Responding to climate change, rising energy costs, and security issues facing society, the University of North Dakota’s Graduate School and School of Engineering and Mines have established a new master's degree program in Sustainable Energy Engineering (SEE). This program is designed to equip students for careers associated with sustainable energy technologies as well as to conduct research and development activities or to pursue advanced studies in technologies that will provide sustainable sources of energy in the future.

UND will be the first university in the United States to offer a graduate degree in Sustainable Energy Engineering. Internationally, the SEE degree is offered at the Royal Institute of Technology (Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan, KTH) in Sweden, Aalborg University in Denmark, the University of Adelaide in Australia, and University of Sarajevo in Bosnia Herzegovina.

This new program will educate graduate students in the growing field of sustainable energy engineering which includes the environmentally acceptable use of coal; renewable fuels and chemicals; the absorption and conversion of solar energy; the absorption and conversion of wind energy, geothermal energy conversion, technologies to leverage hydrogen as an energy translation medium (the production, storage, distribution, and utilization of hydrogen), and other technologies. Coursework is designed to help students develop a broad background in the technical, economic, and societal factors needed to develop sustainable energy.

"This program continues UND’s tradition as a world leader in energy-related research and education," said SEM Dean Hesham El-Rewini. "It is one component of our strategic plan to insure that UND remains at the forefront of developments in energy technologies. This program will be coordinated with our current Ph.D. program in engineering which includes a specialty track in energy studies and our master's programs in environmental engineering. Programs in Petroleum engineering are also planned for the near future."

Research projects will provide focused, experiential learning in areas of sustainable energy engineering. Sustainable energy development is a major economic growth area for the state of North Dakota and graduates of this program will be uniquely suited to work in these emerging fields. The program will be co-administered with existing chemical engineering and environmental engineering master's programs at UND.

Graduate school dean Joseph Benoit and his staff helped SEM faculty in putting the program together and gaining its formal approval. "Socially relevant programs like the Sustainable Energy Engineering program help UND attract the best and brightest students from around the world. We are very excited to be the first in the nation to offer this degree."

Commenting on the new program, UND School of Engineering Associate Dean for Research Michael Mann said, "This new program will enhance the quality and diversity of UND’s advanced studies portfolio and help UND to remain responsive to the state, the region, the nation, and the global society."

For further information, please contact Dr. Frank Bowman, Director Sustainable Energy Engineering Graduate Studies at 777-4245; frank.bowman@und.edu

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About UND SEM: The UND School of Engineering and Mines (SEM) is a fully accredited engineering program offering undergraduate and graduate degree programs in civil, chemical, electrical, energy, environmental, and mechanical engineering, with undergraduate program concentrations in computer and aerospace engineering. The School emphasizes its teaching mission while supporting a wide variety of innovative research in the areas of sustainable energy, bio-fuels, distance learning, aerospace payload development, remote sensing, engineered surfaces, and hydrogen fuel cell technologies.