The College has had great success with a new summer course,‘Big Engineering Ideas to Save the Planet’.
The course was developed by Research School of Electrical, Energy and Materials Engineering Postdoctoral research fellows, Niraj Lal and Andrew Thomson in coordination with Fiacre Rougieux, Nicholas Grant and Kate Booker.
The summer course is being run as part of the Brazilian government’s Science Without Borders initiative. This scholarship program provides Brazilian students with the opportunity to study at top universities around the world.
The four week intensive course ran in November and December and saw students take part in over 40 hours of lectures, laboratories, field trips and social activities. While the focus was on renewable energy, the students also got to experience a few workshops on special research skills, including ‘how to communicate effectively’ and ‘saving the world with back-of-the-envelope calculations.’
The students provided very positive feedback about the course and were happy to be spending their summer breaks on campus for the experience.
“The activities, as well as the lectures were very engaging and coming to class was the opposite of a burden, it was something I would look forward to,” said Jean Robert Braquehais.
“It opened up my eyes to how related science is to other fields such as economics, politics and human resources.”
Further information on ‘Big Engineering Ideas to Save the Planet’ can be found here or contact Niraj Lal or Andrew Thomson to register your interest for the next course.