4. Education and Training
Transforming our economy into one that relies more on renewable energy technologies and energy
efficient practices presents enormous engineering, technical, scientific, economic, and social challenges.
Not only does it require new methods in conducting advanced basic and applied research, but it also
requires that we develop innovative educational programs so that students are adequately prepared to
tackle the complex multifaceted energy problems. We are developing an educational program that
requires the students to be exposed to an interdisciplinary education, gain experience in industry, be
engaged in multidisciplinary cutting-edge research, have opportunity to mentor and teach undergraduate
students, and participate in outreach programs targeted at K-12 students with special attention paid to
underrepresented students, particularly women, minority and Native Hawai`ian students.
The program will provide a new set of graduates at the B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. levels that have the skills to
help make transformational changes to how we deliver and use energy along with development of the
smart grid. We will work closely with the Hawaiian Electric Company (HECO) to ensure that students
have good practical knowledge and are prepared to enter the workforce as productive engineers,
scientists, and educators. The program focuses on development of a graduate program in clean energy
and island sustainability along with multidisciplinary research projects consisting of teams of graduate
and undergraduate students. The research areas are discussed in the next section and range from
economics, policy, and sustainability issues to renewable energy production and storage to the smart grid
and integrating renewable energy sources to novel renewable energy applications. Undergraduate
students will work with faculty and graduate students on multidisciplinary CEIS projects, have industry
exposure (through internships and short industry courses). These students will have two choices once
they graduate; enter the workforce (e.g. as HECO employees) or enter graduate school (undergraduate
CEIS students will be recruited into CEIS graduate program).
Our CEIS program is summarized in Fig.2 with six educational components and how students, faculty,
engineers, and community interface into the program. A unique educational experience will be created
with the interdisciplinary education providing students with breadth, depth, and creative thinking skills
combined with practical industry experience through internships and targeted short courses. Additional
attributes include strong mentorhsip, recruitment, retention, and outreach programs where talented and
hard working students are recruited and then trained in the CEIS program to produce productive
workforce back to the community as shown in Fig. 1.
In Section 4.1, we provide a brief description of the curriculum designed for the program including two
required core courses (one engineering/science course and a second course focusing on economics and
social sciences), five elective core courses to be developed, and elective courses already in the existing
curriculum. In Section 4.2, we give four examples of sample interdisciplinary curriculums and how they
are related to the multidisciplinary research. Other key features of the educational program are:
1) Industrial experience. Our graduate students will be required to work in energy and sustainability
companies, with most students getting summer internships with companies working on Hawai`ian energy
and sustainability problems. This experience is described more in Section 4.3.
2) Short courses. HECO engineers will develop courses in renewable energy and the smart grid that
will cover practical aspects of different technologies and policies. The courses will be taught by HECO
engineers and be taken by undergraduate students, graduate students, faculty, and engineers. This is
described more in Section 4.4.
3) Mentoring and outreach. When graduate students enter our program, they will be assigned a
faculty mentor and a senior Ph.D. student mentor to help them get integrated into the CEIS program. The
mentors will assist the new student in constructing an education and research program. As the student
becomes more senior, this student will serve as a mentor to new students. Graduate students will also
help with recruitment to the graduate program by helping supervise undergraduate student design
projects. Ph.D. students also will participate in instruction by team-teaching a Freshman-level course in
renewable energy and sustainability. This course will be under the supervision of faculty mentors. The
graduate students will also participate in our outreach program by giving seminars on their research to K12 students and our industrial partners. In Section 6, we discuss more on how graduate students will
assist in recruitment and outreach. By having graduate students help with recruitment and retention, a
feedback loop is created that makes our program self-sustaining, as existing graduate students mentor new
graduate students and help bring in future students.
4) Interdisciplinary training. Graduate students will participate in an interdisciplinary education and
research program. Each graduate student will have at least two dissertation advisors from different
backgrounds, and participate in a multidisciplinary project involving at least one other student. The
project will be multidisciplinary, require teamwork, and help to develop oral and written communication
skills. Much of the research will be focused on problems formulated by industrial partners in
collaboration with faculty mentors, where there are components of both science and technology.
