An education program for transportation electrification

Automotive industry is going through major changes and there is an evolving paradigm shift in transportation toward more electric vehicles (MEV). This paper presents a comprehensive program to educate students and engineers for the new generation of vehicles. The proposed program includes four courses with laboratories: (1) Power Electronics, (2) Electric Motor Drives, (3) Vehicular Electrical Systems, and (4) Electric and Hybrid Drive Trains. It also includes an interprofessional project course to enhance multi-disciplinary understanding and capabilities of the students. Each laboratory consists of several experiments, one research projects demonstration, and one major design experience. The laboratory experiments give simple practical introduction to operation and control of advanced vehicular components as well as power and propulsion systems. They are done in groups of 2-3 students. The proposed courses are appropriate for senior-level undergraduate or graduate engineering students.