Edvina Uzunovic, Vice President Education
IEEE PES University for IEEE PES Members
The world is changing, and it seems that each decade, these changes come faster and with more complexity. While it has been a boon for power-systems professionals, online education also challenges universities, the industry, and other educational organizations like IEEE PES to stay on the cutting edge in both content and delivery. As professionals working in the power industry we are faced with many challenges: new technology, environmental concerns, new standards, and markets. How do you keep track of all this and stay current in the field? Leveraging your Power and Energy Society (PES) membership is one way.
Back in 2016, PES organized a new committee, New Product Development (NPD) that later morphed into PES University committee, with the objective of managing and overseeing the policies, operations, development, and marketing of PES online and face-to-face continuing education products. Two University subcommittees, Webinar and Tutorial and Plain Talk About the Electric Power System courses, are responsible for production of webinars, tutorials and Plain Talk, respectively, while the third subcommittee called Selection and Quality Control oversees the quality of all continuous education products under the PES University brand. PES continuing education products are created for PES members who seek to maintain and improve their engineering skills in this face-paced environment of smart grid.
The IEEE PES is actively engaged in continuous education by offering numerous and timely technical webinars and tutorials accessible online to PES members via PES University. The PES University has been launched this year, and together with the PES Resource Center, hosts numerous online programs, research papers, and registration services for live educational events.
The educational products available through the University are presented by leading experts in our field and are designed to meet the needs of seasoned engineers, students, and non-technical professionals. Our mission is to support the development needs of a wide spectrum of individuals who currently work in the power and energy field or endeavor to do so.
Many of the PES online webinars and tutorials come with Professional Development Hours (PDH), Continuing Education Units (CEU) for those who need to maintain Professional Engineering (PE) license requirements. Moreover, for a growing number of professionals working in the power and energy industry but with no power engineering background, PES organizes “Plain Talk About the Electric Power System” workshops where technical aspects of the electric power system are explained in easy-to-understand terms.
PES University Webinars cover a variety of engineering subjects, including technical issues, hot topics, and professional development, like Microgrids, 1547 Standard, and Distributed Energy Resources. Webinars are live online presentations, later archived, and typically last 60 minutes. It should be noted that webinar attendance is free, but also available for free download for PES members. Should educational credits are needed, they can be purchased (1.0 PDH) for a price of US$25.00. The PES webinars are offered across four categories:
PES Web-Based Tutorials are geared toward the experienced power engineering professionals and offer in-depth knowledge on a wide array of engineering topics. Web-Based Tutorials typically last approximately 80 minutes (60 minutes for the presentation and 20 minutes for Q&A). Also, tutorials are normally part of a formal multi-part series. They are offered for additional US$50.00 to PES members with possibility of purchasing educational credits (0.1 CEU/1.0 PDH) for additional US$25.00.
The PES University welcomes your knowledge, experience, and tutelage. If you would like to present a webinar, tutorial, or Plain Talk, please submit a proposal for consideration. Topics should be relevant to engineers, with the focus being on technical, professional development, or current issues/hot topics in the power industry. The applications for Webinars, Web-Based Tutorials and Plain Talk are available within PES University.