Trine, Citizens Energy Group partner in education, research

INDIANAPOLIS — Trine University and Citizens Energy Group have begun a collaboration through Citizens’ Partnership for Excellence in Research and Learning (PERL) program.

“Citizens Energy Group has a longstanding history of supporting our community in various ways.  As a part of this commitment, we are partnering with universities within Indiana to support professional development and research, as well as other opportunities for the students,” said Mark Jacob, Vice President, Capital Programs and Engineering for Citizens. “Our intent is to encourage graduating students to remain in Indiana and the Indianapolis area to fulfill the workforce needs of Citizens and its supporting businesses and to become future business leaders in these industries.”

Besides encouraging students to stay in Indiana, Citizens hopes the partnership will create more professional development opportunities for Trine students and create an improved exchange of data addressing industry challenges between Citizens’ utilities and the university.

The university hopes to increase the number of guest speakers from Citizens on campus and increase the number of field trips to Citizens facilities. Timothy Tyler, Ph.D., dean of the Allen School of Engineering & Technology, said the company also hopes to work with Trine’s Education Resource Center to provide internships for students.

Planning already is underway to have representatives from Citizens serve as guest lecturers for American Society of Civil Engineers meetings and the Intro to Engineering Course; to have Trine students tour various Citizens facilities; and to have students research industry challenges through Trine University’s Innovation One. Citizens is also providing case studies that can potentially serve as capstone projects for civil engineering seniors.

“This is a great opportunity for our students to work with professionals in the field, to see real projects and to gain professional development that ultimately could result in employment opportunities,” said Tyler.

Learn more about the PERL program in a YouTube video from Citizens Energy.

Citizens Energy Group provides safe and reliable utility services to about 800,000 people in the Indianapolis area. Citizens operates its utilities only for the benefit of customers and the community.