Best Energy/Power Engineering Graduate Programs

Graduate School
1

<p>Hello,</p>

<p>I am looking to apply to power/energy engineering programs for Fall 2012. However, I am having difficulty finding a listing of schools that focus on this. I looked at USNEWS and WORLD REPORT and found a number of EE programs ranked there to have the power concentration. But to clarify I am just not looking for EE programs, I would like to know what EE programs research on power, anybody have any thoughts on this? Please let me know.</p>

<p>Also, does the future outlook for somebody with a Ph.D. in Power look profitable? I know reports say more power engineers need to be trained to replace the retiring power engineers.</p>

<p>Thank you,
Engineerer</p>

2

<p>You’re having a difficult time because it’s not a very popular field right now. Even GT only has a handful of faculty members in it, and they are, on average, fairly old ( [Electrical</a> Energy Faculty Members](<a href=“http://www.ece.gatech.edu/research/tigs/faculty.php?id=4]Electrical”>http://www.ece.gatech.edu/research/tigs/faculty.php?id=4) ).</p>

<p>What is it you’re actually interested in? Grid design? Power electronics? Photovoltaics? All three of those could conceivably be lumped together as “power” or “energy”.</p>

<p>If you want an outlook, I’ve heard that the jobs are pretty stable, but they do not pay as well as EE’s in other areas.</p>

3

<p>My interest is in electric machines focusing on energy generation for use in renewables and non-renewable resources. The power industry will also have open opportunities to work in construction and transportation (vehicles) industries. I have a MSEE in optics/electromagnetism and found that many EE optics jobs I am not qualified for since I do not have enough work experience (I work in engineering consulting). The optics industry isn’t booming these days in my experience, at least from the standpoint from a person without 5+ yrs of experience or without a Ph.D.</p>

<p>Ideally I would like to work in research, design, or test and evaluation and from what I’m gathered, power engineering has work in the lab and on the field (definitely away from the office since I am trying to avoid getting another office job).</p>

<p>Any thoughts? I know Big Ten conference schools have some decent energy/power programs.</p>

4

<p>Take a look at this universities:
University of Wisconsin–Madison, UIUC, Virginia Tech, RPI, NCSU, Arizona State, University of Tennessee, Illinois Institute of Technology, University of Colorado, The University of California - Irvine, University of Central Florida, Georgia Institute of Technology, Texas A&M University, etc.</p>

<p>P.S. Sorry for my English , I’m not the english speaker one :)</p>