American Electric Power's Project Probe^SM -- Academic-Industrial Cooperation to Improve Power Engineering Education

Project ProbeSM is an annual summer intern program offered by American Electric Power (AEP) of Columbus, Ohio, to provide qualified engineering students a meaningful education and work experience in power generation and utility operation. Project Probe is offered, in part, to supplement traditional educational experiences in engineering that often lack emphasis in areas of critical need for the power industry. Probe's objectives are to foster communication and cooperation between academia and the power industry, enhance the education of future engineers via practical experience, and support engineering faculty while enlightening students and faculty about the power industry. This paper presents the objectives, methodology, and results of Project Probe 1995-1997 including the areas of student development, faculty enrichment, and benefits to the host plant and American Electric Power. Project Probe is shown to offer educational advantages over traditional student intern or cooperative educational programs. Information is also presented to encourage implementation of aspects of Probe into university classroom work and to encourage educators and industry to seek suitable partners in their area of interest for development of similar programs.