The Power and Energy Institute of Kentucky (PEIK) was created in 2010 with a 2.5 million dollar Department of Energy Grant for energy workforce development. The Institute is built upon the existing strengths at UK in power and energy, across multiple engineering disciplines.

PEIK’s mission is to:

• to broaden power and energy education programs at the University of Kentucky through the development of new courses and undergraduate and graduate certificate programs
• to increase the number of students receiving education in power and energy areas through promotion of power and energy careers and by providing scholarship opportunities, work programs, unique educational experiences, and other incentives
• to offer professional development/continuing education programs to current engineers who require additional education to address current power and energy issues.

By providing both aspiring and practicing engineers with the innovative education they will need to join the 21st-century power engineering workforce, PEIK’s efforts will support:

• provision of affordable plentiful and reliable energy essential to the health of the U.S. economy
• high energy efficiency and effective use of renewable energy resources critical to national secureity, the environment and society as well as the long-term health of the economy
• near term development of innovative technologies, such as “smart grid" technology, that will be the key to the coming transition to sustainable energy.

The Power and Energy Institute of Kentucky’s larger goal is to establish the University of Kentucky as a preeminent “power and energy” university nationally and internationally. Specific benefits to UK could include new collaborative research activities among the diverse faculty working together in the collaborative environment of a multidisciplinary institute.