Omar Shaker, PhD candidate, mechanical engineering, has received the Significant Contribution Award from the Expansion Industrial Training and Assessment Center (ITAC), a program of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).
The award recognizes students with more than one year of experience who have demonstrated sustained leadership, exceptional initiative, and significant contributions to the success of their ITAC program.
This program consists of more than 50 centers around the U.S. that prepare the next generation of energy-efficiency professionals while providing no-cost energy assessments to small- and medium-sized manufacturers.
The DOE provided $5.7M in 2024 to enlist UWM’s ITAC, which is led by Ryo Amano, professor, mechanical engineering, to expand its instruction to nine community and technical colleges across Wisconsin.
Shaker currently serves as the lead student at the UWM ITAC, where he continues to support workforce development and energy-efficiency initiatives for industry clients.
During his four years with the UWM ITAC, Shaker, who is a Certified Energy Manager and a LEED Green Associate, participated in 34 industrial energy assessments, mentored 10 engineering students, and played a key role in developing the UWM Expansion ITAC Consortia. He coordinated activities such as developing training programs, standardized reporting systems, and operational tools to support new ITAC centers at partner community colleges.
The award was present in July at the ITAC Expansion Directors meeting in Salt Lake City.