Every year we are proud to recognize leading engineers with distinct awards and honors and to offer scholarships to cultivate the next generation of power and energy professionals.
The IEEE PES Workforce Initiative has been established to increase the value of membership for those seeking:
New professional opportunities
Improving skill-sets
Assisting our industry participants in identifying qualified candidates
Supporting STEM education programs
More
Program Information
This new initiative is for PES to launch a coordinated action on workforce development while taking advantage of all what has been already considered at PES level and expand outreach to the secondary and pre-secondary education levels and further engage with governments, educational institutions, research agencies, vendors, and others, to develop and execute plans based on local industry needs and resources in the following areas of Education and Career Fostering.
This new initiative aligns with the PES long-range strategic direction – grow life-long learning and expand student offerings worldwide. At present time, PES only supports K-12 students through the IEEE TryEngineering program.
In August 2022, the IEEE TAB Society and Council Review Committee completed its society review of PES, and recommended PES more aggressively invest in new initiatives to deliver value to members. This new initiative will expand outreach to attract K-12 students into energy careers and the science, technology, and engineering disciplines and meet industry’s urgent workforce needs.
People
People
Thiago Alencar
IEEE PES Entrepreneurship Committee Chair
Shay Bahramirad
IEEE PES President
Jessica Bian
IEEE PES Past President
Wayne Bishop, Jr.
Chair, IEEE PES Grid Edge Technologies Conference & Exposition
Senior Policy Advisor, The Swedish Installation Federation
Osama Mohammed
Distinguished Professor & Associate Dean of Research
Joe Nyangon
DOE DEPUTY DIRECTOR FOR PARTNERSHIPS
Masood Parvania
Technical Chair
Nicolas Raynaud
Vice President, Innovation Europe Schneider Electric
Anand Shah
Chair, IEEE PES Student Chapter Committee
Ram Viswanathan Subramaniam
VICE CHAIR, NEW ORLEANS PES CHAPTER
Dan Toland
PES Director-Society Operations
Dirk Van Hertem
Professor, Ku Leuven
Mani V. Venkatasubramanian
Boeing Distinguished Professor of Electrical Engineering
Philippe Vié
Senior Advisor, Capgemini Energy Transition & Utilities
Chan Wong
IEEE PES WORKFORCE COMMUNICATION LEAD
Roberto Zangrandi
General Secretary, E.DSO Europe
Subgroups
Subgroups
The PES Workforce Initiative consists of 7 subgroups focused on following areas:
Subgroup 1: Engineering Introduction Lead Shuhui Li Focus: 9-12 (High School), 2-year Trade School, Undergraduate, Young Professional (YP)
Subgroup 2: Regional Outreach Lead: Kamal Garg Focus: Identify regional collaboration opportunities and support regional effort of other subgroups. These members work directly with appropriate subgroup(s).
Subgroup 3: Global Initiatives Lead: Bill Hederman Focus: Current Global Initiatives, i.e. LRP-SC4.
Subgroup 4: Communication Lead: Chang Wong Focus: Website and Communication Outreach for Workforce Initiatives
Subgroup 6: Industry Outreach Lead: Wayne Bishop Focus: Engage with industry and identify opportunities for collaboration on the topic of Workforce Development
As the world transitions to a low-carbon energy system and societal pressures mount to tackle the climate change, new public/private capital infusion has created a massive number of grid infrastructure projects. Power and utility executives across the globe report too few workers have the right skills to adopt digital technologies, for example,
60% of electrical contractors in Germany have vacancies.
Installation companies in Sweden seek to hire an estimated 28,000 workers in the next 5 years.
In the UK, electrical contractors will need 15,000 more new apprentices over the next 5 years.
From a recent IEEE PES webinar “Importance of T&D Grid Modernization to Mitigate Impacts from and Adapt to Climate Change,” also identifies that one of critical pillars for power sector to modernize the grid and combat climate change is to make concerted efforts at the secondary and pre-secondary education levels to attract students into energy careers and the science, technology, and engineering disciplines.
“Power industry is undergoing remarkable transitions driven mainly by decarbonization and resulting intensified electrification and grid modernization. In this context, the need for a qualified workforce for tackling these challenges has been pointed out as top priority by major power industry professionals. This need concerns all categories of key competences and levels ranging from technicians to engineers and R&D experts.”
— Nouredine Hadjsaid, Vice President New Initiatives/Outreach
Subgroup 1:
Launch of on-line platform for Career Fairs and Mentoring 2023 – Complete
On-line R8 Career Fair in collaboration with 2023 ISGT Europe – Complete
On-line R1-7 Career Fair February 2024-Complete 13
Hybrid mentoring event 2024 GM-July 2024 13
On-line R1-7 Career Fair-Fall 2024 13.
On-line R10 Career Fair-November 2024
Interested in helping with career fair or mentoring coordination? Email .
IEEE PES Web-based Tutorial
Topic: Solar Design and Installation Training – 101
The goal of this web-based tutorial series is to provide fundamental knowledge and guidelines about solar photovoltaic (PV) systems, and how to conduct the design of a solar PV system, and the installation process of a solar PV system. The webinar series aim to provide an easy understanding way, with minimum theoretical involvement, to establish with quick understanding and skills on how to design and install a solar PV system. The Web-based Tutorial consists of nine webinars as follows:
Introduction of Power Generation, Transmission, and Distribution
Overview: Common Solar Energy and Solar PV System Concepts
Solar Panels
Solar Inverters
Batteries for Solar PV Systems
Racking of Solar Panels
Solar PV System Design Guidelines
Solar PV System Installation Guide
Testing, Performance Evaluation, Troubleshooting, and Maintenance
Webinars 1 to 7 have been given and are now available online in the IEEE PES Resource Center. Webinars 8 and 9 are to be presented in August and September 2024.
Planned Activities for 2025
Outreach to High schools and K12
Partner with IEEE Reach and TryEngineering to enhance general education and outreach, including webinars, online educational and outreach materials, PES chapter activities established through Reach and/or TryEngineering
Utilize the Workforce Initiative to call for PES member volunteers to staff TryEngineering events locally.
Career Fairs
Subgroup 3:
IEEE Global Power & Energy Workforce Collaborative Analysis-preliminary draft in development
Subgroups 4 & 5:
Conducted interviews at 2023 PES GM and 2023 ISGT Europe – Complete
2023 ISGT Europe – Complete
PES Workforce Panel held on 24 October. Panelists included: Roberto Zangrandi, General Secretary of EDSO Europe; Philippe Vie, President CapGemini, Regis LeDrezen, General Manager think Smartgrids. An in-person and virtual Career Fair took place the evening of 24 October and the morning of 25 October.
2023 ISGT LA – Complete
2024 ISGT Asia
2024 ISGT Europe
2024 ISGT NA
2024 T&D
2024 IEEE PES General Meeting
Have a suggestion or idea? Contact IEEE PES here with subject line: Workforce Initiative.
Are you a PES member interested in volunteering with this Initiative? Please complete this form. In completing this form, you agree that the IEEE PES may contact you regarding volunteering opportunities.
Look for the PES workforce Initiative volunteers at these and other events:
Subgroups 5 & 6:
Workforce Panel Sessions planned for:
