The Power Engineering Program
The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Utah is developing a new program to train students on the generation, distribution, and transformation of electric power.
The initiative was made possible by recent donations totalling $232,000 from local industry. A search has begun to recruit a new faculty member that will teach courses on power systems and power electronics.
The State of Utah will provide the salary of the faculty member as part of the Engineering Initiative, which is aimed at increasing the numbers of engineering graduates available to the local industry. The funding received from local companies will provide other resources needed, such as equipment for new research facilities. Power systems programs were progressively eliminated or consolidated in the United States over the last few decades, and no such program exists in Utah anymore. The new initiative will reverse the trend at a time when electric utility companies critically need new engineers due to retirements.