Written By Leha Byrd
According to department leaders, the grant helps strengthen program offerings with lab upgrades and targeted field and project-based training for students. It will also expose students to renewable energy research, support a summer enrichment program for high school students, and provide professional development and support to faculty from other institutions interested in adopting renewable energy curriculum.
The award is one of several the university has acquired recently in an effort to address energy industry shortfalls, like underrepresentation of minorities and women, with its programming and curricula.
Last year, ECSU received a five-year grant totaling $825,000 from the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) as part of the agency’s distribution of $38.8 million to 24 Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) consortia nationwide. Additionally, ECSU joined a consortium, led by UNC Charlotte, that received $1 million in a planning grant from the National Science Foundation’s Regional Innovation Engines program (NSF). The NSF Phase I Engines grant backs the overarching initiative, CleanCarolinas, designed to support the economy and growth of the Carolinas through clean energy technology, including innovations in offshore wind, solar, clean hydrogen, and marine energy.
“ECSU is dedicated to enhancing STEM education and training to improve and increase access to the energy workforce for students in the region. The grant will help us closely work with the industry in producing well-educated students and increasing the pipeline of qualified, diverse workers into the field,” said Kuldeep Rawat, Ph.D., ECSU School of Science, Aviation, Health, and Technology dean and principal investigator on this grant.
To date, ECSU has begun offering renewable energy courses and selected students are participating in mentored, semester-long research and targeted renewable energy training. Also, student led projects involving wind turbines and solar sheds have been installed behind Dixon Hall.
ECSU offers an ABET-accredited Bachelor of Science program in Engineering Technology and a Bachelor of Science in Sustainability Studies that has courses and concentrations in renewable energy.
