TLI, Thermo King and Other Partners Celebrate New Electrification Certificate
On Tuesday afternoon the University of Minnesota's Technological Leadership Institute hosted a group of engineering partners to celebrate the nation's first graduate-level certificate in electrification engineering.
Over lunch in the Laukka Conference Room at the McNamara Alumni Center, leaders from TLI, refrigeration giant Thermo King and a number of other industrial partners celebrated the launch of the new program, which will train engineers to convert fossil-fuel power systems to DC electric. It's an important step in transforming the nation, and the world, to green power sources.
CSE Dean Andrew Alleyne noted the University's long tradition of partnering with industry to drive technological change, and he praised all parties for how quickly the program moved from the concept phase to completion.
Similarly, Thermo King senior Vice President for Engineering Aftab Khan marveled at how quickly the public-private partnership was developed. "We only began working with TLI in April, and our first cohort of students will soon complete their certificates," Khan told the group. "I am optimistic that this is only the beginning -- so buckle up."
TLI Director Dr. Allison Hubel credited TLI's team-driven culture for moving quickly to create the electrification classes and get them approved as a post-baccalaureate certificate. She also praised the work of Travis Thul, Senior Fellow and Director of Operations for TLI. Thul has been overseeing the electrification certificate project for TLI since early in 2022.
The three-course electrification sequence is MOT 5101: Introduction to Electrification, MOT 5102: Electrification for Engineers and MOT 5103: Advanced Electrification. The first offering of the sequence runs through the summer term and is filled with power engineers from Thermo King. Subsequent offerings will be open to all engineering students.
The other major partners in the electrification program are the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Eolos, MTS Inc., Polaris, Wabtec, Zeus Electric Chassis and CSE's Electrical Engineering department.