Introduction
Programme overview
The landscape of the energy industry is drastically changing throughout the world due to concern over global warming, push for using carbon-neutral energy sources, geopolitical problems connected to the fossil fuel sources and increasing demand for electricity. Strict regulations over the emissions from the energy industry and new roadmaps for a fossil-fuel-free future are in place in many countries. Worldwide, companies, universities and research institutes are exploring new technologies and improving existing technologies to meet new demands and regulations.
The programme relates mainly to energy conversion and energy distribution, which concerns technical equipment such as power plants, fuel cells, engines, batteries or heat pumps and are usually based on the more basic sciences thermo- and fluid dynamics, but also other parts of physics as well as parts of chemistry. The programme is a cooperation between the Departments of Energy Sciences, Architecture and the Built Environment, Biomedical Engineering and Technology and Society at LTH – the faculty of Engineering at Lund University. The research at the participating departments are multifaceted and the goals range from increased energy efficiency and reduced environmental impact to more efficient energy supply in sustainable urban construction. This expertise should now be implemented in the education of future students to fill the gap between the graduate's knowledge and fast-changing energy industry. The proposed master’s programme is aimed to address this gap.
You will have some freedom to choose courses fitting your personal interest and can choose between four tracks, i.e., automotive, computational, electric power systems and space heating and cooling. The programme features both theoretical and practical learning, as well as group assignments and presentations. In addition to courses, all of our students undertake a research project for their Master’s thesis. The project can be done either in cooperation with industry or be of an academic nature and can be carried out either locally or abroad.
Curriculum
Programme structure
The mandatory block consists of 6 courses emphasising energy conversion and environmental aspects. The aim is to provide a foundation for the more specialised tracks and project courses later in the programme.
The mandatory block is followed by three elective mandatory courses (choose 2 out of the 3). These complement the mandatory courses and serves as an entry to the tracks.
Four elective tracks are available:
- The automotive track provides in-depth knowledge on powertrain technology for land and sea transportation. The courses in this track further develop knowledge from the mandatory and elective mandatory courses.
- The computational track provides methods applicable to many energy engineering problems.
- Electric power systems i.e., at the intersection between classical mechanical and electric engineering. It provides a broad understanding of both production and distribution of electricity, addressing the difficulties of introducing renewable electricity sources, into the grid.
- Space heating and cooling deals with energy requirements and technologies for good indoor climate, primarily using energy that would otherwise not be used.
Career Opportunities
Career prospects
Currently, there are very big changes in the world's energy supply.
The programme aims to develop future energy technology professionals by providing them with deep theoretical knowledge in combination with hands-on practical experience. The programme will prepare students and develop the necessary professional knowledge for a career in energy companies, authorities or consulting firms.
The energy industry is large. For example, more than half of the world's 20 largest companies (in revenue) are oil or energy companies. Planned investments in infrastructure (transformation and transfer) are huge. The consequences for the labour market should be that the demand for people educated in energy technology will continue to increase. As an example, the site recruiter.com predicts a 5% annual increase in demand for "Energy Engineers" for the US market, and we expect an even bigger demand in the BRICS countries.