 million to the University of California’s, Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society (CITRIS). The in-kind investment, provided through the Siemens PLM Software’s GO PLM™ (Global Opportunities in Product Lifecycle Management) program, includes engineering software, instructor training and academic support that will be available to students and staff throughout four of the university’s campuses: Berkeley, Davis, Merced and Santa Cruz.

“This generous investment will boost our students’ design skills and give them a competitive edge in the engineering work force,” said S. Shankar Sastry, dean of engineering at the University of California at Berkeley. “We’re especially excited to use it in design project courses, where student groups create comprehensive engineering solutions to problems in health care, transportation, manufacturing and commercial environments.”

"Siemens PLM Software’s NX™ software is a leading finite element analysis, meshing and visualization solution for a wide variety of modeling in all fields of engineering, architecture, and applied math and physics, including geophysics,” said Paul Wright, director of CITRIS and a professor in the Mechanical Engineering Department at the University of California at Berkeley. “We are extremely grateful to Siemens PLM Software for their generous gift. More than one thousand students, research staff and professors across the four-campus Institute of CITRIS are expected to use this extraordinary facility."

“Siemens PLM Software strives to develop and nurture partnerships that provide significant value for academic institutions as well as youth and displaced worker development programs throughout our global communities,” said Helmuth Ludwig, president, Siemens PLM Software. “We look forward to continuing to work closely with CITRIS to build on the technical stature of engineering education and impact the University of California’s ability to develop top-notch engineers and technologists.”

Siemens Corporate Research President and CEO Paul Camuti, whose team was instrumental in the Siemens/University of California at Berkeley relationship, said the new research and training facilities validate the success of Siemens’ overall strategy of open innovation. “This is an example of what two leading entities can achieve when they explore, create, and innovate together,” said Camuti. “And, I can say that we are very pleased with the prospect of a relationship like this one that opens up a wide range of collaborative opportunities.”