AUSTIN, TX — The Army Futures Command has named Austin Community College District as the home for its new Software Factory, school officials announced on Thursday.
The Software Factory at Austin Community College will be the first of its kind and will provide a training pipeline for soldiers and ACC students upon its January 2021 opening, school officials explained in an emailed advisory. The factory is designed to help students rapidly scope and solve real-life problems through advanced software development processes, officials added.
“This is not happening at any other community college or university around the country,” Austin Community College Chancellor Dr. Richard Rhodes said in a prepared statement. “This is going to be a state-of-the-art facility and collaboration that doesn’t exist anywhere else. That’s the experience we want our students to have. They’ll work side-by-side with the AFC to share ideas and develop solutions.”
Rhodes said the partnership reflects the college district’s aim of preparing students for the job market once they graduate: “We want our students to come out of our programs with the right skill sets necessary to be successful, and AFC offers the unique opportunities to help make that happen. I couldn’t be more proud.”
Added Gen. John M. “Mike” Murray, commanding general of the Army Futures Command: “I can’t wait to get Army soldiers in here interacting with students from Austin Community College, and really the community at large,” he said in a prepared statement. “It’s going to force us to think differently about how we think about the future. I think there’s nothing but goodness here in terms of bringing fresh ideas to solve problems.”
Related stories:
The development is historic, school officials noted. The Software Factory at Austin Community College is the first soldier-led software factory for the U.S. Army. The vision is to develop a pathway to two- and four- year degrees and connect soldiers and students with industry partners. Austin Community College was selected to fill the educational need after a nationwide search based on the college’s reputation for being a feeder for talent, innovation of its advanced ACCelerator learning lab, and launch of its recent bachelor’s degree in software development, school officials noted.
“The Army selected Austin for a reason,” Murray added. “This is where you find innovation and IT expertise. It was a natural opportunity to partner with Austin Community College, which I’ve just been a huge fan of since I got to Austin.”
Gigi Edwards Bryant, the college district’s board of trustees chair, spoke of the value of such links: “Partnerships are really what makes us run well,” she said in a prepared statement. “To bring the military to Austin Community College District to interface with our students is the largest step we could ever take in a partnership. It will be an opportunity that our students have never seen before.”
School officials said the Software Factory will build on the college’s Computer Science/Information Technology programs while offering specialized training for new technologies such as data science and artificial intelligence. The curriculum will be developed in partnership between Austin Community College District and Futures Command leadership, with support from invited global software development companies.
“Modern software development is not something that an individual does in a corner with headphones on anymore,” Maj. Vito Errico, Software Factory co-director, said in a prepared statement. “Instead, now it’s about teamwork. It’s about how you function as a team to scope problems and code solutions to those problems. You can’t do it without a collaborative space, and ACC is absolutely a collaborative space. It’s coming together now because local community partners here with Futures Command believe in the idea of it.”
The factory will be located at the college district’s Rio Grande Campus in downtown Austin. It will stretch out across portions of the second and third floors of the main building totaling approximately 26,500 square feet, with shared spaces for AFC and ACC students to interact.
Added Maj. Jason Zuniga, Software Factory co-director: “Being able to really nest here with ACC is going to be great, because it allows the opportunities for collaboration with academia and industry down the line.
Rhodes reiterated the transformative significance of the newly formed partnership: “This is innovation at the peak. This is collaboration at the peak. This is transforming the community, and they’re a part of it,” the chancellor said.
In a separately issued statement, the executive director of Texas-based National Security Innovation Council Tony Cuolo added his voice in signaling the partnership’s significance: “This is a huge win for Texas and for our country. I am so proud of the Army for taking this significant step. When I was deployed, I valued the civilian contractors who solved the many unique software and applications challenges we faced. While contractors were clearly a part of the team, with each passing year advanced technology became more and more pervasive in everything from our weapons to our vehicles to our command and control systems.
“It became very clear we needed to ‘grow our own’ highly skilled tech talent, and with the Software Factory, the Army will do just that. This Austin-based effort will produce soldiers who can both fight and immediately respond to a commander’s unique technology needs wherever they may be.”
Given the region’s dynamics, Cuolo said locating the Software Factory at Austin Community College is ideal: “Austin’s academic assets, entrepreneurial spirit, and proximity to the watchful eye of Army Futures Command make it the obvious place to start this academic and experiential effort,” he said. “Our national defense strategy objectives include ‘fostering a competitive mindset’ and ‘out-partner, out-innovate’ our enemies — that’s happening in Texas, and this is just the latest example.”
The Software Factory is expected to open in January 2021 with its first cohort of 30 soldiers and civilians. A second cohort is expected to begin in summer 2021. More than 15,000 service members expressed interest in the first week this was announced.
For more information, visit the Army Futures Command website. For more information on the college district, visit theAustin Community College home page. To learn more about applicable programs, visit the Computer Science & Information portal.
About Austin Community College
Austin Community College District is a nationally recognized two-year college serving Central Texas. ACC is focused on student success and providing affordable, flexible pathways to help students reach their education goals, learn new job skills, or advance their career. The college currently enrolls more than 70,000 students annually.
About Army Futures Command
Army Futures Command leads the persistent modernization of the Army in order to provide future warfighters with the concepts, capabilities, and organizational designs needed to dominate a future battlefield. With more than 26,000 people worldwide, AFC Army Futures Command relies on collaborative partnerships with industry and academia to help keep Soldiers safe and America strong.
