MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Led by a team at West Virginia University, in collaboration with Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Pittsburgh, and 60 additional regional partners, the Resilient Energy Technology and Infrastructure Consortium (RETI) has been named as one of the 15 finalists for the grand $160 million National Science Foundation Regional Innovation Engines award. If awarded, this funding is expected to create 21,000 jobs, support 150 startups, and drive more than $1 billion in economic growth across the region.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) program originally began its auditioning process with over 300 applications, and WVU’s partnered application with PITT and CMU was the only one that was fortunate enough to move forward out of West Virginia and Pennsylvania.

“This award from the National Science Foundation will drive everything from early-stage research and development all the way through helping mature those technologies into meaningful startup companies that, again, are going to help move our region and our nation forward,” Erienne Olesh, Executive Director of the Office of Innovation and Commercialization at WVU and RETI CEO, said.

In addition, with the funding from this award, RETI would be able to focus on building up workforce opportunities across the region, whether that means rescaling or upscaling the currently employed or aiding the underemployed or unemployed in locating new avenues in jobs and work within the energy sector.

Olesh and her team would also like to assist the rural areas of West Virginia in creating and building jobs, leading to more opportunity to those in the area and more economic growth within the entirety of the state.

“Bringing rural West Virginia into this is certainly a big focus for us,” Olesh stated. “I think it’s very important for our state that we do that, and, again, a lot of that is through outreach – making sure people are aware – but then also enabling people and removing as many barriers as possible to get those people engaged into the workforce.”

Throughout the application process, NSF made it clear that they would like to see a meaningful incorporation of an entire region, not just bits and pieces of specific areas. In order to represent the entire region within their work, Olesh and her team are approaching that theme through two separate folds, the first being an intentional regional engagement effort anchored in the southern part of the state, which is led by their chief engagement officer, Dr. Michelle Taylor. The second fold Olesh mentioned was through RETI’s workforce. RETI desires to make sure that West Virginia residents are aware of workforce and job training opportunities, and that those opportunities are actually acceptable for those looking to enter into the workforce. RETI plans to continue to reach people as early as possible about the workforce, hoping to introduce them to the incredible job and employment positions within the energy sector in West Virginia.

“We have been a historic energy producer,” Olesh said. “We continue to serve that role for the country. We also have an incredible industrial presence throughout the region that plays a very important role in both our state and our regional economy, and in employment across the state, as well.”

Finally, with the funding from this award, in the midst of our nation’s current energy crisis, Olesh would like to demonstrate to NSF that WVU, PITT, CMU, and the other 60 regional partners, have come together to bring the best partners to make a sizeable impact in course correcting, and ensuring that we as a nation have the energy resilience to power American industry in the future.

“We want this work to be meaningful,” Olesh declared. “We want to create an impact. We don’t want to see this live for a few years and then die off. For us to be successful in this, we need our community to tell us what is most helpful for them.”

NSF anticipates to announce its winning teams for the second round later this year.