CRI Partnership with EPIC: Announcement from the EPIC Director

Announcement from the EPIC Director

In 2013 the Energy Production and Infrastructure Center (EPIC) in collaboration with the Charlotte Research Institute (CRI) signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) which laid the foundation for the Transatlantic Energy Research Experience (TE-REx) program. TE-REx is a student research exchange program between UNC Charlotte’s Energy Production & Infrastructure Center (EPIC) and Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). The TE-REx is awarded annually and recognizes four outstanding UNC Charlotte students who exhibit a dedication to academic excellence, a novel interest in power and energy

research, and who identify power and energy as their main educational program focus. Awardees spend 2 months (mid-May to mid-July) in Karlsruhe, Germany at the prestigious Karlsruhe Institute of Technology participating in power and energy research activities, studying German research techniques and ideology. In conjunction with the research aspect, the students are provided a German immersion course where they are taught the German language and exposed to German cultural experiences.

This year EPIC received a large number of highly competitive applications. It was a difficult process selecting only four recipients from such a large pool of worthy candidates. Thank you to all who applied. If your application was not successful this year please make plans to re-apply next year. I am proud and very happy to announce this year’s recipients of this prestigious honor. I am confident they will be excellent ambassadors for EPIC and CRI and UNC Charlotte.

Please join me in congratulating our four 2016 EPIC/KIT TE-REx Award winners!

Mr. Sina Mostafavi – currently enrolled in the department of Mechanical Engineering. He is a senior with a concentration in Energy Engineering. His faculty advisor is Nenad Sarunac.

Mr. Paul Rankin – currently enrolled in the department of Electrical Engineering. He is a senior with a concentration in Power and Energy Systems. He has also been accepted into the early entry graduate program.

His faculty advisor is Sukumar Kamalasadan.

Mr. Kirtan Davda – currently enrolled in the department of Engineering Technology. He is studying for his masters in Applied Energy & Electromechanical Systems. His faculty advisor is Maciej Noras.

Mr. Mehrdad Biglarbegian who is currently enrolled in the department of Electrical Engineering. He is a PhD. candidate with a focus in Power Electronics. His faculty advisor is Babak Parkhideh.

Johan Enslin, Ph.D., FIEEE, PrEng

Director, Energy Production & Infrastructure Center (EPIC)

Duke Energy Distinguished Chair in Power Engineering Systems