Events & Workshops

Providing Hands-on Experience in Electric Power Engineering Education

Jul 27, 2023 Online

This online workshop demonstrated hands-on laboratories for electric-power education at undergraduate and graduate levels. Faculty presented laboratory platforms for advanced power electronics, electric drives and control, power systems using PSS®E and Python, climate-crisis solutions, and sustainable electricity, followed by discussion of community- and technical-college certificate pathways.

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Building a Robust Workforce in Electric Power Engineering

Mar 16–17, 2023 Albuquerque, New Mexico

This two-day NSF–NAE workshop brought together educators, government laboratories, industry, and workforce-development partners to advance electric-power engineering education by democratizing access to technical learning. Co-located with the ECE Department Heads Association conference and co-sponsored by Sandia National Laboratories and ECEDHA, it addressed pipeline programs, community-college pathways, scholarship programs, international perspectives, interactive textbooks, and CUSP courses and laboratories.

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Crisis in Power Engineering Education: A National Security Concern

Oct 21–22, 2022 Graduate Hotel, Minneapolis, Minnesota

This two-day NSF–NAE workshop convened leaders from government, academia, industry, K–12 education, and community and technical colleges to address the national shortage of power-engineering talent. Participants examined multiple pathways into the field, rewarding careers across the power sector, and freely available CUSP courses and laboratories for workforce development.

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Blockchain for Smart Grids: Demystifying Peering

May 21, 2021 Online

In this online talk, Yury Dvorkin introduces blockchain technology in the context of smart electric grids and explains its potential role in peer-to-peer energy exchange. The presentation connects distributed-ledger concepts with decentralized coordination, trusted transactions, and emerging electricity-market applications.

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NSF-Sponsored ECE Department Heads and Faculty Online Workshop: Dissemination of Electric Power Courses/Laboratories Developed through ONR Funding

Mar 8, 2021 Online

This NSF-sponsored online workshop for ECE department heads and faculty shares a three-prong approach to strengthening electric power engineering education: (1) creating a pipeline of high school graduates into ECE programs through two pipeline courses focused on climate solutions, (2) facilitating teaching of senior/graduate-level courses in power systems, power electronics, and electric machines/drives using freely downloadable course materials hosted by CUSP, and (3) providing hands-on education using extremely low-cost ONR-funded hardware laboratories that can also be accessed remotely.

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Analysis, Simulation, and Implementation of Vector Control: An Extremely Low-Cost Laboratory

Oct 11, 2020 Online

This tutorial provides an overview of vector control for induction motors and PMAC motors, starting with the fundamentals of DC motor operation and closed-loop control. These concepts are then extended to AC drives using dq-transformation. All concepts are validated through numerical simulation using Sciamble Workbench (free-of-cost, ONR-funded) and demonstrated in real time using a low-cost electric drives lab kit developed at the University of Minnesota through ONR support. Participants can remotely implement vector control of AC drives.

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Teaching Electric Energy Courses to Rejuvenate Electric Power Curriculum

Aug 7, 2020 Online

Join faculty nationwide for a focused workshop showcasing ONR-funded, CUSP-hosted courses in power electronics, machines & drives, and power systems. Explore ultra-low-cost, digitally controlled online laboratories with remote access for teaching and research, plus options for online MS delivery. Hear from leaders at NSF, ONR, IEEE PES, NAE, and partner universities—and leave with ready-to-adopt curricula and lab resources.

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Integrating DER with the Grid: Technology, Standards, Supporting Practices

May 20, 2020 Online

This webinar provides an overview of common distributed energy resource (DER) technologies and how implementation of IEEE 1547-2018 is changing how DER interact with both the bulk power system and the distribution grid. It also outlines tools, methods, and constraints for DER interconnection analysis; discusses impacts to planning and operations; and highlights emerging trends such as non-wires alternatives, market participation, and vehicle-to-grid.

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NSF-Sponsored Workshop Courses — Summer 2019

Jul 17, 2019 – Aug 16, 2019 Online

This NSF-sponsored online workshop introduced faculty to six graduate-level electric-power courses developed by their course creators through Office of Naval Research support. Participants could review and adopt complete CUSP course materials in power systems, power electronics, electric drives, and finite-element machine design.

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