Colorado State University + National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Joint Graduate Degree Program
Colorado State University has developed a joint graduate degree program in energy systems to support the goals of developing a more diverse and inclusive STEM workforce to advance clean energy technology needs in Colorado and throughout the nation.
This program is responsive to research under the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Research on Integrated Energy Systems (ARIES) initiative and experimentation platform at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).
This unique joint degree program focuses on education to support research in two thrust areas: Hybrid Energy and Energy Storage Systems, and Cybersecurity and Analytics.
Goals & Philosophy:
The overarching goal of this collaboration is to develop a workforce of extraordinary systems scientists and engineers capable of contributing to the development of renewable energy systems solutions during and after their graduate education.
This program builds on the collective strengths of CSU and NREL in systems engineering as follows:
Leverages CSU’s expertise in engineering and applied research:
This program leverages CSU’s expertise in systems engineering education (within the Department of Systems Engineering) and applied energy system research at-scale (within the CSU Energy Institute and the Engines and Energy Conversion Laboratory).
Through this collaboration, CSU seeks to serve its students with improved recruitment, support mechanisms, networking opportunities, and career development activities by deepening engagement with colleagues, facilities, expertise and research activities at NREL.
Builds on NREL’s clean energy workforce development needs:
This program builds on NREL’s expressed needs (within and outside of ARIES) to develop a workforce that can engage with the complexity of modern energy systems and conduct integrated research to support the development of groundbreaking technologies in the clean energy transition.
This program will accelerate NREL’s efforts to serve its researchers and technical mission by partnering with faculty members, supporting the development of the future energy workforce, creating more visibility for NREL, and promoting educational and technical skills development.
