Overview
The field of energy and power is gaining prominence due to the critical nature of its infrastructure, realization of the strong ties between energy, economics and environment; need to develop green technologies, increasing use of power electronics to improve reliability and power quality, and the federal deregulation of the industry. The recent massive blackouts around the world point to the aging infrastructure and the need for massive upgrades. In addition, the graying workforce will need large-scale infusion of young talent in the years to come.

Research
Areas of this very broad field studied at Oklahoma State University include energy conversion, power electronics, renewable energy sources and systems, reliability, power system analysis and power economics and regulation.

With a long history of research and working with the power industry (over 40 years), graduate level courses offered include topics such as green technologies involving direct energy conversion, computer techniques for the analysis of power systems, power electronics, system reliability, and economics and regulation of the power industry.

A unique undergraduate lab facility developed with funding from the NSF offers excellent teaching and learning opportunities.

The Engineering Energy Laboratory organizes and conducts two yearly outreach programs: the Energy Information Dissemination Program and the Frontiers of Power Conference. These two offer opportunities for students to interact with industry professionals and present technical papers.

Courses

• Power System Analysis by Computer Methods
• Engineering Systems Reliability Evaluation
• Direct Energy Conversion
• Power Economics and Regulation
• Advanced Power Electronics
• Special Topics in Power Systems

Faculty
Dr. Thomas Gedra received his B.E.S. and M.S.E. degrees in Electrical Engineering from the Johns Hopkins University in 1981, and his Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the University of California, Berkeley in 1991. His areas of interest include electric power systems analysis, power system economics and pricing, numerical optimization, system theory and probability and stochastic processes. Dr. Gedra is the recipient of a National Science Foundation CAREER award.

Dr. R. G. Ramakumars received his B.E. in electrical engineering from the University of Madras, India, in 1956 and his Ph.D. from Cornell University in 1962. His areas of interest include energy conversion, renewable energy, sources and systems, energy storage, power engineering and engineering reliability. He is the PSO/Albrecht Naeter Professor, and the Director of the Energy Engineering Laboratory. Dr. Ramakumar is a fellow of IEEE.