Energy and Sustainability Engineering
To earn the MESE degree, students must complete ten credit units of graduate-level coursework. Of these, six must be engineering courses.
All students take ENGR 5215 – Energy and Sustainability: Science, Engineering, and Technology during the first semester of the program. This is an overview course designed to teach foundational skills and knowledge in energy and sustainability, and to help students hone their interests for the rest of the program. In addition to technical skills, it emphasizes real-world applications, communication and teamwork skills, and professional development for energy and sustainability leadership.
All students must complete one credit unit of experiential work. For most students, this will take the form of ENGR 5020 – Engineering Sustainability at Penn, a project-based capstone course involving authentic campus and community sustainability projects completed in the last semester of the program. However, students may instead complete one credit of graduate-level independent study in a research lab at Penn if the project is related to energy and sustainability. Finally, students may participate in an internship or other outside experience in hands-on energy and sustainability work that does not carry course credit. In that case, students must take an additional elective course.
There are four available concentrations:
Each student selects one concentration, taking three courses in that category and one course in each of the other categories. Finally, students take two free elective courses, subject to advisor approval.
There are multiple relevant graduate certificate programs available for MESE students to pursue. With careful course selection, some are achievable without going beyond the required 10 credit unit minimum.
