Undergraduate Studies in Sustainable Energy

Sustainable Energy Systems is a major area of study and specialisation within the professional education offered by ANU’s Bachelor of Engineering. The name of the corresponding Major will be stated prominently in your academic transcript.

Sustainable energy engineering is multi-disciplinary by nature and includes a range of electrical and mechanical disciplines, from the physics of semiconductor materials to control circuits and large power plants, and from basic thermodynamics and fluid mechanics to optical concentrators and chemical means to store the energy indefinitely. All these aspects are included in the courses that constitute the Sustainable Energy Systems Major of ANU’s BE program.

The Sustainable Energy Systems Major has courses that cover the electronic and thermodynamic foundations of energy systems. In addition, several specialist solar energy courses are included. Students can undertake their 4th year Engineering Project in the area. Students undertaking this Major will finish with a well-rounded engineering degree comprising 70% general engineering education and 30% specialist courses.

The Sustainable Energy Systems Major overlaps with other Majors, particularly the Materials & Mechanical Systems Major and the Electronic Systems Major, so it would be easy for you to complete not just one, but two or more of the majors offered by the Faculty.

Where can an Engineering Degree with an Energy Systems Major lead?

Energy system engineers are essential members of advanced societies. Renewable energy technologies offer a long term environmentally sustainable solution to energy supply.  They are already changing the lives of people who do not have access to the electricity grid, mainly in developing countries, but also in Australia, Europe and the USA. The solar cell industry has been doubling in size every two years for the past decade, and there is a high demand for sustainable energy engineers.

For a complete list of the majors offered by the college click here.

For general information about the ANU engineering degree click here.