To capitalize on the importance and critical role of private and industrial partners in this discussion, a conversation series will be convened as a partnership between GUIRR and the National Academy of Engineering President's Business Advisory Committee. This panel will convene to discuss how student needs around increased pay and other fringe benefits, as well as additional economically based future STEM trainee pressures, may change the cost or efficiency of innovation. Specific consideration will be placed on trainees’ economic forces and pathways representing the transition from the university to industry. It will also consider the role of building a robust and retained workforce in an era of increased global competition for a shrinking and specialized labor pool.