PNW Pridecast: Historic Grants for CIVS, IEP Designation and Celebrating First-Gen Students

Purdue Northwest Announcement and reception for a major $10 million grant that the Center for Innovation through Visualization and Simulation (CIVS) received from the U.S. Dept. of Energy.

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Episode Script

Hello again, Purdue Northwest colleagues!

It’s another episode of the PNW Pridecast, bringing you up to speed on the latest internal faculty and staff news.

I’m Kale Wilk, Communications Specialist in the office of Marketing and Communications, and in this episode we’ll talk about a major research grant for the Center for Innovation and Visualization through Simulation, PNW’s designation as an Innovation and Economic Prosperity University and upcoming celebrations for PNW first-generation students.

CIVS Earns Two Historic Grants in One Week

PNW’s Center for Innovation through Visualization and Simulation (CIVS) is celebrating after earning two federally sponsored grants that will help it contribute to energy projects concerning steel decarbonization and clean hydrogen. The grants mark two of the largest federally sponsored grants a PNW unit has historically received.

Thanks to a nearly $10 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Industrial Efficiency and Decarbonization Office, CIVS, its partners and co-principal investigators will collaborate on a first-of-its-kind industry-scale demonstration of a hydrogen-fired continuous reheating furnace (RF) operation.

It will also establish roadmap strategies and operation schemes for zero-carbon dioxide emission production in commercial furnaces with a state-of-the-art Integrated Virtual Reheating Furnace.  Decarbonization is a process that helps reduce industrial output of carbon dioxide greenhouse gas emissions and transition to alternative energy sources that use less carbon.

On Oct. 11, CIVS hosted a reception and program that gathered industrial, education, federal and elected leaders. During the program, select remarks outlined the tremendous impacts new research will provide for the local steel industry. CIVS’ project is one of 40 projects across the U.S., selected and collectively supported by $135 million from DOE, aimed at reducing carbon emissions from the industrial sectors.

Avi Shultz, director of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Industrial Efficiency and Decarbonization Office, interacts with VR equipment in the CIVS auditorium. The DOE provided CIVS and industry partners a nearly $10 million grant for steel decarbonization research.

Here’s Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Chris Holford with some of his contributed formal remarks during the Oct. 11 event:

“Opportunities provided by this grant through the DOE and the collaboration with our partners in the steel industry allows us to not only expose our students to training, but apply practical training that is meaningful in an industry that is not only important to Northwest Indiana, it is important to our nation,” said Holford.”

“I cannot think, as an academic, of a more meaningful education than to put students in a position where they are working on projects of national importance and in an industry that is critically important to the nation.”

Then, on Oct. 13, the DOE announced the Midwest Alliance for Clean Hydrogen, or MachH2, hub proposal was selected for $1 billion in funding to accelerate the domestic market for low-cost, clean hydrogen. The hub is one of seven awarded funding across the nation.

Purdue Northwest is the only Indiana higher education institution integrally involved in this alliance and funding award to create sources of clean hydrogen that will also contribute to emission reduction in industrial sectors.

I cannot think, as an academic, of a more meaningful education than to put students in a position where they are working on projects of national importance and in an industry that is critically important to the nation.

Chris Holford, Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs

Purdue University President Mung Chiang stated “This is the third exciting news in one week for Purdue University Northwest: the only university from Indiana in the IN-IL-MI tristate win of a Hydrogen Hub, up to $1 billion for the region. Purdue is excited to be part of the effort by Governor Holcomb since a year ago and now a national leader in hydrogen tech. As Indiana’s land grant university, Purdue has been working with our state’s Applied Research Institute this year to bring two national wins to our state so far this season: DOD Microelectronic Commons Hub and DOE Hydrogen Hub.”

The Midwest Hydrogen Hub will employ electrolysis technology, powered by carbon-free energy, to separate the hydrogen and oxygen molecules in water, resulting in clean hydrogen. MachH2’s hub will become part of the DOE’s broader network of hydrogen producers, consumers, and local connective infrastructure accelerating the use of clean hydrogen and delivering and storing tremendous amounts of clean energy.

Both projects support a federal initiative to reduce carbon emissions and progress toward net-zero emissions by 2050.

To learn more information, visit pnw.edu/civs.

PNW Earns Designation as Innovation and Economic Prosperity University

Purdue University Northwest was recently designated as an Innovation and Economic Prosperity University in acknowledgement of its strong evidence of collaboration with community partners to support economic development, innovation, entrepreneurship, technology transfer talent, workforce development and community development.

