“Consortium for Research and Education in Power and Energy Systems (CREPES) for Sustainable STEM Workforce” is funded by National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) under Minority Serving Institution Partnership Program (MSIPP). Overall scope of the Consortium is to prepare a sustainable pipeline of highly trained students from Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) to enter into National Security Enterprise (NSE) workforce. CREPES is envisioned for excelling in STEM field by carrying out transformative and applicable research with practical experience and training in the area of Electrical Engineering, with emphasis on Electric Power and Energy Systems Engineering, Nuclear Engineering, and related Cyber and Information Security issues. This is a collaborative effort among three MSIs and two NNSA National Labs.

Project Information:

+ Project Period: 3 years (10/2021-09/2024).
+ Total Funds: $3,000,000.
+ Lead MSI: Florida International University (FIU).
+ Partner MSIs: The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) and Alabama A&M University (AAMU).
+ Participating NNSA Labs: Sandia National Lab (SNL) and Lawrence Livermore National Lab (LLNL).
+ Target Number of Workforce to be Trained at MSIs:  48 undergraduate,  6 PhD students, 1 post-doc, and 2 young faculties. 

Key Objectives of CREPES:

+ Strengthen the research and education capabilities of MSIs in the NSE related topic areas.
+ Train high caliber students and researchers from MSIs in the areas critical to NNSA’s mission.
+ Mentor young researchers from MSIs and prepare them for leadership roles.
+ Foster collaboration among faculties and researchers at MSIs and NNSA National Laboratories.
+ Aim for sustainability of the Consortium.