Proceedings of the Second International Energy 2030 Conference,
November 4-5, 2008, Abu Dhabi, U.A.E.

Educating the 2030 Global Energy Engineer

Prof. Avram Bar-Cohen
University of Maryland, USA

Prof. Michael M. Ohadi
The Petroleum Institute, UAE

Abstract
The changing landscape for engineering practice in general necessitates significant structural transformation in engineering education to enhance the system perspective and innovation/entrepreneurship skills of future engineering practitioners. The demands for such a transformation are nowhere more evident than in the global energy industry that poses numerous interdisciplinary challenges to a rapidly aging workforce. This paper opens with a discussion of the educational needs of engineers in this new century, continues with a description of the unique challenges facing the energy industry, and closes with a brief introduction of a sample proposed innovative Energy Systems Engineering graduate program designed to respond to these needs.