Graduate students will learn how people in industry collaborate and work together on teams. In Section
4.4, we discuss this in more detail.
5) Undergraduate Research Projects. Undergraduate students will be exposed to multidisciplinary
research projects and have chances to work on teams consisting of other undergraduate students and
graduate students with supervision from faculty. They will use knowledge gained from their course work,
industry experience (internships), short courses, and mentoring from graduate students and faculty to
perform tasks on their research projects. This exposure to working on teams (with a wide variety of
backgrounds and experiences) will help prepare the undergraduate student for the workforce and/ or
becoming a graduate student. We envision some students entering the workforce in Hawaii (e.g.
becoming a HECO engineer) and continuing to pursue an advanced graduate degree in the CEIS program.
6) Undergraduate Course. An undergraduate course in renewable energy, energy efficiency, and
sustainability will be developed to get students interested in our CEIS program and to consider careers in
the energy area. The course will be open to all students and require only basic high school mathematics
and science. The course will be team taught by faculty and senior Ph.D. students with guest lecturers
from industry and other researcher conducting energy and sustainability research. Students that have
further interests in the field can then work on undergraduate research projects and eventually enter the
CEIS program as graduate students.
7) Seminar series. We will run a weekly CEIS seminar series with speakers from industry (e.g.,
HECO, energy startup companies, etc.), government agencies (e.g., DOE, NREL, etc.), the University of
Hawai`i at Manoa, and other educational and/or research institutes. This will expose students to research,
education, development, and policies related to clean energy and island sustainability. It will also serve
as a recruiting tool for undergraduate students and a meeting place to discuss further collaborations. This
Fall 2009 semester we ran the seminar series for the first time with tremendous interest from students
from diversified backgrounds. Typical College of Engineering seminars attract audiences of around
twenty participants. Our seminar series has attracted more than fifty participants on average.
4.1. Curriculum
Graduate students (M.S. and Ph.D.) are required to take seven courses including two required core
CEIS courses, two elective core CEIS courses, two CEIS-approved existing courses related to the
students’ research area, and one IGERT-approved course outside of their college. Ph.D. students will
typically take more courses, be responsible for team teaching the undergraduate renewable energy course,
be involved in more significant research projects, and take leadership roles in supervising other personnel.
4.1.1. Required core CEIS courses
The two required core CEIS courses are designated as CEIS 601 and CEIS 602. Both are broad
courses introducing IGERT students to renewable and clean energy, energy efficiency, and sustainability.
CEIS 601 is engineering oriented and CEIS 602 is social science oriented.
CEIS 601 Energy Conservation, Conversions, and Applications: This course covers the principles
of energy conservation and conversion. Conservation of energy (first law of thermodynamics) and
entropy (second law of thermodynamics) will be introduced. Various energy conversion technologies
such as thermal energy (including energy obtained through chemical reactions, oceanic thermal energy
and geothermal energy) to mechanical energy, chemical energy (from fossil fuels and biofuels) to thermal
energy, conversion between mechanical and electrical energy, transformation of wind or wave energy to
power/electricity, collection of solar energy for water heating and electricity generation, production of
biofuels, will be emphasized. Issues related to the efficiencies during energy conversions and storage as
well as their impact on environment will also be discussed. Prerequisites: 1 year of Calculus and Physics
CEIS 602 Economics, Social Impacts and Government Policies Relating to Renewable and
Clean Energy (Social Sciences (SOCS) 630: Sustainable Renewable Energy): This course reviews
economics as well as political and urban planning methodologies in renewable energy. Topics include the
economics of bioenergy, wind, solar, and geothermal energy. Land use planning, community
development, and GIS techniques are introduced. Sustainability issues include greenhouse gas emissions,
indigenous property rights, community planning, and environmental cost benefit analysis. Prerequisites:
Calculus, ECON 130, or instructor consent.
