Development of a power systems protection laboratory through university-industry partnership

At the 2007 National Science Foundation workshop on 'The Future Power Engineering Workforce' participants from US government, academia, and the private sector discussed the looming shortage of power engineering graduates to replace large numbers of projected retirees in the power engineering sector. The group identified the key drivers of this shortage and suggested a series of measures which, if implemented, would add to the ongoing renaissance in power engineering. Some of these measures have been adopted and reflected in the development of a power system protection lab at Penn State Harrisburg. With the support of local utility industry a new lab has been developed that integrates the latest devices and software in the electric utility industry into power systems courses. Instructional modules on key aspects of the new lab are developed to assist both the course instructor and future students enrolled in Power Systems Analysis courses. This paper outlines the facilitation and design process in the development of a modern power engineering laboratory.