Development of a Laboratory Course in Industrial Power and Control for Electrical Engineers

As the need for more complex electrical control systems grows, qualified individuals to design and maintain these systems become essential. Consequently, industrial sectors such MEP (Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing), have experienced rapid growth and increased investments worldwide in automation which further means that the jobs in this sector are also expected to proliferate. To address the aforementioned issues, the electrical engineering department at Cal Poly State University has been developing a new laboratory course that utilizes the recently donated Programmable Automated Controllers from Schneider Electric. The senior level technical elective course aims to introduce students to the concepts of industrial power control and automation, and to provide them with the hands-on training in implementing most commonly used hardware and software for control, monitoring, and automation of electrical systems. This paper presents the development of the course, the associated learning outcomes, and the lab experiments that have been designed for the course. Results from the first offering of the course in Spring 2023 will be discussed, along with lessons learned, challenges, and plans for future improvements of the course.