Entergy gives $100,000 to UNO for electrical engineering lab

Entergy previously donated $1.2 million to the UNO to endow a chair position in power systems engineering.
Entergy previously donated $1.2 million to the UNO to endow a chair position in power systems engineering. | File photo

The University of New Orleans will be building a new electrical engineering facility, with $100,000 of help from Entergy.

The gift will help open the Entergy Energy Conversion Lab, which will provide students with learning opportunities using transformers, rotating electrical machinery and other power equipment.

“Entergy is providing resources crucial to our educational and research missions,” Engineering Department Chair Dimitrios Charalampidis said. “In addition, partnerships like this help us steer education and research toward the needs of the real world. So this collaboration doesn’t just help us equip students with the necessary knowledge and skills to join the workforce immediately upon graduation. It also provides the industry with new employees who are well-prepared and can seamlessly contribute to current operations.”

Entergy and UNO expect the investment to continue a partnership that aims to position the school as a training ground for the workforce that will help overhaul the country's energy grid. The company previously donated $1.2 million to the UNO to endow a chair position in power systems engineering.

“It’s an exciting time to be an engineer,” Entergy Manager of Configuration and Controls and UNO alumnus Paul Olivier said. “The energy industry is going through a transformation, and we’re seeing big investments in the electric grid nationwide. Engineers are at the heart of how we’ll build the grid of the future, and our collaboration with UNO is part of that effort.”