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Women In The Engineering Field: I got a Program for you

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at UIC chapter.

Now, if you’re a senior like me, I know you’re probably trying to see what jobs are out there for you. Getting experience in your field is nerve wrecking, especially if you have no idea what you’re doing. Moreso, it’s a scary world if you do not have any leads.

However if you’re part of the engineering field, I got a great opportunity for you.

Yours truly is a social media assistant and specialist for the University of Illinois at Chicago’s Energy Resource Center. With that being said, I have the opportunity to connect with different on-campus energy conserving programs, in order to help them expand their mission. I have been told there is an amazing program that are looking for engineering students to join their team to gain hands on experience! I figured, why not take some time to tell people about this in case someone, maybe you, are interested in joining.

Not to mention, Earth Day is next month (April 22), so why don’t we talk about a programs that wants to conserve energy to help the environment!

The iac: what is it?

The IAC, known as Industrial Assessment Center, is a mixed team of students and staff that aim to provide free energy and waste assessments to qualified industrial facilities. This article is specifically about UIC’s Industrial Assessment Center, therefore this program is looking for UIC Engineering students.

This center has three specific goals that they want to achieve and they want students to help achieve these goals!

Goal One: For the qualified facilities, they want to provide no-cost, in-depth evaluations. This includes a baseline energy analysis, a walkthrough of the facility, and a full list of identified measures including possible funding, savings, and economic analysis.

Goal Two: The IAC is used to train the next generation of energy-savvy engineers! This is so important considering more than 60% of engineering majors pursue energy-related careers upon or after graduation.

Goal Three: The IAC wants to conduct research on cutting edge technologies in order to refine the energy assessment process and identify new potential methods of cost effective energy reduction.

You’re probably asking, what is in it for me? Well let’s go over the benefits.

The Benefits

  1. Receive technical training from both programs.
  2. Develop an understanding of utility data, how to analyze it, and the importance of establishing a baseline with which to make estimates.
  3. Experience with identifying a wide range of industrial equipment and processes, how to approach and move through industrial plants, and how to identify important equipment.
  4. Learn a wide range of possible energy and water reduction measures to look for and analyze.
  5. The satisfaction of participating in work that directly impacts CO2 emissions.
  6. Realize the impact of utility costs on the bottom line.
  7. Real world exposure to the day-to-day operations of industrial manufacturing facilities.
  8. Practical experience with interacting with plant personnel and learning how to lead and perform client interactions for projects.
  9. Experience presenting findings to and receiving feedback from clients on their work. Feedback can include answering tough questions on specific measures, assumptions made, and why the calculations were performed as delivered.

Not to mention, there is still so much more to discover when working with this program as a UIC Engineering student there are ENDLESS connections in the field.

If you are interested in applying to the IAC, contact Patrick Brown: the Senior Research Engineer with the Energy Resources Center at UIC. His email is @prbrown@uic.edu

Good Luck!

Christina (Chrissy) is an independent social media analyst in the Pilsen and Little Italy area of Chicago. She specializes in helping small BIPOC businesses and community organizations improve their brand image through media platforms such as Tiktok and Instagram. She's a first generation college student and is currently a Senior at UIC studying Communication and minoring in Public Health. She is planning to graduate in the Fall of 2022!