MSc Sustainable Engineering: Offshore Renewable Energy

The MSc Sustainable Engineering: Offshore Renewable Energy program is designed to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of sustainable engineering principles and their application to offshore renewable energy systems. The program is offered by the University of Strathclyde, a leading institution in Scotland, and is accredited by the Royal Institute of Naval Architects (RINA) and the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology (IMarEST) on behalf of the UK Engineering Council.

Key Facts

• Start date: January and September
• Accreditation: RIN /IMarEST
• Study mode and duration: MSc: 12 months full-time, PgDip: 9 months full-time
• Top 10 in the world for Marine/Ocean Engineering (Shanghai Rankings Academic Ranking 2024)

Why this Course?

This flexible program combines study in specialist, advanced engineering technologies underpinned with training in sustainability. The program has been developed with direct industrial involvement to provide students with a solid understanding of modern, sustainable engineering. As well as gaining an understanding of how sustainable engineering applies to Marine Technology, this program will also provide students with key transferable skills to aid their employability.

What You'll Study

Studying at least three generic modules will meet the key requirements to attain Chartered Engineer status. Students must take three specialist modules if they are studying for the Postgraduate Certificate and up to five if they are studying for a Postgraduate Diploma or MSc.

• Group project: Students will work with a group of students from different pathways of the Sustainable Engineering program. They will produce sustainable solutions to real-life industry problems. This project will include site visits, field trips, and progress reports to industry partners.
• Individual project (MSc only): MSc students will study a selected topic in depth and submit a thesis.

Accreditation

This course is accredited by the Royal Institute of Naval Architects (RINA) and the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology (IMarEST) on behalf of the UK Engineering Council.

Facilities

The university has excellent teaching facilities, including:

• Catalina – the departmental racing yacht
• Kelvin Hydrodynamics Lab – the largest ship-model experiment tank in any UK university
• Towing/wave tank exclusively for teaching purposes
• Marine engine laboratory
• Cutting-edge computer facilities
• Industry standard software

Student Competitions

The Department of Naval Architecture, Ocean & Marine Engineering (NAOME) supports and promotes students in various competitions and awards, from cash bursaries for top-performing students to the highest of awards from international organizations.

Course Content

A typical selection of classes offered on the program includes:

• Instructional classes
• Elective classes

Some of the specific classes include:

• Sustainability
• Energy Resources & Policy
• Electrical Power Systems
• Finite Element Analysis of Floating Structures
• Renewable Marine Energy Systems
• Physical Testing of Offshore Renewable Energy Devices
• Design Management
• Financial Engineering
• Risk Management
• Environmental Impact Assessment
• Project Management

Learning & Teaching

There are two teaching semesters of 11 weeks each. Course modules are delivered in the form of formal lectures supported with tutorials and laboratory experiments when needed.

Assessment

There are two types of methods for module assessment. One is coursework assessment only, the other is examination assessment. For examined modules, the final assessment mark consists of 30-40% coursework and 60-70% examination.

Entry Requirements

• Academic requirements/experience: Normally a first-class or second-class honors degree (or international equivalent) in architecture, engineering, or a related subject. Entry may be possible with other qualifications provided there is evidence of relevant experience and of the capacity for postgraduate study.
• English language requirements: If English is not the student's first language, they must visit the university's English language requirements page for full details of the requirements in place before making an application.

Fees & Funding

• Scotland: £10,800 (2024/25), £11,900 (2025/26)
• England, Wales & Northern Ireland: £10,800 (2024/25), £11,900 (2025/26)
• Republic of Ireland: If the student is an Irish citizen and has been an 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, they will meet the criteria of England, Wales & Northern Ireland fee status.
• International: £27,500 (2024/25), £30,250 (2025/26)
• Additional costs:
  • Course materials & costs: Printing Services Printing: Prices variable per size, Binding: £3 per copy approx.
  • Placements & field trips: Travel to the Kelvin Hydrodynamics Laboratory may be required depending on selected courses. Frequency variable: Average 5 visits if relevant to subjects. Bus fare £2-3 each way.
  • Other costs: Access cards are provided free of charge. £10 charge to replace a lost card.

Careers

Graduates of the MSc Sustainable Engineering: Offshore Renewable Energy program can pursue a variety of career paths, including:

• Job titles: Graduate Design Engineer, Project Engineer, Renewable Energy Consultant, Thermal Performance Engineer
• Employers: Arup, Eaton, Esteyco Energua, Granite Services International, Moorfield International, Mott Macdonald

The program is designed to provide students with the knowledge and skills required to succeed in the offshore renewable energy industry, and graduates have gone on to work for a range of leading companies in the field.

Apply

To apply for the MSc Sustainable Engineering: Offshore Renewable Energy program, students must submit the following supporting documents:

• Certified individual semester mark sheets/academic transcript showing subjects taken and grades achieved for all qualifications
• Certified degree certificate for all qualifications
• Evidence of suitable English language proficiency if English is not the student's first language
• A copy of their passport containing their photo and passport number
• A copy of their sponsor letter/scholarship award (if appropriate)
• Names, job titles, and email addresses for two nominated referees

The university offers a range of scholarships and funding opportunities to help students cover the cost of tuition fees. Students can search for scholarships and funding opportunities on the university's website.

