PNW Professor Chenn Zhou is NIPSCO’s first distinguished professor of engineering simulation.

Zhou, founder and director of PNW’s Center for Innovation through Visualization and Simulation (CIVS), was awarded the position by the Purdue University Board of Trustees on April 2.

“I am deeply humbled and appreciative of this recognition of my work that is made possible through collaboration with my fellow faculty members, CIVS staff, industrial partners and, of course, our wonderful PNW students,” said Zhou. “I want to thank all of the people who have supported me since I joined PNW.”

The northern Indiana utility company created the endowment program to strengthen its relationship with the university.

“As the energy industry continues to evolve and with rapid advancements in technology, it is essential that we establish a pipeline of talent and a future workforce prepared to solve the challenges of tomorrow,” said NIPSCO President Violet Sistovaris. “This new partnership builds that important bridge and it is an extension of the successful relationship we already have established with Purdue University Northwest and Professor Zhou.”

Chancellor Thomas L. Keon expressed appreciation for the endowment.

“Endowed chair positions allow the university to recruit and retain high-quality faculty. This assures that our students have opportunities to work with and study with some of the best and brightest in the world,” said Keon.

Zhou has more than 38 years of research experience and has conducted funded research projects totaling more than $25 million with over 140 organizations. Her work specializes in air pollution control, computational fluid dynamics, combustion, energy, heat transfer and multiphase reacting flows.

“The endowment is especially meaningful to me because NIPSCO, a longtime collaborator with CIVS, has chosen to expand our partnership in new ways,” said Zhou. “It will help us attract more students for learning to use cutting-edge computer simulation and visualization tools to solve real-world problems.”