Paper Authors

Abstract

NOTE: The first page of text has been automatically extracted and included below in lieu of an abstract

Session 3148

Distance Education the Old-Fashioned Way – Take Me To Your Students

Andrew T. Rose University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown GAI Consultants, Inc.

Abstract

During August 2000, I had the opportunity to teach a course on Transmission Line Design and Construction in Bangkok, Thailand. This opportunity came about through my summer consulting experience with GAI Consultants, Inc. (GAI). The Pennsylvania State University’s Advanced School of Power Engineering hired GAI to teach the course to engineers from Thailand’s Provincial Electric Authority. This paper discusses the experience, frustrations, and rewards of teaching the civil engineering aspects of transmission line design and construction to thirty-two electrical engineers in Bangkok, Thailand. The cultural exchange provided by this experience is also discussed.

I. Introduction

Economic development and improving the standard of living in the Kingdom of Thailand is closely related to the availability of electricity throughout the country. The Provincial Electric Authority (PEA) is responsible for distributing electric power to the rural provinces of Thailand. The Provincial Electric Authority was established in 1960 to serve the majority of the country’s electric distribution needs.1 The service area of PEA covers 73 provinces comprising approximately 99 percent of the total land area of the country.1 This includes the majority of the country outside the capital city of Bangkok. With increasing development in the Kingdom, PEA is expanding their services throughout the country. To facilitate this expansion, PEA has realized the need to establish a continuing education program to provide training for their engineers in the many aspects of power engineering. To provide the needed training, PEA has utilized the resources of the Pennsylvania State University and their Advanced School of Power Engineering.

II. Penn State’s Advanced School of Power Engineering

The Advanced School of Power Engineering has been conducted annually in Pittsburgh, PA since 1971.2 The program was run through a partnership between Penn State and Westinghouse Electric Corporation until 1992, when Penn State assumed sole responsibility for the program.2 Approximately 1,200 engineers from 58 countries have attended the 13-week intensive program.2 The Advanced School of Power Engineering program provides a comprehensive graduate level education in power systems engineering. Topics covered include generation, transmission, distribution, operation and system planning.3 The program is intended to provide a balance of

• Citation

• Format
  • APA
  • APA - LaTeX bibitem
  • MLA
  • MLA - LaTeX bibitem
  • Bibtex
  • EndNote - RIS

Rose, A. (2001, June), Distance Education The Old Fashioned Way Take Me To Your Students Paper presented at 2001 Annual Conference, Albuquerque, New Mexico. 10.18260/1-2--9143