Student Travel Support For The 2019 Power and Energy Conference To Be Held At The University of Illinois, February 21-22, 2019

第十届伊利诺伊州电力和能源年会(PECI)将于2018年2月在伊利诺伊大学香槟分校校园举行。这项提案的目的是要求为美国本科生和研究生参加会议的注册和住宿费用提供部分支持。从2010年开始，PECI是最古老的、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的电力与能源学会(PES)、电力电子学会(PELS)和工业应用学会(IAS)专业学会联合主办。这次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，伊利诺伊大学厄巴纳-香槟分校电气和计算机工程系电力和能源领域的教职员工为会议提供建议。佩奇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话题的完美场所，这些话题包括可再生能源、电力运输机器、智能电网可靠性、网络物理系统的安全，以及新兴技术的电力电子。因此，PECI的学术价值在于会议以学生为中心的性质，从学生主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，向同行、行业专业人士的技术受众展示他们的研究进展和成果；以及3)激励本科生和研究生在电力和能源STEM领域追求职业生涯。虽然PECI Impact在过去八年中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，特别是本科生参与海报会议，保留了我们的中西部根基和使命宣言。通过参加PECI，学生将从与专家、教授和行业专业人士的更密切互动中受益，并可能获得对他们未来职业生涯的建议或指导。除了学生的技术报告和海报，学生们还从三位行业领袖和专家那里了解电力和能源的大趋势和尖端研究，他们发表了主题演讲，并参观了当地的微电网研究设施和新的欧洲经委会大楼。此外，一个特别的职业会议突显了从事电力和能源职业的重要性，其中包括关于电力和能源公司研究需求的行业演示，以及关于在工业、国家实验室、学术界或政府从事职业生涯的小组讨论。在NSF的支持下，Peci试图通过鼓励更多中西部和美国学校，特别是不提供博士学位的学校的参与，来接触到更广泛的受众。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The 10th 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 Power and Energy Society (PES), Power Electronics Society (PELS), and Industrial Applications Society (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 and potentially 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 of Midwest and US schools, especially schools that do not offer a Ph.D. degree.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.