UALR magazine
Spring/Summer 2007 • Vol. 3 No. 1
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Powerful Partners
Imagine stepping into a model of the nation’s whole power grid. Each and every transformer, wire, and cable necessary to keep the lights on 24 hours a day, seven days a week is represented.
Training in the intricacies of power systems could be complished more effectively in just this environment. Current and future engineers could conduct experiments, and their calculations and manipulations could be made real — in a fashion— before their innovations are taken to the real world. The 3-D model would allow operators to make better decisions, which ultimately could help prevent blackouts or assess critical damage when large-scale emergencies occur anywhere in the country.
This unique testing environment is under development, a creation formed by a partnership between Southwest Power Pool (SPP) and UALR. The advances in 3-D rendering of electricalsystems, along with the already established Power Systems Laboratory, are developing a new generation of home-grown power engineers who will respond to Arkansas’ growing need for power.
The United States’ electric grid serves as the transmission system for the nation’s power lifeblood. SPP, a Little Rockbased non-profit with 47 members in eight states, had a problem, however, finding enough power systems engineers who are trained to maintain the equipment.
With a mission to “keep the lights on…today and in the future,” SPP is federally mandated to ensure reliable supplies of power, adequate transmission infrastructure, and competitive wholesale prices of electricity. In the 1960s and 1970s, power systems engineering programs in universities nationwide flourished, but with the advent of new technology in computer systems and telecommunications, fewer schools offered power systems engineering courses by the end of the century.
SPP was facing a shortage of engineers with degrees in power systems and planning, so it turned to UALR’s Donaghey College of Information Science and Systems Engineering for help.
“It is easier to recruit local graduates than to recruit from other states,” said Bruce Rew, executive director of SPP’s Contract Services. “Their Arkansas roots give students a unique appreciation for the importance of reliably delivering power to this region of the country.”
Rew worked with Donaghey College Assistant Professor Jing Zhang to develop a new power systems course that gives SPP engineers added expertise and provides educational opportunities for UALR students who could strengthen the SPP workforce in the future.
That class was only a beginning. The discovery that the partnership between business and higher education could produce positive results for both sides simply led to more and more collaboration.
In 2006, a SPP gift established a Power Systems Laboratory at UALR, and the Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas funded additional necessary lab equipment. Today the lab offers students and faculty a power engineering environment to enhance systems engineering degrees focused on mechanical and electrical options.
“Our collaboration with SPP is the perfect example of how the college is able to respond to a company’s specialized need while increasing the University’s offerings in a practical way,” said Dean Mary L. Good. “With the help of SPP, we are able to ramp up our offerings and supply more highly-skilled systems engineers to operate and maintain the nation’s power grids for the good of the entire state.”
The 3-D visualization project is also receiving attention outside the state. The U.S. Department of Energy is considering a $1 million funding request for the national power grid project. “We agreed with UALR that this could be a project of national interest, and we’re certainly getting interest in this area,” Rew said. “This proposed use of the 3-D laboratory could enhance the operation of the power grid nationwide.
The Arkansas contribution to the safety and security of our country’s power system could be incredible, and that’s marvelous.”