PNW Connects Local High School Students with Hands-On Clean Energy Education
High school students participating with Purdue University Northwest’s (PNW) Clean Energy and Smart Grids program visit the St. Joseph Solar Farm at the University of Notre Dame on June 9, 2025.
Purdue University Northwest (PNW) has launched a collaboration with two Northwest Indiana high schools aimed at bringing impactful clean energy lessons into classrooms.
The Clean Energy and Smart Grids program, supported by a grant from the NiSource Charitable Foundation and Northern Indiana Public Service Company LLC (NIPSCO), will educate students and teachers at East Chicago Central High School and Hammond Central High School through on-campus learning sessions and site visits to energy facilities. The field observations and discussions will promote opportunities for young, eager learners to think critically about the impact of clean energy in their communities and how to pursue resilient, sustainable solutions.
“This program empowers high school students and teachers to engage directly with the clean energy transition through site visits and lab-based learning,” said Arash Asrari, PNW associate professor of electrical engineering. “By working side by side with Purdue Northwest undergraduate and graduate students on practical clean energy projects, high school participants gain valuable hands-on experience while we collectively build a strong pipeline of skilled talent to support our region’s clean energy future.”
By working side by side with Purdue Northwest undergraduate and graduate students on practical clean energy projects, high school participants gain valuable hands-on experience while we collectively build a strong pipeline of skilled talent to support our region’s clean energy future.
Arash Asrari, PNW associate professor of electrical engineering
The program is made possible through a $100,000 grant from the NiSource Charitable Foundation and NIPSCO.
“We hope that through our support of this program a generation of students today will emerge as our leaders of tomorrow, focused on utilizing innovation and new technology to advance our energy needs in responsible ways,” said Reginald Fields, executive director of the NiSource Charitable Foundation.
The Foundation and NIPSCO launched the Bridging Our Energy grant in 2024. Two grant recipients were selected based on proposed initiatives that advance local communities across NIPSCO’s service area that promote greater economic inclusion.
“We chose to develop the Bridging Our Energy Grant as a reflection of our commitment to our communities,” said Vince Parisi, NIPSCO President and Chief Operating Officer. “By investing in these vital initiatives, we’re empowering organizations to create lasting change and promoting greater economic inclusion for all.”
Toward a Cleaner Future
The Clean Energy and Smart Grids program will provide participants an opportunity to learn at several Indiana energy generation facilities during summer 2025. These include the St. Joseph Solar Farm based at the University of Notre Dame, the Meadow Lake Wind Farm spanning Benton and White counties and the NIPSCO Michigan City Generation Station. The site visits provide students real-world insights into the challenges of maintaining reliable power generation.
Following the site visits, high school students and teachers will join Asrari and student researchers at PNW in the Smart Grid Design Lab. While there, Asrari and students will complete hands-on activities with small-scale electric modules that simulate renewable energy systems in real-world scenarios and challenges. The modules will imitate a smart grid, which is a digital communications network that monitors and distributes electricity flows to sources in a local network.
The program’s goal is to spur critical thinking and discussion among program participants about how real-world, modern challenges involving clean energy can be incorporated into the STEM lessons that they and their peers learn in high school. Together, program participants and PNW mentors will reinforce technical knowledge in renewable energy and develop curricula that can be implemented in high school classrooms.
Additional site visits in summer 2026 will focus on the IND Solar Farm at Indianapolis International Airport, the Wildcat Wind Farm spanning Tipton and Madison counties and NIPSCO’s Schahfer Generating Station and Wind Farm in Wheatfield, Indiana.