Missouri Western State University is preparing for the opening of its new Convergent Technology Alliance Center building, now with an official name. Named the Houlne Center for Convergent Technology, this building aims to provide a 20,000-square-foot workforce development laboratory for areas such as manufacturing, construction, cybersecurity and other related industries. The building features five bays dedicated to different areas: manufacturing technology, manufacturing workshop, construction, industrial technology and AI, IT and cyberscience.
The facility is named after Tim Houlne, an alumnus of Missouri Western. The Class of 1986 graduate is now an author and CEO of Humach, a Dallas-based provider of AI technology. “I'm excited and I'm honored and I'm humbled at the same time.
I think this is a big deal for Missouri Western,” Houlne said. The goal of the Houlne Center is to provide students with an outlet for hands-on learning to aid in the job recruitment process after college. Both Houlne and Missouri Western president, Elizabeth Kennedy, say they believe the hands-on approach at the Houlne Center will become a model for other universities in the future.
“I think exposing students to some of the capabilities and having the ability to put their hands on it and learn is really the future, “ Houlne said. “(It will) probably give (students) some insight into what they want to do with their career.” Houlne’s $3 million donation to the CTAC building is the third.