Re-engineering the power engineering class at Drexel

Summary form only given. Drexel University, have completed an overhaul of their whole undergraduate curriculum where power-engineering courses were affected by both content and enrollment. They are also in the process of combining two main specialties in the electrical engineering department in terms of similar courses during last two years of education. These two areas of specialization are power and control systems. The first course that emanates from this is a motor control course that concentrates on the fundamentals of electromechanical energy conversion and control systems. To accomplish this, work concentrated on teaching and advising a group of graduate and undergraduate students during the development of a set of computer controlled experiments to be used in the course. This work formed the foundation for a small scale energy management system referred to as Drexel´s Interconnected Power Systems Laboratory (IPSL). An elaborate tutorial has been developed on the computers for online help as well as a lab handbook to help future users of the lab through stages of the experiments. What stands out as different is the concentration on the basic principles of power as it relates to the analysis and design of transmission lines as well as the effective tool of symmetrical components for the analysis of faulted power system conditions. In addition, a technician´s workbook has been developed that includes all aspects of the laboratory as it concerns the physical makeup and various components of all the experiments.