OSU Industrial Assessment Center Receives DOE Funding

Press release from Oklahoma State University:

August 4, 2021

Media Contact:
Jeff Hopper | Marketing Media Specialist | 405-744-2745 | jeff.hopper@okstate.edu

The Industrial Assessment Center (IAC) at Oklahoma State University has received a
five-year funding award from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) totaling $1.75M starting
September 2021 and running through August 2026.

In late July, the DOE announced funding totaling $60 million for its largest-ever
cohort of 32 university-based IACs located in 28 states across the country.

This new cohort of IACs will provide site-specific recommendations to small and medium
size manufacturers with opportunities to improve productivity, secure information,
reduce waste and save energy while providing training for undergraduate and graduate
engineering students in manufacturing processes, energy assessment procedures and
energy management systems.

Also, these IACs will focus on improving productivity, enhancing cybersecurity, promoting
resiliency planning, and providing trainings to entities located in disadvantaged
communities.

The funding award is rigorously reviewed every five years and higher-education institutions
must submit a new proposal application for and compete for funding, regardless of
previous status. The funding allows both the main center, housed at OSU, and its satellite
center — located on the Wichita State University campus — the ability to further develop
their ability to provide efficient, cost-saving assessments for their clients and
increase the impact each center has on students.

“I am proud to serve as the Director of our IAC,” said Dr. Hitesh Vora, an associate
professor in OSU’s Mechanical Engineering Technology program. “The structure of the
IAC program is unique, innovative, integrates the three important objectives — community
service, teaching, and research — of the land-grant mission of Oklahoma State University,
and provides an economic boost to the region. This program offers an unbiased service
to the real clients that provide value-added recommendations to their real problems
and save energy and reduce cost.”

The OSU IAC opened in 1982 and recently was recognized as the only IAC in the country
that has completed more than 1,000 assessments. According to the DOE’s IAC database,
the overall IAC program has totaled over $4.5 billion in cost savings with the OSU
IAC contributing more than $300 million in energy cost saving implementations since
its inception.

The mission of OSU’s IAC, one of the 32 IACs funded by the U.S. Department of Energy,
is two-fold. Its primary mission is to provide small- and medium-sized manufacturers
with no-cost energy assessments, which can help to reduce energy and waste, and increase
their productivity and efficiency.

“Our goal is to save our clients at least 10% of their energy costs,” Vora said. “We
also aspire to an implementation rate above 40%.”

The second objective of the IAC is to provide students with service-learning experience
which includes hands-on education and training which will help them prepare to become
the next energy, waste and productivity professionals.

“We want to produce competent, motivated energy engineers,” Vora said.

At least 10 students are provided the opportunity to develop their skills in a multitude
of areas including energy conservation technologies in conjunction with increased
productivity, the economics of implementing suggestions, and client relationships
including client recruiting, on-site assessment, reporting, and client-related communications.

The OSU IAC is one of the oldest, continuously-operational centers in the country
and its dedication to its clients and ability to solve complex problems in new, innovative
ways make it an inviting and trustworthy target for DOE funding.

“It is a team effort, and the success of our center is only possible because of the
hard work and dedication of each of our team members including our center students,
staff and faculty members,” Vora said. “They, along with our immense network of stakeholders,
provide the tools needed to carry out our mission for clients and students alike.”

This press release was produced by Oklahoma State University. The views expressed here are the author’s own.