PSERC

Supporting University Research as an Engineering Workforce

Education Strategy

Dennis Ray, Ph.D.Executive Director

Power Systems Engineering Research Center

Prepared for the 2007 Electric Power Conference

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PSERCThe Aging Utility Workforce

Nu

mb

er

of

Em

plo

ye

es

Employee Age Group

Now 5 years out 10 years out

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

18-25 26-30 31-35 36-40 41-45 46-50 51-55 56-60 61-65 65+

Source: Ray, Dennis and Bill Snyder. "Strategies to Address the Problem of Exiting Expertise in the Electric Power Industry." Proceedings of the 39th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences. January 2006.

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PSERC

Our industry is coming to the realization that recruiting and retaining the best people is top priority.

Wanda Reder, President-Elect, IEEE PES, VP, S&C Electric, in “Meeting the Twin Challenges of Education and an Aging Workforce in the Electric Power Industry.” The CIP Report. Nov. 2006.

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IOUs and municipal utilities rank the reliability of electric service and the aging workforce as two of their top three primary concerns.

Strategic Directions in the Utility Industry Survey. Black & Veatch. 2006.

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Every leader and executive in Canada knows that our nation is on the verge of a serious talent shortage that is expected to last for decades… One of the hardest hit will be the energy and resources industry.

2006 Energy & Resources Talent Pulse Survey Report. Deloitte

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PSERC

The most significant challenges created will be the loss of knowledge due to retirements, the difficulty finding replacements, and the lack of bench strength within the organization.

Work Force Planning for Public Power Utilities. American Public Power Association. 2005.

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The reliability of the North American electric utility grid is dependent on the accumulated experience and technical expertise of those who design and operate the system. As the rapidly aging workforce leaves the industry over the next five to ten years, the challenge to the electric utility industry will be to fill this void…

2006 Long-Term Reliability AssessmentNERC

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The electric utility industry as a whole has not…established the needed cooperative programs with academia to reinvigorate the power engineering education in North America.

2006 Long-Term Reliability Assessment. NERC

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Today, the power engineering education system in the United States is at a critical decision point. Without strong support for strategic research in power systems engineering and without qualified replacements for retiring faculty, the strength of our Nation’s university-based power engineering programs will wane, and along with them, the foundation for innovation in the power sector to meet our energy challenges in the 21st century.

Workforce Trends in the Electric Utility Industry, U.S. DOE, August 2006.

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To provide the electric power industry with a sufficient supply of well-trained engineers, there is a critical need to sustain electric power engineering programs at U.S. universities. Just like the industry, our power faculty are “graying” and there is no guarantee that when they retire, their positions will be filled by new faculty in the power area.

Professor Vijay Vittal, Director, Power Systems Engineering Research Center in filed comments to FERC in RM06-16, July 2006.

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PSERC

[In Australia] the number of power engineering academics is decreasing. The average age of all power academics is 50 years. The present university environment and research funding priorities do not attract a sufficient number of young academics to replace retirements.

Assessing Future of Electrical Power Engineering: A report on electrical power engineering manpower requirements in Australia. Institute of Engineers, Australia 2004

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PSERC

Few senior executives in the electric utility industry make the connection between the education – workforce gap and much more robust research funding.

Wanda Reder, President-Elect, IEEE PES, VP, S&C Electric, in “Meeting the Twin Challenges of Education and an Aging Workforce in the Electric Power Industry.” The CIP Report. Nov. 2006.

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PSERC

Without a sizable research portfolio, it is not possible for a disciplinary area such as electric power to get new faculty positions or resources.

Professor Vijay Vittal, Director, Power Systems Engineering Research Center in filed comments to FERC in RM06-16, July 2006.

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University administrations need to know there is a long term commit-ment to university research in the area. The students need to know there are high paying, interesting jobs.

Professor Robert J. Thomas, Cornell University, in “Meeting the Twin Challenges of Education and an Aging Workforce in the Electric Power Industry.” The CIP Report. Nov. 2006

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The need for an adequate, skilled workforce to ensure a reliable supply of electricity in Canada has reached a critical stage … it is clear governments and industry must work together with labor groups and educational institutions to ensure a strong, sustainable electricity workforce.

