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A Bachelors Degree Program in Renewable Energy Engineering

Conference Paper  in  Proceedings - Frontiers in Education Conference · December 2006

DOI: 10.1109/FIE.2006.322649 · Source: IEEE Xplore

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 Session S1H
A Bachelors Degree Program in Renewable Energy
Engineering
Robert B. Bass, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor and Program Director
Renewable Energy Systems Program, Oregon Institute of Technology
Portland, OR 97222 robert.bass@oit.edu

Abstract - In the Spring of 2005, the Oregon Institute of in particular. The courses integrated into the curriculum focus
Technology began offering its new Bachelors of Science on three fundamental areas; electrical engineering courses in
degree program in Renewable Energy Systems. This power production and distribution, circuit design, and
degree program incorporates the fundamentals of semiconductor device physics; mechanical engineering
electrical and mechanical engineering, with an aim coursework in heat transfer, fluid mechanics and thermal
towards preparing students for careers in the power and systems; and chemistry fundamentals geared towards bio-fuels
renewable energy industries. We intend to develop this and fuel cells. These three educational pathways become
program into a fully-accredited engineering program, one integrated in junior and senior-level courses such as energy
that will establish momentum towards revitalizing system integration, net-zero building design and renewable
undergraduate education in power and energy systems energy transportation systems.
engineering. Furthermore, this program has been Evidence of need for engineers versed in renewable
successful in attracting students who are not traditionally power systems calls for rapid development of similar
interested in engineering. The appeal of the renewable programs throughout the world. As mentioned, our program
energy engineering curriculum offers the potential to at OIT is based on similar programs in Australia. Similar
expand the pool of engineering students by attracting programs exist throughout Europe, including The University
students who would not otherwise apply to traditional of Dundee in Scotland, The Royal Institute of Technology in
engineering schools. This paper also provides suggestions Stockholm, Sweden and De Montfort University in England
for other schools interested in initiating a similar degree [4-6]. To facilitate the development of additional renewable
program. energy engineering programs, we have decided to assist in the
dissemination of curricula to other institutions. This is now
Index Terms - renewable energy, engineering education, being done through our online open-curriculum project, hosted
sustainable, power engineering by the renewable energy program at OIT.
INTRODUCTION STUDENT APPEAL
The Oregon Institute of Technology (OIT) began a new Since the start of the degree program in the Spring of 2005,
Bachelors of Science program in Renewable Energy Systems the renewable energy systems program has successfully
(RES) in the Spring of 2005. This program is modeled after attracted a wide variety of prospective students. Most of these
similar ones at the University of New South Wales and students may be classified as non-traditional; consider that
Murdoch University in Australia, but is the first of its kind in • roughly one third of applicants already have bachelors
North America [1], [2]. Our degree program provides the degrees.
engineering principles required by recent college graduates • around one third of the applicants are women.
entering the growing field of renewable energy engineering • applicant age range is predominantly between 25 and 35,
[3]. with some applicants in their 40’s and 50’s.
During the three terms that the RES degree program has • the percentage of out-of-state applications to the
been offered, we have seen considerable interest from a wide renewable energy program is larger than the percentage of
variety of potential students. Our program attracts attention out-of-state applicant to OIT in general.
from non-traditional students drawn by the unique curriculum
and career potential. These applicants view the RES degree as Through interviews with prospective students, we have
a pathway towards establishing new careers or supplementingfound that our applicants are drawn to the program by a
their current careers with a renewable engineering education.
variety of factors. These include
These students view our curriculum as especially relevant to
• the unique curriculum of the renewable energy systems
the health of the environment and to the current affairs of geo-degree. Prospective students interested in power systems
politics. or renewable energy are hard-pressed to find such
The RES degree curriculum combines the electrical, programs in their home states.
mechanical, and chemical engineering proficiencies associated
• a desire to make a difference in society. Many of these
with power systems in general, and renewable energy systems prospective students note reasons such as geo-political
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 Session T1A
issues, environmental concerns and an interest in off-grid generators, and power devices (inverters, converters, power
energy resources. supplies). At the 200-level, students expand their electronics
• interests in renewable energy public policy. Students education into semiconductors, amplifiers and digital circuits.
recognize that a technical background in power These courses are also taken by students in OIT’s electrical
engineering provides them with an advantage when engineering program.
seeking positions in energy-policy organizations.
