A New Research Class as the Capstone to an Alternative Energy Minor

The culmination of the alternative energy minor at Robert Morris University is a capstone course which challenges the students and unleashes their creativity and enthusiasm for the minor.The course, ENGR/ENVS4112 Energy Research Seminar, focuses on the current issues of importance in the alternative energy field.Each student prepares a research paper on a specific topic of their own choosing, which is aligned with the alternative energy theme of the course.Students also present their research at the end of the semester.Students chose a wonderful selection of topics, including the energy savings and cost effectiveness of replacing refrigerators in a local hospital, the feasibility of composting on campus, the feasibility of an anaerobic digester on campus, and researching the legal feasibility of Earthships and environmentally friendly homes in the Pittsburgh region.The topics were chosen by the students and reflected their own interests and ideas of what was the most important issues.Interestingly, we had a number of students primarily interested in green engineering, the more efficient use of existing energy and recycling.The engineering students at Robert Morris University are very practical in their focus and wanted to pursue topics of research with direct real world application rather than contributing to more abstract research applications.We will discuss the development of this course, some of the wonderful experiences we had teaching the course, and future ideas for improvement.