Where's the 'traditional' path to go down gone?

[Radii]

Hello,

I'm just wondering why the traditional path to go down in electrical engineering is becoming virtually extinct on the degree?

I have an interest in all areas of the industry. However, my dream ambition is to become a power systems design engineer.

Furthermore, students lack an interest in the 'heavy' side nowadays.

I have no problem against electronics, but ANY degree I choose to look at is so heavily integrated with electronics, the electrical side of the coin hardly even exists anymore. Same applies to power engineering degrees.

I feel the 'traditional' side of the coin is becoming non-existent in an academic environment.

The books from which I've had no alternative but to buy for my own sake consist of: Protective Relaying, Insulation Coordination, Transients in power systems, Short-circuit load flow and harmonics, Spacial electric load forecasting, Transformer engineering, Synchronous generators, Power system capacitors etc as well as all the Math.


Could I ever see the above list heavily integrated onto a degree... doubtful.

 

[davidbeach]

There are still a few schools that have power programs. A bachelor degree needs to be well rounded, but you can find masters programs that focus just on power.

 

[magoo2]

Throw in Power Systems Analysis and another course or two and you'll have the ingredients for a Power Program, but it may be at the masters degree level. Check Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, Iowa State and Illinois Tech and others for their courses.

 

[DTR2011]

It's the dizzy feeling one gets when looking at a matrix calculation.

On a serious note, I had a wise professor exclaim in class one day (ABET making its 5 year rounds) that schools can teach the material but they can only hope to teach you how to learn. From the list of books you have mentioned this covers quite a bit. Much of this really needs to be learned on the job.

My opinion is that power systems don't seem to be all that "sexy", when compared to communications or computers. It's a matter of economics for the universities. It took years (decades) for utilities to buy into digital relaying. Imagining waiting that much time for an iPad to be accepted.

 

[Radii]

I suspected it would be at Masters level, but that is YEARS away. It's why I'm depressed all the time. I won't be able to 'officially' read these kind of books due to time management in working towards that level until that day comes.

I want the job that bad I will sacrifice my life for it, but I feel I will have put that much effort into getting there it will cost me the attribute of effective communication.

I read upon job applications in order to give me an idea of what will be available when that day comes, and they always ask for strong communication skills. Extensive book reading is already having an effect on me. I have a tendency to just find something to stare at on a wall to give my eyes something to do whilst I do nothing but think, think and think.

 

[dpc]

I want the job that bad I will sacrifice my life for it

There really isn't an engineering job that is worth that, trust me.

 

[brainsalad]

Radii: would like to add that with all that is learned in EE, there is no true "traditional path" - EE's go on to do many different things - such as inventing the zipper ( Google.com the other day).....

would also like to add to magoo2's comment that IIT (Illinois Tech) is indeed a great place to take such courses (Protective Relaying being a standout) and to toot my cheesehead horn, University of Wisconsin-Madison is a power systems giant. Iowa State also casts a long shadow in this field (namely Paul Anderson)...

And remember, if you are beginning your college studies, feel the force - don't force the feel!

 

[xnuke]

The U.S. Department of Energy gave out a lot of grants a couple of years ago called STEPS grants - Strategic Training and Educating in Power Systems - to universities to improve power engineering curriculum. The school where I teach received a grant and now has undergraduate courses in power systems analysis, electric machines, power system protection and control, grid integration of renewables, power electronics, and electric power conversion systems (advanced power electronics), along with a lot of hands-on lab equipment, including a flexible-structure microgrid with programmable generation and loads, protection and control equipment, and industrial communications networks. Many other universities also received grants. You may want to find the grant recipients and check out their programs. I happen to like my school's program, but I'm not going to advertise it here in the fora.

xnuke
"Live and act within the limit of your knowledge and keep expanding it to the limit of your life." Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged.
Please see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips.

 

[Radii]

Unfortunately, I live in the UK not the USA. On the University application website (UCAS), you can type in your degree e.g power engineering, and it searches every single one.

