IUPUI/Purdue Gets Major Award for Renewable Energy

Good news for the Purdue School of Engineering and Technology at IUPUI, and its efforts to educate tomorrow’s leaders about renewable energy. Westcommonline explains the school is the only one in the state to be selected to take part in the Department of Education industrial efficiency training program:

Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced today that the Purdue School of Engineering and Technology at IUPUI has been selected to receive a $1.3 million Department of Energy award to train undergraduate- and graduate-level engineering students in manufacturing efficiency to help them become the nation’s next generation of industrial energy efficiency experts. The award will help the university provide practical training on core energy management concepts through the DOE’s Industrial Assessment Center Program. IUPUI is the only university in Indiana selected to receive this award.

“This industrial efficiency training program opens the door to good jobs in a growing, global sector for thousands of energy-savvy students while promoting real, boots-on-the-ground progress toward our transition to a clean energy economy,” said Secretary Chu. “The Centers will provide a boost to the next-generation of American workers as well as to the businesses with which they work.”

Through these university-based Industrial Assessment Centers, engineering students will receive extensive training in industrial processes, energy assessment procedures and energy management principles, which will be put to use working directly with small and medium-sized industrial and manufacturing facilities in the surrounding communities. Under the program, the School of Engineering and Technology will train at least 10 to 15 students per year, conduct approximately 20 energy assessments annually and perform extensive follow-on reporting, tracking, implementation, and management-improvement activities.

“The Purdue School of Engineering and Technology at IUPUI is making significant investments in energy engineering education and research,” said Dr. David J. Russomanno, Dean of the School. “Our new B.S. degree in energy engineering, recent additions of experienced faculty members and our Richard G. Lugar Center for Renewable Energy are investments that will enable us to significantly contribute to the goals of the DOE’s Industrial Assessment Center program.”

The School will be utilizing the resources of its energy engineering experts and the Lugar Center for Renewable Energy to form industry partnerships in the Indianapolis community. These partnerships will lead to increased research and scholarship support for undergraduate and graduate students.

Leave a Reply