III. Mechanical Engineering Fundamentals
• a recognition of growth industries. Applicants recognize
the potential for new career paths and new small The mechanical engineering component of the renewable
businesses in industries growing at a rate of 20% per year energy systems curriculum centers on the mechanisms of
or higher [7]. energy flow. This coursework includes classes in
• an interest in research in renewable energy engineering. thermodynamics, heat transfer and exchange, as well as fluid
Many applicants intend to continue their education mechanics. Students take these courses from professors in the
through graduate studies in renewable energy mechanical engineering technology program.
engineering, and express interest in working at research IV. Chemistry
institutions such as the National Renewable Energy Lab,
NREL. The chemistry fundamentals required for the renewable energy
degree center on two distinct fields. The first of these,
PROGRAM DESIGN electrochemistry, provides the basic principles necessary for
understanding fuel cells and the production of hydrogen. The
The course offerings of electrical and mechanical engineering
other distinct field is biochemistry, which includes the topics
programs throughout the nation have shifted as developments
of anaerobic digestion, fermentation, transesterfication and
in technology have created new markets. For electrical
enzyme hydrolysis. These are the fundamentals required for
engineering programs, the tendency over the past several
understanding the production of bio-fuels such as ethanol,
decades has been to move away from power engineering
biodiesel and bio-gas.
coursework and towards emerging fields such as
semiconductors, embedded systems, communications, and V. Upper-division Coursework
control systems. Likewise, mechanical engineering programs
Bringing all of the fundamentals together, students study a
nowadays typically focus classes towards machine design,
multitude of energy systems at the 300- and 400-level. These
dynamic systems and material mechanics. While demand
include wind power, bio-energy, fuel cell technologies, net-
exists from both students and industry for these programs, the
zero building and renewable energy transportation systems.
adjustments in course offerings have typically lead to a dearth
In addition, a three-course sequence in photovoltaics,
in power-related courses.
offered during the third year, builds a thorough understanding
The renewable energy degree program at OIT addresses
of PV systems upon previous coursework in electrical
the need for power engineering curricula in general and
fundamentals and solid-state physics.
renewable energy education in particular. Dependence on
A cross-disciplinary sequence of three 400-level courses
fossil fuels has entrenched an energy sector into a paradigm
ties all of these energy systems together. The study of energy
that will be forced to shift as non-renewable energy resources
system design, instrumentation and management presents
begin to diminish [8]. This shift requires a cadre of highly-
students with the “big picture” of power generation and
educated engineers capable of understanding the renewable
distribution.
energy options available to a society whose economy is
intimately link to a reliable supply of inexpensive energy.
I .Math and Science Fundamentals
The math and science coursework incorporated into the
renewable energy systems degree prepares students for
subsequent 200- and 300-level engineering coursework. The
Oregon Institute of Technology operates on a trimester
system, so the presentation of classes follows this scheduling.
Three terms of calculus-based physics and two terms of
FIGURE 1 A FUEL CELL CAR DESIGNED AND BUILT BY STUDENTS AT THE
engineering-level chemistry establish the science OREGON INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY.
fundamentals required for power engineering. Math
coursework includes statistics and calculus through the All senior engineering students at OIT undertake a year-
integral calculus level. long senior project. The senior project provides students with
II .Electrical Engineering Fundamentals the opportunity to plan, manage and execute their own project.
