Several times a year, a collaboration between UTC, TVA and OTI brings industry professionals to the College of Engineering and Computer Science for a weeklong ETAP course. Group photo from the August 2025 course courtesy of College of Engineering and Computer Science.
When the ETAP/TVA Power Simulation Laboratory opened in 2011, it marked the start of a three-way partnership between the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, the Tennessee Valley Authority and Operation Technology, Inc. (OTI)—the developers of ETAP electrical power system software.
Fourteen years later, the lab in the University’s College of Engineering and Computer Science still serves the same purpose: giving UTC students and industry professionals hands-on experience with the software used by TVA and electric power companies worldwide.
ETAP—short for Electrical Transient Analyzer Program—is used by over 20,000 businesses globally and is considered by many to be the world’s leading electrical design and operations software for infrastructure, building and industry.
“TVA has been involved with ETAP for over 30 years, and during that time it has become the de facto power system analysis software for the U. S. nuclear power industry, with 93% of the industry standardizing on ETAP,” said Mark Bowman, senior program manager of Power System Analysis for TVA Nuclear.
When OTI began offering educational licenses to universities, Bowman saw an opportunity to involve UTC.
“Around 2010, they had been sponsoring ETAP power laboratories and free educational licenses for several universities around the country and I reached out to them,” he recalled. “Since we had been using ETAP for many years, we wanted to see if they would be willing to establish a power lab at UTC.
“When we asked, they said, ‘Well, not only that, but we’d be willing to enter into a partnership between TVA and UTC and donate an even larger amount.”
That conversation led to a memorandum of understanding (MOU) and the creation of UTC’s ETAP/TVA Power Simulation Laboratory, located on the fourth floor of the Engineering and Computer Science building. OTI donated licenses, TVA committed to supporting the lab’s operation, and UTC integrated the software into its electrical engineering curriculum.
“The idea was that TVA would support the lab to develop future workers and ETAP would provide their software and support to develop future users,” Bowman said. “It’s workforce development.
“Part of the agreement was that we’ll endeavor to take interns from UTC and those interns can work year-round. Since 2010, we’ve had at least one—if not two—continually throughout that period. Almost all of the interns have ended up at TVA, as one of our suppliers or as one of our contractors, so that’s been a big success.”
Dr. Abdel Karrar, professor of electrical engineering and associate dean of the UTC College of Engineering and Computer Science, said ETAP is a regular part of the department’s instruction.
“It’s incorporated in our curriculum,” Karrar said. “The course we call Power System Analysis and Design has a lab component and the software used in the lab is ETAP. It has been wonderful for workforce development and for being able to offer the students the latest and most important software in the field.”
Karrar said students benefit in another way.
“Just being able to say ETAP on a resume will usually get you a job,” he said. “It’s that important a software.”
Through the MOU, UTC has become one of ETAP’s Southeast U.S. training sites.
Several times a year, the company holds weeklong courses on campus for industry professionals. This summer’s session drew participants from companies such as Southern Nuclear and Duke Energy.
“We’re happy to host them,” Karrar said. “We have the facilities, we have the classrooms, and—through TVA—they give us software. So this is a small thing in return.”
For UTC College of Engineering and Computer Science Dean Kumar Yelamarthi, the ETAP lab is an example of the college’s mission in action.
“What we are doing here is an example of what I believe is unique and something that not many universities can do,” Yelamarthi said. “We are doing research and we are not keeping it to ourselves. We are sharing it with you. If you want to utilize our facilities and if you want to work with us, we welcome that with open arms.”
Yelamarthi said the work extends well beyond technology and equipment. It’s about “building strong connections with the community in ways that meet workforce needs”—whether through degree programs, transfer pathways, professional upskilling or collaborative research.
“The ETAP partnership delivers on all of those priorities: supporting student learning, addressing industry challenges, creating direct career pathways and hosting national-level training in Chattanooga,” he said.
“Community integration and involvement are essential for this college’s growth. We are here to serve the land-grant mission, which is to serve the workforce needs for the state of Tennessee.”
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