The "Minority Research Enhancement Program in Power Systems (MREPPS)" proposal is designed to enhance research education in the application of systems theory, optimization, control and expert systems for power systems planning, operation and management by the use of artificial intelligence. An outreach program and early involvement in research are program components designed to increase the minority population in engineering. Enhancement of power systems research will advance Howard University's educational mission by enhancing the quality of programs offered to undergraduate and graduate students and by providing a means of sharing technological breakthroughs in power systems with other HBCUs. The research component of the proposal focuses on investigating four of the nine national needs in power systems which have been identified by the Electric Power Research Institute and the NSF. The outreach component of the program will provide pre-college students with a more systematic exposure to science and technology, increase the level of graduate students, and broaden the expertise of faculty. Howard University is the only historically black university which offers Ph.D. level studies in power systems, therefore, a unique feature of MREPPS will include training of graduate students (about 12 students each year) from the HBCUs. These students will be the future college professors in power systems and through their research experience at Howard ?infinite transfer on program development at the undergraduate level will be developed!. Faculty researchers and prospective graduate students who specialize in power systems will be invited to Howard University to attend a week-long workshop that will address current topics in the power industry and provide a mini-course on knowledge-based systems engineering and neural networks application to power systems. A teleconference, to be held at Howard, will link students, faculty and researchers of HBCUs and engineers in the power industry. Minority engineers, particularly those with graduate-level degrees, remain acutely underrepresented in the field of engineering. This problem is especially evident in the field of power systems. Howard University has contributed significantly to the current pool of minority engineers in the power industry. Through this program, the University will have a grater impact on increasing the number of minority students entering undergraduate and graduate programs in engineering, on increasing the number of practicing engineers and addressing faculty shortages in the field of power systems. Finally, the program will address national research needs in power systems.