PNW is now the third IEP in Indiana alongside Purdue West Lafayette and Indiana University Bloomington. IEP designations are provided by the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities to public universities. The designation places PNW in esteemed company with other major institutions.

As part of PNW’s self-study and application, several areas of institutional strength in economic engagement were identified. These included, but are not limited to:

• PNW’s Commercialization and Manufacturing Excellence Center, which catalyzes economic development and technological transfer for Northwest Indiana through product commercialization and related training for manufacturing companies. The future Roberts Impact Lab at PNW will be a workspace for entrepreneurship, innovation and education collaboration.
• Applied doctoral programs, particularly PNW’s Doctor of Technology, which offers candidates an opportunity to do applied research and provide innovative solutions to industry.
• Over $30 million in sponsored research over the past three years, a total not matched by other mid-size or regional institutions in Indiana.
• Involvement in regional boards and economic development initiatives, such as Legacy Foundation; One Region; and the Northwest Indiana Forum.
• Status as an emerging Hispanic-Serving Institution, a testament to the diverse and inclusive learning environment PNW strives to foster.

Applications for the designation are evaluated by a panel of reviewers representing other universities and regional and national partners. Scoring was based on a range of criteria emphasizing universities’ development of their economic engagement enterprise, their planning efforts around economic engagement, strategic communications around these efforts, and participation in encouraging economic engagement among peer institutions.

Celebrating the First-Generation Student Experience

Early November marks National First-Generation College Celebration, an initiative spearheaded by the Center for First-generation Student Success. As a PNW community member, you too can help celebrate our first-generation students through campus programming between Nov. 2 and Nov. 14.

Faculty and staff members who are first-generation graduates are encouraged to share their first-gen experiences and stories with the office of Educational Opportunity Programs staff. PNW faculty and staff can visit tabling events on Nov. 6, 8, and 9 in the concourses of the Classroom Office Building and the Student Union and Library Building on the Hammond campus and the Library-Student-Faculty Building on the Westville campus.

On Nov. 6, the Center for Faculty Excellence will facilitate a panel with 2023 First-Gen Pride Microgrant recipients, in which recipients will share the scope of their various research projects. Offered to help meet PNW’s ongoing efforts to address the needs of first-generation students, the microgrants support faculty and staff in developing differentiated curricular content and activities for first-generation students. Over $15,000 was awarded in this inaugural round of microgrants.

PNW’s office of Educational Opportunity Programs will host a First-Generation College Celebration on Nov. 8, which is recognized as National First-Gen College Celebration Day. On both the Hammond and Westville campuses you can catch food, games, and giveaways as we celebrate the first-generation college experience.

For more information, visit pnw.edu/first-generation.

Recent News

Finally, let’s round out with a couple recent faculty and staff recognitions and news:

• Debbie Bachmann, administrator of Honors Student Leadership and Programming, was recently recognized as a 2023 Influential Woman in “Service and Tourism” by the Northwest Indiana Influential Women Association. Bachmann was recognized for her commitment to promoting student service and engagement with neighboring communities, personally directing Honors College student engagement programs that produced over 7,000 hours of community service projects during the 2022-23 academic year.
• Pat Obi, White Lodging Professor of Finance, was awarded an honorary doctorate degree from the Lithuania Business College and honored with an auditorium dedicated in his name. As a part of his international engagement, Obi has made several visits to Lithuania higher education institutions. While there, he has provided research presentations and teaching workshops.
• The Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN) has granted initial accreditation for the College of Nursing’s Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) clinical and applied doctoral program. The DNP prepares candidates to lead transformative healthcare by becoming experts in the search, appraisal, synthesis, transfer and application of evidence — and in the evaluation of its impact on outcomes.
• Finally, PNW’s Center for Faculty Excellence recently hosted its “Celebrating Excellence: Taking PRIDE in our Teaching Event.” The annual event brings together PNW faculty fellows who have completed the Association of College and University Educators (ACUE) Course in Effective Teaching Practices. Through presentations and panel discussions, faculty, staff and students shared their thoughts on best practices learned and to implement in the contemporary higher education environment. For more information about the center’s resources, visit edu/center-faculty-excellence.

That’ll do it for this episode. Remember, you can listen to past episodes and share suggestions for PNW faculty and staff news by visiting pnw.edu/pridecast.

I’m Kale Wilk, bidding “talk to you later,” and I’ll reconnect with you in a few weeks.