eACCESS is a Capacity-Building project in the field of Higher Education (CBHE). It is funded through European Union's (EU) Erasmus+ programmescheme to support activities in the fields of Education, Training, Youth and Sport. This project supports the modernisation, accessibility and internationalisation of higher education in Partner Universities in Asia in the field of Smart Power Engineering.
EU funded CBHE projects aim to encourage cooperation between the EU and Partner Universities in improving the quality of the higher education, developing new and innovative education programmes and modernising higher education systems. This will be achieved in the eACCESSproject through sharing innovative teaching and learning practices in Higher Education (HE) and building a capacity through state-of-the art technology and knowledge in the Smart Power Engineering. The consortium of three European and five Asian partners has won total project funding of almost €1 million under the competitive Erasmus+ Key Action 2 call. Over the project span of 3 years, the consortium will develop and deliver state-of-the art Smart Power Engineering subjects, lab facilities and study programmes, as well as through partner universities using innovative teaching and learning platform.
The project comes at a time when many south-east Asian countries are undergoing rapid industrial revolution and industrialisation processes. This results in increasing demand for energy, particularly electricity. Sourcing a cheap, safe and reliable electricity supply is central to further economic development. Higher education institutions are expected to produce technical staff, engineers, experts and tutors which will able to design, maintain and further develop advanced technical solutions, as well as to train other staff resources like technicians and managers, who will be up to the job and ready to effectively and efficiently adopted and use modern power technologies.
Currently, the subjects which are central to help build modern power engineers are not available from the project’s partner universities, and the content of current classes and the delivery mechanism does not meet students' expectations and challenges related to the transformation of the power sector. An access to know-how and experience in teaching of technologically advanced subjects is the critical conditions. Such knowledge and teaching skills are within the EU universities, which are involved for years in the transformation of the European power sector.
eACCESS project will modernise HE approach in Asian partner universities for delivering Smart Power Engineering education. This will significantly reduce skill deficit in Power Engineering application area in partner countries. In addition, as a part of technology modernization, 4 advanced laboratories dealing with high voltage (HV) devices and networks, flexible transmission grids (FTG), smart distribution grid (SG), power electronic devices (PED) will pave the way for education of new generation of electrical engineers, highly skilled and familiar with new technologies, ready to implement this solutions in the local power sectors.
eACCESS partners and their specific role in the project:
- Lodz University of Technology (Poland)
- University of the West of Scotland (Scotland)
- Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Greece)
- Soegijapranata Catholic University (Indonesia)
- Kantipur Engineering College (Nepal)
- Pokhara University (Nepal)
- Royal University of Bhutan (Bhutan)
- Atma Jaya Catholic University of Indonesia (Indonesia)
Objectives and structure of the eACCESS project:
eACCESS project will fill knowledge and skill deficit in the area of modern power system of the identified countries through knowledge dissemination, skill development and capacity building. These countries are facing challenges in supporting power and energy requirements due to lack of leadership, knowledge and facilities to develop skill personal in this region. eACCESS will mainly target this challenges and offer required solutions through collaboration with local universities for enabling capacity building in Higher Education Sector.
The implementation of the eACCESS project will also benefit local energy companies, which will gain access to new, well-educated engineering staff, will be able to undertake research cooperation with local universities in the implementation of new solutions and the application of new technologies in power engineering.
This capacity building project will be supported by 3 pillars as shown in the figure below:
Pillar 1 - Curriculum development:
Modernisation and implementation of undergraduate and master degree curriculum in electrical power engineering embracing preparation of at least 6 master course units and 8 bachelor course units based on the existing subject curriculum from EU partner universities and from Asian Universities. The contents will cover a wide spectrum of areas from engineering (High Voltage Techniques in Power Engineering, Modern Power Engineering, ICT application to Power Grids), to management and economics considering environmental issues and implementing sustainable development approach.
Pillar 2 - Teaching and learning platform development:
The Teaching and learning platform will include innovative teaching mechanisms for traditional class work as well as practical laboratory work, which may include video assisted pedagogy, peer-to-peer studies, teamwork, and new methods for the student progress assessment and feedback collection. The platform will allow partner universities to recruit students from remote locations who are physically unable to attend classes, widening access for future power engineers.
Pillar 3 - Infrastructure development:
- The HV laboratory (eACCESS-HVL) located at Kantipur Engineering College (Nepal)
- Smart distribution and renewable energy technology laboratory (eACCESS-SGL) located at Royal University of Bhutan (Bhutan)
- The power system computer simulation laboratory (eACCESS-CSL) located at Atma Jaya Catholic University of Indonesia (Indonesia)
- The power electronic laboratory (eACCESS-PEL) Soegijapranata Catholic University (Indonesia)
These state-of-the-art physical laboratory facilities create an excellent opportunity for a hands-on experience both for students, researchers doing their PhD studies and for the professional staff from the power companies attending complementary training within academia.
Specific role of PU:
POKHARA UNIVERSITY in Nepal will work with three partner universities – LODZ UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY in Poland, ARISTOTLE UNIVERSITY OF THESSALONIKI in Greece and UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST OF SCOTLAND (UWS) in Scotland–to produce undergraduate and postgraduate programmes focusing on smart power systems.
Contact information:
- Pokhara University: pu.edu.np
- eACCESS' Profile linkedin.com/in/eaccess-erasmus-a468251aa
- Website eaccess-edu.eu/ (Project Website)
- Email [email protected]
| Project Team | Position | Names | Project role | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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Lecturer | Mr. Buddhi Raj Joshi | [email protected] | Project Manager, PI |
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Reader | Mr. Lalit Bikrum Rana | [email protected] | Researcher/ Contact Person |
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Reader | Dr. Madhu Sudan Kayastha | [email protected] | Team Leader, VLE Implementation |
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Lecturer | Dr. Suresh Baral | [email protected] | Researcher |