Education in Energy Engineering Based on Industry Needs

Joakim Sigurd Wren

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Conference: 2015 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Seattle, Washington
Publication Date: June 14, 2015
Start Date: June 14, 2015
End Date: June 17, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-692-50180-1
ISSN: 2153-5965
Conference Session: ECCD International Outreach
Tagged Division: Energy Conversion and Conservation
Tagged Topic: Diversity
Page Count: 12
Page Numbers: 26.572.1 - 26.572.12
DOI: 10.18260/p.23910
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/23910
Download Count: 502

Paper Authors

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Joakim Sigurd Wren Linkoping University

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Joakim Wren is an Associate Professor in Applied Thermodynamics and Fluid Mechanics at
Linköping University, Sweden. His interest is on education and research in Engineering Thermodynamics and Energy engineering.

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Abstract

Education in Energy Engineering Based on Industry NeedsThe general trend in society is towards increasing sustainability, which is reflected also inengineering education [1]. Consequently, there is an increasing demand on education in energyengineering in a broad sense, including e.g. environmental technology and energy systemsengineering. Although the number of courses and programs in the field has grown substantiallythe last 10-20 years, there are still some gaps to fill.Education in this relatively new field has so far tended to not fully address industry and societyneeds, especially not the needs of new small emerging companies and societies/countries that arenot yet industrialized. As an example to highlight the importance of the latter, the country ofRwanda is planning to double its electricity generation from 2014-17 – this will be carried out indifferent ways, but the country’s very low GDP drives the production to the cheapest possiblewhich often means burning of fossil fuel without exhaust gas cleaning. A further discussion ofthe challenges associated with sustainability and engineering education can be found in [2].This paper presents the development and evaluation of a new energy engineering profile, beingthe core of a 5 years Masters program in Industrial engineering and management which is one ofthe largest and most reputed engineering programs in Sweden. The profile is designed based onindustry needs that were investigated using both questionnaires and semi-structured interviews.Student interest and faculty experience were also investigated and taken into consideration.The investigations showed that both industry and students were very positive to the profile. Theindustry experiences a clear problem to recruit personnel in energy engineering today, andforecast a worsening of the situation. The industry pointed out the importance of a curriculumthat not only includes a technological perspective, but also addresses e.g. commercial realizationand economical concerns. This is of particular importance for new technologies and energyengineering in developing countries.The profile has now run for two years. Investigations of employments etc cannot be done sinceno students have yet finished their education, but contacts with industry show a continuous largeinterest. The students are in general very satisfied, and they show a large interest in applyingtheir knowledge to among others emerging technologies in developing countries – some studentshave already carried out projects in e.g. Rwanda and Tanzania as a part of their educationsupported by SIDA (Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency). These and otheraspects will be further elaborated in the final paper, which will also present an extendedevaluation of the profile to be carried out during the winter 2014/15.References[1] Vest, Charles. “Context and Challenge for Twenty-First Century Engineering Education.” Journal of Engineering Education, July 2008, pp. 235-36.[2] Davidson, Cliff I. et al. “Adding Sustainability to the Engineer’s Toolbox: A Challenge for Engineering Educators.” Environmental Science & Technology, 2007, pp. 4847-50.

Citation
Format

Wren, J. S. (2015, June), Education in Energy Engineering Based on Industry Needs Paper presented at 2015 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Seattle, Washington. 10.18260/p.23910

TY - CPAPER
AB - Education in Energy Engineering Based on Industry NeedsThe general trend in society is towards increasing sustainability, which is reflected also inengineering education [1]. Consequently, there is an increasing demand on education in energyengineering in a broad sense, including e.g. environmental technology and energy systemsengineering. Although the number of courses and programs in the field has grown substantiallythe last 10-20 years, there are still some gaps to fill.Education in this relatively new field has so far tended to not fully address industry and societyneeds, especially not the needs of new small emerging companies and societies/countries that arenot yet industrialized. As an example to highlight the importance of the latter, the country ofRwanda is planning to double its electricity generation from 2014-17 – this will be carried out indifferent ways, but the country’s very low GDP drives the production to the cheapest possiblewhich often means burning of fossil fuel without exhaust gas cleaning. A further discussion ofthe challenges associated with sustainability and engineering education can be found in [2].This paper presents the development and evaluation of a new energy engineering profile, beingthe core of a 5 years Masters program in Industrial engineering and management which is one ofthe largest and most reputed engineering programs in Sweden. The profile is designed based onindustry needs that were investigated using both questionnaires and semi-structured interviews.Student interest and faculty experience were also investigated and taken into consideration.The investigations showed that both industry and students were very positive to the profile. Theindustry experiences a clear problem to recruit personnel in energy engineering today, andforecast a worsening of the situation. The industry pointed out the importance of a curriculumthat not only includes a technological perspective, but also addresses e.g. commercial realizationand economical concerns. This is of particular importance for new technologies and energyengineering in developing countries.The profile has now run for two years. Investigations of employments etc cannot be done sinceno students have yet finished their education, but contacts with industry show a continuous largeinterest. The students are in general very satisfied, and they show a large interest in applyingtheir knowledge to among others emerging technologies in developing countries – some studentshave already carried out projects in e.g. Rwanda and Tanzania as a part of their educationsupported by SIDA (Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency). These and otheraspects will be further elaborated in the final paper, which will also present an extendedevaluation of the profile to be carried out during the winter 2014/15.References[1] Vest, Charles. “Context and Challenge for Twenty-First Century Engineering Education.” Journal of Engineering Education, July 2008, pp. 235-36.[2] Davidson, Cliff I. et al. “Adding Sustainability to the Engineer’s Toolbox: A Challenge for Engineering Educators.” Environmental Science &amp; Technology, 2007, pp. 4847-50.
AU - Joakim Sigurd Wren
CY - Seattle, Washington
DA - 2015/06/14
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Education in Energy Engineering Based on Industry Needs
UR - https://peer.asee.org/23910
DO - 10.18260/p.23910
ER -