4.1.2. Elective core CEIS courses
Graduate students will take two out of five elective core CEIS courses that will be developed. The
five core CEIS courses are designated as CEIS 610 through CEIS 614. These courses will be
multidisciplinary in nature and will be team-taught by the CEIS faculty team. The courses are linked to
our four research areas (identified in the parentheses) as explained below.
CEIS 610 Renewable Energy Devices, Materials, and Manufacturing (5.1. RE Economics,
Policy, and Sustainability, 5.2. RE Production and Storage & 5.4. Innovative Applications of RE):
This course explains the current and potential future energy systems, resources, devices, extraction,
conversion, materials, manufacturing, and end-use as well as meeting the regional and global energy
needs in a sustainable manner. Different renewable energy sources and technology devices (such as wind,
wave, solar, fuel cell, geothermal, ocean-thermal, biomass/biofuel, battery, and capacitor systems) with
their materials, manufacturing, and operations will be presented. Each technology will also be considered
in the context of political, social, economic, and environmental goals. Issues such as cost, performance,
efficiency, durability, reliability, weight, and size for the renewable energy sources and devices will also
be discussed. Prerequisites: Calculus, Physics
CEIS 611 Renewable Energy Systems and Integration (5.2. RE Production and Storage & 5.3.
Smart Grid and RE Integration): This course covers renewable energy generation, storage,
transportation, integration into grid, smart grids, and distribution. Wind, wave, solar, fuel cell,
geothermal, ocean-thermal, biomass/biofuel, battery, and capacitor systems will be studied, along with
their efficient integration into the existing grid. Various levels of grid modeling (including both
deterministic and stochastic models) and communication protocols (for signaling to both grid controllers
and consumers) will be studied. Issues relating to economics, stability, reliability, and security will also
be considered. Prerequisites: Calculus, Probability or instructor consent
CEIS 612 (CEE 644) Sustainable Infrastructure (5.1. RE Economics, Policy, and Sustainability
& 5.4. Innovative Applications of RE): Types of infrastructure. Construction and operation costs and
impacts. Resource requirements for construction and operation. Sustainability analysis methods and
indices. Sustainability framework for analysis of costs, benefits, and impacts. Energy consumption,
transportation efficiency, and infrastructure recycling will also be covered. Prerequisites: Calculus
CEIS 613. Biomass Conversion to Biofuels and Bioenergy (5.1. RE Economics, Policy, and
Sustainability & 5.2. RE Production and Storage): This course will cover overview of
biofuel/bioenergy production, biorefinery concept, fundamental concepts in biofuel/bioenergy production;
renewable feedstocks, thermochemical and biochemical conversions of biomass to biofuel/bioenergy,
biodiesel production, environmental impacts, economics and life-cycle analysis, value-added processing
of biofuel residues; selected case studies. Pre: BE 373 or instructor consent
CEIS 614 (ECON 632): Energy Economics (5.1. RE Economics, Policy, and SDustainability &
5.3. Smart Grid and RE Integration): This course covers the supply and use of energy within society.
Topics include the following: energy markets (electricity regulation, grid pricing, metering), elasticity of
supply and demand in energy markets, risk analysis and security of supply, economics of energy
infrastructure, innovations and new technologies (renewables, etc.), environmental policy, and climate
change mitigation and adaptation. Prerequisites: SOCS 630; Calculus, or instructor consent.
4.1.3. CEIS-approved existing courses
Graduate students can take two courses in their respective research area from the existing curriculum.