“The Human Resource Crisis in the Canadian Electricity Sector.” Canadian Electricity Association’s Perspectives. April 2006.

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PSERCSustaining University

Power Programs

• Student interest is critical.• Declining interest in math, science,

engineering and technology.• Declining enrollment in engineering in

general

• But support of the education infrastructure is critical, too.

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PSERC

Potential PE Students

Potential PE Faculty

PE StudentsPE Faculty

Institutional Expectations

Research Support

Support of Dean and Faculty

Jobs: Number,

Challenge, Salary,

Interesting work, etc.

Class-room

Projects and Theses

Program Quality,

Curriculum Relevance,

Tuition Cost, Grad. Support

Job in Industry

Keys to Sustaining University Power Programs

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PSERCDeclining EE Undergraduate Enrollments (Univ. of Wisc.)

515 522563 570

634587

361 377 376350

300262

213215 194

196

168

149

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

Year

CmpE

EE

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PSERCDeclining EE Graduate Enrollments

(Univ. of Wisc.)

269 270

234 236

258

287

333

383

432

371

296

251

136146

171

143155

114

197

237

261

228

141 137

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

450

500

1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

Year

Total

PhD

MS

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PSERCMedian E.E. Salaries (IEEE Spectrum 2000)

Solid-state circuits $93,500; Communications $92,900Laser and electro-optics $91,000; Software, aerospace and electronics $89,000; Components manufacturing $88,850; Signals and application $87,000; Antennas and propagation $86,000; Medicine and biology signal processing $85,000; Electronic devices $84,750; Network administration $81,000; Power electronics $80,050; Circuits and systems $80,000; Instrumentation and measurement $76,000Energy and power engineering $73,625

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Source: Prepared by EPRI using NSF data.

R&D Expenditures in Percent of Revenue

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• Compared to 2001-02 academic year, undergraduate enrollments in elective power classes declined from about 3,500 to 3,300.

• Masters student enrollments also declined from 1,600 to 1,400, but Ph.D. student enrollments rose from 800 to 900.

• International students are now about 59% of all graduate students.

Source: IEEE Power Engineering Education Committee Survey Results for 2005-06 Academic Year.

Power Program Trends

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• Younger (untenured) faculty have declined from 20% in early 90s to 12% of total power faculty.

• Total research funding per institution declined about 18% compared to 2001-02.

• Industry-funded research rose compared to 2001-02, but the rise did not off-set declines in government-funded research.

• Industry funding increased from 23% to about 43% of total research funding.

Power Program Trends

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• Collaborate with universities on research opportunities

• Encourage government support of research• Fund fellowships and scholarships• Create named chairs in university programs • Support new education initiatives in technical

schools, and in 2 and 4 year universities• Facilitate field trips, capstone projects, speakers

Actions to Support Education

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PSERCActions to Support Education

• Offer mentoring opportunities, support coops and internships

• Provide engineers to teach classes• Donate equipment• Encourage math and science in K-12• Provide seed funding for professional

development programs (on-line, on-site, university) to educate new engineers after they are hired

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PSERCWhat Success Might Look Like

• Renewed hiring of new faculty• Ample undergraduate and graduate

student enrollments in electrical engineering in general, and power engineering in particular

• Students taking opportunities for fellowships, scholarships, internships, coops, and mentoring

• Universities making financial support commitments to graduate students

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• Curricula that balance core knowledge with opportunities for multi-disciplinary education relevant to the industry

• Innovative research addressing our energy and environmental challenges

• Competitive pay and career opportunities for power engineering graduates

What Success Might Look Like

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PSERCConclusions

• Research support for universities is fundamental to sustaining education programs for power engineers.

• Decisions on investments in people should receive as high a priority as decisions on investments in the aging physical infrastructure.

• Collaboration among industry, government, and universities is needed to educate the next generation of power engineers.