Skip to Content
U.S. Department of Energy Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

    OIT Times: OIT Award Recipients for 2001 Announced

    March 26, 2001

    In a special ceremony at the Expo, Denise Swink presented OIT's prestigious Partner of the Year, Technology of the Year, and Plant of the Year awards. These annual awards recognize the very best achievements selected from among thousands of partners, dozens of plants, and several hundred technologies. Congratulations to all our winners and finalists!

    OIT's 2001 Partner of the Year is Dr. Caulton (Carl) Irwin. Dr. Irwin is the Director of Market Enhancement and Program Development at the National Research Center for Coal and Energy at West Virginia University in Morgantown, West Virginia. Dr. Irwin has shown outstanding leadership in developing and promoting the State IOF Program in West Virginia, where he enlisted strong support from prominent federal, state, and local officials.

    Partner-of-the-Year runners-up were Mr. Michael Greenman, Executive Director of the Glass Manufacturing Industry Council in Westerville, Ohio, and Dr. Delmar Raymond, Director of Strategic Energy Alternatives for Weyerhaeuser Corp. in Federal Way, Washington.

    OIT's 2001 Plant of the Year is USX Corporation. USX Corp. is comprised of the Edgar Thomson Plant, located in Braddock, Pennsylvania, and the Irvin Plant, located in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania. The Edgar Thomson Plant created an Energy Conservation Team to generate energy conservation ideas and implement activities with a cost- effective return on investment. The plant was also active in OIT's Pittsburgh Regional Steel Showcase.

    Runners-up for Plant of the Year included Rohm & Haas Co. of Deer Park, Texas, the largest monomer manufacturer for key Rohm & Haas products, and Weirton Steel Corp. of Weirton, West Virginia, a steel mill committed to continuous technical improvement and innovation.

    OIT's 2001 Technology of the Year is Polylactic Acid Polymers (PLA). Polylactic acid is a biodegradable polymer produced from sugar. Cargill Dow designed and formulated the Polylactic Acid Polymers project. Technology of the Year runners-up were the InfinityTM Nylon (Carpet) Renewal Process, invented by Honeywell, and Characterization Tool for the Wood and Pulp Industry, from NREL and Weyerhaeuser Corp.