Since the Legislature began funding the Engineering Initiative in 2001, engineering degrees awarded by Utah schools have increased 37 percent to 1,762 in 2007. Computer science degrees are up 20 percent to 579.

"We are graduating hundreds of more engineers," said Cemaphore Systems' John Sutherland. "The vast majority stay in the state, adding to the tax base and contributing to the growth in the economy."

The state has so far invested $16 million and Sutherland, chairman of the Technology Initiative Advisory Board, asked for $2 million to continue the program, which won kudos from legislators.

"This is one of the smart things we did as a Legislature at the time, and it is something smart for us to explore in future years," said Rep. Kory Holdaway, R-Taylorsville. "The reason Utah's economy is what it is today is in large part due to initiatives like this."

Backing Sutherland were titans of technology and university officials, who spoke to the need to boost the outflow of young engineers.

"We are embarking on the largest growth period in the 35 years I've been here," said Larry Johnson of ATK Launch Systems Group, the large solid-fuel rocket builder. "I've never seen as strong a group coming out of the universities."

ATK employs 5,000 in Utah, many of them engineers. It has recently hired 400 engineers, half from Utah, and has 140 open positions.

Laurie Bott of IM Flash Technologies said her company employs 814 engineers in Utah and is posting another 100 positions, with starting pay at more than $65,000.

A survey of 40 Wasatch Front companies indicates they collectively have 433 open positions and expect to open 575 more in the next year.

Responding to a challenge by then-Gov. Mike Leavitt in the 1990s, the University of Utah has provided most of the growth in engineering education. The U. awarded 611 degrees last year, up 65 percent from 1999, according to Richard Brown, dean of the College of Engineering, who says the initiative has sparked a renaissance in engineering.