A new EE curriculum in electric vehicle applications

In this paper, we present a curriculum development plan in the Department of Electrical Engineering at the Purdue School of Engineering and Technology at Indianapolis that proposes a major area of emphasis in electric and hybrid electric vehicles. In addition to describing the plan, we present an overview of a feasibility study that is drawn from our recent experiences in teaching a course on the design of electronics for electric vehicles. This course, which was developed under a grant from the Department of Education's Fund for Improvements in Post Secondary Education (FIPSE) program, represents the coordinated efforts of a team of faculty from the Departments of Electrical Engineering and Electrical Engineering Technology. Details of the educational and technical features of the proposed curriculum and the university-industry partnership are described. Student feedback from the trial course is also reported.