Interest already growing for MSc by Research in Renewable Energy
Tue, 24 Dec 2013 08:47:00 GMT
Students will have the use of advanced facilities for biofuels, automotive test and wind turbines
THE global demand and need for renewable energy is growing, and an innovative course at the University of Huddersfield means it will play an increasingly important role in training the next generation of experts in the field.
The course is a Masters by Research in Renewable Energy. Just launched, it has already attracted applicants from the UK and overseas. Students can select which area of renewables they wish to research and they will receive back-up from University of Huddersfield experts in a wide range of fields, including biofuels, wind power engineering, condition monitoring of wind turbines, solar power plus the political and economic issues surrounding renewable energy.
Students will also have the use of advanced facilities such as a biodiesel production plant, state-of-the-art automotive test facilities, wind turbines, plus simulation and modelling software.
The course was devised by Dr Belachew Tesfa (pictured right), who is a Research Fellow within the University’s Centre for Efficiency and Performance Engineering, which is headed by Professor Andrew Ball, Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research and Enterprise.
A number of UK universities are offering research degrees in renewable energy, but the Huddersfield Master’s course is unique in that it starts with up to three months of specially-tailored taught modules which will provide students with greater understanding of the field and develop the skills they need before embarking their own research.
Ethiopian-born Dr Tesfa, who relocated to the UK for his own postgraduate studies, culminating in a PhD at the University of Huddersfield, is delighted by the level of interest shown in the new course and the rapid recruitment of a first cohort of students, who will begin in early 2014.
He explained that there were two key reasons for the drive towards renewable energy – the need to combat climate change by reducing carbon emissions; and the need for countries such as the UK to establish energy security, because of the dangers of political instability in many of the major current sources of energy.
The University of Huddersfield’s large number of research groups working in relevant fields meant that it was ideally equipped to offer the new MSc course, said Dr Tesfa. The UK students who had signed up to the course were sponsored by industry and would study part-time over two years. The overseas applicants – from Africa and Russia so far – would take the course full-time over a single year.
It is hoped that the course will expand the University’s links with industrial partners in the field of renewable energy and that some of the MSc students might progress to cutting-edge doctoral research.
Dr Tesfa will be one of the team of academic staff offering specialist supervision for the MSc. His own research includes work on biofuels and he has developed a new technique for the dramatic reduction of NOx emissions from biofuel powered engines.
