UTC is one of 33 colleges nationwide and the only school in the state to win federal stimulus funds to help develop training programs to expand electric smart-grid technology.
Officials say the award puts the school on the cutting edge of the emerging technology.
“UTC’s selection is an example of our leadership in the state,” said Chuck Cantrell, spokesman for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. “We’ll have a corner on being able to produce the states’ leading experts in power-grid management.
“Not only is this a source of acclaim for our current programs,” he said, “but it will allow our engineering and computer science programs to be (among) the most competitive in the country.”
The $2.4 million in federal funding will be used by the university’s engineering department to create high school programs and enhance college curriculum to teach students to use smart grids, an electronic technology that helps monitor power usage in appliances for cost and energy savings.