Renewable Energy Students Visit Parliament

The 18 final-year students from the University’s Penryn Campus in Cornwall also visited some of the most influential global engineering organisations during the three-day excursion.

The tour, organised as part of the Professional Ethics, Competence and Commercial Awareness for Energy Engineers module, was designed to give the students an insight into the burgeoning influence and professionalism of engineering on society today.

The cohort met with three Government ministers – Claire Perry (BEIS) and Cornish MPs George Eustice (DeFRA) and Sarah Newton (DWP) – to discuss the major challenges and opportunities facing the energy engineering sector.

The group then met with representatives at five of the major professional engineering organisations – the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, the Energy Institute, Institution of Engineering and Technology, Institution of Civil Engineers, and the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology.

As well as receiving guidance about the various careers opportunities that are open to them, the students were also given an insight into strategy and policy-making across the energy engineering sector.

Dr Adam Feldman, from Exeter’s Renewable Energy department and who helped organise the visit said: “This was an outstanding trip and presented a superb opportunity for our students to observe and participate in engineering at its most creative and influential capacity.”

• A budding student researcher from the University of Exeter was recently selected to showcase her work at a special event at the Houses of Parliament. Irina Stolyarova, a 3^rd year Renewable Energy student, was chosen to give a poster presentation of her work in London. The event was organised as part of the British Conference of Undergraduate Research.