An Innovative Industry-University Partnership to Enhance University Training and Industry Recruiting in Power Engineering

Abstract

Many universities have in the late 1990s reduced the number of courses in power engineering, preferring to devote their resources to other areas such as information technologies. This comes at a time when it is predicted that a significant number of engineers will be retiring in the next decade, in some utilities, more than a third. A leading utility in generation, transmission, and distribution, has therefore taken the initiative, with the help of six local universities and the support of local industry, to create and finance an Institute of Electrical Power Engineering to train and recruit students, and allow universities to offer comprehensive programs in this discipline. Innovative aspects include the development of a specialized program of courses and laboratories common to participating universities, the active involvement of industry in program development, and instruction and the introduction of incentives such as scholarships, industrial projects, and internships.