Students interested in energy studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have a number of formal programs to choose from. Below is a list of energy-related certificates, degrees, distance degrees, and degree focus areas offered to both undergraduate and graduate students at UW–Madison.
Energy Analysis and Policy (EAP) is a graduate-level certificate or Ph.D. minor that gives students the knowledge and skills needed to become leaders in industry, government, consulting, and key energy fields. EAP's interdisciplinary curriculum considers technical, economic, political, and social factors that shape energy policy formulation and decision-making.
Equity and sustainability of energy resources in the face of increasing global population and economic development are key issues at the center of the public discourse today. The objective of this certificate program is to offer undergraduate students a suite of courses addressing energy sustainability that span across the engineering curriculum, with firm roots in “real world” design and engineering practices.
For the most up-to-date details on the certificate, please refer to the UW-Madison Guide.
The objective of the Certificate in Engineering Thermal Energy Systems program is to provide students with an organized set of courses that will improve their capacity to analyze and design innovative thermal energy systems. These systems include, but are not limited to, energy conversion systems and their fuels, refrigeration, combustion, and solar energy.
The College of Engineering's Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering offer four master's student programs:
As a PhD student in electrical and computer engineering, you can engage in creative approaches to solving problems through research in any of several cross-cutting areas of your choosing- among them, data science, healthcare, mobile computing, security and infrastructure resilience, sensors and sensing, and sustainability. Within those cross-cutting areas, you’ll be able to specialize in areas that include applied electromagnetics and acoustics; communications, networks, privacy and security; solid-state electronics and quantum technologies; machine learning, signal processing and information theory; computer systems and architecture; plasma science and fusion energy; energy systems; optics and photonics, and optimization and control.
Electrical engineers design and develop anything and everything that uses electricity. Undergraduate electrical engineering students with particular interest in electricity generation, transmission, distribution and storage may decide to pursue one of the following focus areas within the EE curriculum:
Sustainable Systems Engineering is an online master's degree designed to prepare students to understand and apply principles of engineering, science, policy, and economics to current and future environmental sustainability issues. Through objective, reliable, and cost-effective engineering methods, students will create sustainable solutions for society's energy and resource challenges.
In this program you will
As a master’s student in nuclear engineering and engineering physics, you’ll learn the principles of how radiation intersects with matter, as well as its applications in several areas of engineering physics. Our program has strong engineering and applied science components, with an emphasis on areas that include researching, designing, developing and deploying fission reactors; fusion engineering; plasma physics; radiation damage to materials; applied superconductivity and cryogenics; and large-scale computing in engineering science.
As a PhD student in nuclear engineering and engineering physics, you’ll gain deeper experience studying the interaction of radiation with matter. With a strong emphasis on engineering and applied science, you’ll be able to focus on any of several areas, including researching, designing, developing and deploying fission reactors; fusion engineering; plasma physics; radiation damage to materials; applied superconductivity and cryogenics; and large-scale computing in engineering science.
Nuclear engineering involves the design of systems and processes in which nuclear physics and radiation plays an important role. The B.S. in Nuclear Engineering emphasizes the use of nuclear fission energy for electricity production. The undergraduate curriculum is comprehensive, covering nuclear physics, reactor physics, thermohydraulics, materials, and environmental issues.