Welcome to eACCESS Project EU-Asia Collaboration for aCcessible Education in Smart Power Systems
eACCESS is a Capacity-Building project in the field of Higher Education (CBHE). It is funded through European Union's (EU) Erasmus+ programme scheme 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 eACCESS project 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)			Kantipur Engineering College (Nepal)
		University of the West of Scotland (Scotland)			Pokhara University (Nepal)
		Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Greece)			Royal University of Bhutan (Bhutan)
		Soegijapranata Catholic University (Indonesia)			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: eACCESS project is going to develop four types of physical laboratory facilities: I. The HV laboratory (eACCESS-HVL) located at Kantipur Engineering College (Nepal) II. Smart distribution and renewable energy technology laboratory (eACCESS-SGL) located at Royal University of Bhutan (Bhutan) III. The power system computer simulation laboratory (eACCESS-CSL) located at Atma Jaya Catholic University of Indonesia (Indonesia) IV. 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. eACCESS project structure and Work Packages: eACCESS project will be delivered and managed through following 7 Work Packages (WP) and over the period of 36 months:
Specific role of KEC:		KEC is one of the five direct beneficiaries of the eACCESS project. KEC is currently at the stage of preparation of their electrical engineering courses. In the framework of the eACCESS project KEC will implement the full study of undergraduate program in Electrical Engineering, will progress towards the implementation of master programme and will organize the professional trainings oriented to industrial partners. KEC will lead the consultation process with external stakeholders and will be the primary beneficiary, validator and regional administrator of the eACCESS teaching platform. Regarding academic facilities, KEC is going to build an advanced High Voltage Laboratory. KEC will also be responsible for the organization of the promotional and recruitment process for new teaching modules and professional courses as well as it will be involved in the development of the eACCESS promotional materials. KEC will be the leader of the work package WP4, which includes Technical specification of the laboratories, Commission of Physical Laboratories and its technical documentation. Further, KEC will lead following tasks T1.4, T3.2 and T4.2. Task T1.4 is about consultations with the relevant third partners, other universities and local industrial stakeholders. Task T3.2 is about the testing of the eACCESS platform at partner universities and user trainings and task T4.2 is about the building and commissioning of the eACCESS-HVPL laboratory in KEC premises.
Contact information:		Local University contact:	eaccess@kec.edu.np
			linkedin.com/in/eaccess-erasmus-a468251aa
			eaccess-edu.eu/(Project Website)
			info@eaccess-edu.eu
Project Team		Position	Names			Email	Project role
		Professor	Er. Rameshwar Rijal			rijal_rameshwar@kec.edu.np	Project Manager/PI
		Senior Lecturer	Er. Buddha Bahadur Shakya			buddhashakya@kec.edu.np	Co-PI
		Senior Lecturer	Er. Dipesh Shrestha			dipeshshrestha@kec.edu.np	Co-PI
		Lecturer	Er. Sushil Paudel			sushilpaudel@kec.edu.np	Researcher
		Lecturer	Er. Bishal Rimal			bishalrimal@kec.edu.np	Researcher
Project number: 610041-EPP-1-2019-1-PL-EPPKA2-CBHE-JP
				The European Commission's support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents, which reflect the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
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