Transcript IAB, December 10

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
The Aging Utility Workforce
PSERC
700
Number of Employees
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
18-25 26-30 31-35 36-40 41-45 46-50 51-55 56-60 61-65
65+
Employee Age Group
Now
5 years out
10 years out
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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PSERC
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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PSERC
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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PSERC
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 Assessment
NERC
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PSERC
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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PSERC
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.
9
PSERC
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.
12
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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PSERC
University administrations need to
know there is a long term commitment 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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PSERC
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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Sustaining University
Power Programs
PSERC
• 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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Keys to Sustaining University
Power Programs
Program
Quality,
Curriculum
Relevance,
Tuition Cost,
Grad. Support
Potential PE
Students
Institutional
Expectations
Research
Support
PSERC
Classroom
PE Faculty
PE Students
Projects and
Theses
Support of Dean
and Faculty
Potential PE
Faculty
Job in
Industry
Jobs:
Number,
Challenge,
Salary,
Interesting
work, etc.
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Declining EE Undergraduate
Enrollments (Univ. of Wisc.)
PSERC
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Declining EE Graduate Enrollments
(Univ. of Wisc.)
PSERC
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Median E.E. Salaries
(IEEE Spectrum 2000)
PSERC
Solid-state circuits $93,500; Communications $92,900
Laser 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 $76,000
Energy and power engineering $73,625
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R&D as a Percent
of Revenues
R&D Expenditures
in Percent of Revenue
PSERC
14%
12%
10%
8%
6%
Nuclear
Power
4%
Electric Utilities
2%
0%
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Source: National Science Foundation
Source: Prepared by EPRI using NSF data.
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Power Program Trends
PSERC
• 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.
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Power Program Trends
PSERC
• 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 200102.
• 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.
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Actions to Support Education
PSERC
• 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
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Actions to Support Education
PSERC
• 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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What Success Might Look Like
PSERC
• 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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What Success Might Look Like
PSERC
• 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
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Conclusions
PSERC
• 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.
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