Liaison Program Overview

The Energy Liaison Program's (ELP) annual membership fee constitutes prepaid services; these services include consulting, equipment usage, project travel expense, analytical services, and materials testing. The membership agreement includes provisions for maintaining confidential information and the handling of intellectual property which may result from a project.

Each member company designates an ELP Coordinator; the coordinator is the primary contact person to interact with the Director of the ELP. The ELP Director is responsible for identifying the key university resources to address each company's technical need. The ELP Director also manages the interface between the Center and member company. When a company technical need is identified, a principal investigator (PI) is appointed representing the Center. The principal investigator works with the member company technical staff to prepare a technical proposal and budget; the company technical lead works with the PI to finalize the work plan and budget. Work begins only after approval is given by the member company.

There is a broad range of project types including:

• Process evaluation and optimization
• Process economics
• Cost/benefit analyses
• Field investigations
• Computer software development
• Literature searches
• Materials characterization and testing
• Marketing studies
• Engineering analyses

Benefits of ELP Participation

• Priority Service – members receive priority scheduling
• Rapid turn-around on short term needs – in-place agreement eliminates the need to negotiate.
• Consulting service discount – members receive a 20% discount on consulting services which continues even after the $20,000 membership fee has been fully utilized.
• Materials testing and analytical instrumentation services – members enjoy a 50% discount on these services which extends beyond the utilization of the membership fee.
• Annual meeting registrations – members are entitled to five free registrations to the ERC's annual technical meeting which focuses on recent ERC research and topics of interest to the power generation and allied industry. Professional Development Hours (PDH) are granted for participation.
• Discounts on short courses – members are entitled to a 20% discount on ERC short course registration fees. PDH's or CEU's are granted for participation.
• Preferential access to ERC staff for on-site training -- tailored training programs to be conducted at company locations. PDH's or CEU's are granted for participation.

Typical projects are small in scope and can range in duration from one phone call to several months; these types of projects are called "Interactions." Longer term projects having budgets exceeding $20,000 are termed, "Research and Testing Projects;" these projects also enjoy membership benefits.