Integrating Shipboard Power System Topics Into Curriculum

Traditionally electric power programs have had very strong relationships with electric utilities. Lately campuses are seeing a more diverse corporate representation seeking students with power engineering background. These companies include power equipment manufacturers, consultants, chemical companies, automotive companies and more. A new set of companies looking for power engineers are naval ship builders and other ship building support industries. The new all-electric ship program provides a platform for increased control and utilization of electric power systems to improve ship features of reconfiguration and survivability. The industry now needs more electrical power engineers to solve its future challenges. This paper will describe efforts at our university to integrate more shipboard power system topics into the undergraduate and graduate curriculum. The shipboard power system provides some unique challenges and features. By incorporating the ship power system activities into the classroom, faculty member are able to expose students to the varied challenges between these systems and traditional utility systems. As part of the curriculum update, our activities include upgrading our graduate education classes to allow current engineers within the shipbuilding community to retool in ECE classrooms to provide the background and support of future shipbuilding design and engineering needs. By collaborating with shipbuilders within the state, curriculum improvements are helping with state economic development as well as providing a workforce with a more diverse background.