<p>In the future, I want to do something related to renewable energy engineering (I know this is a very broad topic), but what major in engineering would be most "renewable energy"-like?
(I'm about to start grade 12, and I'm an international student studying in Canada.)
I thought about chemical engineering and mechanical engineering, but I'm really new to this stuff. Can someone suggest a major that is closest to what "renewable energy engineering" would be like? </p>
<p>ChemE, EE, MechE can all work in a renewable energy field. Its not so much about your major but where you have worked and have experience in. Either 3 of those majors and internships with a renewable field are a good way to set up a career in Renewable energy</p>
<p>How about something related to biology? (I didn’t take highschool biology though–would I still be able to take a major based on biology in university?)</p>
<p>thanks for replying!</p>
<p>oh and what do you mean by “where you have worked”? Is this when I’m studying in university?</p>
<p>Well bio-based fuels are usually in the realm of Chemical and Biological Engineering. And yes, you should be on the look out for internships during the summer or co-ops during the school year, as they make you stand out more to employers.</p>
<p>I just don’t know much about this, but is nuclear a fun field to work in? My impression of nuclear is that it is harmful to the environment (but that’s just because I don’t know ANYTHING about it)</p>
<p>Well, I am no nuclear engineer, and I am not going to try and push someone into something they don’t want to do (nuclear engineering jobs are not for everyone from what I have seen). However, it is my understanding that nuclear engineers are generally not exposed to radiation anywhere near the point where it becomes unsafe and there is no statistically significant increase in radiation-related health issues among them.</p>
<p>Nuclear power is not the radiological-disaster-in-waiting that some people make it out to be. However, I suppose if I were to get into the nuclear field, I would want to opt more into a physics degree or something and work on the theoretical side.</p>
<p>At any rate, nuclear engineering is certainly an alternative fuel source that gets downplayed a lot because of all of the lobbying and advertising that goes on for biofuels and the like.</p>
<p>Anyway, since I am a grade 12 now, I have to start applying (I’m an international student from Canada). I’m not that familiar with engineering schools in the US, can someone suggest some backup schools that I’ll definitely get accepted with an 1800 SAT score?</p>
<p>Dwarf - yes, biological engineering requires extensive biology coursework, but you can take that in college.</p>
<p>Bone - nuclear isn’t renewable. It’s greener than most technologies and safer than most believe, but our plutonium and uranium supplies are finite and nonreplenishing. I have an old friend who is a Nuke, and he loves it. Of course, he works on the military side, designing sub reactors…</p>
<p>I cant believe nobody has put this yet. There is an actual major for that , its called environmental engineering, i think cornell has the best program</p>
<p>Environmental engineering is the application of science and engineering principles to improve the environment (air, water, and/or land resources), to provide healthy water, air, and land for human habitation and for other organisms, and to remediate polluted sites</p>
<p>how do you think you improve the envirnment, its renewable energy. Ignore ken285 and do you own research on it OP</p>
<p>Fair enough, but all that has to happen is someone needs to develop an effective thorium fuel cycle and the thorium supply on the planet can power the world for another 100,000 years. It is much more environmentally friendly than uranium and plutonium fission as well. It wouldn’t likely take that long to develop it either considering prototype reactors already exist and some commercial reactors can already fission thorium without much modification. The United States also sits on the largest quantity of thorium in the world.</p>
<p>Renewable? No. Enough to last 100 millennia? Yes. Close enough in my book.</p>