(90c) Energy and Sustainability - Maymester Study Abroad

The University of South Carolina has offered a course for the last five years titled "Next Energy."  This course covers a wide variety of topics, including: traditional power sources, hydrogen economy, solar power (thermal and photovoltaic), nuclear, fuel cells, wind, geothermal, hydro, and storage systems.  The course has been taught to chemical engineers predominately, with some offerings targeting only non-engineering majors from the honors college.

In May 2012, USC ran a version of this course titled "Energy and Sustainability in Europe."  Much of the course material is drawn from the "Next Energy" course.  However, students spend two weeks traveling to various locations in Europe.  Locations include the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy, the "greenest" city in Germany (Freiburg), the Mercedes Benz auto museum, the German Technical Museum, the Technical University of Munich, and the Max Plank Institute for Plasma Physics.  This course draws from the entire engineering college, so topics such as building efficiency/design and transportation were added to the course.  The program will also predominately use public transportation while in Europe.

A description of course topics and materials will be provided.  Insight from the study abroad offering will also be discussed.