BEARING GIFTS
Synchrony opens digital technology center at UConn, donates $1M
STAMFORD — Synchrony not only opened a Digital Technology Center at the University of Connecticut Stamford on Monday but announced a donation of $1 million to UConn’s new free tuition program.
The tuition program, announced by UConn President Thomas Katsouleas in the fall, will cover the cost of tuition for qualifying students to the state’s flagship university starting in fall 2020.
The digital center will help bolster UConn’s technology program by providing realworld experience and paid software engineering internships with Synchrony, officials said.
“Our expanded partnership with UConn will help close the skills gap and prepare students for
careers in technology throughout the state,” said Synchrony CEO Margaret Keane, speaking in the center, which was filled with students, faculty and politicians.
She said the new center looks remarkably like Synchrony’s Long Ridge Road campus. Over the past few years, the firm has recruited more than 100 UConn grads and some of its employees serve as mentors at the university.
The company is the first to step forward in a big way toward what is being called UConn’s Connecticut Commitment, officials said.
“I hope we can inspire many others to do the same,” Keane said.
The goal is to ultimately raise $100 million, said Daniel D. Toscano, chair of the UConn Board of Trustees.
Katsouleas said while Synchrony’s was the first pledge, there have been others. The company’s $1 million will pay for the first class next fall. About 1,100 students are expected to be eligible.
The center, meanwhile, was called the next step in an already strong partnership.
Terrence Cheng, director of UConn Stamford, said students who go through the center will help contribute to the economic development of the state.
“There is a goal to get 60 students a year working in the center within five years,” Katsouleas said.
In addition to cutting the ribbon on the center, the five undergraduates currently working in the space showed some of their work. One is Charles Ira, a junior from Stamford who has spent a semester in the lab working on an Alexa application to check bank balances.
“Sychrony wanted to demonstrate the capability using real bank accounts,” Ira said. “I worked on building that up.”
Carmen Sanz, another junior whose family lives in Ridgefield, worked on a program to help delete obsolete online files to create more storage.
“This was a big step for me because I never coded before,” said Sanz, who majors in business analytics but is not certain what she wants to do eventually. The center gave her a chance to explore her options.
Marc Senatore, a UConn grad and Synchrony employee who helped design the new center, said the idea was to make the space fun.
The desks are adjustable to be used sitting down and standing up. The walls are white boards. A game center is on order. The idea is to put technical and business people in the same room.
In 2016, Synchrony and UConn’s School of Engineering launched the Synchrony Cybersecurity Center. The company, which in 2014 separated from GE, also provided an endowment for a Synchrony Chair in Cybersecurity.