US-Qatar Workshop: Recent Research and Educational Activities in Power Electronics and Drives, Qatar, December 2008

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This award supports a joint workshop organized by Dr. Issa Batarseh, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Central Florida, Dr. Ned Mohan, Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Minnesota and their collaborator, Dr. Prasad Enjeti, Power Electronics & Power Quality Laboratory at the Texas A&M University at Qatar (TAMUQ). The workshop participants will discuss effective classroom and laboratory instruction in power electronics and motor drive systems. The workshop will also adress how recent advances in power electronics research can be integrated into the electrical engineering curriculum. Finally, the participants will explore possible advanced joint research projects in power electronics and motor drives between academics in the US and Qatar in collaboration with industry in Qatar. The intellectual merit of the TAMUQ workshop centers on the need to engage dialogue on power electronics education and research activities between experts in the Gulf region and the Middle East countries and the US experts, and to explore possible joint research collaboration between the two sides. This is timely in light of the increasing pressures of globalization in the engineering profession. The three co-organizers of this workshop are well-recognized leaders in the field.The broader impacts of the workshop include developing new internationalized course materials and laboratory experiments that will be distributed to universities in the Middle East and North America. Given the ever-increasing need for engineers who work on energy conversion and efficiency, the workshop will address ideas for recruiting, retaining, and mentoring undergraduate students, graduate students and young faculty in these areas. US participants will include at least three junior scientists and four graduate students. The workshop will serve to strengthen collaborations between US engineers and their research and education counterparts in the Middle East.