From left: Barney Hunt, Fred Herringer, Cheryl Lininger

The Illinois Tech NECA Student Chapter was awarded second place in the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA) Chapter of the Year. The announcement came during NECA’s Annual Conference in Boston on October 7.

Three Illinois Tech NECA student chapter members, Barney Hunt (Industrial Technology and Management), Fred Herringer (Industrial Technology and Management) and Cheryl Lininger (Electrical Engineering), attended the conference.  The group was accompanied by Illinois Tech NECA Chapter Advisor and Adjunct Professor in Industrial Technology and Management, Dan Tomal. During the Conference, Tomal gave a general presentation on the new Illinois Tech Smart Tech Lab and the Internet of Things.

The Illinois Tech NECA chapter also captured fifth place in the National Green Energy Challenge, held during the conference. There were 30 university teams in the competition. All entrants conducted energy audits of a local school building, and created presentations for the national challenge. The Illinois Tech team prepared for the challenge as part of Illinois Tech Interprofessional Project (IPRO 213), the Green Energy Challenge, led by Tomal. During the fall ’16 IPRO, they conducted an energy audit of the Illinois Tech Perspectives Math and Science Academy, with support from the Electrical Contractors’ Association of the City of Chicago.

“This is a wonderful opportunity for our university chapter to gain out-of-class experience, and compete at the national level,” said Tomal.

The Green Energy Challenge is an annual event. The Illinois Tech NECA Chapter plans to use its work from the spring ‘17 IPRO 213 as its entry in the 2017 challenge, to be held in Seattle.