Amano awarded $5.7 million from DOE to lead consortium for green jobs in manufacturing

Ryo Amano, UWM’s Richard & Joanne Grigg Fellow and UWM mechanical engineering professor, will direct the initiative and work with nine community college partners across Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin. (UWM Photo/Laura Otto)

The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded a $5.7 million grant to UWM’s College of Engineering & Applied Science to boost the number of Industrial Training Assessment Centers (ITAC) in the Midwest. These centers provide workers with skills in energy assessment, allowing the manufacturing sector to step up its use of technologies to reduce energy consumption.

UWM was selected to be one of DOE’s Clean Energy and Manufacturing Workforce Consortia lead institutions, aiming to help manufacturers improve their competitiveness and reduce industrial carbon emissions at the heart of global climate change.

Ryo Amano, UWM’s Richard & Joanne Grigg Fellow and UWM mechanical engineering professor, will direct the initiative and work with nine community college partners across Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Training workers

Through the training centers, students and workers interested in upskilling can learn how to use technologies such as heat pumps, hydrogen for power generation, biofuels, power flow analysis, several renewable energy technologies and cyber-physical modeling.

“The total amount of the consortia funding is $14 million, so UWM’s slice is large – more than a third,” Amano said. “That isn’t surprising, however, because UWM is known for its expertise in training the next generation of energy engineers. The growing number of ITACs is made possible by the DOE’s network of university-based Industrial Assessment Centers. And UWM has hosted the only Industrial Assessment Center in Wisconsin for nearly 30 years.”

Students involved in the Industrial Assessment Center at UWM conduct free energy assessments for industries to help them save energy costs, cut waste, reduce carbon emissions and boost the clean energy economy.

40 centers across country

UWM-led ITACs will bring the total number of centers across the U.S. to more than 40.

The ITAC grant announcement comes on the heels of a $900,000 grant that DOE awarded Amano last year to establish a Building Training and Assessment Center (BTAC). The aim of BTAC funding was to establish centers for specific job training in making energy-saving modifications to existing buildings and institutional facilities. In addition, Amano has $2 million in funding for UWM’s Industrial Assessment Center.

Expansion of both DOE programs are supported with funds from the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.