fbpx Ph.D. in Renewable and Sustainable Energy Program | ARAB AMERICAN UNIVERSITY
Contact information for Technical Support and Student Assistance ... Click here

Ph.D. in Renewable and Sustainable Energy

Overview

The words "sustainable" and "renewable" are often used to describe certain sources of primary energy, often interchangeably. However, not everything renewable is sustainable, and vice versa. The growing demand for energy and the very limited remaining wealth of non-sustainable sources drives the efforts to find possible alternatives. Today's energy-strapped world needs leaders with the highest level of knowledge and research expertise. University graduate programs focus on energy engineering fundamentals, along with independent research and career preparation

The Ph.D. program in Renewable and Sustainable Energy is a 3 years’ full-time study, totaling 54 credits. The research areas include, but are not limited to renewable energy sources, energy-saving, storage, conversion engineering and environmental impacts. Technologies for waste management and process efficiency improvement and thermo-fluid dynamics in bio-engineering are also included.

The Ph.D. program involves several scientific disciplines, such as applied mathematics, thermodynamics and thermal science, fluid machinery and energy conversion systems, chemistry, material science, and engineering management. The program is carried out in a multidisciplinary stimulating environment into which students develop highly-specialized research skills. At the end of the Ph.D.  program, candidates will be able to use fundamental knowledge of physics, chemistry, and engineering to find new, better and more sustainable ways to convert, distribute, use and manage energy. The candidate will also be able to carry research in a leadership manner to develop and investigate energy efficient systems and products

 

Goals

Students that earn the Ph.D. through this program would:

  1. Acquire the capacities to analyze, examine, and evaluate existing energy systems and their interrelations.
  2. Be able to contribute to the interdisciplinary interventions in areas such as efficient use of energy, centralized or decentralized energy production, or the distribution of energy, always from a sustainable development perspective.
  3. Possess the competencies in the technological domains associated with the above- mentioned areas, as well as the domains of economics and environment.
  4. Possess research and leadership capacities to tackle highly complex problems concerning the energy environment.
  5. Be able to address topics such as the evaluation of the system’s sustainability, using life-cycle models, materials flow analysis, decision support systems, and market economics analyses.

 

STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOME

Upon completion of this program, student should be able to:

Knowledge and understanding

  • Have a broad and rigid scientific foundation needed to work within the energy engineering area.
  • Acquire knowledge about sustainable systems, energy sources and usage, and judgments of technical, economical, and environmentally-related consequences related to different energy usage processes.
  • Possess broad knowledge within the energy technical area, including mathematics, physics, and natural science, and essentially deepened knowledge within certain parts of the area.

Skills and abilities

  • Apply Knowledge and abilities, independently as well as in a group, in practical activities with regards to relevant scientific professional and social judgments and viewpoints.
  • Demonstrate the capacity to analyze, formulate, and handle technical problems from a system perspective, with an overview on their life-cycle, from idea/need to specification, development, maintenance, and termination.
  • The ability to set conditions, decide necessary resource consumption, and manage processes for problem-solving and realization.
  • Possess individual and professional skills like languages, leadership, project management, and communication necessary to work as a researcher in a leadership role especially towards a continuing research career.
  • The ability to make judgments and adopt a standpoint.

 

Research Opportunities in Energy Engineering

Applicants will have the opportunity to perform research ranging from fundamental to applied, including technology development, demonstration, and commercialization efforts. Research interest falls into broad categories with special emphasis given to research in the fields of Renewable and Sustainable Energy. The broad categories are (but not limited to):

  1. Stationary power generation including increasing energy efficiency from existing and new systems, renewable energy systems, clean coal technologies, carbon sequestration, and hydrogen production.
  2. Production of liquid and gaseous fuels (ethanol, biodiesel, hydrogen, methane for example) and specialty chemicals from biomass, fossil fuels, and other resources, including infrastructure development.
  3. Transmission and distribution systems, including approaches to integrate distributed generation produced from renewable resources.
  4. Environmental cleanup and protection of air, water, and soil focusing on energy and industrial generated sources.

 

Careers of Graduates

Graduates who hold a PhD degree in Sustainable and Renewable Energy typically have a wide variety of career opportunities, including academia and education, research and development, industry, government, technology companies, and other important fields. The following list suggests some career titles for a PhD degree in sustainable and renewable energy:

  • Assistant Professor of Sustainable and Renewable Energy.
  • Research Scientist.
  • Energy Consultant and Auditor.
  • Technology and Innovation Development Manager.
  • Renewable Energy Project Manager.
  • Environmental Manager.
  • Environmental Impact Analyst.
  • Energy Efficiency Consultant.
  • Climate Change Analyst.
  • Director of Research.

 

How To Apply
Apply Now
Copyright © Arab American University 2000-2024. All rights Reserved.