IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON EDUCATION, VOL. E-21, NO. 3, AUGUST 1978

Educating for Tomorrow's Needs in the ElectricPower Systems Engineering Profession

JOHN G. KASSAKIAN, MEMBER, IEEE, JAMES L. KIRTLEY, JR., MEMBER, IEEE,

FRED C. SCHWEPPE, FELLOW, IEEE, AND GERALD L. WILSON, FELLOW, IEEE

Abstract-The changing needs of the electric power systems engineer-ing field are related to increasingly sophisticated demands on electricenergy. Research oriented educational philosophy is proposed forproviding engineering students with the background, tools, and in-centives necessary to function creatively in solving some of today'schallenging engineering problems. A graduate program at MIT designedaround this philosophy is presented and discussed.

INTRODUCTIONLECTRIC power has assumed a pervasive role in our

nation's industrial, social, and economic systems andsociety therefore demands that it provide levels of consis-tency, quality, and reliability which are unmatched even bythe most stringent specificiations for military systems. Addan increasingly sophisticated end use technology and you havesome of today's most challenging engineering problems.

Electric power engineering has far outgrown its traditionalsubject matter of 60 Hz generation, transmission and utiliza-tion. Energy production is no longer restricted to turbo-alternators. Solarphotovoltaic, magnetohydrodynamic, andnuclear fusion are just three examples of challenging newtechnologies. And creative solutions must be found for prob-lems at the interface with the existing generation, transmission,and utilization structure. The problems of large, intercon-nected dynamic systems, conversion, control, management,and the socio-economic impact of energy on our society com-

bine to demand a greater breadth of knowledge and more

creativity from the engineer.The preparation of these engineers is the responsibility of

academic institutions. Their programs must reflect the needsof the field by educating students with an increasingly broadrange of capabilities. Who could have foreseen twenty yearsago that electric power engineering would require the talentsof individuals with expertise in logic circuits, computer archi-tecture, microprocessors, the biological sciences, the use ofexotic gases, high power semiconductor technology, and a

myriad of other scientific disciplines? A student whoseknowledge of electric power systems is limited to courses

offered in the 50's would be severely limited in career oppor-tunities.This paper attempts to set forth the educational needs of

today's and tomorrow's power systems engineer, presents a

philosophy and a curriculum responsive to this need, anddescribes the MIT programs.

Manuscript received February 1, 1978; revised April 18, 1978.The authors are with the Electric Power Systems Engineering Labora-

tory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139.

EDUCATIONAL NEEDSThe primary purpose of an engineering education is to

prepare a student to deal effectively with the scientific andengineering issues which he will encounter in his career. Inthe case of electric power engineering, these issues center onthe technology associated with the generation, distribution,and utilization of electric energy, but they range broadly fromthe production of turbine generators to the design of softwarefor computers. The skills required of graduates of an electricpower program must in some sense match this broadly basedtechnology. This is a difficult challenge for an engineeringcurriculum. Its graduates must be prepared to enter a varietyof technological activities in different types of organizationssuch as utility companies, electrical equipment manufacturers,consulting firms, universities (both as teachers and researchers),and government (as legislators, regulators, and administrators).The personnel needs of the power engineering field might be

said to lie along a continuum between two extremes. At oneend are highly trained specialists to handle current problems;at the other, broadly educated people who can adapt easily tonew situations.The highly trained specialist is required to work in areas in

which the technology is already well defined, not generatingnew technology, but rather creatively applying known tech-nology and solutions to well defined problems. This technolo-gist must have a firm grasp of the equipment and techniquesof his specialty and a good knowledge of related technology.He must also keep abreast of changes in both.

