Heriot-Watt University (HWU) has announced that it is launching a Master of Science program “to provide advanced training in the increasingly urgent work of the energy transition”.
The program is delivered face-to-face at the University’s Orkney campus through the School of Energy, Geoscience, Infrastructure and Society (EGIS) and focuses on technologies, systems, processes and economics, along with design of transition projects to move away from fossil fuels and accelerate the integration of renewable energies, HWU said in its media release.
The Master in Renewable and Sustainable Energy Transition (MSc ReSET) is based on the rapidly growing discipline of Transition Engineering, an interdisciplinary approach to changing unsustainable systems across energy, transport, industry , real estate and other sectors, the university added.
The program has been developed by Professor Susan Krumdieck, a mechanical and energy systems engineer from New Zealand, international expert in energy transition research and Chair of Energy Transition Engineering at HWU.
“If the world is to decarbonise and reach net zero emissions by 2050, entire systems will need to be redesigned and rebuilt, including energy infrastructure, technology, regulation and markets,” Professor Krumdieck explained.
“A new generation of transition engineering specialists is needed to drive this change, and our MSc ReSET is strongly focused on helping students and practitioners develop these vital skills, so they can help restore global energy systems,” he add Krumdieck.
Over the next decade, HWU experts predict that the need for transition engineering will grow at all levels of society, from local communities and small businesses to local and national government, large corporations, developers of ‘renewable energies, public service companies and oil and gas companies, the university. he said in his statement.
“Our course addresses the needs of multiple communities and organizations that are under pressure to meet net zero goals and address climate change,” said Professor Krumdieck. “Students will address real-world issues, such as the transition to walkable neighborhoods or net zero products, and learn to use digital tools to model and analyze transition scenarios.”
The course is taught by experts in renewable energy, economics and transition engineering at Heriot-Watt’s International Center for Island Technology (ICIT) in the coastal town of Stromness.
The master’s program is also taught online and has four themes: transition engineering, economics and commercialization, renewable energy technology and energy systems.
The Renewable Energy Technology topic looks at key renewable technologies and how they are developed and integrated into the electricity grid, HWU said. Economics and Commercialization covers topics including the financing, compliance and planning of renewable energy projects, with commercialization case studies provided by industry experts, HWU added. Energy Systems focuses on how energy is supplied, distributed and delivered to buildings, transportation and infrastructure, including the technology used by energy users, HWU said.
Tackling the immensely complex problems associated with rapidly reducing fossil fuel use will require an approach that Professor Krumdieck and her colleagues have coined “InTIME Design,” HWU noted.
InTIME stands for Interdisciplinary Transition Innovation, Management and Engineering and basically refers to the creative problem solving that is needed at multiple levels to change the way energy is generated, delivered and used, according to HWU.
“InTIME Design is the work of changing unsustainable systems already in use, whether they are buildings, transportation, commercial or industrial practices, or products,” said Krumdieck.
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