GE Aerospace Foundation partners with United Way Bengaluru

The GE Aerospace Foundation announced its partnership with the United Way Bengaluru (UWBe) to launch the Next Engineers program in Bengaluru, India. The expansion of Next Engineers to India will help increase access to STEM education for students and grow the local engineering pipeline by inspiring and preparing the next generation of engineering leaders.

“Bengaluru has long been a center of innovation and engineering excellence, making it a natural fit for our Next Engineers program,” said Meghan Thurlow, President of the GE Aerospace Foundation and Global Head of Public Affairs at GE Aerospace.

Next Engineers equips students ages 13 to 18 with hands-on learning experiences, career exposure, and university preparation to encourage them to pursue engineering careers. With more than 26,000 students reached globally to date, the program aims to grow the pipeline of diverse young talent entering the engineering field.

United Way Bengaluru has a 17-year history of addressing critical social issues through partnerships to make impactful changes in the community. This expertise, paired with GE Aerospace’s strong history of volunteering in the local community at Bangalore, will foster a supportive environment for Next Engineers participants as they consider future careers in engineering.

Rajesh Krishnan, CEO of United Way Bengaluru said “At UWBe, we are deeply committed to unlocking this potential by ensuring that students with under-served backgrounds have equal opportunity by providing them access to the skills and exposure to enable critical thinking and confidence they need to thrive in the engineering world.”   

United Way Bengaluru will run the Next Engineers program, which includes Engineering Discovery for early secondary school students and Engineering Academy for older students preparing for higher education. Eligible students who complete the Academy and pursue engineering degrees will also have access to scholarships. Programming begins in early 2026, with the goal of reaching more than 4,000 students in Bengaluru over four years.

Bengaluru is the latest city to join the Next Engineers initiative and is the first Next Engineers program launched in the Asia-Pacific region. This follows the expansion of the program in Cincinnati, Ohio, and the launch of the program in Warsaw, Poland, in 2024, with more to come. The GE Aerospace Foundation has committed up to $20 million over 5 years to continue the program into 2030.

Students, families, and schools interested in learning more can visit: https://www.nextengineers.org/locations/bengaluru