UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA
Electrical Power Program

M.S. Degree

in Electrical Engineering with Finance

directed toward

"Energy Production and Risk Management in

a Competitive Environment"

Spring 2008

M.S. Degree

The Electrical Power Program at the University of Oklahoma received a grant (2000-2003) from the National Science Foundation to establish a Master of Science degree that combines Electrical Engineering and Finance.

This M.S. in Electrical Engineering program, which we believe is the only such program in the country, is aimed at providing graduates who fulfill a pressing need in the evolving competitive market for electrical energy.      Graduates of this program will be prepared to work in scheduling and evaluating electrical generators in the new marketplace. This pressing need is evidenced by the fact that a number of major companies in this emerging field have agreed to provide:

Internships
Guidance

Changes in the regulation of electric energy companies have unleashed competitive forces that are rapidly transforming this $305 billion industry. Now, managers of electric energy companies must adopt a market perspective when planning new facilities, when evaluating opportunities to trade power, and when considering alternative ways to operate their generating facilities.  The significance of this new electric energy market to society makes imperative the development of a new curriculum that prepares electrical engineers to work in this competitive environment.

The curriculum integrates recent advances in power system planning and resource scheduling, with the use of options and commodity futures contracts to manage risk. Integrated power system operation and financial trading in the emerging energy industry will be taught.   These courses will be co-taught by engineering, and business school faculty; with lab-based simulations that integrate power system operations, financial trading, and risk management.

The key components to the curriculum are courses that teach engineering students how to use market information in power system planning and resource scheduling and how to describe, measure, and manage the risk of an energy  company’s  assets  and  operations.   These courses provide the engineering context for preparing plans and schedules that integrate information about the level and volatility of market prices.

A state-of-the-art resource scheduling simulator will give students an opportunity to apply the theoretical concepts taught in these new courses.  Students will design, implement, and test resource plans, schedules, and trades with the added benefit of seeing the results in real-time (i.e. managing generating assets). Engineers in this M.S. program will be required to take several finance courses which are also key components of this new program.

Internships

We have summer internships and projects for the engineering students who have completed the first year of the curriculum.   Each student will apply engineering and financial principles in an internship or project provided by an energy company that is actively responding to the opportunities and threats of the new competitive environment. This summer experience will reinforce the concepts learned in the first year of the program, will provide the impetus for the student’s thesis project, and significantly enhance his/her full-time employment prospects.

Interested students are asked to submit a standard application for admission to the M.S. program. The application materials may be obtained from:

Graduate Programs Office
School of Electrical and
Computer Engineering
University of Oklahoma
202 W. Boyd, CEC 219
Norman, OK 73019
(405) 325-4285 (voice) or
(405) 325-4721

or from the University of Oklahoma Graduate College.

ECE 4113 - Analysis of Electrical Transmission

ECE 5143 - Internship in Electric Energy Resource Analysis

ECE 5163 - Generation Resource Scheduling and Portfolio Optimization
                       for Energy Systems

ECE 5173 - Generation Resource Planning for Energy Systems

FIN 5043 - Financial Administration of the Firm

FIN 5113 - Derivative Securities and Markets

FIN 5413 - Financial Engineering

Courses in Electrical Energy (Power)  - 12 hours
Courses in Finance                             -  9 hours
Elective Courses in Electrical             -  9 hours
  Engineering (at least 6 hours of 5000 level)
Elective Courses (one course in          -  3 hours
  Math, or Physics)
Total Hours                                        - 33 hours
 

Contact

For additional information:

Dr. Fred N. Lee
OG&E Professor & Project Director
School of Electrical and
Computer Engineering
University of Oklahoma
202 W. Boyd, CEC 218        CEC 424 (office)
Norman, OK 73019

(405) 325-6598 (voice)
(405) 325-7116 (fax)

                flee@ou.edu