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Student Learning At The University of Dayton Industrial Assessment Center

Rebecca P. Blust, John Kelly Kissock, Ph.D.,PE University of Dayton

Abstract

The U.S. Department of Energy, through its Office of Industrial Technologies, funds twenty-six university-based Industrial Assessment Centers (IACs) to train graduate and undergraduate engineering students to provide medium-sized manufacturers with energy, waste, and productivity assessments (http://www.oit.doe.gov/iac/).1 Presently, the IAC Program uses a well-established database to track savings resulting from recommendations generated during IAC site assessments (Muller, Barnish, and Kasten, 1998)2. However, additional benefits are not quantified by the database. One additional benefit, the subject of this paper, is student learning. The training and experiences that students receive through the IAC Program provides industry with engineers with significant and diverse industrial experiences. Students are introduced to manufacturing environments and must perform their job functions within these environments. When they graduate they have experience in several industries, understand energy efficiency and can implement lean manufacturing techniques. This paper will review the IAC program at The University of Dayton, its learning tools, and the skills that students acquire. Finally, the paper will review the results of follow-up questionnaires from over 130 IAC alumni that discuss the impact of the IAC program on their careers.

I. The Industrial Assessment Centers

The University of Dayton Industrial Assessment Center (UDIAC) is one of 26 IACs funded by the US Department of Energy’s Office of Industrial Technologies (OIT) qualified to conduct assessments for mid-sized industries at no charge. Since 1981the UDIAC has been helped over 600 midsize industries reduce their operating costs and remain competitive.3 The assessments entail a one-day visit to the client’s facility where the group identifies and quantifies energy, waste and production cost saving opportunities. The team is led by a faculty member from the School of Engineering and includes a trained group of graduate and undergraduate engineering students. Upon completion of the site visit, the team prepares a complete technical report that presents detailed information regarding the client’s utilities, plant description, assessment recommendations and additional comments pertaining to the performance of the facility.

The Utility Analysis section of the report reviews the client’s electricity, fuel and water billing data and rate schedules. It calculates the avoided costs for energy usage, and discusses all trends associated with individual utility usage.

Proceedings of the 2003 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright © 2003, American Society for Engineering Education

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Kissock, J., & Blust, R. (2003, June), Student Learning At The University Of Dayton Industrial Assessment Center Paper presented at 2003 Annual Conference, Nashville, Tennessee. 10.18260/1-2--12295