Program Overview

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MSc Offshore Wind Energy

The MSc Offshore Wind Energy program is designed for ambitious graduates with a background in engineering, maths, or physics who want to gain in-depth and industrially relevant knowledge in offshore wind energy. This course is taught by staff having internationally leading expertise and track record in both wind turbines offshore engineering and electric and electronic engineering.

Why this course?

With almost 20 gigawatts of offshore wind capacity worldwide, and projected to increase fifteen-fold by 2040, the offshore wind energy market is booming, and it urgently needs qualified people to further succeed in being the leading sustainable energy source.

What you’ll study

The MSc course will be delivered by the Department of Naval Architecture, Ocean and Marine Engineering (NAOME), and the Department of Electronic and Electric Engineering (EEE). There are six compulsory modules, a group project, and an individual project. The taught parts of the course will comprise 120 credits including a 40-credit group project.

Modules

• Offshore wind, wave, and current modelling
• Aerodynamic and hydrodynamic loads
• Structural analysis and integrity assessment
• Generators, power converters, and control systems
• Risk and reliability engineering
• Offshore wind farm Economics, Operation & Maintenance

Work placement

There’s the opportunity to carry out the individual project through the departments’ competitive MSc industrial internships. The internships are offered in collaboration with selected department industry partners, including ScottishPower, Smarter Grid Solutions, and SSE.

Group projects

You’ll be part of a group of three to five people, acting as engineering consultants for 10 weeks, addressing a practical engineering problem. An industrially relevant, practical problem will be allocated, and the students will need to develop a plan, allocate tasks, manage resources, and present the results to a panel of academic and industry experts.

Facilities

We have excellent teaching facilities including:

• Catalina - our departmental racing yacht
• Kelvin Hydrodynamics Lab - the largest fully operational ship-model experiment tank in any UK university
• cutting-edge computer facilities including high-performance computers
• industry-standard software packages

Student competitions

The Department of NAOME supports and promotes students in various competitions and awards, from cash bursaries for top-performing students to the highest of awards from international organisations.

Guest lectures

You’ll appreciate industry experts involved in the teaching on selected modules within this PGT programme. In addition, the group project will be assessed by a panel of industry experts.

Course content

The course content includes:

• Semester 1
• Semester 2

Offshore Structural Integrity

This module aims to provide principles and methodologies to analyse and evaluate pertinent issues concerning the use of engineering materials and structural integrity in the marine environment.

Risk & Reliability Engineering

This module aims to introduce the principles of risk management and reliability engineering and solve relevant engineering problems through widely applied methods and tools.

Principles of Generator Modelling and Control

This module provides you with fundamental understanding of the control of electric generators via power electronics for wind power applications.

Wind Turbine Technology

This module introduces the principles of wind turbine power conversion, including an introduction to turbine dynamics suitable for non-specialist engineers and scientists.

Offshore Wind Turbines Dynamics Modelling

This module aims to provide you with the knowledge necessary to model and analyse the marine environment, the loads acting on the wind turbine sub-structure and foundation, and the dynamic response of the offshore wind turbine system as a whole.

Offshore Wind Farms Operation & Maintenance, and Economics

This module fully educates you on the operational challenges and solutions facing offshore wind operators.

Group Design Project

The overall aim of the module is to provide you with an enriched experience in the selection, conceptualisation, and designing of a novel vessel or an offshore asset.

Entry requirements

• MSc: Normally a first-class or second-class honours degree (or international equivalent) in a relevant engineering or technical subject.
• PgDip: Applicants with marginally lower qualifications will be considered for the Postgraduate Diploma in the first instance.
• English language requirements: If English is not your first language, please visit our English language requirements page for full details of the requirements in place before making your application.

Fees & funding

• Scotland: £11,900
• England, Wales & Northern Ireland: £11,900
• Republic of Ireland: If you are an Irish citizen and have been ordinary resident in the Republic of Ireland for the three years prior to the relevant date, and will be coming to Scotland for Educational purposes only, you will meet the criteria of England, Wales & Northern Ireland fee status.
• International: £30,250
• Distance learning: £5,100 per 60 credits
• Available scholarships: Take a look at our scholarships search for funding opportunities.

Careers

There will be huge home and overseas demand for graduates in this area. Job titles for future graduates of this postgraduate programme include but are not limited to:

• PhD students/researchers
• Energy Analyst
• Graduate/Senior naval architect/engineer
• Inspection Engineer
• Marine surveyor
• Design engineer
• Project Engineer
• Wind Engineer / Wind Turbine Engineer

Our graduates should be able to work at:

• Classification and Certification societies
• Equipment manufacturers
• Naval Architecture companies
• Offshore Engineering companies
• Offshore wind farm developers
• Operations and Maintenance companies
• Research centres, experimental facilities, and universities
• Specialist offshore wind engineering consultancies
• Wind turbine OEMs

Hear from employers

The MSc in Offshore Wind Energy will provide the students with the industrially relevant skills necessary to work in this field. BPP-Tech would look to employ 2-4 such graduates in each year.

The proposed MSc in Offshore Wind Energy has a structure and content that will give the necessary formation and skills to the students allowing them to work in the industry.