July 20, 2009

NC State's Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering offers “green” undergraduate concentration in renewable electric energy systems

  -from the FREEDM Systems Center

North Carolina State University’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering will offer a new undergraduate concentration in Renewable Electric Energy Systems within the Bachelor of Science Electrical Engineering degree program starting this fall. The new concentration evolved to address the need to create a national power system capable of integrating geographically distributed renewable energy and advanced storage systems that will interface with the existing electric utility systems to serve the country’s future electric energy demands.

The Renewable Electric Energy Systems concentration will be open for enrollment to both new and current undergraduate students majoring in the Electrical Engineering degree program. The new concentration enriches the current electrical engineering curriculum with coursework in electromechanical energy conversion, renewable electric power systems, power electronics, and power transmission and distribution systems.

Last fall the National Science Foundation (NSF) provided funding for the establishment of an Engineering Research Center (ERC) and created the Future Renewable Electric Energy Delivery and Management (FREEDM) Systems Center at North Carolina State University. One of the center’s key responsibilities is to educate a diverse group of adaptive, creative, globally connected and innovative graduates for the green energy industry through a continuum of educational programs that span from middle school through the doctoral level.

“We are thrilled to start offering an undergraduate concentration in Renewable Electric Energy,” said FREEDM Systems Center College Education Program Director Dr. Mesut Baran. “Students who complete this concentration will have a working knowledge of current and emerging electric power generation technologies such as photovoltaic arrays, wind turbines and fuel cells along with understanding how to conduct system impact studies to assess the interconnection requirements for a given renewable electrical energy generation system.”

Currently efforts are underway for large-scale utilization of Distributed Renewable Energy Resources (DRER) to significantly increase the use of renewable sources (solar, wind, geo-thermal, hydro, and ocean tidal) to break the nations heavy dependence on carbon based fuel. The widespread use of DRER at the residential level is a major paradigm shift for the electric power industry, moving away from today’s centralized power generation paradigm to one of distributed generation. It is widely recognized by both the electric utilities and the policy makers that for this to happen, the current power grid must be revised considerable to be more “smart”.

For additional program enrollment information please contact Amy Bailey, Education Coordinator at (919) 513-3435 or ahbailey@ncsu.edu. For Renewable Electric Energy Systems undergraduate curriculum information please visit http://www.ncsu.edu/uap/academic-standards/RR/curricula/engineering/14eer.html.

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