$100,000 SAIC gift to UAH aims at skilled area workforce

SAIC gave $100,000 to support the SAP and IS programs at UAH's College of Business Administration on Thursday, June 6. From left are SAIC NASA IT Operations Manager Ed Faulkner, College of Business Administration Eminent Scholar and Professor Dr. Jatinder (Jeet) N.D. Gupta, and SAIC Vice President Charles Lewis.

Michael Mercier | UAH

With a check for $100,000, SAIC has for the fifth year in a row provided financial support to The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) for the College of Business Administration's SAP and Information Systems programs.

SAP is the most popular and comprehensive Enterprise Resource Planning systems (ERP) software in industry. It is in use by NASA and AMCOM, as well as other organizations. It provides for integrating various functional areas of business through appropriate data definition, structure and use.

"Ensuring that Huntsville and the North Alabama area continues to thrive with a skilled workforce to meet our customer needs, especially in Enterprise Resource Planning systems, is one of our highest priorities and we view our support to this effort as one way we can contribute to continued workforce development," said Charles W. Lewis, SAIC vice president and EAST program manager. "SAIC and UAH have a long history of working together on important projects and issues that affect our community and our nation."

SAIC is a company whose heritage is bringing high-technology solutions to solve the nation's most challenging problems, and universities are one of the wellsprings of innovation, Lewis said. "This relationship and the programs UAH has been able to deliver provide SAIC and Huntsville with a steady flow of new employees with critical skills, enabling us to recruit locally instead of relocating employees from other markets. The trust and commitment we share with UAH is valued and we look forward to continued success as a result of this contribution. This is a partnership that has worked for SAIC, UAH, our customers and most importantly the students in providing value to the Huntsville area and beyond."

SAIC has been an outstanding partner of the college for many years through its support of Dr. Gupta and his SAP work, said Caron St. John, dean of the UAH College of Business Administration. "SAIC's involvement has created wonderful opportunities for our Information Systems students and programs."

SAIC's contribution helps UAH provide students with access to the full commercial SAP software in various courses and programs and provides for the training and development of the faculty to develop and teach various courses that include SAP material and hands-on use of SAP software. Additionally, it improves UAH's information systems programs by providing students practical project and internship opportunities.

"This gift from SAIC enables us to continue to offer high-quality education to our students by providing them with hands-on experience in the use of the latest version of the most popular ERP package, namely SAP," said Dr. Jatinder (Jeet) N.D. Gupta, eminent scholar and professor in the College of Business Administration. "As a result, our students are better prepared to enter the technology driven job market and be able to successfully compete in landing at their first professional position."