DEARBORN, Mich., August 16 -- An educational program in optelectronics assembly will be one result of four grants awarded by The Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) Education Foundation. The society's annual grants are intended to expand and improve manufacturing, engineering, science and technology programs to better prepare today's emerging workforce. The grant recipients are The University of Detroit Mercy, Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), Southwest Texas State University and Terra Community College. RIT, in partnership with Corning Community College in Corning, N.Y., and George Brown College in Toronto, Canada, will develop the Consortium for Optoelectronics Packaging Education curriculum, which will address manufacturing processes in optoelectronics assembly. In cooperation with local industry, RIT will also develop and produce two-day workshops in optoelectronics. The University of Detroit Mercy, in partnership with Macomb Community College, Schoolcraft College and Holy Redeemer High School, will develop four new degree programs in manufacturing, engineering and manufacturing technology with the aim of increasing the number of trained manufacturing engineers and technologists in the Great Lakes region. Southwest Texas State University will develop curriculums in automated manufacturing systems and specialized semiconductor manufacturing and will update its lab with new art processing equipment, robots and computer-based vision systems. The grant to Terra Community College (Fremont, Ohio) will be used to develop a Center for Integrated Manufacturing Solutions, revise the current manufacturing curriculum and renovate technology labs.