On April 7, U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm and Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff visited Oklahoma State University to announce the creation of the Great Plains Center of Excellence (GPCoE). The new center — which will be housed within OSU’s Industrial Assessment Center in the College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology — is one of five competitively selected higher education institutions to serve as Centers of Excellence for DOE’s Industrial Assessment Centers (IAC) Program. Of the combined $18.7 million in funding slated for the five new centers, the GPCoE has received a nearly $7 million funding award. That funding will directly impact the center’s ability to conduct industrial assessments aimed at helping clients reduce energy usage and increase productivity, while educating the next generation of energy, waste and productivity professionals using next-generation, integrated tools and technologies, such as smartphone apps, drones and virtual/augmented reality.
