N.C. State’s forays into power engineering received a kick-start with the addition of a three-part partnership with international electrical engineering giant Siemens.

“Essentially what we are trying to do is…make sure there is a solid pipeline in the industry for power engineers because it has been so lacking for the past 20-25 years,” Chris Gomperts , the vice president of marketing and strategic planning at Siemens, said.

Becoming a full industry member with the University’s FREEDM Systems Center and a major financial contributor to the brand new power engineering masters program, Siemens joins a healthy and growing number of partnerships in the FREEDM Center and the College of Engineering.

After six months of negotiations, according to Gomperts , in charge of relations with N.C. State, Siemens began last fall as a full industry member of the FREEDM Systems Center. The center is a national research hub run by the University that acts as a way to bring industry, government, research and education together to develop infrastructure and energy sources for a future renewable-energy power grid.

Ewan Pritchard, director of industry, collaboration and innovation at the FREEDM Center, likened the rising renewable energy fervor to the computer wave in the 1980s .

“This engineering program sponsorship…is sort of like supporting some of the computer science programs were in 1985,” Pritchard said. “There is a big battle to be one of the leading universities in this field for the next 25 years.”

Also launching last fall was the University’s new masters program in electrical power systems engineering [ EPSE ] in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and with close relations with FREEDM .

Announced in November, Siemens became a major financial contributor to the program with, according to Gomperts and an N.C. State press release, grants for a power engineering term professorship and two graduate student fellowships, all for three years. 

The professor and students have not been selected yet, and Siemens declined to give specifics on the money involved. However, according to the press release, the students will receive money for tuition and fees and a stipend for living expenses. The professor, a “rising star” in the field, will receive a grant for research, equipment, and lab and course development.

This is Siemens’ first monetary relationship with the University despite its presence in Wendell since the early ’60s . The beginning of the power engineering program combined with a growing interest from Siemens in university power programs and its recent move from Wendell to Cary to create a much more attractive situation for Siemens, according to Gomperts .

Martin  Baucom , associate executive director of development and college relations in the College of Engineering, said the relationship is mutually beneficial.

“These fellowships they are providing make it easier for a program like [ EPSE ] to recruit the best students. And for Siemens, Siemens wants the best students coming into that program because it prepares students for careers in power engineering.”

Gomperts said Siemens has additionally, as many companies do, committed to providing guest speakers on certain lecture topics, something computer and electrical engineering professor Mesut Baran said is “very very positive.”

“There are a lot of people here at Siemens that have an expertise in technology in these fields that we could help to add additional credibility to the program,” Gomperts said.

Siemens decision to join FREEDM and the power engineering program comes as the economy continues to struggle.  But that hasn’t stopped the center’s growing support.

According to Pritchard, some industry partners in the FREEDM Center were dropped because they no longer could afford payments, but growth hasn’t waned.

“It has been well over 12 months since we stopped actively recruiting companies to the FREEDM Systems Center and have not seen a decline as a result of that,” Pritchard said.

In the College of Engineering proper, support and partnerships remain healthy too.

Baucom pointed to the 250-300 companies that make the Engineering Career Fair one of the largest in the country.

“It shows the intense interest that is here. And that’s despite the recent economic downturn. Companies are still engaging with us and partnering with us,” Baucom said. “There are a lot of different factors behind that,” Baucom said, “but I think that’s impressive growth considering the current economic climate.”