It takes more broadly educated people to provide newresponses to new problems; to create, rather than apply,technology. Such people may be expected at some time inthe future to define and solve problems that are not fore-seeable today.Electric power engineering, like most other engineering

disciplines, has historically been manned by specialists. Duringthe past decade, however, the great breadth and challengingnature of electric power engineering problems have caughtthe attention of students interested in other than applyingexisting technology. Thus the need has been created forbroader educational programs designed to provide these stu-dents with the background, tools, and incentive to tackleunconventional problems intelligently and productively. But,an educational program is not like a pasta press, which by thechange of a die can turn out either lasagne noodles or can-nelloni from the same raw material. So a program designed tofill a specific need must include a preselection process to in-

0018-9359/78/0800-0101$00.75 1978 IEEE

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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON EDUCATION, VOL. E-21, NO. 3, AUGUST 1978

crease the probability that the students will be interested inthe corresponding professional roles.Although it is possible to adapt an academic curriculum to

specific backgrounds and professional goals, one cannot affordto make the content so specific that an undergraduate is notprovided some degreee of flexibility with respect to how andwhere he applies his training. Consequently, the curriculummust include a body of knowledge fundamental to a broadrange of issues. A reasonable specification for electric powerengineering includes the following:

electric network theoryelectromagnetics and electromechanicssignals and control theorythermodynamicseconomicsIn addition to these the ability to reason physically, to

simplify and model complex systems, to perform certaincomputational and manipulative skills, i.e., mathematics, theuse of computers, and the ability to communicate must alsobe acquired at the undergraduate level.A graduate program is designed to focus this broader body

of knowledge in a more specific area, e.g., power systems.Graduate curricula in engineering disciplines may be adaptedto one of several possible modes. Generally speaking thesemodes may be defined by the ratio of research to classroomteaching.For programs tailored to the continuing educational needs

of practicing engineers, for instance, one can propose a moderequiring no research, in which the role of the school is toprovide primarily classroom experience, although degree re-

quirements might include a demonstrated ability to do thesisquality work in an industrial environment. A program at thisextreme of the classroom to research ratio is best suited toeducating specialists. At the other extreme is a graduate pro-

gram designed to produce engineers with the ability and moti-vation to extend the frontiers of their engineering discipline.The necessary self confidence and ability to define problemsand methods of solution are best achieved through a research-oriented graduate program. Between these two extremes is a

continuum of possibilities.

A RESEARCH ORIENTED CURRICULUMThe educational need developed above is for the electric

power engineering "generalist"-someone with the capacityto understand and solve new, complex problems imposed by a

modern, energy-intensive society. The training of such a

"generalist" is difficult and challenging. The authors propose

a solution based upon a heavy research commitment.A research program has four characteristics which make it an

effective vehicle for training generalists. First, it requires thatstudents develop an ability to recognize and define problems,an ability required of anyone developing, evaluating, or apply-ing new technologies. Second, it requires them to propose a

solution to the defined problem and to organize and imple-ment this solution. No known course program can impartthe skills and confidence required for this task. Third, inde-pendent research encourages the development of innovativeabilities. Unlike formal home problems which generally possess

unique answers and preferred solutions, a research problemhas, by definition, no a priori solution. Approaches, answersand experimental techniques are all arguable. The social andtechnical environment of a laboratory encourages and rewardsinnovation in both demonstrative and subtle ways. Fourth,and perhaps most important, a research problem will invariablybring a student into contact with technical issues beyond thelimits of his formal training.A formal course program cannot hope to provide answers

to all the questions and solutions to all the problems presentedby research. But presuming that course training provides thenecessary foundation, the student should, on his own, acquirethe additional skills required to complete his research. Ananalogous phenomenon in visual perception is called "com-pletion." The brain, when presented with discontinuousimages, will complete them if the discontinuities are withinlimits. "Completion" in the pedagogical sense will take placeonly if training and experience produce a background withlimited discontinuities. The problem, then is to provide thestudent with such a background.

ResourcesAn academic program designed to produce generalists rather

than specialists must have access to a diversity of resources.Faculty members possessing somewhat specialized interestmust be broadly competent and able to provide direction inthe variety of technical areas represented by the researchprogram. In addition, the program must be part of a muchlarger institution which will provide the breadth of coursesnecessary to insure that intellectual "discontinuities" are belowthreshold size. These courses can be in any engineering orscientific discipline, a reflection of the diverse nature oftoday's electric power engineering problems.