Existing courses in science and technology that graduate students can choose (CEIS approved courses)
include BE 410: Biomass Conversion to Biofuels and Bioenergy; BE 420: Sensors and Instrumentation
for Biological Systems; BE 437: Biosystems Unit Operations; BE 460: Bioreactor Design and Analysis;
BE 606: Instrumentation and Measurement; BE 622: Experimental Methods in Cause-Effect Modeling;
BE 638: Biosystems Modeling; BE 639: Bioprocess Engineering; BE 648: Biosystems Simulation; BE
650: Advanced Biofuel Engineering; BE 660: Bioseparation Processes; CEE 405: Engineering Economics;
CEE 422: Environmental Fluid Mechanics; CEE 444: Infrastructure, Project Impacts, Policies, and
Sustainability; CEE 622: Fluid Mechanics; EE 491K (EE431): Power Systems; EE491K (EE432): Power
Electronics; EE 617: Linear and Convex Optimization; EE 618: Dynamic Programming and Stochastic
Control; EE 621: Advanced Solid State Devices; EE 624: Microsensors and Microactuators I; EE 640:
Applied Random Processes; EE 643: Communication Systems Performance; EE 645: Machine Learning;
EE 646: Advanced Information Theory; EE650: Linear Systems Theory; EE 671: Electromagnetic Theory
and Applications; ME 404: Computational Fluid Dynamics; ME 417: Applied Thermal Engineering; ME
418: Power and Production; ME 422: Heat Transfer; ME 423: Mass Transfer; ME 425: Thermal
Management of Electronic Systems; ME 433: Failures in Materials; ME 434: Materials Selection for
Design; ME 435: Experimental Methods in Materials; ME 436: Corrosion Engineering; ME 446:
Advanced Materials Manufacturing; ME 447: Introduction to Nanotechnology; ME 453: Energy
Conversion Systems; ME 618: Boiling and Two Phase Flow; ME 620: Biological Fluid Mechanics; ME
622: Convection Heat Transfer; ME 625: Numerical Methods in Fluid Mechanics and Heat Transfer; ME
626: Viscous Flows; ME 635: Corrosion Theory; ME 636: Fundamentals of Electrochemistry; ME 646:
Mechanics and Design of Composites; ME 647: Nanoscience and Nanotechnology; ME 660: Introduction
to Fuel Cell Technology; ME 671: Continuum Mechanics; and ME 672: Finite Element Analysis.
Additional courses will be added as new courses are developed.
4.1.4. CEIS-approved courses outside of Engineering
Graduate students are required to take one course outside of their college. Examples of courses
students can choose outside of engineering include those in Economics, Urban & Regional Planning,
Information & Computer Science, and Management, such as ECON 632: Energy Economics; ECON 635:
Economics of Sustainable Development; ECON 637: Resource Economics; ECON 638 Environmental
Resource Economics; PLAN 624: Environmental Policies; PLAN 625: Environmental Planning; PLAN
626: Topics in Resource Mgmt.; PLAN 661: Collaboration Between Sectors; ICS 656: Information Tech.
and Sustainability; MGT 650-1: Working with Startups; MGT 650-2: High Growth Entrepreneurship.
The above graduate curriculum is designed to support the students’ research, as well as expose
students to the broader issues involved in creating a sustainable Hawai`i and US.
4.2. Integration of Research Themes and Curriculum
We have identified the links between our research themes and CEIS courses in the previous section.
To further illustrate how the curriculum will be integrated with the research themes, consider the
following example. Alice, Bob, Jane, and John are students entering the CEIS program. Alice is
interested in developing high-efficiency, durable, low-cost nanostructured solar cells, while Bob is
interested in creating a smart grid system for the island of O`ahu. Jane would like to focus on the
economics and policies that encourage the implementation of sustainable practices, and John wants to
pursue research in biofuels for sustainable energy for transportation. The academic careers of these
graduate students are presented here to illustrate the proposed integrated education and research plan.
All the students take the required CEIS core courses, CEIS 601 and 602, providing them with
fundamental knowledge of both the scientific background and the economics and implementation of
renewable energy. Thus, although each student has chosen a different focus area, all of them will have a
common training and background, facilitating communication among the various disciplines.
