IIT NECA Student Chapter’s Energy Audit of Chicago Institute of Cultural Affairs Wins Top Spot in First Round of NECA National Green Energy Challenge
Every August teams of students representing National Electrical Contractor’s Association (NECA) student chapters in U.S. universities compete in Chicago for a chance to be finalists in NECA’s Annual Green Energy Challenge. IIT’s team beat out approximately 27 other universities this year to earn the first of three top spots. The next two finalists are Penn State and Iowa State Universities. The top three teams each received a cash prize and an all-expense paid trip to the 2018 National NECA Conference in Philadelphia, where they will present to a team of industry judges.
IIT’s entry grew from an IIT Interprofessional Project (IPRO) in which students completed an energy audit for the Chicago Institute of Cultural Affairs. Dan Tomal, adjunct professor of industrial technology and management, teaches this IPRO, which has performed energy audits of different Chicago area buildings each semester for several years. Tomal also serves as IIT NECA Student Chapter Advisor. Thomas Jacobus, Director of Operations & External Relations for IIT’s IPRO program, congratulated the IIT NECA team, stating, “The diversity of student engagement via the IPRO course after almost 24 years remains a distinctive platform for innovating concepts that have value.”
For the next phase of the Green Energy Challenge, the team will refine their presentation with Tomal and Frank Gurtz, President and CEO of Gurtz Electric Company in the Chicago area. Gurtz is a member of the Electrical Contractors of the City of Chicago (ECA) and serves as Chair of the ECA Student Committee that oversees the IIT NECA Student Chapter.
In 2017-18, the IIT NECA Student Chapter has been active in helping companies install equipment donations in the School of Applied Technology Smart Tech Lab. Some of the members appeared in a video about the Lab made by and for NECA with President David Long. They hope that these activities will help them also compete at the National NECA Conference as the national Outstanding NECA Chapter of the Year.
