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A graduate certificate in power systems reinforces your career and allows you to take on responsibilities exclusively given to engineers with power-specific education. These specialized programs will raise your knowledge and competency levels in key disciplines like protection and controls or power transmission.

A great program that had a good balance between theoretical and practical power system applications, I would recommend any engineer in the power industry to take this.
John Sonnelitter
Protection & Controls Engineer
Florida Power & Light

Learn from Industry Experts

WPI students work closely with WPI’s renowned Power Systems faculty: real-world, industry experts who enrich the curriculum with decades of experience. 

Read the faculty biographies

Other online graduate programs in Power Systems: 

Courses

Certificate in Power Systems Engineering: Protection and Control Certificate in Renewable and Distributed Power Systems Certificate in Power Systems Management

This certificate will prepare you to:

  • Analyze steady state and transient power flows
  • Design power delivery networks
  • Design protection & control systems

Program Requirements
You must complete four technical power courses (12 credits total):

This certificate will prepare you to:

  • Analyze steady state and transient power flows
  • Design power delivery networks
  • Design protection & control systems
  • Analyze and design electric delivery systems that support renewable and distributed power generation

Program Requirements
You must complete five or six technical courses (15-18 credits total):

  • ECE 5500. Power System Analysis
  • ECE 5511. Transients in Power Systems
  • ECE 5520. Power System Protection and Control or
    • ECE 5521. Protective Relaying
    • ECE 5522. Advanced Applications in Protective Relaying
  • ECE 5530. Power Distribution
  • ECE 5532. Distributed and Renewable Power Generation

This certificate will prepare you to:

  • Analyze power flows in delivery networks--both for steady state and transients
  • Design power delivery networks--both Transmission and Distribution
  • Evaluate design alternatives, including both technical and economic analysis
  • Lead projects using a full suite of management tools
  • Understand group and individual dynamics leading to more effective interactions
  • Identify and mitigate operational risks

Program Requirements
You must complete six courses (18 credits total):

Choose two or three of the following:

*Credit cannot be awarded for ECE 5521 & 5522 if credit for ECE 5520 has been earned.
Choose two or three courses from the School of Business. See current course schedule for online course offerings.

View current course schedule

Whitepaper: Securing the Grid - Today and Tomorrow
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Prerequisites

For all certificate programs, students must have an undergraduate degree in electrical engineering from an ABET accredited university with a GPA of 3.0 or higher.

Some graduate engineers from other disciplines may be successful in power systems; however they may need an additional foundation in mathematics (e.g. WPI's MA 501 Engineering Mathematics course).

Have additional questions about admissions or program requirements? Please contact our WPI Online team to review individual situations.

Graduate Course Catalog 2018-2019
How Online Learning Works
Admissions for Online Programs
Student Support
Tuition & Financial Aid
Meet the Team

Webinar: Open House

View our on-demand webinar to be introduced to our Power Systems online graduate program. Get an overview of program logistics, what online learning looks like, the application process, and more!

view now

Energy Education Program

WPI and the Energy Providers Coalition for Education (EPCE) are partners in providing quality online education to the energy industry. If you work for an organization that is a member of EPCE, you receive a 10% discount on your online WPI tuition. Contact EPCE to determine if you qualify. 

Electrical & Computer Engineering Department