Alice’s curriculum is shown in Table 2. The courses that Alice takes to fulfill her CEIS course
requirements prepare her for her research project in nanostructured solar cells, providing Alice with a
broader understanding compared to a traditional engineering curriculum. More in depth knowledge is
obtained from her research-related courses, and her breadth course gives her exposure to key economic
and urban planning policies that relate to renewable energy, which will be valuable when she joins the
workforce in clean energy.
Table 2: Alice’s sample curriculum for research in nanostructured solar cells.
Curriculum Requirement
Courses
CEIS required core courses (2)
CEIS 601 and CEIS 602
CEIS elective core courses (2)
CEIS 610: Renewable Energy Devices, Materials, and
Manufacturing
CEIS 611: Renewable Energy Systems and Integration
EE 621: Advanced Solid-State Devices
ME 647: Nanoscience and Nanotechnology
CEIS 614 (ECON 602): Energy Economics
Research-related existing courses (2)
IGERT breadth course (outside College) (1)
Bob’s curriculum, shown in Table 3, is tailored around his interest in smart grid systems. Like Alice,
Bob’s focus courses will aid him in his research. Additionally, Bob has interest in becoming an
entrepreneur in renewable energy, so he chooses a breadth course in management.
Table 3: Bob’s sample curriculum for research in a smart grid system for O`ahu.
Curriculum Requirement
Courses
CEIS required core courses (2)
CEIS elective core courses (2)
CEIS 601 and CEIS 602
CEIS 611: Renewable Energy Systems and Integration
CEIS 612: Sustainable Infrastructure
Research-related existing courses (2)
EE 617: Linear and Convex Optimization
EE 618: Dynamic Program. & Stochastic Control
IGERT breadth course (outside College) (1)
MGT 650: Working with Startups
Jane, who is interested in sustainable economics and policies, chooses a different curriculum (Table
4). The CEIS courses provide Jane with an understanding of the scientific and engineering principles
behind renewable energy, which she would not normally experience in a typical curriculum. A
combination of Jane’s CEIS and research-related courses prepare Jane for a career as an environmental
lobbyist. Furthermore, as a result of her CEIS training, she is imbued with an intimate understanding of
renewable energy from an engineering perspective, which makes her a unique and valuable addition to the
workforce.
Table 4: Jane’s sample curriculum for research in sustainable economics and policies.
Curriculum Requirement
Courses
CEIS required core courses (2)
CEIS 601 and CEIS 602
CEIS elective core courses (2)
CEIS 614: Energy Economics
CEIS 611: Renewable Energy Systems and Integration
ECON 635: Economics of Sustainable Development
PLAN 661: Collaboration Between Sectors
ICS 656: Information Technology and Sustainability
Research-related existing courses (2)
IGERT breadth course (outside College) (1)
John’s interest in biofuels for transportation guides him to the curriculum in Table 5. His CEIS
courses and research-related courses provide him with the knowledge needed to successfully complete his
research goals. In addition, this curriculum exposes John to the economics of renewable energy, which
will help him grasp other factors that affect the feasibility of biofuels.
Table 5: John’s sample curriculum for research in biofuels for transportation.
Curriculum Requirement
Courses
CEIS required core courses (2)
CEIS 601 and CEIS 602
CEIS elective core courses (2)
CEIS 613: Biomass Conversion to Biofuels and
Bioenergy
CEIS 612: Sustainable Infrastructure
BE 639: Bioprocess Engineering
BE 650: Advanced Biofuel Engineering
CEIS 614 (ECON 602): Energy Economics
Research-related existing courses (2)
IGERT breadth course (outside College) (1)
Alice, Bob, Jane, and John decide to work on a project in collaboration with HECO, in which they
will study the feasibility of widespread solar panel deployment on residential and commercial buildings,
and the use of biofuel-powered cars as an alternative source at night or times of peak load. Alice’s
nanostructured solar cell research will increase the efficiency and durability of the solar panels, driving
costs down. Bob’s smart grid research is necessary to efficiently integrate this widely-distributed solar
panel and car network into the existing grid in such a way that excess energy production can be sold to
HECO, while still allowing power to be drawn from HECO’s larger renewable energy plants when energy
demand exceeds output. On his MGT 650 course, Bob will work closely with a start-up company on the
Big Island of Hawai`i to assist them on the supply-chain management of high-tech solar panels. Jane will
study the economic feasibility of this project, and draft policies that will facilitate its implementation.
