Westinghouse Donates $3 M in Equipment, Services, Scholarships to EPIC
On Dec. 12, 2011, Westinghouse Electric Co. and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte jointly announced Westinghouse’s commitment of more than $3 million in donated equipment, services and scholarship funding to provide support for the university’s Energy Production and Infrastructure Center (EPIC).
The announcement was made at a news conference on the UNC Charlotte campus attended by top university and company officials.
“This kind of support is critical to the success of this program, which we foresee as a model for business and education cooperation in the energy sphere,” said UNC Charlotte Chancellor Philip L. Dubois. “EPIC will match the needs of energy companies with graduates who have the comprehensive skill sets needed to compete in the 21st century.”
The donation includes two 30-ton industrial cranes; training equipment for the handling of nuclear fuel; a training course for the design of fuel-handling equipment; training resources and facilities related to the nuclear generator plant operations and safety; and an introduction to a robotics-assisted welding manufacturing course, along with use of the Westinghouse welding training facility in Rock Hill, S.C.
Dr. Johan Enslin
“Contributions like this enable us to develop engineering graduates who understand the energy industry and can be productive in the energy industry at an early stage,” said EPIC Director Johan Enslin. “The cranes are critical pieces of equipment to help outfit the high-bay structures laboratory in the new EPIC building. They will give students and researchers the ability to work and test power infrastructure components to scale.”
A refueling grapple that connects to the cranes and fuel masts will enable EPIC to simulate the nuclear refueling process. “These pieces of equipment can be used for teaching and research,” Dr. Enslin said, “and will prove useful for continuing education applications and supporting the development of certification programs for nuclear refueling.”
The cranes were custom built by a Westinghouse subsidiary, Superior Crane Corp., to meet specifications for EPIC’s new $76-million building.
Jimmy Morgan, vice president of Westinghouse Installation and Modification Services and an EPIC board member, said of the donation, “Good education in the nuclear industry requires access to high-capital-value activities, and it requires access to experienced engineers who are ready to pass on their skills. By providing equipment and training services to EPIC, we are making a contribution to the future of the global energy industry.”
EPIC is a partnership between UNC Charlotte, state and local governments, and corporations, including energy companies such as Westinghouse, Duke Energy, Siemens Energy, AREVA, URS Corp, The Shaw Group and others.
“Westinghouse recognizes that industry needs to be a partner not just in the funding of higher education, but in the design of educational programming to meet the evolving needs the energy industry,” said Nick Liparulo, senior vice president of Westinghouse Nuclear Services.
The cranes have already been shipped and installed at the EPIC facility on the UNC Charlotte campus, and nuclear related courses are scheduled to begin in the fall of 2012.
The EPIC building will house the The William States Lee College of Engineering’s civil and environmental, and electrical and computer engineering departments. The building’s lab facilities will expand opportunities for students to gain hands-on experience with industry leaders.
EPIC also will further position Charlotte as “the New Energy Capital” because of more than 240 energy-oriented organizations and more than 26,000 energy-oriented employees in its 16 counties.
About Westinghouse:
Westinghouse Electric Co., a group company of Toshiba Corp., is the world’s pioneering nuclear energy company and is a leading supplier of nuclear plant products and technologies to utilities throughout the world. Westinghouse supplied the world’s first pressurized water reactor in 1957 in Shippingport, Pa. Today, Westinghouse technology is the basis for approximately one-half of the world’s operating nuclear plants, including 60 percent of those in the United States.
About EPIC:
The Energy Production and Infrastructure Center (EPIC) at UNC Charlotte is a collaborative industry/education effort to produce the nation’s most qualified energy engineering workforce and be a partner in technology research for the global energy industry. This cross-discipline initiative in The William States Lee College of Engineering at UNC Charlotte includes mechanical engineering, electrical and computer engineering, civil and environmental engineering, systems engineering, and engineering technology and construction management.
Links and Contacts EPIC
Dr. Johan Enslin