The Wanger Institute for Sustainable Energy Research (WISER) is an umbrella, cross-disciplinary organization established to enhance and promote research, education, and outreach activities at Illinois Institute of Technology that are related to energy and sustainability, and to bring national and international recognition to Illinois Tech in these areas. As a key objective, WISER facilitates community outreach and educational opportunities that advance public understanding and generate community discourse on sustainable energy, sustainability, and related issues, problems, concerns, solutions, and options within the surrounding communities.

WISER affiliates, including more than 85 faculty from across all disciplines at the university, expand the impact of the WISER programs by presenting keynote addresses, plenary lectures, and invited talks in energy and sustainability-related areas all over the world. As a priority, WISER contributes to initiatives to grow student enrollment and retention, offers broadly disseminated lectures on energy and sustainability (including the annual WISER Distinguished Lectureship series), and provides WISER tours for prospective students, scholarship recipients, STEM program participants, Chicago-area high school counselors, and various student leader programs whenever possible.

WISER is a member of the newly established University Energy Institute Collaborative, has been a 10-year co-sponsor of the annual University of Illinois Chicago Summer Institute on Sustainability and Energy in collaboration with Chicago-area universities, and continues to advise and support Engineers for a Sustainable World, Engineers without Borders, and UfarmIIT Illinois Tech student chapters, as well as individuals who have a specific interest in sustainability-related areas.

To learn more about WISER’s outreach program, contact Peg Murphy