John will focus on the development of biofuels for the cars, and work on new technologies to increase the
energy density and to decrease the cost of biofuels, to transform the transportation, to be more economical.
In this way, the proposed IGERT curriculum effectively integrates education, research, and applied
projects with local industry for maximum impact.
4.3. Working with State of Hawai`i and Industry
A key to a student’s education and research will be interacting with utilities and companies that are
working on energy and sustainability problems with a particular emphasis on Hawai`i. To become
productive engineers and leaders in the energy and sustainability areas, we feel that it will be very
beneficial for students to have industry experience to work on real energy and sustainability problems
and collaborate with engineers, scientists, economists, and policy makers. This exposure will provide
help in giving students a more rounded education as well as choosing research topics that have practical
relevance.
Graduate students will be required to work at least one summer in industry or a national energy lab.
Undergraduate students will be strongly encouraged to work a summer in industry or a national energy
lab. Several of our partners that have written commitment letters will assist us in placing students as
summer industry interns. These include the Hawai`ian Electric Company (HECO) who are working on
problems such as smart grid implementation and integration of renewable energy sources and Better Place
which is working with the State of Hawai`i and HECO for deployment of electric vehicles. In addition,
support and collaborations will be provided by the State’s Hawai`i Renewable Energy Development
Venture (HREDV), which provides startup funds for ventures in renewable energy. HREDV and Women
in Technology are both partners and will assist us in finding companies for summer interns. HREDV has
already helped us in securing PV panels for our Green Holmes Hall Initiative.
We are working closely with HECO as many of their engineers are presenting seminars in our Fall
2009 seminar series. We are also working with engineers from HECO to help with our curriculum design
and some of the engineers will likely contribute to teaching some of our CEIS courses (see Section 4.1).
We are also working with HECO and other Hawai`i energy companies for collaboration on writing
targeted education and research proposals, including NSF, DOE, and DoD funds to help sustain our
research program.
4.4. Short Targeted Courses from Industry
Dora write up
4.5. Interdisciplinary Nature of our Research and Education
The CEIS educational pedagogy provides opportunities for both "interdisciplinary" and
"multidisciplinary" study. In interdisciplinary activities, we will encourage individual students to
combine together theories and practices from more than one of the CEIS areas (i.e., engineering,
economics, and biology) in a single project. Such interdisciplinary efforts will be supported by the nature
of the CEIS curriculum, in which students must take courses both within and outside of their core area.
For example, an engineering student's project on analysis of a new model of wind turbine could
incorporate both structural analysis as well as public policy analysis.
Multidisciplinary activities involve the creation of cross-disciplinary teams. In this situation, each
team member will contribute according to his/her primary area of expertise. We believe that providing
both interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary opportunities are essential for creating effective leaders in
renewable/clean energy and island sustainability. Exposure to interdisciplinary studies prevents our
graduates from becoming "narrow minded" professionals who have no appreciation for the implications
of their disciplinary expertise on the bigger picture. Exposure to multidisciplinary studies prepares them
for large scale projects in which they must communicate and negotiate with experts in different areas to
generate a solution that satisfies all of the various disciplines constraints.
To foster interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary activities graduate students will be required to have
at least two advisors with different research interests. The faculty advisors for each graduate student will
work closely together with the student in designing his/her education and research program. Dissertation
research will focus on problems that require cross-disciplinary teams. Some examples were presented in
Section 4.2. Working in teams will also help students develop soft skills such as oral and written
communication skills, leadership skills, as well as planning, and coordination. Some of these skills will
be learned when students participate as summer interns in industry and/or participate in international
programs. This will help give students a comprehensive education and research experience to prepare
them for joining the workforce in clean energy.