Northumbria launches new Renewable and Sustainable Energy Technologies programme
Engineers looking to develop a career in the rapidly developing renewable and sustainable energy sector can study a new specialist MSc programme at Northumbria University from January 2012.
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This new programme is studied full-time at the University’s City Campus, lasting 16 months for those starting in January, and 12/16 months for those starting in September. It will appeal to students from a range of academic backgrounds, including mechanical, electrical, civil and other suitable engineering and science disciplines.
Students will gain a thorough grounding in wind energy, solar energy, geothermal energy, biomass, and hybrid energy systems. In addition, they will be able to choose options to tailor the programme to their interests, as well as having the opportunity to complete the MSc project on their chosen topic.
Continuing rapid growth in the renewable energy industry has resulted in strong demand for highly trained engineers who specialise in renewable and sustainable energy technologies in the UK and worldwide. Nowhere was this more evident than at the RenewableUK 2011 conference and exhibition, held in Manchester in October. Representatives from the School of Computing, Engineering and Information Sciences (CEIS) attended both the conference and careers fair, which attracted around 5,000 delegates and visitors over the three days.
The MSc Renewable and Sustainable Energy Technologies was very well received at the careers fair, attracting a lot of interest from undergraduate students and Forces personnel looking to re-settle into civilian careers.
With the UK signed up to generate 20% of its electrical energy from renewable sources by 2020, creating an estimated half a million jobs, there is no better time to explore a career in this area.
David Bell, Acting Dean, School of CEIS, commented: “Northumbria University has a strong reputation in the renewable energies sector, with 50% of research submitted in the most recent Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) recognised as ‘internationally excellent’.
“Our students benefit from hands-on learning, working with functional wind turbines and photovoltaic panels installed on the campus. Our dedicated power and renewable energy laboratory has first-class equipment for monitoring, testing and developing wind and solar energy outputs.”
The career prospects for graduates from this course are excellent. The North East is recognised by many of the major industry players as a key strategic location to service the offshore renewables market. In October 2011, a group of 19 of North East England’s leading energy sector companies formed Energi Coast, North East England’s Renewables Group, to promote the extensive expertise of the region’s offshore renewables sector and secure a proportion of the £1billion global market.
They have invested almost £400 million to help realise the region’s ambition to become a global hub for offshore renewable energy solutions. The group’s members currently employ around 6,000 people, which are forecast to grow by 30 percent as Round 3 offshore wind activities gather pace.
To see more detailed information about the programme, please visit: http://www.northumbria.ac.uk/?view=CourseDetail&code=DTFRSE6
Date posted: November 4, 2011
