Development Of A Building Electrical Power Systems Design Specialty

Enrollment in Electrical Power Engineering courses has been in a steady decline, and many institutions have dropped power and energy conversion courses. At the same time, the demand for engineers in the field has remained constant, and in some cases has increased significantly. To meet the demand for engineers in the electrical construction sector, the Milwaukee School of Engineering and local industry have worked together to develop a sequence of courses for a Building Electrical Power Systems Design Specialty in the Architectural Engineering program. This sequence includes four courses from the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department: Electrical Systems, and three courses on Electrical Power Distribution Systems (system basics, small systems, and large systems). The Architectural Engineering and Building Construction Department offers five courses: Illumination for Buildings, Communication Systems, National Electrical Code, Electrical System Cost Estimating and Specifications, and Electrical Power Quality for Buildings. This paper describes the development of these courses, along with feedback from the first graduating class, current students, and industry.