Graduate CurriculumBecause the graduate program described here has a research

orientation, no two students will be doing identical research. Acourse curriculum must be tailored to the needs of each. Everypiece of research, however, is directed at a problem in thefield of electric power. Therefore there is a requirement thatall students obtain knowledge of the basic concepts, tools, andvocabulary of electric power engineering. This may be accom-plished through one or two graduate level courses covering thenecessary material. Because these courses are relativelygeneral, they also can serve students in other areas who wish togain some familiarity with electric power systems.

In addition to these required courses a student should havethe opportunity to take others which present various facets ofpower engineering, but which are not so specialized that theyserve only a limited number of students. The subject areasand content of these courses will be critical to the integrityof the entire program in that they must present an in-depthcoverage of a variety of topics which are important to powersystem technology. They should be carefully planned inaccordance with the objectives of the overall program. Al-though the content of these courses might evolve over a periodof years the general subject area of each should be representedin the curriculum from year to year.

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In addition to the courses discussed above, a series of special,one-time courses or seminars should be available to servespecial interests, research needs, and to respond to new de-velopments in the field. The format of these special offeringsshould be flexible enough to permit faculty, student, industrialor government participation; that is, it should be possible topermit any of these four sources to contribute to the contentand presentation.The remainder of a student's course work will be selected

from the offerings of the educational institution at large. Suchcourses might include advanced thermodynamics, vibrations,plasma physics, non-linear dynamic systems, econometrics,etc. Each student will construct a carefully planned courseprogram with the assistance of his supervisor.

Research ProgramAs with his research, the evolution of a course program

requires a student to exercise judgment and organizationalskill. While easier on both faculty and student, a rigid curricu-lum cannot produce the maturing effect of one requiringsome effort to define. The ideal relationship between theresearch program and the course curriculum has been describedabove in terms of a visual perception analogy. In practice thismeans that a research topic defined without careful thoughtcan be too simplistic to be an effective educational vehicle, orit can present intellectual obstacles of such magnitude that itssupervision becomes a full time job for a faculty member.The research program should function not only as a compre-

hensive educational experience for graduate students, but alsoas a means of introducing undergraduates to areas of electricpower. Project laboratories and undergraduate thesis topicscan frequently be derived from larger research programs andmany undergraduates feel comfortable in an ongoing researchenvironment.

THE MIT PROGRAM

MIT offers a research-oriented power systems engineeringprogram designed to fill the educational needs described above.The program is built around a group of faculty, students andstaff in the Electric Power Systems Engineering Laboratory(EPSEL). Students and faculty come primarily from theDepartment of Electrical Engineering and Computer Scienceand the Department of Mechanical Engineering. Frequently,however, associations develop with faculty and students fromother departments representing a wide range of disciplines,approaches, and interests such as the Departments of Nuclear,Ocean, and Civil Engineering, Materials Science, Economics,and the Sloan School of Industrial Management. The EPSELprovides a focus and an organizational structure for thosewho wish to pursue their interests in an electric power systemscontext. The extensive interaction of faculty, staff and stu-

dents from various departments and laboratories is a keyelement of the program.

The Undergraduate ProgramWhile predominantly graduate oriented, the electric power

systems engineering program at MIT provides numerous oppor-tunities for an interested undergraduate to obtain a back-

ground in the field. An undergraduate elective in electricpower is offered, and most of the graduate courses are acces-sible to advanced undergraduates. Most undergraduate partici-pation, however, is through the mechanism of project labora-tories and theses, which is in keeping with the research orientedphilosophy of the program.Undergraduates in the Department of Electrical Engineering

and Computer Science must master a basic core of subjectswhich includes the fundamentals of physics, mathematics,circuits, electromagnetic fields, and computer science. Inaddition there is a general laboratory requirement as well asan independent thesis requirement. Either or both of theserequirements may be satisfied in the context of electric powersystems.In general both project laboratories and undergraduate

theses are tied to broader research programs. This is a particu-larly important characteristic of the undergraduate programsince it permits students to become acquainted with the chal-lenges of the field early in their educational careers. The di-verse nature of project laboratories or thesis topics permitsundergraduates with almost any background to become pro-ductively involved in the activities of the EPSEL. Associationwith advanced graduate students, senior faculty, and some-times research sponsors is both broadening and motivatingfor the undergraduate. It is not uncommon for a student tobecome engaged in laboratory activities as a freshman andremain engaged throughout his tenure as a student.

