CUSP Curriculum for Undergraduate and

Graduate courses in Power/Power Electronics

Engineering and Plans for offering them
Online

Ned Mohan
University of Minnesota
February 19, 2014
1

Source: Prof. Vladimir Cherkassky

Source: NYT

Source: www.dailymail.co.uk

Outline
What are we doing?
Why are we doing it?
What are our plans to move
forward collectively?

Objective:
Develop A Comprehensive Electric
Energy Education Curriculum
Enable all universities to

- Provide a first-rate education and

- Graduate students in large numbers

Sustainability wherever Electric Power is

used
Electricity Generation, Transmission and End-Use:
Renewables/storage
Conservation

Transportation
Trains
Planes
Hybrids/EVs
Defense
Navy
Air Force
Army

Industrial Competitiveness
Automation/Robotics/Advanced Manufacturing
9

Renewable Energy

F ig 2 W in d r e s o u r c e s in th e U .S . [N R E L , 7 ]

10

Case for Storage

11

Sodium Sulfur Battery Storage to

Enable Further Integration of Wind
(Xcel Energy Project Cost: 5 M$)

12

Conservation Efficiency Improvement:

L i g h tin g 1 9 %

IT
14%

H V A C 16%

M o to r s 5 1 %
O u tle t

A d ju s ta b le
S p e e d D r iv e
(A S D )
In le t
C o n s ta n t
fre q u e n c y

A d ju s ta b le f r e q u e n c y

A d ju s ta b le

AC

e le c tr ic c o n v e r te r

speed

Pum p

13

WBG Revolution in Power Electronics:

14

MMC Topology for HVDC Transmission

15

The Sketch captures about 50% of the $50B in potential benefits with a
reasonable Benefit/Cost ratio to justify a business case to construct the
HVDC Network.
The Sketch was primarily focused on Frequency Response exchanges to
design the HVDC Network shown. Large generation resources and large
loads are linked together with the HVDC network. HVDC terminals were
located near the critical contingencies in each interconnection of the worst
16
case frequency drop occurrence.

17

http://www.railwaygazette.com/news/single-view/view/amtrak-and-california-begin-joint18
high-speed-train-procurement.html

USS Ronald Reagan: Nimitz-class nuclear-powered supercarrier

19

20

http://www.smm.org/heart/heart/pumping-f.htm

21

History of Electric Energy Curriculum

and Interest Nationwide

EE curriculum started with power

engineering in the 1880s
Interest in power engineering
declined after mid-1900s

Courses did not change

Students were not excited

Instructional capacity declined

Power engineering is now seen as
critical to growth and sustainability

Requires rethinking the curriculum

22

Our Approach

Fewer Courses
Carefully designed
Shared with colleagues across the
country
Received Grants from NSF
ONR grant no. N00014-06-1-0381
Center for Reforming Undergraduate
Education in Electric Energy Systems A
Critical Infrastructure for National
security 06/01/2006 - 09/30/2012.
23

Electric Power

Power Systems
Power Electronics
Electric Machines and Drives
Renewable Energy and the
Environment

24

Example Harnessing Wind Energy

161 kV

T im e
L o w -V o lta g e
R id e -T h r o u g h

0 690V
10 60 H z

G e n e ra to r
3 4 .5 k V

690V

P o w e r E le c tr o n ic s
C o n v e r te r s

60 H z
25

Undergraduate/First-Year Graduate
Courses -

Only 3 Senior Electives

Pow er
E le c t r o n ic s

Complementary
Course

E le c t r ic
D r iv e s

C o re
C o u rs e s
Pow er
S y s te m s
26

27

Power Electronics:
- An Enabling Technology
P o w e r E le c t r o n i c s
In t e r f a c e

C o n v erter

S o u rc e

L oad
C o n tr o ll e r

28

Power Systems:

Software-based
Lab

29

Electric Machines and Drives:

30

Content of Each Course:

1. Video clips for each lecture

- Closed Captioned
2. Textbook
3. In-class discussion problems
4. Lab
5. Homework Problems
31

Labs Adopted at over 100

U.S. Universities

http://www.engineeringtv.com/video/Power-Electronics-at-the-Univer;Engineering-TV32
Automotive-Video

DOE Consortium at UMN of 80 Universities

to use State-of-the-Art Laboratories

These schools represent about 25% of all the graduates in electrical engineering in 2008.
William P. Robbins
33

http://www.doeconsortium.ece.umn.edu

CUSP
(Consortium of Universities for Sustainable Power)

Content is totally free to download

173 U.S. Universities have become members

www.cusp.umn.edu

34

Uniqueness of Our Approach

Force Multiplier:
Aimed at faculty to provide all the resources
that are needed
Teaching the Teachers!

