Analytics leader SAS has made a grant of software that includes energy forecasting technologies to the Lee College of Engineering and its allied Energy Production and Infrastructure Center (EPIC).
The SAS grant will be devoted to the energy analytics research being led by Tao Hong, an assistant professor of systems engineering and EPIC associate. According to officials, the software will be an important tool in support of education and research and development in advanced analytics applications for utilities and the oil and gas industries.
“The new SAS grant will offer our students invaluable hands-on experience with the analytics software that hundreds of energy companies use for operations and planning,” Hong said. “That experience with SAS Analytics represents a tremendous advantage in the energy job market. They can go to employment interviews and their first days of work with added confidence from that experience with state-of-the-art technology.”
Johan Enslin, director of EPIC, said the SAS grant will be an important tool in helping prepare the engineering workforce of the future.
“Utilities face a massive business transformation toward digital technologies with increased analytic requirements,” he said. “Utilities also have one of the highest averages for employees’ age. This grant from SAS will help us to address the talent gap. It also demonstrates the company’s strong commitment to the energy sector and STEM education.”
Beginning August 2014, an number of college of engineering courses will use SAS software to introduce descriptive, predictive and prescriptive analytics and their applications in energy forecasting, demand response analytics, outage management, energy trading and risk management.
“We have already seen utilities recognize business value from SAS Energy Forecasting and SAS Visual Analytics,” said Alyssa Farrell, SAS product marketing manager for energy. “By integrating these technologies into energy engineering curricula, we are enabling UNC Charlotte to prepare the next generation of energy analysts.”