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

该项目将支持四名本科生和一名研究生在南非开普敦大学世界级动力工程实验室进行一个夏天的研究。该活动的目的包括1)向学生传授进行可靠研究的过程以及在能源效率和可再生能源的广泛领域进行研究的重要性；2)让学生接触真实世界的发电和利用设备及其在可再生能源和能源效率领域的适用性；3)让学生了解研究生学习的重要性；以及4)使学生在截然不同的文化背景下获得第一手国际经验。该项目的智力价值在于提供了学生在美国不太可能获得的一流的能源效率和可再生能源研究机会。这些学生还将遇到发展中国家而不是发达国家面临的更广泛的技术挑战。这个项目有很大的潜力为学生提供丰富的文化国际体验；在项目期间，将监测这种体验对学生态度和知识的影响。这些学生还将满足美国目前和未来对具有能效和可再生能源领域专业知识的工程师的需求。

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.