Communication and Control for Power Transmission and Distribution
Academic Certificate
The University of Idaho offers academic certificates in various academic
disciplines. An academic certificate is a coherent body of work
designed to reflect specialized expertise. Earning a certificate may
provide professional advancement opportunities and build a strong
foundation for future graduate study. College of Engineering certificate
courses already exist in the graduate curricula, and all required
courses are delivered online by Engineering Outreach.
This certificate is offered by the Departments of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Computer Science to introduce power professionals to the cross-disciplinary skills that will be required to design and implement the future computer-controlled power grid, or "Smart Grid". The future power grid will be a complex system with tens of thousands of nodes, spread over hundreds of thousands of square miles. It will have to integrate variable energy sources such as wind and solar along with traditional power generations technologies. The demand side will include instrumentation to control devices such as household appliances and electric vehicle chargers. Power will be allocated through a complex set of negotiations between users and energy suppliers. The whole system must be stable and secure, able to resist malicious attack, and to recover from local failures. This certificate is designed to bridge the gap between traditional power engineering programs, which do not teach the necessary computing skills, and traditional computing programs, which do not cover power systems.
Prerequisites
- A completed undergraduate degree in a related field from a
regionally accredited institution with a minimum 3.0 cumulative GPA
(required prior to enrolling in a 500-level course);
- Students must have an understanding of basic electric power, as exemplified by ECE 420 Energy Systems II, and computer programming;
- Admission to the University of Idaho;
- Nondegree students must obtain permission from the instructor prior to registering for a 500-level course;
- All students must submit the Academic Certificate Declaration on page 2 of the Change of Curriculum form to the certificate coordinator for department chair approval;
- Review Steps to Certificate Completion
- Students must contact the certificate coordinator to discuss background qualifications prior to starting the certificate.
Course Selection
This academic certificate consists of 12 credits selected from the
courses listed below and approved by the certificate coordinator. Refer
to the University of Idaho General Catalog for course descriptions and prerequisite requirements. Students must earn a grade of 'B' or better
in each course to qualify for a College of Engineering certificate;
course work may not be more than five (5) years old unless it is being
used in conjunction with the completion of a graduate degree. View the
current Engineering Outreach courses and watch a sample session.
| Required courses (6 credits) |
Credits
|
CS 420/520
|
Data Communication Systems
|
3
|
ECE 421
|
Introduction to Power Systems
|
3
|
| Electives (6 credits) |
|
CS/ECE 404/504
|
ST: Supervisory Control and Critical Infrastructures
|
3 |
CS 448/548
|
Survivable Systems and Networks
|
3 |
CS/ECE 449/549
|
Fault-Tolerant Systems
|
3
|
ECE 422
|
Power Systems Analysis
|
3 |
ECE 521
|
Power System Stability
|
3 |
ECE 525
|
Power System Protection and Relaying
|
3 |
CS/ECE 504
|
Special Topics as approved by the certificate coordinator |
3 |
Admission and Transfer Credits
Students must be admitted to the University of Idaho prior to starting a
certificate; discuss admission category options and qualifications with
the certificate coordinator prior to applying.
- Nondegree students must earn all certificate course credits from
the University of Idaho unless they plan to continue working toward a graduate degree in the
same department. A maximum of 12 approved credits taken as a
nondegree student or at another institution can be transferred toward a
master's degree; students considering transferring credits into a
graduate program must contact the department for early advising.
Nondegree students are not eligible for financial aid.
- Graduate students may use up to three (3) approved transfer credits toward the certificate, with department approval.
- Course credits earned as an undergraduate student may not be applied toward this certificate.
Certificate Coordinator
Gregory Donohoe, Ph.D., P.E.
Department of Computer Science
Phone: (208) 885-6501 or (800)-824-2889, press 1, ext. 6501