The U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) recognized the research of two of the college’s graduate students at the 2020 IAC (Industrial Assessment Center) Student and Alumni Awards.
Farah Nourin and Mohammad Qandil each received a 2020 Industrial Assessment Center Outstanding Student Award. Qandil also took home the Distinguished Dissertator Award. Only six students received awards in this nationwide competition open to students and alumni from 31 IACs.
Department of Energy-funded IACs train the next generation of energy engineers and the awards recognize outstanding accomplishments in researching and promoting practices, principles and procedures that increase a company’s efficiency and productivity.
UWM’s DOE IAC, Wisconsin’s sole site, is under the direction of Ryo Amano, professor, mechanical engineering. The center provides free, in-depth energy assessments to small- and medium-sized manufacturers and utilities. The goal is to increase their productivity and competitiveness by reducing energy and water consumption, enhancing cybersecurity, and adopting smart manufacturing technology.
To date, more than 600 companies and water treatment plants have used the center’s services. On average, they received energy-consumption recommendations to save about $150,000 annually, higher than the national IAC average of $130,000.
The UWM IAC, Amano says, has achieved annual savings for Wisconsin manufacturers of 41 million kilowatt hours (kWh), 98,000 kilowatts (kW) of demand and 3.5 million therms.