PennTAP 2018 Impact
PennTAP collaborated with businesses, local communities, and Penn State students across the Commonwealth. PennTAP increased economic development, student engagement, and community entrepreneurship by:
- Helping businesses reduce operating costs by improving the energy efficiency of their buildings, freeing up capital for reinvestment in new jobs and business expansion.
- Providing students real-world experience through site visits to Pennsylvania manufacturers.
- Mentoring students and community entrepreneurs to pursue their dreams through opportunities such as the Inc.U Competition and the Invent Penn State innovation hub accelerator programs.
As a result of these activities, PennTAP was able to serve 16% more Pennsylvania counties, created or saved 36% more jobs, and helped 41% more students find career success than last year. The PennTAP team is dedicated to helping Pennsylvania businesses grow and succeed while providing out-of-classroom experience for Penn State students to help them successfully transition into their post-graduation careers.
| Counties Served | 43 |
| Economic Benefits | $3.6M |
| Jobs Created or Saved | 34 |
| Penn State Students Engaged | 623 |
| Individuals Educated | 1,002 |
| Client Cases | 108 |
| Client Satisfaction | 4.5/5.0 |
Companies Save 1.5M kWh Yearly
PennTAP’s Energy and Environment (EE) Services help Pennsylvania small to mid-size manufacturers conserve energy, reduce waste, lower energy-related costs, and increase profits. In 2018, PennTAP’s EE team worked on 53 cases of pollution prevention/energy efficiency (P2/E2) on-site assessments, economy-energy-environment (E3) events, Building Re-Tuning coaching and training, and energy management systems (EnMS) training.
| Cases | 53 |
| Penn State Students Engaged | 150 |
| Reduction of Electrical Use | 1.5M kWh |
| Economic Benefit | $2.8M |
| School Districts Trained | 32 |
I’m confident PennTAP’s Building Re-Tuning Training (BRT) Program enabled our district staff to formalize how they re-tune buildings to operate efficiently and provide safe, comfortable environments for students to work and learn.
Six Startups; 46 Engineering Projects
PennTAP’s Innovation team helps individuals, startups, and small to mid-sized businesses with technical assistance, product development and prototyping, engineering design, and networking with University, government, and financial organizations.
Inc.U Competition In 2018, PennTAP mentored and connected student startups with funding through the Inc.U Competition, which culminated in “The Investment” television show on WPSU featuring six student companies competing for $30,000 in awards. Moichor designed a smartphone application that checks complete blood count (CBC) on the go. The $30,000 will help fund clinical trials.
Penn State Learning Factory 38 companies collaborated and sponsored student teams working on 46 engineering design projects. A three-year, $100,000 support grant to PennTAP from the FirstEnergy Foundation made it financially possible for seven companies to participate in the senior engineering design capstone program in 2018.
PA Engage! PennTAP is a proud partner of this new, statewide business retention and expansion program that offers companies advantages and connections to help them stay, grow, and excel in PA.
| Student Startups in Inc.U Competition | 25 |
| Learning Factory Team Sponsors | 23 |
| Donated by FirstEnergy Foundation | $100K |
| Learning Factory Projects | 46 |
| PA Engage! Company Interviews | 8 |
The Inc.U Competition was instrumental in getting our company to the point we can receive investment. It laid the foundation for our pitch and gave us confidence to pursue Moichor full time.
Delaware Valley Education Building Save Energy and Money
The Delaware Valley in Pennsylvania is composed of four counties and 72 public school districts. The high number of aging buildings in the area necessitates sustainability efforts and upgrades. With utility and resource partners like PECO and the Department of Environmental Protection, PennTAP engaged 60 individuals, including grantors, the Delaware Valley School Facility Managers Association members, school district representatives, and students.
They provided training to 25% of the districts and a local community college. This created the potential for BRT activities in more than 160 educational buildings. The PennTAP team’s efforts uncovered a minimum potential cost savings of more than $12,500 and potential energy savings of more than 365 MMBtu annually.
Bemis Saves $81,000 Per Year
Bemis Polyethylene Packaging facility was interested in combining a value stream mapping and analysis event with an assessment of waste heat recovery, compressed air leaks, and lighting. Thanks to funding from the Environmental Protection Agency, PennTAP partnered with Northeast PA IRC to conduct an energy audit with a team of engineering students and examined ways the facility could improve their manufacturing process.
Recommended changes from the energy audit portion totaled savings of $81,000 with a payback period of one year. The continuous improvement audit’s goal was to identify savings and increase production up to $800,000 per year.