So, this is a bit of a complicated question, which is also why I couldn’t find an answer online.
I will start my bachelor in what can best be described as Electronics Engineering with a focus on automation/control engineering and power electronics soon. And although, it will be 4 years before I can choose my masters, I like to be prepared, so please no comments ala “You have plenty of time to worry about that later.”
My grades are great, not perfect, I believe in American grades they’re at 3.8 GPA, I don’t know what they are in regards to the German/Dutch grading system, I have also done many spare time projects regarding electrical engineering and control and the like, which are above high school level, so I belive I could get into all of the universities. Even if you believe this is realistically un-true, let us assume for the sake of this question, that it is true.
What I would like to do in the future is work with airborne wind systems, and possibly start a company, and so far, the masters which has captivated me is automation and control engineering, which is what I believe I want to study. Problem is, I don’t know much about the different universities’ cultures, even after countless of hours wasted on googling instagram posts, facebook posts, debate posts etc.
Of course, the first reaction some might come with is “Of course you should choose Stanford, it is after all a part of the Ivy League!” But, as I searched through the Stanford startups very few, if any, were regarding renewable energy. Also my impression of the renewable energy sector is, that Europe leads over USA, this is also why I am strongly considering European universities over the American.
What I would like to know is, what are the different universities specialised in? Which has the greatest startup culture within green energy? And which university has a “entrepeneurial-spirit”, i.e it is easiest to find ambitious persons to work together with? How focused is the school on helping startup companies?
So far, what I could figure out was this: TU Delft are exceptionally good at aeronautical engineering, ETH Zurich has had Einstein (really, I couldn’t find much about what ETH Zurich excelled at) and Stanford has great connections to Silicon Valley, which might add towards the entrepeneurial spirit.
But, I would like to have more statements from persons who have went to these universities in regards to the factors mentioned above; Entrepeneurial spirit of the school, focus on green energy in regards to implementing new technologies and not just grid-control and what are the sort of “specialties” of the different unis?
Thank you for reading so far, I hope this post made sense.
Tl;DR: Which university has the greatest startup culture in regards to renewable energy, and what are the different engineering disciplines the different universities are masters at?