Collaborative Research: Conference: Electricity Access and Sustainable Business Model Educators Workshop

该项目将召集约50名教育工作者、从业人员、政府和非政府组织以及电力接入和相关可持续商业模式发展领域的其他利益攸关方参加为期两天的研讨会。该研讨会建立在2022年由美国国家科学基金会赞助的能源获取教育者研讨会的成功和兴趣的基础上。电力供应涉及向目前没有电的7亿多人提供电力。尽管大多数为电力供应而挣扎的人都在撒哈拉以南的非洲和南亚，但在美国，数以万计的家庭没有电。提供电力接入的任何可扩展技术解决方案的关键是随之而来的可持续商业模式，该模式考虑如何回收发电成本，以及如何有效利用电力以获得最大的经济效益。这些话题在美国的工程课程中几乎找不到。然而，学生可能会从参与这些主题中受益匪浅。如果学生接触到工程的应用，能够改善边缘化、资源不足或处于危险社区的人们的生活和生计，他们就更有可能对工程表现出兴趣并坚持下去。不幸的是，目前活跃在电力获取和可持续商业模式领域的教师数量相对较少，也没有专门为这些教育工作者服务的场所、专业协会或基础设施。结果，这些主题的教育质量和数量受到影响，社区建设、学术交流和教师之间的合作机会受到抑制。该研讨会将于2023年10月在维拉诺瓦大学举行，紧接着是IEEE全球人道主义技术会议。研讨会议程包括有针对性的讨论、小组讨论和网络会议。将有充足的时间进行开放式讨论。在研讨会期间，与会者将分享与电力接入的技术和商业方面有关的课程、联合课程和课外活动的最佳做法、经验教训和创新想法。互动环节将探讨诸如确定教育材料、获得大学管理部门的支持、有效参与跨学科合作、建立当地伙伴关系以及获得资金等主题。将有一些有经验的从业者和教育工作者的主题演讲。每一天的研讨会都将以总结当天讨论要点的简要会议结束。将进行讲习班前和讲习班后调查，初步了解获得电力教育的状况，制定讲习班议程，并评估讲习班在实现其目标方面的成功。讲习班的主要成果将通过出版物和专题介绍加以综合和传播。研讨会将为未来的活动和基础设施制定路线图，如额外的研讨会，电子邮件列表，课程材料和资源的共享，以及以创建长期合作的兴趣社区为目标的协作教学或应用研究。与会者还将集思广益，通过其他融资模式在未来几年延续该研讨会。讲习班的参加者将从各种高等教育机构征聘，特别强调主要本科院校、部落学院和大学以及历史上的黑人学院和大学。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project will convene approximately 50 educators, practitioners, governmental and non-governmental organizations, and other stakeholders in the domains of electricity access and associated sustainable business model development for a two-day workshop. The workshop builds on the success and interest from the Energy Access Educators Workshop sponsored by the National Science Foundation in 2022. Electricity access is concerned with providing electricity to the over 700 million people presently without it. Although most of the people that struggle with electricity access are found in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, within the United States tens of thousands of homes do not have electricity. Crucial to any scalable technological solution to providing electricity access is an attendant sustainable business model that considers how the costs of producing electricity are recovered, and ways to productively utilize the electricity for maximum economic impact. These topics are scarcely found in engineering curricula in the United States. However, students may greatly benefit from engaging with these topics. Students are more likely to show interest in and persist in engineering if they are exposed to the application of engineering in ways that improve the lives and livelihoods of people in marginalized, under-resourced, or at-risk communities. Unfortunately, at present, the number of faculty active in both electricity access and sustainable business models is relatively small, and there is no venue, professional association or infrastructure dedicated to serving these educators. As a result, the quality and quantity of education in these topics suffers, and community building, academic exchange, and opportunities for collaboration among the faculty is stifled. The workshop will be held in October 2023 at Villanova University, immediately preceding the IEEE Global Humanitarian Technology Conference. The workshop agenda includes targeted discussion, panel, and networking sessions. Ample time will be given for open-ended discussion. During workshop sessions, participants will share best practices, lessons learned, and innovative ideas for curricular, co-curricular, and extra-curricular activities related to technical and business aspects of electricity access. Interactive sessions will explore topics such as identifying educational materials, gaining support from university administration, effectively engaging with cross-disciplinary collaboration, establishing local partnerships, and acquiring funding. There will be selected keynote presentations from experienced practitioners and educators. Each day of the workshop will conclude with a de-brief session that summarizes the day’s discussion points. Pre- and post-workshop surveys will be given to create a preliminary snapshot of the state of electricity access education, shape the workshop agenda, and assess the success of the workshop in meeting its aims. The key findings of the workshop will be synthesized and disseminated through publications and presentations. The workshop will lead to the development of a roadmap of future activities and infrastructure, such as additional workshops, email lists, sharing of course materials and resources, and collaborative pedagogical or applied research with the goal of creating a community of interest for long term collaboration. Attendees will also brainstorm ways to perpetuate this workshop in future years through alternative funding models. The workshop participants will be recruited from a variety of higher education institutions, with particular emphasis on Primarily Undergraduate Institutions, Tribal Colleges and Universities, and Historically Black Colleges and Universities.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.