Power Systems Protection Course in the Electrical Engineering Programs Offered in Brazil

This paper presents a study of the Power Systems Protection (PSP) course in the Electrical Engineering programs offered in Brazil. The course offered to the undergraduate students has great importance for the future professional of Power System Engineering and should consider aspects to ensure that the future professionals have the necessary skills to carry out the craft of the profession. Initially, the importance of the PSP theme is presented through a compilation of local data (Brazil) regarding the Brazilian Interconnected Electrical System and its impacts on the operation and issues as failures and accidents. The article continues briefly describing the Electrical Engineering programs in Brazil, with current and historical data on Engineering and specifically Electrical Engineering, comparing them with other programs. The official number of Electrical Engineering programs of public and private educational institutions in Brazil and the number of programs that the course is mandatory or optional is also compared. Following, it is presented the characteristics and common subjects addressed in the course syllabus in the different best Brazilian educational institutions according to the Brazilian Institute of Studies and Research (INEP). Finally, the paper is concluded presenting a discussion about the necessity of maintain, increase or decrease the offer of this particular course and the necessity of update its syllabus.