ECS-9619294 Kezunovic The changes in the utility and related manufacturing industry, as well as consulting and engineering services have been driven by continuing de-regulation and increasing competition. A new paradigm of operation where the customer becomes the focus is being established. This approach not only redefines who the customer is. but what the customer wants and what are the options in achieving the goals of satisfying the customer. An obvious consequence of this process is a need for a new profile of an engineer that can fit the new paradigm. There is a wide consensus that the existing power engineering education does not offer the required solution. As a result, the aaademia needs to "produce" an engineer with a new profile. This strategy was pursued at the proposal preparation stage and will be continued throughout the project with a very clear goal to make the creation of the new education concept a joint effort between "producers" and "consumers" of the power engineers for the 21'st century. The research approach will be to assemble inputs from the industry advisors reflecting the industry needs, make an assessment of the existing simulation technology, identify multidisciplinary issues to be included in the re-engineered curriculum, and identify the methodology and experimental examples for classroom and laboratory teaching. An important contribution of this proposal will be incorporation of the new simulation technology into the teaching process to enhance student's analytical and practical skills. In addition, the simulation tools will be used to make the teaching of the traditional power engineering topics more efficient and compressed so that the new multidisciplinary topics can be added to the curriculum. This proposal is primarily focused on the undergraduate education with an addition emphasis on high school education. The graduate and continuine education will be considered as well.
