<p>Hi everyone,</p>
<p>I'm a senior mechanical engineering major planning on going to graduate school and I was wondering if alternative energy (mainly wind energy) would be something I could pursue as a mechanical engineer in graduate school? Or would I have to do something like environmental engineering? </p>
<p>Are there any particular schools that are strong in this area?</p>
<p>Thank you</p>
<p>Mechanical is definitely the right place to be if you're interested in wind energy. Topics such as machine design, vibrations, energy conversion would all be relevant. Environmental engineering is typically more involved in chemical clean up and waste treatment.</p>
<p>My other comment would be that an undergraduate BSME will typically give you all the engineering you need to work in the field. An MS will give you more of a research angle and will prepare you for an R&D role. You may also want to consider an MBA if you're thinking about small business and helping to build a company in the wind energy field.</p>
<p>Good Luck</p>
<p>I'd like to get into R&D, so I think graduate school would help. Are there any schools I should look into?</p>
<p>I think there are a number of excellent engineering schools where you can get a high quality MS degree. What I would look for (and I don't have any information to help, sorry) is schools with specific wind energy research going on and with industry ties which can help you after graduation. It may take some digging because the emphasis may take the form of a group of students doing their personal research in wind and a faculty member who has that interest.</p>
<p>I'd suggest checking our industry conferences focused in your area of interest and see who's presenting and where they work. The research that faculty members are conducting will be presented at these meetings.</p>
<p>Great idea about checking conferences, thanks!</p>
<p>I'm having trouble finding any schools with wind energy research... Does anyone here know of any?</p>
<p>Just to take a stab in the dark, did you try UC Santa Barbara?</p>
<p>do you guys know of programs that focus on the non technical (engineering) aspects of clean energy? alternative energy policy/financing programs would be ideal.
Thanks!</p>
<p>Engineering and public policy might be good programs to look into, ignited. I know CMU had an undergrad major in it, and I think there's a decently respected graduate program in it.</p>
<p>Not sure why you're having difficulty locating universities. I just read your post and put wind energy research university into Google. The first page of results listed several programs.</p>