Five Heads Are Better Than One: An Interdisciplinary Graduate Course on Smart Grids: Lessons, Challenges, and Opportunities

According to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE ), “Smart grid generally refers to a class of technology people are using to bring utility electricity delivery into the 21st century, using computer-based remote control and automation.” This initiative not only requires power engineers to have a better understanding of auxiliary fields like signal processing, controls, information technology, and communication networks but also needs experts in the auxiliary fields to understand the basic operations of power systems. There is great need in industry for such cross-trained professionals to meet the many challenges of modernizing the power grid.