Solar Energy Education For Engineering Students In A Middle Eastern Country An Approach
- Conference
- Location
-
Chicago, Illinois
- Publication Date
-
June 18, 2006
- Start Date
-
June 18, 2006
- End Date
-
June 21, 2006
- ISSN
-
2153-5965
- Conference Session
- Tagged Division
-
International
- Page Count
-
8
- Page Numbers
-
11.1139.1 - 11.1139.8
- DOI
-
10.18260/1-2--259
- Permanent URL
-
https://peer.asee.org/259
- Download Count
-
358
Paper Authors
David Dalton The Petroleum Institute
David F Dalton is a senior lecturer in Communications at the Petroleum Institute in Abu Dhabi. He has sixteen years experience of teaching language and communications at universities in the UK, Spain, Mexico and the UAE. He also has extensive experience of curriculum design and educational management.
His current work focuses on teaching a range of practical, synthesized communications and research skills to students who will later work in the oil and gas industry as engineers, managers and administrators.
Isoroku Kubo The Petroleum Institute
Dr. Isoroku Kubo is an associate professor at the Petroleum Institute in Abu Dhabi. He holds Ph.D. degree from the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering department at Cornell University and has taught several mechanical engineering courses for 7 years.
He is an internationally recognized authority for his work in the solar energy-driven power which won him and his team at Cummins the prestigious R&D 100 award. Before starting his academic career, he worked in the automotive industry for many years including 17 years at Cummins Engine Company (USA).
Abstract
NOTE: The first page of text has been automatically extracted and included below in lieu of an abstract
Solar Energy Education for Engineering Students in a Middle Eastern Context-an approach.
1. Introduction
The purpose of this paper is to describe a currently ad-hoc approach to teaching United Arab Emirates engineering students about alternative sources of energy. In tertiary institutes in the USA, Australasia, Europe and elsewhere, such a focus would be a given in the curriculum as the issue is a well-established one. In this region, it is relatively new, as the concept of inexhaustible oil has long dominated. Awareness (not interest) among the student body and the broader society has consequently not been substantially developed.
In the context of depletion of non-renewable energy sources, increasing concern about global warming, economic considerations and a shift of focus within the oil and gas industry itself, not only is such an initiative relevant, but (we advocate) should be a planned and programmed part of our curriculum development process. It should be both cross-curricular and interdisciplinary and project based in nature. Already, engineering programs in the Gulf region such as those in King Faisal University of Petroleum and Minerals in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait University include ASE issues and components in their curriculum, albeit at differing stages of development.
It is further significant in our context in that we are committed to developing behavioral competencies outlined by our sponsor, the national oil company- teamwork, organization, planning; time-management etc. ASE projects lend themselves to the kind of teamwork and project management which utilizes these skills and is so common in the engineering and energy industry. In addition, as we are a foreign language institute, they provide a clear context and framework for the application and development of the students’ language skills.
2. Background
The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) operates in all areas of the oil and gas industry. It was established in 1971 and has steadily widened its endeavors through its subsidiaries, establishing an integrated oil and gas industry in Abu Dhabi. The Company manages and oversees oil production of over two million barrels a day and is among the top ten oil and gas companies in the world. It has substantial and impressive upstream and downstream operations in transportation, shipping, marketing and distribution.
Five years ago, ADNOC announced the establishment of The Petroleum Institute, in Abu Dhabi. The decree, establishing the Petroleum Institute, provides for an entity that will bring together the best from education and industry to create a world class regional center for engineering, applied science and research.
ADNOC and its partners signed a ten-year agreement with Colorado School of Mines to provide leadership in programs and curriculum design, with the goal of achieving international accreditation for the Petroleum Institute.
Dalton, D., & Kubo, I. (2006, June), Solar Energy Education For Engineering Students In A Middle Eastern Country An Approach Paper presented at 2006 Annual Conference & Exposition, Chicago, Illinois. 10.18260/1-2--259
ASEE holds the copyright on this document. It may be read by the public free of charge. Authors may archive their work on personal websites or in institutional repositories with the following citation: © 2006 American Society for Engineering Education. Other scholars may excerpt or quote from these materials with the same citation. When excerpting or quoting from Conference Proceedings, authors should, in addition to noting the ASEE copyright, list all the original authors and their institutions and name the host city of the conference. - Last updated April 1, 2015