Sustainable Energy Systems Engineering Minor

Clarkson University offers a minor in sustainable energy systems engineering to all students who meet the prerequisite requirements.

Our reliance on energy-rich sources of fossil fuels has enabled growth of modern society, increasing our mobility, industrial growth, domestic comfort, abundant food supply and economic prosperity. Engineers are among the many types of professionals that need to understand the limits of our present energy systems and lead us to a future in which we can continue to provide reasonable energy resources for human quality of life.

This minor emphasizes that all engineering disciplines are necessary to develop and assess technologies to both increase the efficiency of our energy use and advance renewable and alternative energy sources.

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Sustainable Energy Systems Engineering Curriculum

Minors must be officially registered through MyCU and communicated with Prof. Powers before approval.

A total of 21 credits is required for this minor. Depending upon the student’s major, between 9-12 hours of this 21-credit total are in addition to the major’s core requirements. A student must complete the course requirements as follows:

Required Courses (3 credits each):

  • ES238 Introduction to Energy Systems
  • Thermodynamics ES340 or CH260
  • Capstone Design (or energy related research) (one of: AE451, CE490, CE491, CE492, CH420, EE412, ES456, ME446, ES443) Must include energy related component. 

Environmental Impacts (choose one):

  • CE486 Industrial Ecology
  • ES436 Global Climate Change: Science Engineering and Policy
  • EV305 Sustainability and the Environment

Policy Choice (choose one):

  • POL375 Environmental Law
  • POL470 Environmental Policy
  • EC360 Environmental Economics
  • POL471 Energy Policy
  • PHIL405 Sustainability Theory and Practice
  • PHIL370 Environmental Ethics

Technology Choice (choose two; at least one must focus on energy technologies*):

  • *Energy technologyas related research project e.g. ES443
  • *EE438 Alternative Energy Systems
  • *EE331 Energy Conversion
  • EE333 Power Systems Engineering
  • *CE409 Fundamentals of Building Systems
  • CE410 Sustainable Infrastructure and Building
  • *EV3902 Sustainability Project Experience (2)
  • *ME310 Thermodynamic System Engineering
  • CE486 Industrial Ecology (1)
  • ES436 Global Climate Change: Science Engineering and Policy (1)
  • CH434 Air Pollution Control
  • CM/CH413 - Carbon Capture and Sequestration
  • ES459 Electrochemistry for Sustainability

(1) If this class is not taken as an environmental impacts choice.
(2) Applicability of this class changes annually based on specific class topic
*at least one of the two technology choice classes must have this designator