The University of Maine’s high-profile engineering and offshore wind research hub laid off nine employees this week after President Donald Trump’s administration paused millions in awards to help the center build floating turbines and complete other projects.
Leaders with the University of Maine’s Advanced Structures and Composites Center told staff earlier this week in a message that nine employees were notified of layoffs. University of Maine System spokesperson Samantha Warren confirmed the layoffs take effect June 6 and include engineers, scientists and technicians.
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The layoffs at the center, which the system calls “the most productive university research center in the state,” show how the actions of the second Trump administration continue to trickle down to Maine institutions. Trump is seeking to halt offshore wind projects, something that could threaten much of the center’s groundbreaking work in that policy area.
Universities nationwide are facing “enormous financial pressures” caused by unexpected funding pauses and cuts, according to the message to center employees from leaders including director Habib Dagher. The center and UMaine leaders evaluated all potential cost-saving measures before determining they alone cannot close the funding gap, it said.
“Each individual has contributed meaningfully to our success,” leaders said, adding that the decisions “aimed to protect the core of our programs” and the center’s long-term health.
The Advanced Structures and Composites Center describes itself as a “world-leading, interdisciplinary center” for research, education and economic development. Founded in 1996 with support from the National Science Foundation, the center said it has financially supported more than 2,900 students, created 14 spinoff companies and received more than 300 patents. It employs nearly 200 staff and had 182 student workers this past spring semester.
On top of Trump’s antipathy to offshore wind, his administration paused or cut numerous federal funding sources for the University of Maine System since the president clashed with Gov. Janet Mills at the White House in February over the state’s policies allowing transgender girls to compete in sports. Several funding freezes were later reversed, but the Trump administration is suing Maine over its transgender athlete policies.
The layoffs come after the U.S. Department of Energy suspended in April three awards to the UMaine research center worth $15.8 million, including a $12.5 million federal award for the Orono-based center to continue work on its floating offshore wind turbines. The university said $3.4 million had yet to be paid out and that it will not comment further on the layoffs.
The Energy Department did not cite any specific violations by the university but accused Maine of failing to comply with the terms of the $12.5 million award for a quarter-scale demonstration of offshore turbines. It said it was suspending activity under the award for 90 days.
University of Maine officials said the April 11 letter from Trump’s Energy Department arrived hours after a 375-ton floating concrete hull for the offshore wind research array was towed into Searsport, where the initial plan was to outfit it with a tower, turbine and blades before anchoring it offshore near Castine this month.
University leaders and elected officials have championed the project since the late 2000s, noting it could lead to offshore wind turbines in the Gulf of Maine and help the state meet its emissions-reduction goals. But it has become a political problem in recent years as projects moved from development toward fruition, with fishermen’s groups opposing Mills’ ambitious plans for offshore wind development in the Gulf of Maine.
