Engineering College Students Gain Edge with New Technology Used in Energy Industry
Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories donates equipment to help prepare students for workforce
UNC Charlotte’s William States Lee College of Engineering announces a significant partnership with Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories (SEL), the global leader in energy grid automation and protection. SEL, whose equipment is used as the industry standard by companies in more than 170 countries around the world, has generously donated state-of-the-art equipment valued over $200,000 to the university’s Electromechanical Engineering Technology (ETEM) program. This impactful contribution will provide students hands-on experience and prepare them for high-demand jobs in critical power industries.
Students in the ETEM program, the only one of its kind in the UNC system, will learn specific skills needed for SEL equipment used in the energy sector, giving the students a clear competitive edge. The donated equipment allows students to train on the same technology used by companies worldwide. This real-world exposure is crucial for preparing Niner Engineers for roles that are vital to modern infrastructure.
Austin Fifield, director of the ETEM program, highlights the impact of this collaboration: “Ultimately, as professionals, these individuals will work to optimize the power grid by detecting faults, automating recovery processes and providing cybersecurity. They’ll ensure power outages are safer, less frequent, and shorter in duration.”
The curriculum of one course in particular, Elements of Automation, has been rewritten based on industry insight and SEL’s donation, ensuring students develop the problem-solving and application skills needed by employers. For example, ETEM faculty recently visited SEL manufacturing and research facilities in Washington to better understand SEL’s approach to product design and manufacturing. The on-site visit allowed faculty and SEL partners to determine together where future engineering technology graduates would best contribute in the company.
During the visit, faculty learned of a key distinction of SEL culture: vertical integration and employee empowerment. Any employee who identifies issues in the design and manufacturing processes is enabled to create and implement solutions. In action, this empowerment can be useful in a broad range of applications, from the smallest circuit board components to large scale assembly processes. Fifield has leveraged this insight by building a similar culture of empowerment into the program so students can begin practicing with an entrepreneurial mindset even before graduation.
With an industry-informed experience, graduates of the program are uniquely qualified for careers in power grid automation and protection, manufacturing automation, machine instrumentation, and more—fields with high demand for skilled candidates.
The strength of this partnership is further exemplified by the involvement of a UNC Charlotte alumni. Andy Gould, a 2013 alumnus of the electrical engineering technology program and an engineer at SEL, co-teaches in the ETEM program. He brings invaluable industry experience directly into the classroom, ensuring students are learning the most relevant skills.
“The common thread among candidates from Charlotte’s program is they have a great foundation in engineering concepts with the added benefit of significant hands-on lab experience. I think this program, along with industry-focused senior design projects, give these students their can-do attitude.,” says Gould of the caliber of students. He went on to share his purpose for classroom involvement: “I wanted to provide the students with the types of things that would have been helpful for me before joining industry – real problems, real technology, and real equipment.”
“The common thread among candidates from Charlotte’s program is they have a great foundation in engineering concepts with the added benefit of significant hands-on lab experience. I think this program, along with industry-focused senior design projects, give these students their can-do attitude.,” says Gould of the caliber of students in the major. He went on to share his purpose for helping teach by saying, “I wanted to provide the students with the types of things that would have been helpful for me before joining industry: real problems, real technology, and real equipment.”
The success of this collaboration is already evident. The spring 2025 ETEM graduating class achieved a 100% employment rate before graduation, and SEL regularly hires UNC Charlotte engineering technology graduates as both full-time employees and interns. This partnership truly underscores UNC Charlotte’s commitment to student preparedness and workforce development, creating a direct pipeline for highly skilled graduates into essential industries.
