O’Brien & Gere hosts SU students for innovation competition

SYRACUSE — Engineering firm O’Brien & Gere on March 22 welcomed 24 engineering students from Syracuse University (SU) for an innovation competition called “Spark.”

The students from the school’s College of Engineering and Computer Science worked with O’Brien & Gere employees to help the firm solve engineering challenges the company’s clients are currently facing.

It’s an opportunity to get students involved in real-life projects, real-life problem statements that O’Brien & Gere is trying to solve for its clients, according to O’Brien & Gere President and COO Lee Davis.

“For O’Brien and Gere, it’s an opportunity to be invigorated by young, smart, top-flight engineering students,” Davis adds.

The event is meant to “spark” some creativity and innovation, and lead to “intrapreneurship,” the entrepreneurial spirit within a company, says Ariel DuChene, assistant dean for external relations at the SU College of Engineering and Computer Science.

Entrepreneurship and innovation have been a real priority for the university and the college, DuChene adds.

“…so [the event is intended] to spark some creativity, some innovation, and really get people going,” DuChene says.

A panel of five judges, including O’Brien & Gere’s Davis and CEO James Fox, reviewed the team presentations to determine the winners of cash prizes for first, second, and third place. In the end, three teams ended tied for first place, and the company awarded a total of $7,500 to the students involved with all three teams, and the students could spend the money as they wished, the firm said.

The judges determined the prize winners among the five student groups based on the solution recommendation to the problem statement, the implementation strategy, the challenges and benefits, and the recommended next steps, the company said.

The winning teams focused on engineering challenges that included the use of solar panels in urban settings; finding a “whey” to cost-effectively dispose of waste from Greek-yogurt production; and an energy-management system for air-handling units in heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning systems, according to O’Brien & Gere.

The use of a linked collection of solar panels, also known as a photovoltaic (PV) array, is a problem primarily because of the interconnection with the utilities in various urban settings, says Fox in explaining the challenge of using solar panels in urban settings.

“… is there a way that we can overcome those challenges with interconnection in urban settings to utilities, and if we could solve that problem, then it would open up the opportunity for … our clients, our partners, and other businesses to be able to employ PV solar and make their businesses more sustainable into the future and help us with energy management in the future,” Fox says.

In a follow-up email, O’Brien & Gere said all the student teams generated some innovative ideas that company engineers can benefit from, but didn’t elaborate on specifics.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com