Colorado State University + National Renewable Energy Laboratory

Joint Educational Partnership

Colorado State University has developed an educational program in partnership with federal agencies to (1) support the goals of developing a more diverse and inclusive STEM workforce and (2) to advance clean energy technology needs throughout the nation.

This partnership 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 partnership focuses on education to support research in two areas:
(1) Hybrid Energy & Energy Storage Systems.
(2) Cybersecurity & Analytics.

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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 partnership builds on the collective strengths of CSU and NREL in systems engineering by:

This partnership 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.

This partnership 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 partnership accelerates NREL’s efforts to serve its researcher and technical missions 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.

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Fletcher Ouren, a master’s student in the CSU Department of Systems Engineering, engages during a departmental Friday Talk.
Fletcher Ouren, a master’s student in the CSU Department of Systems Engineering, engages during a departmental Friday Talk. He was one of the first students to take advantage of the CSU-NREL partnership.

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