Unprecedented technological and scientific advances in power and energy engineering presents interesting challenges and opportunities for professionals, research and engineering educators alike. Electrical energy industry is the cornerstone of prosperous society, all critical and crucial socio-economic functions depend on the secure and reliable operations of the power and energy infrastructures. There are relatively recent but growing recognition of the needs to improve, restructure and rebuild capabilities, revitalized and reform energy and power engineering curricula. Electrical energy and power engineering education has undergone significant changes over the last decades, together with an increased student interests into such engineering programs. The issues surrounding this theme are receiving significant interests form faculty and quite often administration. Today energy and power industry professionals are required to have significant technical and scientific capabilities, deep interdisciplinary understandings, and soft engineering skills, e.g. self-learning abilities, communication or interpersonal competence. However, how and which are the best approaches to educate the next generation of engineers, remain an open question. In addition of teaching the traditional courses in power engineering, higher education institutes must include new topics into curriculum, such as renewable energy, power electronics, smart grids, energy engineering, or energy management, to mention a few of them while still ensuring a four-year graduation timeframe. There are also increased demands for continuous education of the professionals, engineers and technicians in the emerging energy technological areas. A well-designed power engineering curriculum must offer a judicious balance between the basic science and mathematics, strong electrical energy engineering foundations, laboratory and hands-on experience, design and project work, communication skills, management, economics and humanities. The paper is proposing to discuss some of the power and energy engineering education challenges, issues and opportunities.
Dr. Radian Belu is Associate Professor within the Electrical Engineering Department, Southern University, Baton, Rouge, USA. He is holding one PHD in power engineering and other one in physics. Before joining to Southern University Dr. Belu hold faculty, research and industry positions at universities and research institutes in Romania, Canada and United States. He also worked for several years in industry as project manager, senior engineer and consultant. He has taught and developed undergraduate and graduate courses in power electronics, power systems, renewable energy, smart grids, control, electric machines, instrumentation, radar and remote sensing, numerical methods, space and atmosphere physics, and applied physics. His research interests included power system stability, control and protection, renewable energy system analysis, assessment and design, smart microgrids, power electronics and electric machines for non-conventional energy conversion, remote sensing, wave and turbulence, numerical modeling, electromagnetic compatibility and engineering education. During his career Dr. Belu published ten book chapters, several papers in referred journals and in conference proceedings in his areas of the research interests. He has also been PI or Co-PI for various research projects United States and abroad in power systems analysis and protection, load and energy demand forecasting, renewable energy, microgrids, wave and turbulence, radar and remote sensing, instrumentation, atmosphere physics, electromagnetic compatibility, and engineering education.
Lucian Ionel CIOCA received the M.Sc. in Machine Tools (1993) and B.Sc. in Occupational Safety, Health and Work Relations Management (2010). In 2002, he becomes Dr. Eng. (Ph.D degree) of Petrosani University, Romania and now he is professor at "Lucian Blaga" University of Sibiu - Romania, Faculty of Engineering, Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, Romania. His teaching subjects are Ergonomics, Management, Human Resources Management, Occupational Health and Safety Management, Production Systems Engineering. His research fields of interest are linked with the impact of the knowledge based society upon the social / human dynamics / evolution and the production systems. He regularly publishes and participates on international scientific conferences. Lucian Cioca is the Administrator of the LBUS Department of Consulting, Training and Lifelong Learning, Doctoral Advisor in Engineering and Management, Member of the National Council for Attestation of Academic Titles, Diplomas and Certificates, evaluator ARACIS (The Romanian Agency for Quality Assurance in Higher Education), and other (email: lucian.cioca@ulbsibiu).
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