WIP: French Experience for U.S. Students in Renewables-Based Power Systems Research

This work-in-progress paper shares our experience and student feedback based on the first two years of our international research internship program at Grenoble Institute of Technology in France made available by Virginia Tech and supported through an NSF IRES grant. This program, IRES: Track I: U.s.- France Program for INverter-based And Cyber-secure Control and Communication for eLEctric power system (PINNACLE), trains and sends about 18 U.S. students (6 each year) for 8 weeks to Grenoble to engage in research and extracurricular activities, including language instruction, several industry visits, and integration with an existing international internship program, in its G2Elab. The overarching theme of students' research projects is to enable a massively inverter-based electric power system while addressing control, communication, and cybersecurity requirements and challenges. Students' exposure to these problems, especially in a European context, is expected to help them think of innovative solutions to the U.S.'s similar challenges. Additionally, G2Elab has active collaborations with several industry partners, which facilitates industry tours and field trips. This program is mutually beneficial and strengthens our existing collaboration by providing a framework for conducting research projects of common interest. We recruit nationally for this program. The program alumni are a cohort of individuals with highly desired skills for industry and graduate programs.