Student Travel Support for the 2018 Power and Energy Conference, to be Held at the Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, February 22-23, 2018.

第九届年度电力与能源会议（PECI）将于2018年2月在伊利诺伊大学厄巴纳-香槟分校举行。本提案的目的是为美国本科生和研究生前往会议的注册费和住宿费提供部分支持。从2010年开始，PECI是历史最悠久的，由学生主办的关于电力和能源技术的IEEE国际会议。PECI是电气和电子工程师协会（IEEE）批准的会议，技术上由IEEE的PES、PELS和IAS专业协会共同主办。会议由伊利诺伊大学厄巴纳-香槟分校IEEE PES/PELS/IAS联合研究生分会组织，并由伊利诺伊大学厄巴纳-香槟分校电气与计算机工程系电力与能源领域的教师提供建议。PECI已经成为中西部工业和学术研究人员讨论未来电力和能源主题的理想场所，例如可再生能源，电力运输机器，智能电网可靠性，网络物理系统的安全性以及新兴技术的电力电子技术。因此，PECI的智力价值在于会议以学生为中心的性质，从学生领导的指导委员会到所有的技术和演讲，以及来自学生与会者的高质量出版物和海报。PECI的成立有三个关键原因：1)为中西部的学生提供参加研究会议的机会，2)为中西部的学生提供一个论坛，以展示他们的研究进展和成果，以反馈给同行的技术观众，行业专业人士，以及3)激励本科生和研究生在电力和能源STEM领域从事职业。虽然在过去的八年里，PECI的影响已经扩大到包括来自世界各地的参与者，但我们通过鼓励中西部大学的参与，特别是本科生的海报会议，保留了我们的中西部根源和使命宣言。通过参加PECI，学生可以与专家，教授和行业专业人士进行更密切的互动，并可能为他们未来的职业生涯提供建议或指导。除了学生的技术演讲和海报，学生们还将从三位行业领袖和专家那里了解电力和能源的大趋势和前沿研究，他们将发表主题演讲，并参观当地的微电网研究设施和新的欧洲经委会大楼。此外，在电力和能源领域从事职业的重要性还通过一个特别的职业会议得到强调，该会议包括有关电力和能源公司的研究需求的行业介绍，以及关于在工业、国家实验室、学术界或政府部门从事职业需要做什么的小组讨论。在美国国家科学基金会的支持下，PECI希望通过鼓励中西部和美国更多学校的参与，特别是那些不提供博士学位的学校，来吸引更广泛的受众。

The 9th Annual Power and Energy Conference at Illinois (PECI) will take place on the campus of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in February 2018. The objective of this proposal is to request partial support for the registration and accommodation expenses of US-based undergraduate and graduate students traveling to the conference. Beginning in 2010, PECI is the oldest annual, student-run IEEE international conference about power and energy technology. PECI is an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) approved conference and technically co-sponsored by PES, PELS, and IAS professional societies of IEEE. The conference is organized by the IEEE PES/PELS/IAS Joint Graduate Student Chapter at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and is advised by faculty in the Power and Energy area of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. PECI has become a perfect place in the Midwest for industry and academic researchers to discuss future power and energy topics such as renewable energy, machines for electric transportation, smart grid reliability, security of cyber-physical systems, and power electronics for emerging technologies. Thus, the intellectual merit of PECI are the student focused nature of the conference, from the student led steering committee to all technical and presentations, and the high quality publications and posters from student attendees.PECI was founded for three key reasons: 1) to provide students in the Midwest an opportunity to participate in a research conference, 2) to provide a forum for students in the Midwest to present their research progress and outcomes for feedback to a technical audience of peers, industry professional, and 3) to inspire both undergraduate and graduate students to pursue careers in power and energy STEM fields. While PECI impact has expanded over the last eight years to include participants from around the world, we have retained our Midwest roots and mission statement by encouraging participation from Midwest universities, especially undergraduate students for the poster session. By attending PECI students benefit from closer interactions with experts, professors, and industry professionals andpotentially receive advice or mentorship for their future career. In addition to student technical presentations and posters, students also learn about the mega-trends in power and energy and cutting edge research from three industry leaders and experts, who deliver keynote presentations and tours of a local microgrid research facility and new ECE building. Moreover, the importance of pursuing a career in power and energy is highlighted by a special careers session involving industry presentations about research demands for power and energy companies and a panel discussion regarding what a career in industry, a national laboratory, academia, or government would entail. With support from NSF, PECI seeks to reach a wider audience with this impact by encouraging participation from a larger number ofMidwest and US schools, especially schools that do not offer a Ph.D. degree.