--- title: "PERL: IUPUI Students Design Manhole Inspection Tool" description: Citizens Energy Group has approximately 62,000 manholes throughout the collection system. Citizens conducts inspections of these assets to identify, understand, and address system needs, especially for those assets nearing the end of their useful life. Inspections are completed via a handheld device, often a smartphone, to populate a digital inspection report and take images of the structure. image: https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/hubfs/PERL.jpg --- [![](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/hubfs/Engauge/engauge-logo.jpg)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge) [![](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/hubfs/Backgrounds/search-mobile.png)](https://www.citizensenergygroup.com/Search) # PERL: IUPUI Students Design Manhole Inspection Tool By Adam Lowe on 6/16/23 11:19 AM ![](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/hubfs/PERL.jpg) Citizens Energy Group has approximately 62,000 manholes throughout the collection system. Citizens conducts inspections of these assets to identify, understand, and address system needs, especially for those assets nearing the end of their useful life. Inspections are completed via a handheld device, often a smartphone, to populate a digital inspection report and take images of the structure.  Through Citizens’ Partnership for Excellence in Research and Learning (PERL) program, a multi-disciplinary group of seniors in the senior mechanical engineering capstone course at IUPUI designed a prototype apparatus during the 2022-23 academic year to aid in manhole inspections.   Because manholes can range between 4 feet and 30 feet in depth, a flashlight or illumination device is used to see the entire structure. On occasion, items fall during inspections and may be forever lost due to the risks of accessing a sanitary confined space.   The goal of the students’ project was to explore the development of a lightweight and portable device to assist inspectors needing to use multiple tools during routine inspections. The students were expected to deliver a prototype design, standard operating procedures for using the tool, and a robust report detailing the design, a safety analysis, and a cost analysis.   Students kicked off the project on February 1 with **Justin Burnett**, Engineer II, Capital Programs & Engineering. Justin serves as a project leader and PERL ambassador for IUPUI. Students delivered their final presentation to Citizens managers, directors, and Vice President Energy Operations **JP Ghio** on April 21.  The final device was an extendable-leg apparatus featuring safety mesh to hold a smartphone featuring a built-in light source that will ultimately help streamline manhole inspections while improving data integrity for better asset documentation. The Water Operations business unit is currently working with a manufacturer to build the device, and Citizens personnel will soon begin testing it in the field.   PERL offers Citizens a chance to connect with the workforce’s next generation and collaborate with them to develop solutions to real-world challenges while also providing students professional development opportunities.   ### Current Articles ### Recent Issues - [November 2019 (23)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2019/11) - [November 2018 (21)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2018/11) - [January 2021 (21)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2021/01) - [October 2021 (21)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2021/10) - [February 2020 (20)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2020/02) - [December 2021 (20)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2021/12) - [October 2018 (19)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2018/10) - [January 2019 (19)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2019/01) - [June 2020 (19)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2020/06) - [August 2019 (18)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2019/08) - [October 2019 (18)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2019/10) - [April 2020 (18)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2020/04) - [September 2022 (18)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2022/09) - [July 2019 (17)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2019/07) - [July 2020 (17)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2020/07) - [June 2021 (17)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2021/06) - [April 2019 (16)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2019/04) - [January 2020 (16)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2020/01) - [October 2020 (16)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2020/10) - [December 2020 (16)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2020/12) - [April 2021 (16)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2021/04) - [July 2021 (16)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2021/07) - [September 2020 (15)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2020/09) - [March 2021 (15)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2021/03) - [June 2022 (15)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2022/06) - [February 2019 (14)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2019/02) - [May 2019 (14)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2019/05) - [May 2022 (14)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2022/05) - [July 2022 (14)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2022/07) - [October 2023 (13)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2023/10) - [September 2021 (12)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2021/09) - [March 2023 (12)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2023/03) - [May 2023 (12)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2023/05) - [June 2023 (12)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2023/06) - [February 2022 (11)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2022/02) - [August 2018 (10)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2018/08) - [August 2023 (10)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2023/08) - [March 2022 (9)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2022/03) [![PDF Archives](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/2545024/33b9e93c-8f43-4101-9b48-7e78154731f5.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/2545024/33b9e93c-8f43-4101-9b48-7e78154731f5) **Engauge** is published by Citizens Energy Group, Corporate Affairs Department, under the direction of Shannon Stahley, Director of Corporate and Public Affairs. It is distributed to the company’s employees and retirees, and to other interested parties upon request. **Editor:** Adam Lowe **Graphic Arts:** Joel Bustamante and Wayne Stohs The Corporate Affairs Department welcomes any ideas, comments, or suggestions from readers on how this publication might better serve you. Please email the Corporate Affairs Department at alowe@citizensenergygroup.com. Copyright © Citizens Energy Group. All rights reserved. - [Terms & Conditions](https://www.citizensenergygroup.com/Terms-Conditions) - [Privacy & Security](https://www.citizensenergygroup.com/Privacy-Security) - [Accessibility](https://www.citizensenergygroup.com/Accessibility) - [Site Map](https://www.citizensenergygroup.com/Site-Map)