HAMMOND – The Society of Innovators of Northwest Indiana has named Dr. Robert Kramer of Purdue University Calumet as an Innovator of the Month for August. Kramer is a retired chief scientist at NiSource Energy Technologies.

Kramer established an energy center to improve efficiency and reliability of energy usage after retiring from NiSource. In addition to teach physics and engineering, he developed five new courses to provide an experientially-based approach to give students knowledge and skills about energy usage

A 2,100-square-foot laboratory was built with a $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy. It is working on research involving coal gasification/coke production.

He was nominated by Calvin Bellamy.