Energy (Taught)

Overview of Programme
MSc Energy provides you with the opportunity to learn a balanced, integrated course which will equip you with the tools needed to positively influence organisations in developing new business strategies relevant to ‘energy, or in reacting to the growing portfolio of environmental legislation. The programme has been designed to provide you with the practical and theoretical grounding in technologies and develop your wider knowledge and skills relevant to the Energy sector, for both practicing engineers and decision-making managers and policy makers. You’ll learn from a broad range of energy related disciplines, with relevance to energy resources, power generation, process engineering, environmental legislation and environmental impact assessment, energy in buildings, and by studying business courses in collaboration with the Edinburgh Business School.

Energy is an essential component of our existence. The cost, availability and efficient utilisation of energy are increasingly strong focal points in the strategies of governments world-wide, as they realise that the 'raw material' for most of the energy used today has a finite life. You’ll explore sustainable energy options as the finite nature of our main element in our current energy chain of supply – fossil fuel – becomes more obvious.

During the master’s programme, you’ll understand energy not only as electricity, but as heat and transportation. You’ll become aware of the relationship between demand and supply of energy, a relationship that consists of much more than its technical component. You’ll learn about the political, economic, and social issues and adjust your perspective to view energy provision, consumption, and costs on a global and local scale– both in the monetary and environmental terms.

Your learning environment

During your studies, you’ll benefit from and have access to our specialist equipment, software and laboratories used by professional mechanical engineering, including machining and manufacturing facilities, an air conditioning unit, wind tunnel for fluid mechanics and aerodynamics, 3D printer, and a uniaxial testing machine. You will have the opportunity to work on real-world problems, and work across disciplines to deliver practical solutions with global impact in our state-of-the-art GRID (Global Research Innovation and Discovery) facility.

Customise your learning

You’ll have the opportunity to focus on the areas of energy that interest you the most. You can customise your degree to match your specific interests or desired career pathway by studying three mandatory courses and choosing five further options from a suite of over 25 specialist energy, mechanical engineering, and business courses. You will choose optional courses from an extensive list, including electrical power systems, economics of renewable energy, climate change, sustainability and adaptation, sustainable processing, and energy systems and buildings.

In semester three, you’ll undertake an extensive and specialised investigation into your chosen area of energy through your dissertation. You’ll be required to demonstrate your mastery of the subject area by applying design and evaluation techniques to develop new insights and responses to current issues in energy and mechanical engineering industries.

Accreditation
This programme is accredited by Energy Institute (EI).

Students completing an EI accredited degree are deemed to have met part or all the academic requirements for registration as a Chartered or Incorporated Engineer and are in a strong position to move on to achieve professional engineering status after a period of initial professional development in industry.