Archiving Institutional Knowledge:

Reaching out to best experts in the world

Evolving to keep them Current:

Consortium of 173 Universities
35

Flipped-Classroom Pedagogy
Procedure:
Pre-class: watch a 15-minute

module and answer a brief online

concept quiz (5%)
During-class: discuss and solve realworld, design-oriented problems in
small groups; Clickers (15%)
Post-class: homework problems on
individual basis (15%)
36

Active Learning Classroom at UMN

37

Proposal to ONR: Increasing Power Engineering

Pipeline Nationwide
Objective: Increase the number of university
graduates in power engineering by building a
robust pipeline of transfer students from
community colleges.

38

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/05/education/tennessee-governor-urges-2free-years-of-community-college-and-technicalschool.html?hpw&rref=education&_r=0

39

Proposed Approach:
A new course common to
community colleges and 4-year
institutions
Credits transfer nationwide
Over hundred universities
already have such a course on
their syllabus
Uses animations/lab
Animations:
http://cusp.umn.edu/electric_drives/animations/electric_drives_animation_3_alternator.php
http://cusp.umn.edu/electric_drives/animations/sinvec.gif
40

ONR Grant for Graduate Curriculum:

ONR Grant No. N00014-11-1-0653 "Center
for Developing and Disseminating a
Graduate/Undergraduate Curriculum in
Electric Energy Systems, 6/1/20115/30/2014.

41

Electric Energy Courses (13 + 4)

Power Systems (6 + 1)
Power Electronics (3 + 1)
Electric Machines and Drives (3 + 1)
Renewable Energy and the
Environment (1 + 2)

Black: To be uploaded to CUSP by Summer 2014

Red: Planned within 2-3 years
42

Courses in Power Systems

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Power Systems + Software Lab (Ned Mohan)

Advanced Power Systems I (Collaborative)
Advanced Power Systems II (collaborative)
Pwr Gen, Operation & Control (Bruce Wollenberg)
Power System Protection + Lab (Pratap Mysore)
Electricity Markets (Ross Baldick)
Synchrophasors, wide area protection (requested
SEL Lab)
43

Collaborative Graduate Courses on Power Systems

1. Transmission Lines and Cables: AC versus DC Ram Adapa (EPRI)
2. Switching Transients and Lightning Protection, Insulation Coordination MOV
Surge Arresters Dharshana Muthumuni (HVDC Research Centre)
3. Transient Stability; Blackouts Tom Overbye (University of Illinois)
4. Voltage Stability Udaya Annakkage (University of Manitoba)
5. PMUs in Power Systems Virgilio Centeno (VPI)
6. Power System Planning, Managing Risk Hyde Merrill (Merrill Energy, LLC)
7. Power System Dynamics, small-signal stability, PSS Udaya Annakkage (U of
Manitoba)
8. Power Quality, Flicker, sags and swells Surya Santoso (UT Austin, TX)
9. Reliability Chanan Singh (TAMU)
10.Demand Response; Load Management Clark Gellings (EPRI)
11.Smart Grid; Synchrophasors; EMS Control Centers Jay Giri (Alstom)
12.FACTS Eric John (ABB)
13.Weather and Variable Generation Implications for Power System Operations
(Mark Ahlstrom)
44

Video

Courses in Power Electronics

1.
2.
3.
4.

Power Electronics + Lab (Ned Mohan)

Advanced Power Electronics I (Collaborative)
Advanced Power Electronics II (Collaborative)
HVDC Transmission and Power Electronics in
Power Systems (Collaborative)

45

Collaborative Graduate Courses on Power Electronics

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.

Resonant Converters Ned Mohan (University of Minnesota)

Full-bridge DC-DC Converters and Soft-Switching and Hariharan
Krishnaswami (UT- San Antonio)
Dual Active Bridge Amit Jain (Intel)
Multi-Level Converters Prasad Enjeti (TAMU)
Matrix Converters - Kaushik Basu (Dyna Power)
Front-End Rectifiers Kaushik Basu (Dyna Power)
Power Semiconductor Device Physics Bill Robbins (U of Minnesota)
Energy-Efficient Lighting: CFLs, LEDs, IGBTs Eric Persson (IRF)
Wide Bandgap Devices Anant Agrawal (CREE now at DOE-EERE)
Applications in Automotive Systems Kaushik Rajashekara (UT-Dallas)
Photovoltaic Interface Converters Robert Balog (TAMU)
Magnetic Design Bill Robbins (University of Minnesota)
Thermal Design Bill Robbins (University of Minnesota)
EMI and EMC Chris Henze (Analog Power Design Inc.)
46

Courses in Electric Machines and

Drives
1.
2.
3.
4.

Electric Drives + Lab (Ned Mohan)

Advanced Electric Drives: Modeling and
Control (Ned Mohan)
Electric Machine Design (Jim Hendershot)
Finite Element Analysis for Designing Electrical
Apparatus (Collaborative)

47

Courses in Renewable Energy and the

Environment
1.
2.
3.

