Development of a New Course on Smart-grid Communication and Security for Senior Undergraduate and Graduate Students

While the deployment of the smart grid, modernizing the nation’s electric power infrastructure, is currently in the public eye with attention paid predominantly to deployment of advanced equipment, technologies and applications, a less prominent but equally vital factor to the smart grid’s success is the need for a highly skilled electric power sector workforce. With the current labor force aging, a considerable number of the most knowledgeable workers in the power industry are heading toward retirement. Furthermore, even the most experienced workers often lack the updated skills and training needed to successfully support the advanced systems, tools and devices that make up the smart grid. An important aspect of the smart grid is communication and security. Supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation, and to train our students in the area of smart gird, a new course titled “Smart Grid Communications and Security” was developed and offered to train students with the required skills to succeed in this competitive job market. This paper presents the development of this new multidisciplinary course at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of the District of Columbia. The course content includes various communication technologies that are essential in the evolution of smart grid, types of cyber-attacks on the grid, privacy and security issues, and their possible solutions. This paper will discuss the course content, the pedagogical approach used to deliver the course and the students’ projects and presentations that have resulted from its offering.