Electric Energy Systems

EGR 325, Spring 2008

Professor: Judith Cardell
Office: EGR 105b
Office hours: Monday 1:30 - 2:30; Wednesday 10:30 - 11:30

Class Time: TR 1:00 - 2:50, in EGR 102
Prerequisites: EGR 220, Circuit Theory
Text: Electric Energy: An Introduction, by Mohamed El-Sharkawi, CRC Press, 2005.

Course Overview and Objectives
The course introduces students both to a variety of energy conversion technologies (renewable, hydro, nuclear and fossil), and to the operation of electric power systems. Coursework includes broad analyses of the conversion technologies and computer simulation of power systems. Engineering, policy, environmental and societal aspects of energy conversion and energy use are discussed. A team-based project analyzes the different aspects of the use of biomass in Honduras to support a farmers' collaborative. The objective of this course is to introduce students to electric power systems and to energy conversion technologies. Through the material presented in this course, students will learn:

1. The fundamental principles of producing electric power,
2. To analyze complex engineering systems, and to gain familiarity with incorporating technical, policy and societal elements in the analysis framework,
3. The inherent tradeoffs between the often conflicting objectives of power system design and operation, including cost, reliability, and environmental impacts,
4. The far reaching effects of electric power and energy conversion on human society,
5. To improve oral, graphical and written communication skills
6. To evaluate her personal learning process and understanding of the concepts and skills from class.

Course Concept Map
The concept map will be used throughout the semester to bring together the course topics, and modeling and analysis techniques.

Assignments
The syllabus lists the reading for each class period. Students are expected to do the reading before coming to class, in order to be fully prepared to solidify the material in the class period. There will be almost-weekly homework assignments, a project that can be done alone or in teams, one midterm exam and a final take home exam. There may be short, 10-minute quizzes on the readings at the beginning of class periods.

Homework format
All homework solutions must be written on standard engineering paper. Short essay questions should be typed and printed out. Students are encouraged to work together to understand the concepts, but each student must hand in her own solutions. All assignments are to be neatly written or typed, and stapled, with your name and date. Note that students are expected to follow the Honor Code for all work in this course. Copying on homework or quizzes/exams, and other violations will be brought to the honor board.

The purpose of the homework is for you to have the opportunity to practice - practice - practice the skills and concepts from class, and to think about the policy and societal questions beyond class discussions. Since homework is the time to practice, you are not expected to have perfects solutions at all times. You are expected to do your best work for each problem however. In recognition of these goals, each homework problem will be evaluated with the following 10 point scale as a guide:

• 0 No effort
• 2 Problem statement written out but not attempted
• 6 Incomplete attempt
• 9 Complete attempt, incorrect solution
• 10 Complete attempt, correct solution

Essays will be graded as ✓, ✓- or ✓+

Biomass Project
There will be a solo or small-group project in which students will gain practical experience in designing and/or analyzing a selected element of a power system. This year the projects will focus on different aspects of a project addressing the use of biomass as a fuel for electricity production in Honduras, as a means to support a farmers' collaborative.

Quizzes and Exams
There may be weekly - quizzes that are used to assess progress and ensure students do not fall behind in course work. The questions on these quizzes will either be related to the homework due the previous week or focused on the current reading assignment. In addition to providing the instructor with feedback on the class progress, these tools are also a great opportunity for student self-assessment on learning course material. Average quiz grades of 9 or 10 may be used to raise a student's final grade at the end of the semester.

Exams
There will be one midterm exam in-class and a final exam, used to solidify concepts and learning assess progress.

Class attendance
Students are required to attend class and participate in class discussions and problem solving exercises. The course grade is 20% participation - as important as homework and the midterm exam! This means that you must be in class and participate in the discussions to receive full credit for this portion of the course.

Grading
Grades in this course are designed to represent your achievement of the objectives listed above. The course components that will make up your grade are listed below.

Late Policy
All homework assignments are to be submitted at the time specified; late assignments will be penalized at the rate of one point per minute unless you have requested and received and extension at least 24 hours before the deadline. However, each student will have a total of 1 hour (60 minutes) grace time to be used as desired by that student over the course of the semester, such that you can have a semester total of 60 tardy minutes for homework and labs without penalty (note that these minutes cannot be used for in-class reading questions, quizzes or exams).

Honor Code
The homework assignments that you submit must be your own work. You are encouraged to discuss the problems and essay questions with your classmates and work on them together, but each student must work out her own answers. It is not okay to copy answers from another student's homework - doing so is a violation of the Honor Code. Note that it is a violation of the honor code to 1) use or copy another student's work, and 2) provide another student with your work. Projects will be done in small groups. Exams must be exclusively each student's own work, following the instructions provided with each exam. Do not hesitate to ask any questions that you may have concerning the honor code!

EGR 325 Class and Assignment Schedule, Spring 2008