Wind Energy Essentials (Collaborative)

Solar Electric Systems, Fuel Cells, Storage
(Collaborative)
Energy, Environmental Policies, Regulatory
Issues (Collaborative)

48

Collaborative Graduate Course on Wind Energy Essentials

1. Wind Assessment and Forecasting (Mark Ahlstrom - CEO WindLogics, Inc.)
2. Wind Energy Systems An Industrial Perspective (Madhav Manjrekar UNCC)
3. Wind farm project development (Kate O'Hair- Director of Development for enXco,
Midwest Office Minneapolis)
4. Foundation Design (Jennifer Entwistle- Senior Structural Engineer, Barr Eng.)
5. Electrical Engineering Principles for Wind Energy Systems (Ned Mohan, UMN)
6. Introduction to present day wind energy scenario (Steven W. Saylors- P.E.Senior
Specialist, Electrical Engineering, Regional Support Services)
7. Wind Turbine Controls (Mihailo Jovanovic - ECE, Peter Seiler AEM UMN)
8. Materials and Structural Reliability (Sue Mantell - ME, Henryk Stolarski CE, UMN)
9. Blade Aerodynamics and Acoustics (Roger Arndt CE. University of Minnesota)
10.Environmental Considerations: Radar Interference (Mos Kaveh Associate Dean,
College of Science and Engineering, UMN)
11.Power systems and protection for wind systems (Pratap Mysore- National Senior
Relay and Protection Engineer, HDR)
12.Grid Integration (Matt Schuerger, Energy Systems Consulting Services)
49

Textbooks underlying these courses:

- Translated into 7 Languages

- Plans for textbooks (some edited) for other courses

50

Nationwide Dissemination through

ONR/NSF Funding

Organized 26 NSF/ONR/DOE-sponsored Workshops

NSF funding for three more such workshops in
2015-2017

51

Issues Limiting Wider Utilization:

- Lack of appropriate faculty in many EE
departments
- Lack of a critical number of students
at many colleges/universities

Proposed Solution:
- Online courses
- Online terminal masters degree
52

Proposal for Online Education

Quality Education
First-rate content developed by experts (3 NAE
members, over 10 IEEE Fellows) from academia and
industry
Unlike MOOCs: Limited class sizes (75 or so)
Rigorous: Quizzes, HW, class projects, Proctored Exams

Convenient Availability
As a course to utilize within a degree program anywhere
As a terminal masters degree from the UofMN

Highly Affordable!
53

Rationale for Offering Online Courses and an

Online Terminal Masters Degree
1.Educated Workforce to meet increasing demands
related to electric energy
2.Make a large selection of courses available to
students nationwide

3.Keep certain power-related courses, critical to

national infrastructure, from disappearing
4.Keep evolving these courses
5.Masters Courses - kind of a niche for online
6.Offering Certificates after 9 or 15 credits(?)
54

What motivated us?

- Lack of Faculty
- Lack of Critical Number of Students

55

Uniqueness of Proposed Program

No university has such a large selection of courses
Developed by experts from academia and industry
Taught online with synchronous and asynchronous
components
Flexible scheduling to accommodate practicing engineers

Overcomes shortages of qualified faculty

Overcomes the challenge of critical number of students
to make the course offering viable
Our course content is completely transparent can be
downloaded ahead of time by anyone totally free-ofcharge
Chance to collaborate with other university instructors
56

Nationwide Beneficiaries

Graduate students at universities

nationwide
Practicing Engineers
Companies requiring expertise in
electric energy

57

Proposed Pedagogy
(similar to Flipped-Classroom)
Instructor + TA do the following each week using
Moodle:
Video Clips are assigned
Online Concept Quizzes on these video clips
Instructor holds an online 2-3 hour class where
students can ask questions in real-time
Class session is recorded for later viewing by all
HW: online + hand-graded by the TA
TA has online office hours to answer questions
Proctored Exams
Flexible scheduling in evenings or on weekends

Limited Enrollment Online: 75-100 students

58

One Possible Enrollment Scenario

Practicing engineers will register with UMN. Their
Masters will be granted by UMN.

Interested colleges/universities will co-list our online

courses (only those courses they deem appropriate),
but course-credits to students will come from their
own universities.
Charges to each university, per student, will be some
fraction of what they are charging their own students.
These universities will mentor their students and proctor
their exams, graded by the instructors of UMN.

Eventually huge potential in the Middle East, Europe,

Africa, Latin America, and Asia
59

Synergy between Teaching and Research

- At present, 12 PhD Students

Power Electronic Transformers:

Compact and Highly Reliable Drives:

Funded by ONR: N00014-13-1-0511

Modular Flywheel Energy Storage:
Integrating PVs and Battery Storage:
M u lti-P o rt C o n v e rte r w ith
In te g ra te d M a g n e tic s

P V1

PV2

4 8V

4 8V

in v e r te r

p o r t1

uni

p o r t3

p o rt2

bi

in v e r te r

a c o u tle t 2 4 0 V

uni
p o rt4
bi

B a tte r y

60

Thank You!

61