Nine employees of the UMaine Advanced Structures and Composites Center, Orono, have been laid off due to disruptions in federal funding it was recently announced.  The funding supported research that strengthened Maine and the nation’s economic competitivness according to the press release.

UMaine’s world-class Advanced Structures and Composite Center (ASCC) recently notified these employees.  The layoffs are effective June 6 and include engineers, scientists and technicians.

More than 85% of ASCC’s funding comes from grants and contracts from the federal government, which relies on the Center for cutting-edge research and development to improve the nation’s economic competitiveness, energy independence, advanced manufacturing, civil infrastructure and security.

“Regretably we must implement a carefully targeted employee reduction to align with the scope of our workforce with the level of resources available now and in the foreseeable future,” a center-wide communication stated.” ……..”Looking ahead, we will continue to seek new research opportunities to build on these tremendous strengths and further diversity our funding portfolio.”