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Pittsburgh Section |
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• The Pitt Power & Energy Initiative Partnering to Meet Industry Needs through Innovative Education and Collaborative Research Speaker: Dr. Gregory F. Reed, Director, Power & Energy Initiative Assoc. Professor, Electrical & Computer Engineering Dept. Swanson School of Engineering – University of Pittsburgh Date: Tuesday, January 27, 2009 Time: Social 6:30 PM, Program 7:00 PM Place: Westinghouse Energy Center RSVP: Dr. Kal Sen, P.E., senkk@ieee.org or 724-696-1611 by January 20, 2009 Organizers: Power & Energy Society/Industrial Applications Society. Abstract: The University of Pittsburgh, Swanson School of Engineering has been embarking on a proactive approach to the issues faced by the power and energy industries of an aging workforce, infrastructure degradation, and technology development deficiencies that have evolved somewhat unabated over the past several decades. A renewed power and energy program initiative has been |
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developed with inclusive components to academic and research programs in three key areas: electric power, nuclear, and mining engineering. This inter-disciplinary program, entitled the Power & Energy Initiative, has been developed in close collaboration with industry partners and also supports strong synergies with the School’s thrust areas in Energy, Sustainability, Product Innovation, NanoScience & Engineering, and other related activities. The Power & Energy Initiative is unique in its combination of electric power, nuclear, and mining engineering, in conjunction with the close synergies to other related areas; and thus provides a strong cross-disciplined level of diversity for student opportunities, faculty research areas, and industry and government participation. Part of the Power & Energy Initiative’s development includes renewed educational program options and research opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students; as well as various opportunities for faculty research activities across the School’s six departments (i.e., Bioengineering, Chemical & Petroleum Engineering, Civil & Environmental Engineering, Electrical & Computer Engineering, Industrial Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science). The vision and essential goals of the Power & Energy Initiative will be presented, along with a description of the synergy between this initiative and the University’s broader Center for Energy. Further, a description will be provided on the modernized educational curriculum and research programs that are being developed and implemented for the initiative, including specific areas of research opportunities related to the Swanson School of Engineering’s faculty interests and strengths. An overview will also be given on the unique opportunity that the Pittsburgh region provides for developing a strong industry-academia collaboration that can address the needs of the power and energy industries, and the role that industry has played in the initiative’s development thus far. BACKGROUND The University of Pittsburgh has traditionally been an educational leader in the power and energy arena. This has provided a rich history and natural base for an academic and research resurgence in these fields, with the potential for strong industry collaboration and support. All three core areas of the Power & Energy Initiative – electric power, nuclear, and mining – share common themes with respect to strong demand and future growth in industry, decades of underinvestment in technology development and infrastructure, reduction of academic education and research programs, and the aging industry workforce. These have necessitated increases and innovation in university activities, programs, and funding for power and energy engineering, for which the Power & Energy Initiative provides a direct response. Students from the diverse engineering disciplines represented within the initiative and from other related areas have shown a strong interest in power and energy fields, evident from recent course enrollments, senior design project topics, and both graduate and undergraduate research activities. In parallel, the power and energy industries are anticipating the need for a significant number of new hires and a ‘new generation’ of power and energy engineering professionals, highlighted recently by new full-time, internship, and cooperative program placements of students with educational backgrounds in these fields. |
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Dr. Gregory Reed is the newly appointed Director of the Power & Energy Initiative in the Swanson School of Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh and an Associate Professor in the Swanson School’s Electrical & Computer Engineering Department. As the first director of the new Power & Energy Initiative, Dr. Reed will provide the vision and leadership for the Swanson School of Engineering’s multidisciplinary activities for the initiative’s educational, research, and outreach components. He will work closely with industry partners, federal and state agencies, foundations, and other constituents in collaboration with the Swanson School’s faculty and staff and the university’s Center for Energy on various funding and research oriented efforts. Dr. Reed will also teach courses in the fields of power and energy engineering within the Electrical & Computer Engineering Department. His research interests include power transmission & distribution and energy systems; power electronics and control technologies and applications; energy storage technologies; and power generation and renewable energy resources.
Prior to his appointment at Pitt, Dr. Reed served as senior vice president of the Power System Planning and Management Group at KEMA, an international company providing power and energy consulting, technology implementation and market knowledge expertise. He will continue to serve in an executive consultant role for KEMA.
Dr. Reed earned his Ph.D. in electrical engineering with a concentration in electric power from the University of Pittsburgh; his Masters of Engineering in electric power engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; and his B.S. in electric power engineering from Gannon University. |