BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) – A $7 million grant was just given to LSU to research clean fuel production. LSU is partnering with the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Southern University, Louisiana Tech University, and River Parishes Community Colleges (RPCC) to help tackle it from all angles.
RPCC is the only two-year institution that will be a part of this research project, and they will specifically focus on workforce development. Dean of Energy Sciences Donovan Thompson says their location is perfect for this, as they are surrounded by industrial companies.
“Southern University, Louisiana Tech, University of Louisiana Lafayette all have different research components. When you think of two-year schools, they are not research-focused; however, we are application-focused, and we are workforce development,” Thompson says. “Companies like BASF, right, they are a chemical company, companies like Dow, another chemical company. Companies like Marathon oil, a chemical company. River parishes have a site near each of these chemical companies, and it’s a direct pipeline into those employment pools.”…