In addition to the activities described above, undergraduatesmay become involved in the EPSEL through a paying job.During both the academic year and the summer, studenttechnicians are frequently employed in jobs ranging frommachining to computer programming. Although providingno academic credit, such jobs do provide the students withknowledge of the Laboratory and its activities which may behelpful in selecting topics for future projects or theses.

The Graduate ProgramThe graduate program in electric power, leading to both

Master's and Doctor's degrees, is more extensive and has moreformal organization than the undergraduate program. It isassumed that the graduate students have a background roughlyequivalent to the MIT undergraduate core described above.The formal curriculum is built around two courses which

provide the fundamental concepts and analytical techniquesof electric power system engineering. The student is intro-duced to standard electric power terminology and such topicsas modeling rotating machinery during transients, the effectsof exciters on dynamic and steady state stability, introductoryaspects of computer control, symmetrical components, relay-ing, transmission line analysis and design, and topics relatedto breaker sizing and fault calculations. In addition to thesetwo general courses, there are more specialized courses inpower control and planning (economic dispatch, dynamiccontrol, load modeling, expansion planning), power electronics(motor drives, rectifier/inverters, traction, battery storage,simulation), and electrical machinery (dynamics, control,superconducting, modeling).These courses are not intended to provide a complete cur-

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riculum, nor will all students take the same courses. Theyare also expected to take graduate subjects in other areas ofelectrical and mechanical engineering and in other engineeringand scientific disciplines to develop a program tailored to theirindividual needs and interests.The research activities of graduate students are predom-

inantly directed towards theses since separate but possiblyrelated theses are required for the Master's and Doctor'sdegrees. Each thesis student freely selects his or her facultysupervisor on the basis of contacts with ongoing research andthe faculty involved.The selection of a research problem is a critical event in a

student's career and the pivotal point in implementing aresearch oriented educational program. Ideally the problemshould fulfill the following requirements:* Defimition must require some effort* The solution approach must not be immediately identifiable* The solution approach must be organized* It must require an extension of the student's abilities* It must be placed in a power systems context* It must provide motivationFrequently definition is the most difficult task for the stu-

dent. Neither the goal nor the approach may be immediatelyidentifiable. It is during this definition period, therefore, thatstudent morale and motivation are lowest, and the facultyearns its keep.As for the undergraduate, the research program provides the

graduate student with a vehicle for an interaction with fellowstudents and staff. In addition, however, the graduate studentis frequently given a degree of administrative responsibility.A Master's candidate may oversee the efforts of one or moreundergraduates doing work related to his or her research. TheDoctoral student will generally be able to coordinate Master'sand undergraduate level work into a homogeneous effort.These responsibilities and interpersonal relationships are

vitally important for three reasons. First, they encourage astudent to recognize the existence of certain responsibilitiesto co-workers. Second, graduate students are given an oppor-tunity to develop organizational ability in a supportive en-vironment. Third, it is both impractical and economicallyunjustifiable for faculty members to assume this day to dayresponsibility.

FacilitiesStudent-faculty and student-student interactions provide

an intellectual cross-fertilization which is essential to a researchoriented graduate program and physical facilities influence thisprocess. The EPSEL is organized around a large open labora-tory area, which is preferable to a series of smaller, enclosedspaces from point of view of both interaction and safety.Offices opening into the laboratory space are provided forgroups of 2 to 4 students, including undergraduates, who mayor may not be working on the same project. Each student isprovided with a desk to work on course work as well as re-search. The laboratory thus becomes a focus for a student'sdaily (and often nocturnal) activities. It is structured toenhance awareness of, and interaction with, the work ofcolleagues. Faculty and staff offices are directly accessible

from the laboratory, or in close proximity to it, encouraginginteraction.

