When TVA officials decided to make a contribution to the ETAP-TVA Power Lab at The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, a student intern’s presentation persuaded them to donate $8,000 for two large screen monitors, installation, and upgrades for a podium.
Lindsey Hopf, an upcoming sophomore electrical engineering major at The University of Tennessee and TVA intern, has not yet had the opportunity to take any of the courses in her major. But she took the challenge of coordinating meetings and communication with UTC staff, researching new technology, and “using my student perspective to offer feedback as an employee.”
The ETAP-TVA Power Lab at UTC is a state-of-the-art learning environment created as the result of a three-way partnership with TVA, Operation Technology, Inc. (OTI) and The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. During the 2010-11 academic year, OTI donated ETAP software, gifting the lab with a $380,000 product.
“ETAP is the most widely used electrical engineering software in the power industry,” said Mark Bowman, Hopf’s supervisor at TVA.
Dean Will Sutton of the UTC College of Engineering and Computer Science said the lab will be used for undergraduate and graduate education, to prepare students for the workforce, to provide specific TVA training as well as industry training, and research.
Hopf concluded the most needed additions to the lab were the large monitors, which will be hung in the back of the lab. Students have workspace in front of them and computers behind them, and so it was difficult for students to work on their computers while they watched the instructor work through an analytical problem. The new screens will improve the efficiency of teaching and learning.
“I did a ten-minute presentation for the assistant to the chief nuclear officer of TVA. I learned a lot about making an effective business presentation,” Hopf said.
Hopf admitted she was shocked that within days, her presentation had reached the chief nuclear officer where it was approved, and a check was signed.
When the check was presented to UTC by TVA officials, TVA Senior Manager of Nuclear Design Engineering Kent Brown said the partnership between TVA and UTC goes beyond monitors and employees knowing how to use computer programs.
“We want to enable UTC to better educate and transfer knowledge so that our talent pool is richer,” Brown said. “It’s about equipping students with knowledge. They need an underlying, fundamental knowledge of science. It’s the difference between a house painter and an artist. I want to hire the artist, not the painter.”
Brown said TVA and UTC needs to work collaboratively.
“We are the creator of providing the power source for our economy. The University is effective in shooting arrows into the future. We give direction to the shooting arrows,” Brown said.
