Access to clean, reliable, and inexpensive electrical power is key for achieving an economically competitive, environmentally sustainable, and healthier society. Our daily lives depend on electricity more than ever before. Advancements in the production, distribution, and use of electrical power and energy are required to enable decarbonization and electrification of the transportation and industrial sectors, and digitalization of our economy. Parallel developments in information and digital control technologies enable the complex operations of the resulting smart grid in a cyber-secure environment. This thread explores power systems and markets, smart grids, power electronics, electric machines, dielectric materials, end use technologies, and secure protection and control approaches to creatively contribute to the transformation of the electric energy sector and enable career paths in the areas outlined below.

Sample of related career paths:

• Electric power sector - Independent Systems Operators, utilities, contractors (B&V, Power Engineers, etc.), manufacturers (GE, ABB, SEL, Siemens, etc.).
• Integration of solar, wind, energy storage, microgrids, and distributed generation into the power grid (Sunrun, Vestas, Tesla).
• Electric cars and trucks (Tesla, General Motors, Ford, many newcomers).
• Electric airplanes (Airbus, Boeing, Uber).
• Electric ships (US Navy and shipbuilding industry, cruise industry, cargo).
• Electric trains (Bombardier, Siemens).
• Smart energy and smart cities (Large number of smaller companies in this area).
• Robotics and mobile technology (Boston Dynamics, iRobot, Raytheon, Amazon Robotics).
• Defense and space industry (Boeing, Lockheed-Martin, SpaceX, Raytheon, Rolls-Royce, Airbus).
• Power systems for data centers and IT (Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Facebook).
• Energy access for off-grid communities and emerging markets.
• Computer aided manufacturing (many, many companies of every size).
• Electrical equipment industry (Rockwell Automation, General Electric, Siemens, Schneider Electric).

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