NJIT and T&M Ink Upskilling Agreement, Showcase New Model for Industry and Academic Partnership
Amid growing demand for licensed engineers and new infrastructure investment, NJIT is partnering with industry to make graduate education more accessible for working professionals — offering firms a way to upskill their engineers while expanding the state’s talent pipeline.
Corporate- and public-sector companies will receive a 20% discount on tuition rates when they enroll cohorts of five or more, with options to customize the curriculum per their business needs. T&M Associates, a national engineering firm based in Middletown, New Jersey, is the first to sign a memorandum of understanding for the unique opportunity.
“Education today is very holistic. It's not just on the backs of faculty — we need industry partnerships to educate students better. The fact that T&M is sending their engineers here, there's a whole host of benefits that can come from it,” NJIT President Teik C. Lim said. “They are professional engineers. They will be rubbing shoulders with our traditional students here on campus; they can learn from each other, and that's part of the education that we offer. This holistic education makes them a better professional once they graduate.”
“Our partnership with T&M could be a model for how we and other universities scale up graduate education,” Lim added.
T&M chairman Gary Dahms shared his company’s enthusiasm for the opportunity at NJIT. “I think this is going to enhance our staff, and this is an opportunity for our staff to continue their education and career progression with a great partner at NJIT. We already have in place a tuition reimbursement program at T&M. This opens doors even further, because it gives more value to the potential students or employees who want to take advantage.”
With more than 450 professionals across offices in the Mid-Atlantic and beyond, T&M has built a reputation for combining technical excellence with workforce growth. The company invests heavily in employee development, from tuition reimbursement to leadership training, which made the NJIT partnership a logical extension of its commitment to advancing both people and projects.
The model is already gaining traction. Colliers Engineering & Design has also signed an agreement with NJIT. The firm, headquartered in Holmdel, New Jersey, operates more than 80 offices and includes more than 3,000 professionals under its umbrella. Richard Maser, executive chairman, echoed the need for acceleration served by academic and industry initiatives.
“This partnership between Colliers Engineering & Design and NJIT represents the kind of collaboration our industry needs; one that bridges education and practice,” said Maser. “By investing in workforce development through this program, we’re not only supporting our employees’ growth but also helping to cultivate the next generation of engineering leaders.”
Bridging Education and Industry Needs
For industry, programs like this address a growing workforce challenge — the need to continually refresh technical expertise amid rapid advances in materials, infrastructure systems, sustainability and digital design. By providing affordable access to advanced education, companies can upskill engineers who are already familiar with their culture and projects, reducing turnover while building the in-house capacity needed to pursue larger, more complex work.
For firms such as T&M, this model also tightens the feedback loop between academia and practice. Faculty gain insight into emerging industry needs, while participating engineers bring back new methods and technologies that improve project quality and efficiency. In effect, it becomes a two-way exchange that strengthens both the company’s competitiveness and the region’s engineering talent pipeline.
The partnership won’t just increase the number of professional, licensed engineers — it improves the quality of engineering, too. Taha Marhaba, distinguished professor and chair of the civil and environmental engineering department, said partnerships with firms such as T&M Associates are designed “to bridge that gap between academic innovation and professional practice.” He noted that many engineers in the field are seeking ways to stay current with emerging tools and frameworks shaping civil and environmental engineering — “from sustainable design and resilient infrastructure to data-driven modeling and AI-enhanced analysis.”
Through courses such as “Resilient Systems Planning and Design and Virtual Design and Construction,” participants gain hands-on exposure to federal and professional standards for floodproofing and resilience planning, as well as digital modeling, photogrammetry and 4D simulation tools. “This type of collaboration keeps professionals ahead of the curve,” Marhaba said, “allowing them to immediately apply new concepts and techniques to ongoing projects while ensuring that what we teach remains directly relevant to what engineers are tackling in the field today.”
Master’s degrees in civil engineering and transportation are both available on campus and online. Master’s in critical infrastructure systems and environmental engineering are available on campus. Certificate-level programs are available for fields such as climate change resilience, construction management, geotechnical engineering, hydrology and more.