"If we do our jobs right, and you come back a year from now, this place is going to be a buzzing hive."
During Florida Institute of Technology President John Nicklow's interview activities leading up to his April 2023 hiring, he toured CAMID, the university's sprawling 100,494-square-foot manufacturing-design complex on Palm Bay Road.
"Initially, I was so excited. 'We have this facility out here, and it's fantastic.' And then I went inside — and I thought, 'It's half empty,' " Nicklow recalled.
"And it could be so much more," he said.
To that end, Florida Tech has relaunched the underutilized Center for Advanced Manufacturing and Innovative Design as Vertex, a new "applied innovation hub." Rather than function as a traditional academic building, Vertex's office space, manufacturing and clean rooms will host business tenants, contracted research and development work, facility rentals, workforce training and more.
Read more at Florida Today