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October 30, 2007

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Pitt School of Engineering Unites with Industry to Spearhead $1.25 Million Power and Energy Initiative

As little as two decades ago, changes in industry trends required the electric power, nuclear energy, and coal mining industries to downsize and decrease investments in research and development.

Today, driven by a surge in global demand for electricity, there is a need to revitalize these industries, and quickly.

Thanks to $1.25 million in grants from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the Heinz Endowments, and industry partners, the University of Pittsburgh School of Engineering will play a leading role in this revitalization. Called the Power and Energy Initiative, the Pitt School of Engineering is collaborating with industry leaders such as Westinghouse Electric Co (nuclear energy), CONSOL Energy (coal mining), KEMA, and Allegheny Power (electric power), with the common goal of reinforcing the workforce and restoring research and development gaps.  The School has developed new courses and certificate programs in Nuclear Engineering, Mining Engineering, and Electric Power Engineering and has initiated several cutting-edge research projects in collaboration with its industry partners.

Says Mike Lovell, associate dean for research, “Our goal is to help fill the needs of these industries, both in the way of workforce development and R&D. We can do this by educating future engineers and by seeding student and faculty research projects.”

Lovell cites Westinghouse’s need to hire one-to-two thousand nuclear engineers within the next few years and Pitt’s response by developing a nuclear engineering curriculum. “They’ve expressed the need and we want to help fill it, to help revitalize the region and contribute to exciting research.”

The Pittsburgh region is blessed with a wealth of leading Power Industry companies.  Some of the foremost technical experts in nuclear, mining, and electric power engineering are employed by these companies – and they are great resource for the School to tap into. By hiring industry professionals to teach these courses, like Gregory Reed, who by day is Sr. Vice President at KEMA and teaches the introductory Power Systems course as an adjunct faculty member.  These industry experts bring a valuable real world perspective to our students’ education and serve as a natural bridge between the School and industry. 

“Pitt is a leader in education, a pioneer in research, and a partner in our region’s economic development” says Don Shields, Director of Corporate Relations for Pitt’s School of Engineering “and we’ve hit all three of these with the Power and Energy Initiative.”

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