Power and Energy Institute Receives $1.5 Million for Education in Industrial Energy Efficiency
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Sept. 14, 2011) — The Power and Energy Institute of Kentucky (PEIK) at the University of Kentucky has received $1.5 million from the U.S. Department of Energy 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. UK is one of 24 universities in 23 states to receive a portion of the $30 million that was issued. UK will receive the grant over the course of five years.
PEIK received the grant for their proposal "Developing the Energy Assessment Engineering Workforce via Student Education and Industrial Assessment Experiences," which will establish a cross-disciplinary program to educate graduate and undergraduate engineers in energy assessments and energy efficiency improvements for industrial processes and industrial/commercial facilities. This includes not only classroom experiences, but also in-plant assessment experiences of the students.
The leaders of the grant are Larry Holloway, director of PEIK and chair of the electrical and computer engineering department in the UK College of Engineering, and Don Colliver, professor of biosystems and agricultural engineering in the UK College of Agriculture, with co-principal investigators Dusan Sekulic and Tom Henniger, both in the Department of Mechanical Engineering.
An important part of the grant is the partnership with several centers at UK, including the Institute for Research for Technology Development (IR4TD), the Institute for Sustainable Manufacturing (ISM), the Center for Applied Energy Research (CAER), and the Center for Aluminum Technology (CAT).
"These organizations will serve as technical resources and as important bridges between the educational program of the grant and the industries that will be served," said Holloway. "As the students do their industrial assessment experiences, they will be helping industry by providing data and recommendations for improvements to the companies visited."
Click here for the DOE's press release.
MEDIA CONTACT: Jenny Wells, (859) 257-5343; Jenny.Wells@uky.edu