Seniors incorporate their mechanical, electrical and chemistry
In addition to AC and DC electrical fundamentals, students education into a comprehensive project that demonstrates their
also study power systems (power transformers, power understanding of renewable energy systems. Past projects
transmission, three-phase systems), electric motors and include development of a fuel cell car (Figure 1), a 5kW
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 Session T1A
photovoltaic array curve tracer, a bi-facial solar concentrator curriculum. If fuel cell curricula exist on the REO network for
(Figure 2) and a hybrid conversion kit for gasoline vehicles. 300-level undergraduates but not for high school students, the
(Prior to the establishment of the renewable energy systems high school instructor can quickly adapt this posted fuel cell
program at OIT, senior projects in renewable energy for material for their needs rather than developing new material
students from other engineering programs were sponsored by from scratch. Once modified, this high school-level fuel cell
OREC, the Oregon Renewable Energy Center, which is a part curriculum would then be posted on REO, making it available
of OIT.) to other high school programs.
The REO open-curriculum development web application
is hosted on a server maintained by OIT in Portland, Oregon.
The server is primarily dedicated to hosting REO; the open-
curriculum development application and the various course
materials. The application that hosts the Renewable Energy
Open-Curriculum Development Project is called dotProject,
which is a volunteer-supported project development
application [11]. DotProject allows users to manage projects
through an online forum by providing features such as file
management, task scheduling and discussion forums. These
tools facilitate the development of projects between
individuals connected exclusively through the Internet. By
FIGURE 2 STUDENTS AT THE OREGON INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY TEST design, dotProject addresses the project development needs of
THEIR BI-FACIAL SOLAR CELL PARABOLIC CONCENTRATOR. open-source software development groups (dotProject itself is
an open-source project), but is equally amendable to other
THE OPEN-CURRICULUM PROJECT development projects, such as college and high school
curriculum.
The task of developing curricula for an entirely new bachelor
degree program is certainly consuming, especially when many ACCREDITATION
of the upper-level classes are unique to this degree and It is our goal to transform the renewable energy systems
intended to present a caliber of education commensurate with degree program at OIT into an accredited renewable energy
traditional engineering-level coursework [9]. Our challenge is engineering degree program, perhaps initially under ABET’s
compounded by the fact that OIT is a small institution, and our general ‘Engineering’ discipline category. The melding of
current RES faculty consists of only one full-time teaching electrical engineering and mechanical engineering curricula
professor. By leveraging the expertise of other interested into a renewable energy engineering degree program is similar
institutions and cooperatively participating in the development to how computer science and computer engineering degree
of curricula, the size of the task lessens considerably. In programs developed from applied mathematics and electrical
addition, the varied array of coursework demands the attention engineering programs. It may also be compared to the
of experts in nanotechnology, physical and organic chemistry, development of the Environmental Resources Engineering
semiconductor materials, aerodynamics, biology, power Program at Humboldt State University in Arcadia, California,
generation and distribution, and energy auditing as well as which developed a very unique, and ABET accredited,
other far-reaching disciplines. Such a wide range of program around 20 years ago. Our renewable energy program
disciplines will certainly never be fully grasped in depth by will attempt to establish a similar precedent by becoming an
any one individual. ABET-accredited renewable energy engineering bachelors
The Renewable Energy Open-curriculum development program.
project (REO) approaches this problem by allowing
specialized coursework to be developed by REO members CONCLUSION
possessing the appropriate backgrounds [10]. Other REO
members may then gather curricula for their individual OIT’s renewable energy systems program has experienced
programs, confident that the materials were developed by considerable growth since first offering classes in the Spring
industry experts. of 2005. The students joining our program come from outside
Furthermore, REO members may choose the curriculum the traditional demographic of engineering students; we have
material they wish to develop and incorporate into their seen considerable interest from applicants who already have a
curriculum. Based on specialized needs, curricula may be bachelors degree, whose age demographic is outside of the
selected to accommodate programs that concentrate on, for typical post-high school bracket and who recognize a social
example, wind turbine technologies or bio-fuel farming and calling for renewable energy. The components of our
refinement. Furthermore, the academic level of course curriculum are viewed as especially relevant to the current
materials may be tailored to meet the demands of various geo-political climate, and are regarded by many prospective
institutions. For example, a high school physics instructorstudents as considerably important. A broad spectrum of the
may wish to incorporate a fuel cell lesson into their population shares these strong motivating factors, and this
interest will serve to inspire the student numbers capable of
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providing sustained growth for RES degree programs
throughout the world.
