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What is Energy Systems Engineering?
Our world is dependent on the production and transportation of affordable energy. The Energy Systems major prepares students to design systems that satisfy this global energy need. Since the major also covers energy policy, graduates can also work on issues such as energy equity, sustainability, and reliability.
The major involves courses in electrical engineering, physics, infrastructure engineering, and more. This enables graduates to design energy systems from the scale of a computer chip to the size of a large city. Many Energy Systems graduates have gone directly into the industry as consultants, engineers for energy providers, policy analysts for energy regulators, and engineers at new energy start-ups. Others have continued their education in graduate school and research. This option is well-known for being highly employable, but it also offers a lot of breadth in terms of what students can do after undergrad both in academia and industry.
Why Choose Energy Systems Engineering?
- You’re interested in working on systems that have a large impact on people’s lives. In the major, you’ll take public policy courses that connect energy systems with economics and politics. Several of your other courses focus on large-scale energy implementation in buildings, cities and even countries. If you want to design systems that are central to the function of society and will play a pivotal role in the future of the environment, energy systems engineering might be the major for you.
- You want exposure to a very diverse field. In the major, you’ll learn about the energy dynamics of certain particles, computer chips, buildings, cities, countries, and the world. The major provides you with an opportunity to study all levels of energy implementation and how they interact.
- You are interested in developing the technologies used in electrical smart grids.
- You’re interested in practical engineering as well as pure sciences. Many of the courses in the major involve practical topics such as evaluating energy generators or constructing an energy-efficient building. Other courses cover much more pure science related topics like electromagnetism, algebra, and nuclear energy.
Courses in Year 1 and Year 2 That Relate to Energy Systems Engineering:
Year 1
PHY180: Classical Mechanics
Classical mechanics includes the very basic concepts of energy, force and momentum, and is central to science and engineering. The concepts covered in this course, like the fundamental physics of energy, will be very useful in your upper years.
ESC103: Engineering Mathematics and Computation
ESC103 will introduce you to the basics of linear algebra with vectors and matrices. You’ll also be introduced to computation, an invaluable tool to approximate answers from complex calculations. The lab portion of this course introduces you to MATLAB, one of the most popular programming languages for computation. When designing large- scale or complex energy systems, you’ll need to use computation to both produce and check your results.
MAT185: Linear Algebra
In MAT185, you’ll delve deeper into linear algebra. MAT185’s pure mathematical perspective is another tool in your toolbox for computational problems.
Year 2
The thermal physics portion of this course is very important to energy studies. You’ll learn about the principles of thermodynamics, as well as temperature and energy distribution. These principles are used in all levels of energy systems design.
The thermodynamics portion of this course covers mechanical energy, which is a very important concept in energy systems engineering. The principles of mechanical energy are used to design all modern engines. The second part involves heat transfer, an important consideration in energy systems design. This part of the course is interesting because you see how something’s seemingly basic features, like its shape or length, are significant to heat transfer.
Interesting Courses in This Major
Since this major covers energy systems at many scales, as well as energy policy, the variety of courses is immense. The technical courses focus on different sources of energy like petroleum and nuclear energy, as well as alternative and renewable energy sources. The policy courses involve energy policy and economic decision-making. Some courses specific to the major include topics on large-scale energy distribution. Therefore, we encourage you to see what courses and elective options are the most interesting to you.
Where to Get Some Experience Before Deciding?
A lot of clubs related to the Energy Systems major fall under the topic of sustainability. Luckily, there are plenty of clubs at U of T doing great work with sustainability. We’ll discuss a couple of the larger ones below, but you can check out a full list of them on the U of T Student Life Sustainability Associations page. You can also check out the U of T Sustainability Office to find more sustainability initiatives.
ASHRAE stands for the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, Inc. ASHRAE is a global organization with 57,000 members from over 100 countries worldwide. ASHRAE’s mission is to advance the science and public understanding of heating, air conditioning and refrigeration. Heating and air conditioning are some of the most energy consuming and carbon-producing activities in the world, while refrigeration involves the use of extremely impactful greenhouse gases.
ASHRAE U of T coordinates with the global ASHRAE to hold events, workshops, and design competitions on campus. If you’re interested in tackling climate change while maintaining the luxuries of modern life, ASHRAE U of T is a great club to join.
Sustainable Engineers Association (SEA)
SEA works to increase general interest and awareness about sustainability. SEA defines sustainability as “planning our usage of resources in order to meet our future environmental, social, and economical needs.” This includes the energy consumption of our products, day-to-day life, and large-scale systems. SEA is in part a platform to connect people in sustainability in academics and industry. With their many events, seminars, career fairs, and competitions, SEA educates students on the technical aspects of sustainable design and supports students in developing and implementing their ideas. For a mix of technical details on sustainability and raising general interest in sustainability, give SEA a try.
Visit the Skule Clubs and Design Teams pages to find more extracurriculars.
Check out the EngSci majors website here for more info: