Welcome to the New Class of 2018
29 students from 16 countries
With
the beginning of the Fall 2017 semester, the Iceland School of Energy is happy
to welcome the new graduate students from all around the globe. Since the ISE programs
launched in 2008, they have experienced rapid growth resulting in taking in a
record number of new students from 16 countries. Throughout the next 18 months, the
students will be able to tailor their own curricula to suit their respective
ambitions and interests in the fields of geothermal engineering, geoscience,
power-system engineering, energy law, economics, business and finance.
Although the semester has just kicked off, the group has already had time to acclimatize to their new arctic home. Over the course of three weeks, the new ISE students have taken parking in the Iceland School of Energy's Summer School. During this three-week intensive course, students learned about the main issues surrounding sustainable energy development and the various factors impeding or promoting demand of such technologies. In order to provide the most well-rounded overview possible and showcase Iceland's tremendous landscapes, the participants embarked on three different field trips. Among the destinations were the Krýsuvík high-temperature geothermal area with its mud pots, steam vents, hot springs and geothermally altered landscapes, several power stations around the country, including HS Orka's Svartsengi geothermal power plant, Landsvirkjun's hydropower plant and future wind farm at Búrfellsvirkjun, and the biggest geothermal power station in Iceland Hellisheiðarvirkjun, operated by ON Power. To give an idea of the manifold possibilities of further utilizing the geothermal energy potential, the group also visited the Blue Lagoon R&D center, where scientists are investigating the high-value products that can be extracted from the geothermal brine, and United Silicon, a new heavy industry facility on the Reykjanes Peninsula, which will soon begin producing ferrosilicon metal.
First year student Enzo Diependaal from the Netherlands attests that the fieldtrips were a great opportunity to get a first impression of the country he had just stepped foot in, “The power plant visits provided fantastic insight into what is possible in the field of renewable energy.” Outside the academic element of the summer school, students have used the opportunity to explore their new home on the edge of the Arctic. Current second year students have made efforts to showcase life in Reykjavik and organized a few social events and did their best to ease the transition into everyday life in Iceland. Overall, Enzo says, the summer program prepared him and the group well for the road ahead by providing a great bonding experience and connecting all members of it.
Now that summer has run its course in Iceland, the 29 new students from countries including Canada, the Dominican Republic, China, Denmark, France, Germany, Iceland, Indonesia, Italy, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States of America, set out to follow their passion into the sustainable energy sector, here at the Iceland School of Energy.
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