SU’s Industrial Assessment Center receives prestigious national award

SU’s Industrial Assessment Center receives prestigious national awardAugust 06, 2009Tricia Hopkinsthopkins@syr.edu

The Industrial Assessment Center at Syracuse University was awarded the Center of Excellence Award by the U.S. Department of Energy at the annual Industrial Assessment Centers directors’ meeting, held recently in Niagara Falls. IAC Program Director Frederick Carranti accepted the award on behalf of the SU center and the University.

The prestigious award is given annually to one of the 26 Department of Energy-sponsored, university-based Industrial Assessment Centers nationwide in recognition of the center’s outstanding contributions to industrial energy efficiency. This is the first time the SU center, based in the L.C. Smith College of Engineering and Computer Science, has received the award in its 10-year-history.

“This award provides enormous visibility within the Department of Energy and NYSERDA, the New York state energy office,” says Carranti. “Our receipt of this award is due in large part to the diligent and professional level of work performed by the graduate assistants and undergraduate interns who have worked for the center over the years, to the thoughtful contributions of Professors John Dannenhoffer and Jensen Zhang, and to the trust and support of former deans Ed Bogucz and Eric Spina and Professor John Lagraff when the center was created.”

SU’s center (http://iac.syr.edu) provides no-cost energy, waste and productivity analysis studies to qualified small- and medium-sized New York and Pennsylvania manufacturers, recommending methods to conserve resources and reduce operating costs, and save energy. The Syracuse IAC has performed some 190 such assessments, and recommendations have averaged about $55,000 in potential annual savings for each manufacturer.

Of the many companies the SU-IAC has assisted over the years, Carranti says virtually every industry sector in New York state has been represented. It is also the practice of the SU-IAC to do an annual job pro bono for a deserving, non-industrial entity in the community. In the recent past, the SU-IAC has done assessments for the Landmark Theatre and Jowonio School, as well as a number of local churches.

The assessment process begins with an eligible company submitting a pre-assessment survey and 12 months of utility bills to the IAC. Next, Carranti, fellow faculty and students perform a one- or two-day site visit, taking engineering measurements as a basis for assessment recommendations. The team then performs a detailed analysis for specific recommendations with related estimates of costs, performance and investment payback times. Within 60 days, a confidential report detailing the analysis, findings and recommendations of the team is sent to the company. In two to six months, follow-up phone calls are placed to the plant manager to verify which, if any, recommendations will be implemented.

Student analysts and interns are drawn mainly from the ranks of mechanical engineers, both graduate and undergraduate, but engineers from other disciplines have also been employed.

“The time served in the IAC is now so well recognized that it applies toward the professional license, and many of the IAC alumni are moving directly into consulting positions in the energy field,” Carranti says. “The placement numbers for IAC students, moving on to high-paying jobs or to graduate study, are virtually 100 percent.”