Tuesday, Nov 12, 2024 • Brian Lopez : contact

Shreyya Nair, a master's student in electrical engineering at The University of Texas at Arlington, credits her internship this semester to UTA’s Advanced Power & Energy Lab-to-Job-Training for Underserved Students (APLUS) program.

Nair has been interning at Megger, an electrical test equipment company, where she is gaining hands-on experience before she graduates. Through the APLUS program, she connected with energy industry professionals and learned about the skills she needed to secure an internship and, one day, a full-time job.

“If it weren’t for the APLUS program, I wouldn’t have been able to practice and execute my knowledge of power systems fundamentals,” Nair said. “This led to me having the experience required for my internship.”

The APLUS program, headed by Liwei Zhou, assistant professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering, launched in April with funding from a $200,000 U.S. Department of Energy grant. Dr. Zhou’s program teaches electrical engineering students skills that directly translate to industry work, such as how to build circuit boards for electric vehicle chargers and other power supplies.

To support this effort, he invited 10 companies based in the energy industry to campus to provide students with seminars on how to apply these skills to internships and job opportunities.

Zhou says the program aims to bridge the gap between theory and industry for engineering students, especially those who may not be getting hands-on experience.

Our goals as professors are not only to explain theory, but also to connect our students with industry and give them the experience needed as they graduate and go on the job hunt,” he said.

UTA has been at the forefront of the energy industry and exploring how to better serve Texans’ electricity needs. This past spring, the Department of Electrical Engineering received a $1.6 million federal grant to improve regional and state wholesale electricity markets. This fall, the University also fully launched its resource and energy engineering degree program to equip students with the skills needed to address local, national and global energy challenges.

About The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA)

Located in the heart of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, The University of Texas at Arlington is a comprehensive teaching, research, and public service institution dedicated to the advancement of knowledge through scholarship and creative work. With an enrollment of approximately 41,000 students, UT Arlington is the second-largest institution in the UT System. UTA’s combination of outstanding academics and innovative research contributes to its designation as a Carnegie R-1 “Very High Research Activity” institution, a significant milestone of excellence. The University is designated as a Hispanic Serving-Institution and an Asian American Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institution by the U.S. Department of Education and has earned the Seal of Excelencia for its commitment to accelerating Latino student success. The University ranks as the No. 1 national public university in the U.S. for veterans (Military Times, 2024), No. 4 in Texas for advancing social mobility (U.S. News & World Report, 2025), and No. 6 in the United States for its undergraduate ethnic diversity (U.S. News & World Report, 2025). UT Arlington’s approximately 270,000 alumni occupy leadership positions at many of the 21 Fortune 500 companies headquartered in North Texas and contribute to the University’s $28.8 billion annual economic impact on Texas.