Overview
Modules are delivered by staff from many different disciplines, allowing the student to gain understanding of the roles of a range of engineering disciplines involved in the energy and sustainability field. Site visits are organised which have included: wind farms, hydroelectric power stations, and solar installations. Visiting speakers provide industry input to the programme and have included GSK, Phillips 66, OpenHydro, Arup, Kingspan, Stryker, and Abbotts. Most of these companies now employ graduates from the programme.
A major individual research project is undertaken by each student in the final year. In most cases, this project has been brought back from the work placement and has real industry relevance.
There is a mandatory work placement module for a minimum of 10 weeks at the end of the third year, however, in most instances the company will extend this over the summer up to 6 months in total. The student will be placed in an energy related industry, consultancy, government agency (SEAI), or research group. The placement will be assessed by means of presentations, reports and research project development and is supported by a member of academic staff in MTU together with a workplace mentor. There are opportunities for students to spend this period abroad on a European exchange.
Accreditation
The course is professionally accredited by the Energy Institute to undergraduate level, further learning at masters level is required to meet the education standard for Chartered Engineer. The Energy Institute operates under the Engineering Council in the UK.
The BEng (Honours) in Sustainable Energy Engineering is fully accredited by Engineers Ireland at the Bachelor (Honours) Level 8 educational standard. Further learning is required to meet the educational standard for Chartered Engineer.