Recent Experience With Directed Mentoring And Laboratory Development

Howard Smolleck
2004 Annual Conference Proceedings   unpublished
A Directed Mentoring program was developed during the past two years at New Mexico State University (NMSU) with local electric utility support of committed internship positions and academic-year support for students. The program's objectives and progress were described in a paper presented in 2003. The mentoring program consists of a carefully-coordinated program of activities in which students work with faculty and receive financial support during regular semesters, with the opportunity of
more » ... oyment with sponsoring companies during summer or coop phases. A key component of the mentoring program this year has been directed student participation in the technical development of a new Electric Power Systems Laboratory. The basic components of this laboratory were assembled and have been used in both required and elective classes in electric power systems, and updated continually, beginning in the Spring 2002 semester. The students are also developing experiments, which include hardware and associated computer control, for teaching and exploring more advanced power-systems concepts, including network operation and control using power-electronic devices. These are discussed. This paper describes the development of this laboratory capability, illustrating in particular how such a Directed Mentoring program benefits the students, their industry sponsors, and the University
doi:10.18260/1-2--12725 fatcat:yvt4zoq4dzhklfncwola3orgiy