Our future requires more engineers. We’re raising them in Tacoma | Opinion

Tacoma has always been a city of builders — where the railways meet the port, where entrepreneurship meets manufacturing. Our city’s innovation emerges from the crossroads of grit and possibility. We know that our collective progress requires skilled hands, critical thinking and care for our community.

But we face a challenge. There is an engineering workforce shortage across the Pacific Northwest and the nation. What began as a pinch in the 2000s has grown into a severe bottleneck today that’s driving up costs and delaying vital regional projects. We simply don’t have enough qualified engineers to build the infrastructure our growing region demands.

In Tacoma, we know that the long-term solution to this workforce shortage won’t lie in recruiting from elsewhere. In part, it’ll be about developing talent in the local market who understand our community’s challenges and needs. When South Sound students study engineering and then apply their skills to improve our infrastructure, everyone wins.

That’s why we’re announcing a new partnership that tackles this urgent challenge head-on and prepares the next generation of engineers in Tacoma.

The Strickland Fellowship for Career Pathways is a collaboration between the city of Tacoma, the University of Washington Tacoma and Degrees of Change to build a direct pathway for local students to launch meaningful careers in engineering while studying right here at home.

A new kind of partnership

We know that Pierce County’s college-going rate is below the state of Washington’s average. The Strickland Fellowship addresses key opportunity gaps by supporting local students from the county, including Tacoma Public Schools, with the resources they need to succeed from the classroom to their careers.

The fellowship is a comprehensive support system for students that helps to address the real barriers they face in pursuing engineering careers. As UW Tacoma celebrates its 35th anniversary, U.S. News & World Report has recognized the university as its #1 top performer for social mobility in the Pacific Northwest.

This program builds in rigor over a student’s four years while combining a UW Tacoma education with hands-on workplace learning with city professionals. Students receive financial support, and they participate in a cohort-based leadership and professional development model through Degrees of Change. They work alongside mentors from departments like Environmental Services, Public Works, Planning & Development Services, Tacoma Water and Tacoma Power on real municipal engineering projects. Most importantly, students see how engineering serves the shared public good and directly improves people’s lives.

We believe education is the cornerstone of prosperity in the South Sound. A college degree not only transforms the life of an individual student; it also uplifts families and strengthens entire communities.

The invitation to build together

The Strickland Fellowship creates new opportunities for the South Sound. These students will graduate and contribute ideas and innovations that will help local industry advance our economy. They’ll lead climate resilience efforts, advance development projects, and help expand Tacoma’s essential services to serve our growing population.

We invite students, families, business leaders and community members to learn more about the Strickland Fellowship for Career Pathways. Working together, we can create these types of sustainable pathways for students who are not only technically skilled and think critically, but are also committed to the South Sound’s future.

The next generation will be called on to solve engineering challenges. In Tacoma, we’re making sure they’re ready.

Sheila Edwards Lange is the chancellor of the University of Washington Tacoma. Victoria Woodards is the mayor of Tacoma. Marquise Dixon is the CEO of Degrees of Change.

This story was originally published August 27, 2025 at 5:00 AM.