NC State lands $1.4 million DOE energy efficiency training grant
The US Department of Energy (DOE) is awarding North Carolina State University $1.4 million over five years to continue training students to become the nation’s next industrial energy efficiency engineering experts.
The award is a part of a $30 million DOE training initiative with university-based Industrial Assessment Center (IAC) programs. The grant is one of 24 being awarded to universities across the country.
NC State’s IAC program operates within the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and serves manufacturers in North Carolina, Virginia and South Carolina. The program was established with DOE funds in 1992 to conduct energy assessments for small- and medium-sized manufacturers. Since then, students in the program have conducted more than 400 energy assessments at manufacturing facilities in the region, helping companies save energy, reduce waste and improve productivity.
“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,” US Energy Secretary Steven Chu said in an announcement. “The Centers will provide a boost to the next-generation of American workers as well as to the businesses with which they work.”
Under the new grant, each IAC will be expected to 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 NC State program is led by Dr. Herbert Eckerlin, the center’s director and a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering. Dr. Stephen Terry, extension assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, is the center’s assistant director.
