Student profiles

Sven joined ISE in July of 2013 after having completed a four-year selective study business and economics programme with BP and working as Business Analyst for the downstream midterm planning department. His decision to join ISE was founded on the nature of the programme, as it combined engineering and economics into a truly interdisciplinary approach to sustainable energy.

Originally from Amherst, NH, Mike came to Iceland in 2014 after having worked as non-destructive engineer in the American oil industry, following his completion of his Bachelor's degree in Business Administration and Economics. He joined ISE because of the decline in oil and gas related jobs, the opportunity to live in such beautiful country and a desire to entrench himself in the wind power sector.

In summer of 2015, Selma-Penna Utonih, 25, joined the ISE family from Beijing, where she had obtained her undergraduate degree in Environmental Engineering. She has always been interested in the energy sector, especially in her home country of Namibia. She now pursues her master's degree in Sustainable Science Engineering.

Mads joined the Iceland School of Energy in summer of 2014 from Denmark. The Horsens-native had previously completed his degree in business development engineering, with a focus on innovation and start-up companies at University of Aarhus. In order to specialize in the energy sector, Mads joined ISE. During his time at ISE, Mads focused primarily on feasibility analysis of small and medium size systems and wrote his final dissertation on such a system in Greenland, before graduating in 2016.

In 2014 Cari enrolled in the Iceland School of Energy's graduate programme sustainable science engineering. Originally from New York, Cari had obtained an undergraduate degree in civil engineering from the University of Delaware and spent a few months working as an estimator for a general contractor on Long Island. The decision to join ISE was largely driven by the lasting impression the GREEN Program had left and her desire to explore the possibilities and opportunities of geothermal energy much further.

Sarah Sternbergh moved to Iceland in 2014 from her home in Canada's Yukon to pursue her master's degree in Sustainable Energy Engineering at ISE. She had obtained a bachelor's degree in geological engineering with a focus in mineral exploration from Queens University in Kingston, Ontario, which had landed her a job as an engineer in the hydrogeology field in her home territory. Her decision to join ISE came from wanting further her knowledge of geothermal energy.

Samuel joined Iceland School of Energy in 2012 from southern Australian Adelaide, successfully completed his studies in 2014. His background in Civil engineering combined with environmental geoscience quickly secured him employment as a civil construction site engineer. However, Samuel wished to leave Australia and pursue a MSc in Europe and had an interest in the energy sector.

Throughout her studies, Ximena focused on geothermal and reservoir engineering, which ultimately lead to her thesis, modelling the Hágöngur Geothermal Reservoir. After graduating ISE in 2016, Ximena returned to Peru. She rejoined the environmental consultancy and is actively involved in restructuring procedures surrounding environmental impact assessments of renewable energy projects, where her knowledge of geothermal and renewable energies are critical to her work.

Almar's final thesis research was written in cooperation with Iceland GeoSurvey. Almar reviewed mineral scaling in Hveragerði district heating system, and graduated in 2015. After a brief period of working for Reykjavik University and coordinating multiple graduate programmes, Almar now works at a consulting firm based in London. He reviews energy policy, regulation and provides economic advice for governments and international agencies, actively utilising the tools and knowledge gained during his time at Iceland School of Energy.