K-12 Research experiences for teachers and other career promotion resources

Abstract

Based on industry surveys (2007–2009) conducted by the Center for Energy Workforce Development (CEWD), approximately 50% of all electric power utility engineers will be eligible for retirement in the next five years. Meanwhile, the number of full-time undergraduate students enrolled in electrical and computer engineering has declined by 27% over the last several years (2002–2009). Will we have enough power and energy engineers in the future to maintain reliability of the grid? Will we have enough power and energy engineers to improve energy efficiency, design new smart grid technologies, integrate renewable energy sources and sieze the opportunity to electrify transportation? The key to the workforce problem lies in K-12 education, where too few students are exposed to the exciting world of engineering. This paper presents proven K-12 engineering resources that were developed by a multidisciplinary team of faculty at Illinois Institute of Technology during a five-year Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) Site project funded by the National Science Foundation. The RET Site at IIT has provided training in various engineering fields, including power engineering, to more than 100 K-12 teachers in the Chicago Public Schools and surrounding districts.