The Nevada Sagebrush

About 20 students recently declared a new renewable energy minor that was established in the spring of 2008 and is flourishing due to student interest, said Christopher Simon, associate professor of political science.

“Everything is touched by renewable energy, whether it is our impact on the economy, the scientific relation to climate change or powering the future,” Simon said. “It seemed to be a good time to discuss issues important to the economy and important to students. (This minor) is about educating students to what is relevant to their lives and futures.”

The renewable energy minor is unique because it is being discovered as more courses are developed and is a current economic, political and scientific issue. It is something the United States has to take seriously because of dependence on foreign oil, Theodore Batchman, director of the Renewable Energy Center, said.

“This minor is a great part of (The College of) Liberal Arts and (The College of) Engineering,” Simon said. “This is a team-taught course that has 53 students at the moment. Classes are being enlarged because of course demand.”

Renewable energy is an 18-credit interdisciplinary minor that caters to both engineering students and to students of all other departments. The minor contains two tracks, one for engineers and the other for students in other disciplines.

“Engineering student curricula are very tight,” Batchman said. “What we had to do to get engineering students to minor have a track that compliments their engineering major prerequisites. The (students of other discipline) major curriculum is much more liberal.”

The minor is composed of new classes including Introduction to Renewable Energy, taught by Batchman and Simon, and a Fundamentals and Economics of Renewable and Nonrenewable Energy. While a few courses are new to the university, faculty of existing courses have been asked to add in renewable energy components in class curricula.

“We have done that with a number of classes,” Batchman said. “We are even encouraging fourth-year students taking classes as electives to add new coursework to the minor. But it is hard to do right now because of budget cutting.”

Batchman and Simon created the renewable energy minor after Batchman spoke with the head of NV Energy. The company wanted to get involved in the renewable energy area, so Batchman and Simon created the minor so students could be educated in the field of study.

The minor does not cost the university money because of an NV Energy donation. The  money was used to hire two current university faculty members who specialize in electrical and mechanical engineering in the renewable energy area, Batchman said.

“We worked together and put a proposal in to the president of the university,” Batchman said. “Course approval started in 2007 and the introductory course started in January 2008. The minor was approved in spring 2008 and three or four students declared the minor, but the university didn’t have it on the books. It took a while to get in the catalog.”

Mike Moltz, a 22-year-old senior and political science major, said that he heard of the renewable energy minor from Simon. He said that he had chosen economic policy as a minor, but became interested in the renewable energy minor due to the importance of current and future economic needs.

“The curriculum has been extremely valuable to my education,” Moltz said. “The ability of the instructors to thoroughly communicate course material instilled in me a greater appreciation for the multidisciplinary subject. The knowledge gained from the program allowed me to apply for and accept a National Science Foundation research award on renewable energy policy.”

Moltz said that he enjoyed the classes associated with the minor, including Introduction to Renewable Energy, and is now enrolled in Resource Economics 100.

James Beggs, a senior and geography major at the university, is not a renewable energy minor but said it could be a possibility.

“Geography is fairly involved with renewable energy,” Beggs said. “I find the aspect of it interesting and it corresponds with what I am learning about.”

The Introduction to Renewable Energy course is informative and applies to today’s society, Beggs added.

“This is a politically-charged issue between global warming and carbon footprints; we can’t ignore this anymore and (need) to address the issue as quickly as we can,” Batchman said. “We need the younger generation to get involved and to understand it. I want to educate people on why we need to be concerned.”

For more information about declaring a renewable energy minor, contact the engineering program office in Scrugham Engineering/Mines Building, room 132.

Gabby Irvin can be reached at news@nevadasagebrush.com.

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