Field work, tours and placements
Throughout the programmes you’ll benefit from hands on interaction with renewable energy technology. This will include trips to renewable energy facilities such as Goonhilly wind farm as part of the Renewable Energy Systems module in the first year, and may include events like public planning meetings or energy use assessments of public or private buildings as opportunities become available. Our aim is to get out to see real world technology or events whenever we can.
In the summer vacation between your second and third year, you’ll carry out a minimum six week industrial placement, for which you will usually be paid. The onus is on you to select the area in which you wish to work and to find a placement, although the department can help by providing contact details and suggesting companies which suit your interests. Companies with close ties to the department also provide placements for a number of students.
In the third year, you’ll conduct a field-based renewable energy technical resource assessment exercise. Working as a project team you will focus on the use of solar energy resources, geothermal energy, wind energy and energy from waste.
If you study the MEng programme, you’ll carry out a further industrial placement between your third and fourth year. This placement is linked to a project that runs until the following February and which forms a major component of the final year of study. This project will enable you to work closely with a company which is active in renewable energy to develop solutions to real world problems in a commercial environment. The department will help in setting up these placements and projects.
