A safe, secure, reliable and affordable supply of electric power is a basic requirement for economic health. The utilities that operate this grid face increasing challenges in meeting the growing demand for electricity in the context of sustainable energy. The grid must evolve to accommodate new energy sources such as renewable energy and support new uses such as plug-in electric vehicles. Utilities need to integrate information and communication technologies into the next-generation grid to deliver electricity more efficiently and effectively. As a result, the next generation of electric power engineers will require knowledge of topics outside the traditional curriculum including communications, sensor integration, policy, software development and security.
The Electrical and Computer Engineering Department Heads Association (ECEDHA) and their member departments in the United States and Canada have recognized the need to update and upgrade programs in power engineering. The summer program described in this proposal is an outgrowth of November 2010 ECEDHA workshop which addressed a range of issues including curriculum changes and faculty development. The summer program will prepare university educators to teach an expanded curriculum in electric power engineering.
Intellectual Merit:
The intellectual merit of the summer program centers on the urgency for ECE educators to update and upgrade university-level power engineering programs to advance fundamental knowledge and prepare the next generation of engineering professionals in this critical field.
Broader Impact:
The broader impact of the summer program is reflected in the international nature of the electric power grid, and by the impact the summer program will have on recruiting, retaining, and mentoring undergraduate students, graduate students and young faculty, while drawing as much as possible from underrepresented groups in engineering (e.g., minorities and women in engineering).
The issue of strong faculty development in the area of power and energy is both challenging and complex, while being critical to the deployment of updated programs. The challenges have been mentioned before: the aging professorate and the changing nature of the field have resulted in a present shortage of qualified faculty and an inadequate pipeline for renewal. This is compounded by the fact that many universities over the previous two decades scaled back their energy systems facilities and now are ill-equipped to attract new faculty into a suitable research/teaching environment. The situation is further complicated by the multi-disciplinary requirements of future energy systems programs and corresponding skill requirements of new faculty. The urgent need to update and upgrade power engineering programs cannot wait for the recruitment and development of a cadre of young faculty. The summer program described in this report targets existing electrical and computer engineering faculty, delivering the information they need to develop and teach a modern power engineering curriculum. The 2011 NSF-ECEDHA Energy and Power Summer Program provided the opportunity for fourteen experts in power engineering from academia and industry to share their knowledge with fifty-three electrical and computer engineering professors. Participants in the summer program consisted of experts from academia, industry, and government to lead the seminars and conduct demonstrations, as well as faculty attendees nominated by ECEDHA member institutions to participate in the program. Faculty attendees were selected based on their commitment to use the summer program experience to update and upgrade the power engineering programs at their institutions. We surveyed the attendees on various aspects of the Summer Program to provide guidance on developing future programs of this sort. The survey elicited feedback on topics, speakers, program length, and program features. Attendees rated the various aspects on a five-point scale, from not valuable or effective to highly valuable or effective. The results of the survey reflect broad satisfaction with the program. Attendee ratings for the seminar topics were predominately at the valuable or highly valuable levels; they judged the speakers as effective or highly effective. The program format and the site visits also received generally favorable ratings, with the seminars and the Georgia Power operations tour considered the most valuable aspects of the program.
