Smart Grid, Industry Trends and Power Engineering Education

This paper discusses smart grid applications as well as the current industry trends and what employers are seeking in power engineers of the 21 century, which will help evolve the smart gird vision of the future. The traditional power engineering curriculum is analyzed, followed by discussion on what the industry is looking for in power engineering education moving forward into the future. Based on industry feedback, key areas of engineering studies have been identified that needs to be incorporated into the existing power engineering curriculum to better align with industry demand. The study presented in this paper concludes that an updated bachelor’s in power engineering program that feeds into a master’s program specializing in smart grid technology and energy resources, could be a viable way to train the future workforce and help evolve the smart grid.