Wisconsin Public Utility Institute, energy engineers to promote efficiency

On Wednesday, Dec. 5, the Wisconsin Public Utility Institute (WPUI) and the Wisconsin Association of Energy Engineers (WAEE) will present a program on how to encourage more efficiency from the motor industry.

Motor use accounts for nearly 70 percent of electrical energy used in the nation; thus, even a 1 percent improvement in efficiency provides $1 billion in savings in energy consumption.

The program is intended to facilitate knowledge exchange between manufacturers, which can start making changes immediately, and university researchers, whose results will reach the market in the very near future. The program also will feature the work of two graduate students working in the energy field.

"One of WPUI’s goals is to offer forums that partner industry and academia under one roof," says WPUI director Cara Lee Mahany Braithwait. "Our goal is to accelerate the learning curve for all entities — for academic researchers to get a better understanding of what the private marketplace needs and vice versa. However, a real bonus here is that we have an opportunity to let our students present their work to a very public audience — not just their peers. It is an audience that needs them and that the students will need in the near future."

This program will be held in the Lowell Center, 610 Langdon St., at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Tickets are $12 for WAEE and WPUI members and $18 for nonmembers. Although tickets will be available the day of the event, attendees are encouraged to pre-register by calling (608) 890-1815.