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Show .THE Thursday, August 28, 2008 DAILY UTAH CHRONICLE New engineering track available U offers masters in Demand for power engineers prompts college to reopen program international affairs Isabella Bravo STAFF WRITER someone in business who's manufacturing in one country and shipping across the world, To prepare students for a for example, or to someone world in which national bor- working for a non-governders and time zones are no mental organization providing longer barriers to doing busi- aid in different countries," he ness, the College of Social and said. Behavioral Science is offering Patton said entry into the a new Master of Science de- program does not require an gree in international affairs undergraduate degree in any and global enterprise. specific field, but has prereqThe 36-credit-hour degree uisite admission requirements program consists of an in- in statistics, macroeconomics terdisciplinary curriculum, a and microeconomics. He said relatively new approach com- a second-year competency in bining course work from the a language used internationcolleges of law, business and ally is required to earn the social and behavioral science. degree. It debuted this semester un"Anyone completing the der the auspices of the Center program will have a unique set for Public Policy and Admin- of business, legal, cultural and istration and starts with three social skills to use in whatever international and four U.S. work they end up doing," he students enrolled both part said. time and full time. Steven Ott, the dean of the Cameron Hodges, 27, one of College of Social and Behavthe new students seeking the ioral Science said the interdisdegree, said that as he looked ciplinary structure of the new around for good graduate degree program is something program, he was intrigued by the college has been trying this one's interdisciplinary ap- over the past two years, at both an undergraduate and proach. "It was completely different graduate level. from anything out there," he Recent offerings have insaid. "It doesn't really pigeon- cluded an interdisciplinary hole you into one specific area bachelor's degree in environbut gives you a broader per- mental studies and a Master spective and understanding of of Public Policy degree. the world around us." "What we're doing is taking Hodges and his fellow advantage of the strengths of students will take required the university, wherever they courses in international man- exist, and bringing them toagement, international trade, gether so a student can access international investment and them," Ott said. "This is the relations and social research real benefit of a research university and part of the beauty methods. Electives will include cours- of the University of Utah, that es in anthropology, geography, we are much more able to do marketing, management, eco- this than most other places." nomics, sociology and politiThe danger with this type cal science. of program, Ott said, is that Director of the Center for the curriculum can get overly Public Policy and Administra- diluted if it is not carefully detion David Patton, who will signed and that people from oversee the new program, very different backgrounds said it is designed to appeal to might not always be in agreedifferent types of candidates ment about things. with different backgrounds, "It's more than just offering but will primarily targets a few courses," he said. "You someone operating in a global have to tie all together someenvironment. how." "It would be valuable to d.servatius@chronicle.utah. David Servatius STAFF WRITER The demand for power engineers has led the U College of Engineering to reopen a program to train electrical engineering students to work in the fastchanging energy and power industry. This semester, the college's electrical and computer engineering department is launching its new power-engineering track. "Power engineering is becoming more complex with so many more power sources, such as wind and solar," said Arn Stolp, the instructor for the program's first course. This course will be the first power engineering class offered at the U in more than two decades. "For many years, power has been neglected," Stolp said. "When I was an undergraduate, it was a required course. (It) hasn't been a required curriculum for some time." Carol Hunter, Rocky Mountain Power's vice president of communications and division services, said that when she was a mechanical engineering student 31 years ago, the U had a power engineering program, but it was later dissolved due to a lack of market demand. "Many of the engineers were hired in the late '70s and early '80s and that workforce (is beginning to retire)/' Hunter said. "The whole industry experiences a shortage of power engineers in the market. Now we see fairly high attrition rates and anticipate a higher attrition rate over the next five years." To solve the shortage problem, Rocky Mountain Power led a group of power companies and municipalities to the door of the U's electrical and computer engineering department. They asked the department chair for a revived program to address the nationwide need for specially-trained power engineers. "As we see our industry change, we looked for engineers," Hunter said. "We decided to see if the U could help make some (engineers for the workforce)." Some of the largest energy companies in Utah donated nearly $350,000 to fund the program. The two largest donors are Intermountain Power Agency and Rocky Mountain Power with donations of $250,000 and $50,000 respectively. However, this program has not grown exclusively out of industry demand. "This program is in part a response to student surveys and exit interviews," Stolp said. She said a former student received an employment offer from a wind power company and then realized the U did not have classes that would address the necessary energy issues. Besides the wave of retiring professionals, there is also a lack of qualified young recruits in the field. "We were not getting the initial competencies from (hired) engineering students," Hunter said. "(This program will) prepare them for that hefty project when they walk through the door." The senior research project for electrical engineering students last year was a clinic with Rocky Mountain Power. It is part of steps the U has taken to work with industry professionals on the power-engineering front. "The clinics are an industry project," Hunter said. "A professor and group of students get together and we pose an industry problem. We fund this coming together of students. It's almost a consultancy." The U will also begin another clinic with Rocky Mountain Power this year. Rocky Mountain Power has already noticed an improvement in its recruitment population. "As far as hiring, one year ago I was eight engineers in the hole," Hunter said. "Since we started working with the U, now I'm where I need to be. " Industry and academic professionals agree the new crop of power engineers will face increasingly involved challenges as energy sources evolve and the News writers needed. Contact r.mcconJcie@cIironicle.utah.edu VICTORY WAITS ON YOUR FINGERS- BECOME A COPY EDITOR TODAY r,hanson@chronicle.utah.edu www.dailyutahchrbnicle.com/syndication It's not what you ride, but where. It doesn't matter what you've got strapped to your feet—in the park, actions speak than equipment. Full of custom features KAB Rails, both of our parte are desi to help you settle your grudge demand for electricity increases. Stolp said power engineers have complex problems ahead of them, including network analysis. "The opportunity is pretty wide open," Hunter said. "They will handle hefty engineering problems in the first few months." Power companies have kept a steady, but limited, presence in the program's early development stages. "The senior design project last year with Rocky Mountain Power (is) the most industry input we've had so far," Stolp said. Stolp and Marc Bodson, engineering professor and departmental chair, designed the first power-engineering course. "One thing I want to do with this class is to take a field trip to a Rocky Mountain Power site, to (have industry professionals) talk to the students directly," Stolp said. Jolie Coleman, assistant director for external relations for the department of electrical and computer engineering, thinks the program will expand and receive more help from local industries in the future. "Although the program hasn't grown enough, industry folk will and can be very helpful," Coleman said. Although Stolp's course will start this fall with a full classroom, the program is not ready to be called a formal track within the electrical engineering major. "We have the money. We have the classes. We have the people to teach the classes," Coleman said. "We're just (looking for)-a faculty member with a developed research program to build the program over time and make it sustainable." The department is saving this position for an academic professor from another institution instead of an industry professional. i.bravo@ chronicle.utah.edu |