Sustainable IT Plan to Lower Carbon Footprint

Computer engineering student Corin Lobo is putting his sustainability minor to use.

Lobo wanted to find a way to apply both his major and minor to his student design project. He realized he could better help Florida Tech by developing a sustainable information technology plan has the potential to lower energy and maintenance costs, as well as Florida Tech’s carbon footprint.

Lobo spent spent a semester working with the Office Information Systems at Florida Tech and evaluating the energy and maintenance costs for computers, servers and other hardware used on-campus. This research helped Lobo identify patterns of inefficiency. He researched IT plans used on other campuses as well as general sustainability practices and developed a long-term action plan that incorporated the best management practices. In addition, the action plan contained purchasing procedure modifications to help reduce the maintenance costs.

An example of this can seen with the library computers that automatically shut down after normal business hours and restart prior to opening hours, Lobo said. He further proved the long-term benefits of his plan using return on investment analysis. With his the help of his advisor, Dr. Lindeman, Lobo was able to submit his plan to the Office of Information Technology and the newly created Office of Sustainability.

Lobo’s research provided the opportunity to improve his planning, communication and project development skills. He also realized how crucial sustainability is in higher-education.

“Sustainability is an amazing field. Its also a field that is slowly becoming both more necessary and more in demand,” Lobo said. “Overall, the project helped me improve my abilities to effectively develop a project of any kind.”