Electrical Engineering (55)- Power electronics converters and electric drives are being put into use at an increasingly rapid rate. They enable smarter utilization of electric and electronic systems. Declining student interest in strategically important fields of power electronics and electric drives is the problem being addressed by this project. Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT), Montana State University (MSU), University of Alaska-Fairbanks (UAF), and University of North Dakota (UND) are the four participating universities collaborating in this project. This project is improving education in engineering at the four participating academic institutions through the adaptation and implementation of exemplary materials, laboratory experiences, and educational practices that have been developed and proven successful at the University of Minnesota (UMN) under the NSF CCLI-EMD-9952704 grant. Objectives and expected outcomes of the project are the revitalization of courses in power electronics and electric drives with the state-of-the-art laboratories and, thus, providing the electric power industry with a larger and better trained supply of engineers. Though the upgrading of the power electronics and electric drives courses and laboratories are to meet the needs of the undergraduate students, these courses and laboratories work equally well to meet the continuing education needs of professional engineers. These initiatives are motivating the exceptional students to pursue engineering careers in these exciting and challenging areas of the electric power field. Hence, this project is sustaining and strengthening the Nation's engineering capabilities. Meeting a critical challenge of revitalizing courses and laboratories in these strategic fields is the intellectual merit of this collaborative proposal. Ensuring highest quality education and multi-disciplinary interaction with mechanical engineering, computer engineering, and other engineering fields is the main broader impact.
