US-South Africa Cooperative Research: International Research Experience for US Students in Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

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This project will support four undergraduate students and one graduate student to spend a summer conducting research in South Africa at the University of Cape Town's world-class power-engineering laboratory. The objectives of the activity include 1) teaching students the process of conducting sound research and the importance of research in the broad area of energy efficiency and renewable energy; 2) exposing students to real-world power generation and utilization equipment and their applicability to the areas of renewable energy and energy efficiency; 3) exposing students to the importance of graduate study; and 4) enabling students to gain first-hand international experience in a distinctly different cultural setting.The project's intellectual merit lies in providing first-rate research opportunities in energy efficiency and renewable energy that the students would be unlikely to get in the US. The students will also encounter a broader range of technical challenges that face a developing country, rather than a developed country. This project has great potential to provide a culturally-rich international experience for students; the impact of this experience on student attitudes and knowledge will be monitored during the project. The students will also fulfill a current and future need in the US for engineers with expertise in the areas of energy efficiency and renewable energy.