FundingOne of the most difficult tasks connected with a research

program is finding the financial support. Two competing con-siderations must be recognized. First, the program requiresa degree of continuity to assure the students of a range ofoptions. Second, there must be sufficient flexibility in thesupport structure to allow the program to respond to newdevelopments in the field as they appear and to accomodatenew concepts as they are conceived by either students orstaff.Unfortunately, these criteria are difficult to achieve because

of the limitations imposed by funding sources. Governmentagencies such as the Department of Energy or industrialcooperative support institutions such as the Electric PowerResearch Institute sometimes have priorities that conflict withthose of academic institutions. Moreover they may find itdifficult to respond in real time. Still, they are the majorsource of funds for research in the area of electric power andthey can provide a degree of financial resiliency difficult toobtain from other sources.Support from individual industries, while not generally of

the magnitude available from government sources, does pro-vide certain advantages. Liaison is generally through practicingengineers or scientists who have a personal interest in theresearch, can operate flexibly, and can provide a productiveinterface with students. Students gain insight into the prob-lems, priorities and capabilities of industrial organizations.Sponsoring companies get the results of the research theysponsor, have an opportunity to influence the academic pro-gram which produces research and may make mutually pro-ductive contacts with staff and students. Industrial supportsources, however, are generally not financially flexible.The funding established for the electric power systems

engineering program at MIT has sought to obtain a mix of thetwo sources described above.

Summary and DiscussionThe electric power systems engineering program at MIT is

summarized in Figure 1. Students from such diverse back-grounds as semiconductor physics, circuit design, electro-mechanics, electrodynamics, modern control theory, materials,heat transfer, thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, nuclearengineering, and a host of other disciplines enter the electricpower systems engineering environment through a specializedcourse on a particular aspect of power engineering. Throughlaboratory and thesis requirements, students interested inelectric power eventually flow into the central core formed bythe Electric Power Systems Engineering Laboratory. Under-graduates may range from sophomores and juniors lookingfor laboratory projects to seniors in search of a thesis topic.Master's and Doctoral degree candidates enter the laboratoryearly in their program through laboratory project courses orthrough their interest in defining a thesis topic. Within thislaboratory environment the interaction between faculty andstudents plays an extremely important educational role.

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Figure 1. Summary of Electric Power Systems Engineering Program at MIT. "Specific Course Program" refers to an areaof research specialization.

A continuing challenge has been the definition of appro-priate graduate courses and the extent of their coverage. Thefinite time available, and the nature of the field have forced acompromise between depth and breadth in the coverage ofthese courses. This compromise is unfortunate, although thenature of the research program forces depth in certain areas.A different challenge arises in the choice of research direc-

tions. In order to form a useful part of an educational pro-gram, a research project must satisfy several constraints: itmust be adaptable to work by students, that is, capable ofbeing broken down into projects that will take about a man-year of effort; it must be important, interesting, and have anappreciable learning content; it must be fundable; and it mustbe within the range of faculty interest and capabilities. Find-ing research which meets these requirements is a very difficultchallenge and takes up a substantial amount of faculty time.In addition to on-campus research, the faculty are en-

couraged to do off-campus consulting, for it can lead to afaculty awareness of the needs of industry and even to newresearch contracts.The electric power engineering program at MIT is not de-

signed to satisfy the needs of all students. In order to besuccessful at research work, a student must have, or develop,a degree of professional maturity: direction, motivation, selfreliance, creativity. A major purpose of the research orientedprogram is to foster these traits. Still, a student who is notready for an unstructured environment may make little or no

progress in this program and become confused and frustratedeven though highly talented, able to learn and to solve prob-lems. If this student is given all of the direction necessary tocomplete the project, his or her professional developmentsuffers. For such students a more highly structured environ-ment is probably preferable.

CONCLUSIONThe changing needs of the electric power systems engineer-

ing field have been described and related to increasingly sophis-ticated demands on electric energy. An educational programhas been proposed for providing engineering students withthe background, tools, and incentives necessary to functionat a creative level in solving some of tomorrow's most chal-lenging engineering problems. This program is based upon aresearch oriented academic career.A graduate program at MIT has been presented. A graduate

of this program should have a place in meeting the changingneeds of the electric power systems engineering field. But thisprogram is not recommended for all other universities orstudents. On the contrary, the industry requires a broad spec-trum of engineering and scientific talent that cannot besatisfied by a single program.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTThe authors are indebted to Professor William N. Locke for

his critical review of the manuscript.

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