“UW-Madison is hopeful that discussions will
move forward in the coming months,” Lucas said
in a statement.
Despite public statements referencing a $100
million donation to the school over five years,
the official partnership agreement between
UW-Madison and Foxconn does not mention a
specific dollar figure or when the company will
provide the funds. It says Foxconn “intends to
make a substantial investment in research and
other activities” with the school.
Taiwan-based Foxconn declined to confirm how
much money it has invested in UW-Madison, but
said in a statement that it remains committed to
engineering and research at UW-Madison.
Foxconn will continue to “develop the
demonstration projects and the strategic
plans to collaboratively formulate the
interdisciplinary research and education” for
students and faculty, it said.
The university and company have partnered
on projects with some success, including an
internship program and the “Smart Cities-Smart
Futures” manufacturing competition, which
brought in 325 submissions from students, faculty
and staff. The $700,000 was used for a sponsored
engineering research project, Lucas said.
The Foxconn pledge requires UW-Madison to
fundraise to match its donation. Lucas said the
school has yet to launch such a campaign.
Foxconn plans to build a high-tech screen
manufacturing plant in southeastern Wisconsin
in a nearly $3 billion contract with the state.
President Donald Trump has touted the project
as a sign that manufacturing is returning to the
United States.