Upgrading power and energy engineering curricula in Jordanian universities: a case study at PSUT

Abstract

The field of power and energy engineering in Jordan went through a period of decline during the period between 1990 and 2000, which resulted in students of electrical engineering pursuing other fields such as communications and computing, as the advances in the technologies of cellular communications and computer networking created more opportunities for recent graduates, and provided an attractive field of study for the students at that time. However, the recent increase in the prices of oil, and the advances in the technology of renewable energy sources such as solar and wind energy, resulted in a sudden revival in the field of power and energy engineering. In addition, due to the recent advances in the technologies of communication and computing, the notion of a “smart grid” emerged as the future of power and energy, which promised more career opportunities in this field. This decline in the number of skilled professionals in the field of power and energy, combined with the sudden increase in the available opportunities in the field created a gap in the Jordanian market requirements, which necessitated remedial actions to fix this phenomenon. That gap was noticeably felt in Amman, the capital of Jordan, which is also the center for the largest number of businesses in the country. Therefore, it became essential for the universities in Jordan to address this issue by offering degrees specializing in power and energy engineering. With its central location in the heart of Amman, and given its role as a leading technological university in the country and the region, Princess Sumaya University for Technology (PSUT) established a new “power and energy engineering” program, in which a number of specialized courses were developed, and a number of state-of-the-art laboratories were established to create a competitive degree program that produces high-quality graduates, capable of tackling the challenges presented in the field of power and energy. This paper presents the most recent upgrade that was made in the power and energy laboratories in the department of electrical engineering at the university, and evaluates their overall effect on the newly established degree program, and on the quality of education and research in the university.