For other institutions, developing a renewable energy
engineering program is most easily accomplished if the
institution already provides both mechanical and electrical
engineering programs. All of the coursework unique to
renewable energy is built upon a foundation of electrical and
mechanical engineering principles. Only about a third of the
sophomore and junior courses at OIT are nontraditional,
renewable energy engineering classes, though all of the senior
coursework is renewable-energy specific. Therefore, much of
the curriculum already exists at engineering institutions.
Furthermore, participation in the REO Curriculum Project
would hasten the development of new coursework for the
institution. The REO project can aid in decreasing the time to
market for a new program by openly disseminating renewable
energy curricula and promoting the sharing of ideas. There
are demands from both industry and students for more
programs like OIT’s, so methods for rapidly developing new
programs should be exploited. Cross-institutional cooperation
in developing such degree programs is, academically, in the
interest of all concerned parties.
At OIT, we are leveraging the existing curricula of our
Mechanical Engineering Technology and Electrical
Engineering Technology degree programs. RES students take
many of their courses from instructors in these departments.
Also, we are building cross-disciplinary programs, very much
like minors, that allow existing MET and EET students to get
involved in RES coursework and senior projects while still
earning their respective degrees. Furthermore, many of the
RES courses are listed as engineering electives by these other
programs. Taken together, these integration efforts have
increased the diversity of backgrounds in many of our
engineering courses, and have helped to support the RES
program during its first year.
A study by NREL and its partners within the National
Center for Photovoltaics predicts that within twenty years, the
1-4244-0257-3/06/$20.00 © 2006 IEEE
36th ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference
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Session T1A
solar energy industry will employ more than 150,000
Americans, and this trend is likely to be replicated worldwide
[12]. Similar growth is projected for the solar thermal
industry, while the U.S. wind power industry saw a tenfold
increase in installation between 1993 and 2003 [13]. All of
these industries will demand a workforce versed in
engineering fields relevant to renewable technologies.
Renewable energy engineering programs can help meet the
growing demand from both industry and students.
REFERENCES
[1] University of New South Wales, www.unsw.edu.au
[2] Murdoch University, www.murdoch.edu.au
[3] Yarbrough, J. M., “Bachelor of Science in Renewable Energy Systems,”
Proceed. ASES/ISES 2005 Solar World Congress, Orland, FL, Aug.
2005
[4] The University of Dundee, www.Dundee.ac.uk
[5] Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, www.kte.se/eng/
[6] De Montfort University, www.dmu.ac.uk
[7] NREL Report No. BR-520-30280, 2nd Quarter 2001
[8] Hubbert, M.K., “Energy From Fossil Fuels,” Science, Vol 109, No 2823,
Feb. 1949, pp. 103-109
[9] Arya, R. R., Yarbrough, J.M., “Challenges in Renewable Energy
Education: Training the Next Generation Workforce,” Proceed. 15th
Inter. Photovoltaic Sci. & Eng. Conf., Shanghai, China, Oct. 2005
[10] Bass, R.B., Yarbrough, J.M., “A New, Open-Curriculum Bachelors of
Science Degree Program in Renewable Energy,” Proceed. Inter. Conf.
on Renewable Energy for Developing Countries, Washington, DC, April
2006
[11] dotProject website, www.dotproject.net
[12] NREL Report No. BR-520-30280, 2nd Quarter 2001
[13] NREL website www.nrel.gov
October 28 – 31, 2006, San Diego, CA