However, there is only ONE Uni in the UK which provides power engineering at Bsc, and the instant you start reading upon their course modules it's, microprocessors, communications, etc, etc.

It's not a true power eng course and that's the only one available. I'm not to concerned over reading about other areas because as already aforementioned I show an interest in all areas, but I'll to be qualified in an area I'm not choosing to go down.

I do believe in the comment from which was previously mentioned, it's not as "sexy" as other areas. If students pursue a degree, a bit of metal-clad will be the last thing their interested in, in comparison to a light-emitting-diode. Sometimes I want to say: " You havn't even seen what's under the bonnet yet."

For example, I feel it takes maturity to pick up a 1k page book on short-circuit load flow and begin to read with an interest. I am a mature student. I've never met a student who want's to go down that route. And how the job-market is looking, I also feel I will stand a better chance in securing a permanent job I enjoy due to the lack of interest from younger generations in that area.

 

[vandal06]

You mention that you are searching for a power engineering degree that is separate from an electrical engineering one. In the US that does not exist as far as I know. I have a BSEE from the University of Idaho, which has a very strong power program. While I took every power course that came along during my undergraduate career, and have a career in power, my diploma still says I have an electrical engineering degree. It would be hard for me to imagine the UK isn't somewhat similar, but then again I'm in the US.

 

[LSpark]

I graduated (in the UK) over 15 years ago and even then there were hardly any power engineering courses at BEng level. I did Electrical and Electronic Engineering but chose the power based modules in my final year rater than digital processors or the like.

There were only two of that I know of that went onto do power engineering from my course. There were a lot who went towards eectronics, programming or acountancy. So I don't think things have changed as much as you might think.

 

[Marmite]

In my experience the detail of what modules you study for your degree do not predetermine your career path or limit your options in any way when you start your career in the power industry. The degree gets you the job, and you learn the skills required to do the job on the job. As you get further into your career it becomes even less relevant. The Company I work for is heavily involved with Strathclyde university and I think they have a power engineering course, but there are others. I think with most courses you would study broad compulsory modules in the first couple of years and then if you wanted to specialise you could choose modules with a power engineering bias. I did electrical and electronic engineering which was a broad course. As an example of the breadth, I did a module on analogue electronics and a module on the analysis of distance protection which went into the far end of a fart on the mathematics of distance protection. Neither of these modules (amongst many of the others comprising the degree course) have had any relevance whatsoever to any of the jobs I have held in more than 20 years in the power industry.
Regards
Marmite

 

[Radii]

Your replies have been very helpful.

Going off-topic, what do your daily duties consist of being a power eng?

 

[itsmoked]

Just adding to the list, California State University Sacramento has a full-on power curriculum.

They have a nice power lab too. They took us on detailed tours of two local switch yards. A 245kV and a 500kV.

http://www.ecs.csus.edu/eee/update08/students/facilities/power.html

Now they have a Smart Grid Center

http://www.ecs.csus.edu/CASmartGrid/

They offer an BSEE with power focus.

Maybe you should come to USA and get your degree. Sacto, even though it's in California, is economical. We had a lot of foreign students.[/end alma mater pep-talk

]




Keith Cress
kcress -

http://www.flaminsystems.com

 

[LSpark]

Daily duties?

It depends on the day, any combination of: talking to end customer, liasing with other parts of the company, writing reports to recommend changes, writing specs, assessing tenders, commenting on documentation, doing calculations, site visits/FATs, site commissioning and testing, fault finding, advise to sites, data analysis, keeping documentation up to date, devising maintenance schedules, sitting on national working groups, training more junior engineers, doing endless site inductions and safety document acceptor courses, hanging around waiting for safety documents, moaning about the latest company/government policy changes (otherwise known as putting the world to rights), cups of tea etc

I'm sure there's loads more that I've missed. I work in a very narrow field so tend to cover everything to do with that area.