Why study BEng (Hons) Renewable Energy Engineering transcript

00:00

Our BEng (Hons) Renewable Energy Engineering degree is a really exciting opportunity to look at some of the issues around the sustainability of clean fuel and clean energy. Clearly, this is a really important area which is only going to grow in importance over time as we head towards a carbon neutral society.

Head of Engineering at Solent University, Jonathan Ridley is stood in the engineering rooms talking to camera.

0:14:24

I'm studying renewable energy engineering because it's the future, we need more renewable energy we need new innovative ideas and this course is absolutely amazing because you'll get a head start on going into the workplace.

Student of BEng (Hons) Renewable Energy Engineering, Georgia Strickland is stood in the Spark building at Solent University.

0:29:13

The course starts off with underpinning knowledge in the mathematics and physics behind all forms of engineering, it then moves on to look at some specialist aspects of renewable energy including solar power, wind power, wave power and tidal power. This gives you the opportunity to use some of our amazing facilities like our towing tank where you can test wave energy devices and tidal energy devices.

Head of Engineering at Solent University, Jonathan Ridley is stood in the engineering rooms talking to camera.

0:48:22

We have loads of workshops at Solent. We have Baxter the robot which we start to play with him next semester, which we're learning about him now, then we're going to put him into practice and do it. We also have lots of CAD workshops where we can do a CAD in first year, we have also lots of material workshops, where we have a lathe box pan folder, a pan folder, a spot welder and everything, so we can build stuff.

Student of BEng (Hons) Renewable Energy Engineering, Georgia Strickland is stood in the Spark building at Solent University.

1:18:02

The room we're in here is our composite materials laboratory. In the third year you'll come in here and you'll build some practical samples understanding some of the processes that we use to create composite materials and then build blades of wind turbines, tidal turbines and other renewable energy devices. You'll also want to take a specialist module in the third year looking at power distribution, so you can understand how the clean energy that we create from our renewable energy devices can be distributed in smart grids to where it's needed.

Head of Engineering at Solent University, Jonathan Ridley is stood in the engineering rooms talking to camera.

1:42:18

I'm studying at Solent one, because of the location - it's close to home I'm far enough away that I'm by myself but close enough if I need to get home, I can get home. Two, Southampton is actually amazing, it is so close to the town centre, it's a five minute walk it's so close everything's within walking distance and I absolutely love that, that everything is so close to here, and all the lecturers are absolutely amazing. I came from open days and talked to some of the lecturers and they were all really nice and really welcoming.

Student of BEng (Hons) Renewable Energy Engineering, Georgia Strickland is stood in the Spark building at Solent University.

2:14:00

Renewable energy engineering is clearly a new subject area, but our course has been running for four years now. We take a very applied approach, making sure that you've got the practical and theoretical skills that you're going to need to underpin your career.

Head of Engineering at Solent University, Jonathan Ridley is stood in the engineering rooms talking to camera.

2:25:05

Because of Covid, it has been quite hard but we have had some networking opportunities we did have a we did have a panel come in and talk to us from the future of the seas, that was really good. We had someone on teams, we had some people come in and that was really nice to see people in workplace, talk to us about it. We also in the future we are, at the society, going to get people come in and we're going to go to them as well, so we can get experience going to their site and then other people coming to us and talking to us, about how their industry is, how they work.

Student of BEng (Hons) Renewable Energy Engineering, Georgia Strickland is stood in the Spark building at Solent University.

2:57:08

During the course you'll be exposed to a whole range of different modules from the pure engineering modules and mathematical modules, to modules that cover environmental impact, so you can fully understand the impact and consequences of the decisions you make as a professional engineer.

Head of Engineering at Solent University, Jonathan Ridley is stood in the engineering rooms talking to camera.

3:09:23

You have to think so much more deeper than just putting a wind farm there, or putting a wind turbine, or putting a solar panel - you have to think further, you have to think what's the impact going to be on humans, the environment, on the wildlife. We were learning about climate change and then COP26 happened, so we integrated that into our module, which is really nice.

Student of BEng (Hons) Renewable Energy Engineering, Georgia Strickland is stood in the Spark building at Solent University.

3:29:05

The renewable energy industry is growing rapidly as we move away from fossil fuels, into clean energy. There are plenty of opportunities to work in wind power, particularly offshore wind turbines and the associated infrastructure that supports those. There are also opportunities to work in wave energy, which is a growing area but has the potential to provide us with an enormous amount of power in the future.

Head of Engineering at Solent University, Jonathan Ridley is stood in the engineering rooms talking to camera.

3:48:04

I know I'm going to do something renewable energy based but I don't know if it's going to be wind turbine, solar panels, power distribution, power storage - I'm not too sure what part but I know I have a really good job whatever happens. Once I've left Solent, I would leave with so much more confidence that when I came in with. I wouldn't have done an open day, I wouldn't have talked in front of people, I wouldn't even want to do presentations but now I'm willing to do everything. I also, I have amazing friends probably for life, amazing connections with all the other industries, electrical, mechanical, yachts, amazing lecturers that I can come back to if I need to be like, 'Oh how do I do this, or how do I change my CV, how do I make it more applicable for this specific role?'. I'll have amazing skill sets to then go into work placement, to then further on my career once I'm done.

Student of BEng (Hons) Renewable Energy Engineering, Georgia Strickland is stood in the Spark building at Solent University.

4:43:03

Our renewable energy course is growing rapidly and it's proving to be really popular. It's clear that this is going to be a really good industry to work in the future with plenty of jobs as we make the move from fossil fuels to clean energy.

Head of Engineering at Solent University, Jonathan Ridley is stood in the engineering rooms talking to camera.

4:53:20

Upbeat music plays, then fades out. Cuts to graphic of animated colourful graphic, that fades down, and Solent University logo fades up as well as text, www.solent.ac.uk. [Video ends]