The Iowa Board of Regents has recently approved a new Master’s of Engineering in Energy Systems. The 10-course online or on-campus degree is offered through Iowa State University’s Department of Mechanical Engineering and is bolstered by a Graduate Certificate Program and an undergraduate Minor in Energy Systems.
“We are pleased the Board of Regents have approved the Master’s of Engineering in Energy Systems. This new program will benefit those students, both on campus and those working full-time, who want to advance their energy education,” said Ted Heindel, DOGE of Energy Systems Engineering and Bergles Professor of Thermal Science in the Department of Mechanical Engineering.
The Graduate Certificate in Energy Systems Engineering is a joint project between the Iowa State Department of Mechanical Engineering and Engineering-Liberal Arts and Sciences (LAS) Online Learning. The certificate requires students to take two core online courses and two elective online courses.
The undergraduate minor repackaged existing courses in the college of engineering with an existing economics course, Energy, Environmental and Resource Economics (Econ 380). The minor allows students to choose a variety of engineering electives from fourteen of the departments and divisions of the College of Engineering to gain a broad perspective about energy systems.
The Master’s of Engineering (MEng) in Energy Systems does not require a thesis or final project and students can use courses from the certificate to complete the master’s program.
“The program is geared, typically, towards working professionals,” Heindel said. “Or, an on campus student can complete it in one year if they wanted to take the required thirty credits during one academic year.”
The two required courses are ME 531X, Advanced Energy Systems and Analysis and ME 510X, Energy Engineering Economics and Policy. Both of these courses were developed and added specifically for the certificate and master’s program. To this core, students can add from a variety of courses offered online from Aerospace Engineering, Biorenewable Resources and Technology, Chemical Engineering, Construction Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or Nuclear Engineering.
The Energy Systems Engineering Certificate should not be confused with the (Industrial) Systems Engineering Graduate Certificate or the (Electrical) Power Systems Engineering Graduate Certificate, both also available online through Iowa State.
The original story first appeared on the Iowa NSF EPSCoR website.