Today the Industrial Assessment Center (IAC) program, which is sponsored by the Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO), will be recognized on Capitol Hill. This recognition follows a Senate resolution that unanimously passed earlier this year designating the week of April 24, 2016 as “National Industrial Assessment Center Week”.  The Honorable Jeanne Shaheen, US Senator for New Hampshire (D) was instrumental in helping to pass the resolution. In all, 15 of her colleagues co-sponsored the resolution, including Senator Alexander, making it a bi-partisan effort. This resolution also acknowledged the 40 years the IAC program has been supporting American manufacturers to remain competitive in the marketplace both domestically and internationally.    

Since 1976, the IAC program has helped small- and medium-sized manufacturers improve energy efficiency, reduce waste, and increase productivity with no-cost energy assessments. Teams at 24 of the top engineering schools in the country have conducted more than 17,000 energy assessments and helped manufacturers save more than $1 billion in energy costs and enough energy to power 1.4 million homes. These assessments have also provided valuable hands-on learning opportunities for engineering students to develop the skillsets they need to be successful and competitive in the workforce.

Speakers at today’s event will include Department of Energy's Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency, Kathleen Hogan; Michael R. Muller, IAC technical field manager at Rutgers University; Bert Hill, Volvo Group North America; and Dr. Sudhakar Neti, former Director of the Lehigh University IAC. Their remarks will focus on sustaining the program’s momentum for another 40 years and the importance of training the next generation of energy-savvy engineers. Former students and alumni will also participate in informal discussions about the ways they were impacted by the IAC program.

Stay tuned later this week for our recap of the IAC recognition event. To learn more about the IAC program, click here.

Read our Memorial Day blog on how the Industrial Assessment Center program helps veterans learn valuable energy management skills.