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Overview
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.
Requirements
Students who are enrolled as degree-seeking undergraduate students with a minimum GPA of 2.5 and a plan of study to fulfill the certificate requirements may enroll in the program. Applications may be submitted at any time, but students are strongly encouraged to apply early in their undergraduate careers in order to ensure successful completion of the program. Students may take courses that fulfill certificate requirements prior to submitting an application; however, it is strongly recommended that students submit their application prior to their final semester on campus. Declaring the certificate gives students access to the most up-to-date information on meeting certificate requirements, including new and special topics courses.
A student interested in completing the certificate program must contact a designated faculty member in his or her major department to apply. The student and faculty member must complete a declaration of intent and study plan to enter the certificate program.
Declaration of Intent and Study Plan
The following faculty members have been designated as a point of contact for each department:
- Douglas J. Reinemann, Biological Systems Engineering
- Robert G. Radwin, Biomedical Engineering
- Thatcher Root, Chemical and Biological Engineering
- Andrea Hicks, Civil and Environmental Engineering
- Giri Venkataramanan, Electrical and Computer Engineering
- Jim Tinjum, Geological Engineering Program
- Jeffrey Linderoth, Industrial and Systems Engineering
- Dane Morgan, Materials Science and Engineering
- Jaal Ghandhi, Mechanical Engineering
- Paul Wilson, Nuclear Engineering, Engineering Mechanics, and Engineering Physics
Students who are not engineering majors should contact Scott Williams (spwilliams@wisc.edu) to discuss options for completing the certificate or alternative programs.
When the student and faculty member have filled out and signed the Declaration of Intent and Study Plan, the student must hand them in to Room 1150 Wisconsin Energy Institute.
Courses
Students must select 16 “sustainability credits” from a suite of available courses that are divided into the following categories:
- Liberal Studies and Science
- Engineering
- Capstone
Students are required to take a minimum of 3 sustainability credits and a maximum of 6 sustainability credits from each of the categories above.
In addition, students must fulfill a one-credit seminar requirement. Currently, this seminar requirement is fulfilled through the course CBE 555, Chemical Engineering Connections, or EP 602, Sustainable Energy Challenges and Solutions, both of which are open to all engineering majors. Not all courses have the same number of sustainability credits as academic credits; some courses have fewer sustainability credits depending on how closely related they are to energy and sustainability.
Course Plan
During the term that they expect to meet the certificate requirements, students must fill out and submit a course plan to the designated point of contact in their major department (see above). Once the faculty member reviews the course plan and signs it, students must return the course plan to Room 1150 Wisconsin Energy Institute and place it in the drop box.