Community Engagement

Hocking College Spurs Market Transformation and Green Technology Development

The Hocking College Energy Institute (HCEI) combines hands-on training for students with research and commercialization services for businesses—building a skilled workforce while helping to bring clean energy products to market. In the Appalachian region, where the manufacturing base has severely eroded, this initiative creates a crucial opportunity for significant economic development.

Blending Entrepreneurship and Job Training

HCEI delivers comprehensive services in the areas of fuel cell manufacturing, solar and wind energy, automotive hybrid technology, and hydroelectric power. For example, its experiential laboratories lend commercialization support to help students building fuel cell components sell them to a local manufacturer—with the proceeds reinvested in the institute’s programs. Dean Jerry Hutton calls this blended business and technology program a prime example of his motto— “Hands-On Hocking”—to describe all of the college’s trades programs. And it works.

More than 100 students are enrolled in an associate degree program, Advanced Energy and Fuel Cells.  HCEI also offers short-term certificate training and specialized industry training programs in the advanced energy and automotive hybrids fields.

HCEI collaborates closely with companies such as Xunlight Corporation of Toledo, a venture-backed advanced technology company that develops high-performance, flexible, and lightweight solar modules, and NexTech Materials Ltd., a developer of fuel cell components and fuel processing sensors for systems. A recent partnership with nonprofits Rural Action, Inc., and Clean Fuels Ohio promotes the use of biodiesel along the U.S. Route 33 corridor from Columbus, Ohio, to the Ohio River.

Leveraging Success into Dollars

Hocking College’s tight partnerships and quality programming earned a $1.6 million grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration to build the Energy Institute and campus with an additional $1.6 million from anticipation bonds to be paid off by future capital appropriations from the State of Ohio. Hocking also qualified for funding from a special State of Ohio allocation—known as “Third Frontier”—for business development in Ohio. The result: a LEED-certified building heated and cooled by 26 geothermal wells, which includes a fuel cell, natural gas compressor and refueling station, vegetative roof, 21kw photovoltaic array, plug-in vehicular recharge stations, and a wind generator. To learn more about this innovative program, please follow the links and contact below:

http://buildipedia.com/hocking-college-energy-institute-pt1

http://www2.hocking.edu/hcei/

Dr. Jerrold Hutton
Dean, Advanced Energy & Transportation Technologies
hutton_j@hocking.edu

Jestinah McDonald
Project Coordinator
mcdonald_j@hocking.edu