Start Dates

The MSc Sustainable Engineering: Offshore Renewable Energy program has several start dates throughout the year, including:

• September 2025
• January 2026
• September 2026

Students can choose the start date that best fits their needs and schedule.

Course content

A typical selection of classes offered on the programme are outlined below. Please note that these classes may be subject to change.

Instructional classes

Elective classes

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Sustainability

This class aims to provide you with an understanding of the concepts of sustainability and sustainable development. The social, environmental and economic impact of development strategies will be identified and the mitigation of negative impacts discussed.

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Energy Resources & Policy

Against the background of international commitments on atmospheric emissions, diminishing fossil fuel resources and the liberalisation of energy markets, this class examines sustainable options for energy production, supply and consumption.

The aim is to give you an understanding of current trends and to enable a critical evaluation of emerging ideas, technologies and policies.

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Electrical Power Systems

This class aims to provide you with an understanding of the operation of modern electrical power systems along with the techniques to undertake a basic technical analysis of key electrical devices and systems.

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Finite Element Analysis of Floating Structures

This module aims to provide you with a theoretical and practical knowledge of the finite element method and the skills required to analyse marine structures with ANSYS graphical user interface (GUI).

This module covers:

introduction to finite element analysis and ANSYS GUI

truss elements and applications

solid elements and applications

beam elements and applications

plane stress, plane strain and axisymmetry concepts

plane elements and applications

plate & shell elements and applications

assembly process and constructing of the global stiffness matrix

At the end of this module you'll be able to:

understand the basics of finite element analysis

understand how to perform finite element analysis by using a commercial finite element software

understand specifying necessary input parameters for the analysis

understand how to visualize and evaluate the results

There is one exam and one coursework assignment. The exam is during the exam period of the first semester. Exam has a weight of 70% and coursework assignment has a weight of 30%.

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Renewable Marine Energy Systems (10 credits)

This module aims to provide you with:

principles and methodologies to analyse and evaluate the marine renewable energy sources potential

principles and methodologies to analyse and compare the main offshore wind, wave, and tidal systems available

This module covers:

introduction to marine renewable energy systems: context, trends, basic concepts

offshore wind energy resource characterisation and analysis

wave energy resource characterisation and analysis

tidal energy resource characterisation and analysis

marine Renewable Energy Systems economics: an introduction

offshore wind turbines: main technologies and modelling approaches

wave energy converters: main technologies and modelling approaches

At the end of this module you'll be able to:

analyse the potential of the main marine renewable energy sources (offshore wind, wave, and tidal)

classify and compare, from a techno-economic point of view, the main offshore wind, wave, and tidal energy systems

propose a preliminary design of a marine renewable energy system for a given geographical area

discuss on the main challenges of the experimental testing of marine renewable energy systems

demonstrate an awareness of the wider, multidisciplinary context for marine renewable energy devices

Assessment and feedback are in the form of:

quick quizzes for formative feedback

a class test, mid-way through the module, weighting 40% of the final module mark

an exam, at the end of the module, weighting 60% of the final module mark

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Physical Testing of Offshore Renewable Energy Devices

This module aims to provide you with an understanding of the underlying physics associated with scale model testing of wind wave and tidal current devices and the ability to execute and analyse hydrodynamic tests to assess the performance of marine energy generating systems.

This module covers:

lab testing: device testing in wave tanks, towing tanks

similarity, extrapolation to full scale, and scaling challenges for lab testing of marine renewable devices

experiment design guidelines and standards

instrumentation: measurement of fluid velocity, water surface elevation, pressure, force, displacement, velocity, and acceleration

non-intrusive measurement techniques including PIV, LDA, motion capture, and ultrasonic probes

measures of performance: linearity, repeatability, hysteresis, calibration

data acquisition and analysis: data sampling, filtering, processing, statistical analysis

sources of uncertainty, bias and precision, accumulation of uncertainty

basic linear wave theory

basic mechanical oscillator theory

At the end of this module you'll be able to:

be aware of key instrumentation technologies, both traditional and modern, which may be used in them, and application of best-practice guidelines/standards

understand different scaling laws which may apply from lab-scale or intermediate-scale field-trials to full scale

be familiar with basic approaches to data analysis and be able to estimate the levels of uncertainty of their measurements

be aware of techniques which can help them choose an efficient set of tests in the context of a highly time- and cost-limited campaign

Assessment and feedback are in the form of the online quizzes, laboratory exercises and coursework (three lab reports) which will test your understanding of the learning outcomes and your ability to apply your learning to problems. You'll also give a presentation on one of the labs.

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Design Management

This class provides a structured introduction to the design management process, issues and tools.

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Financial Engineering

The class aims to introduce elements of financial engineering that are applied to reduce risk of business insolvency and enhance the financial robustness of business enterprises.

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Risk Management

You'll explore the entire process of structuring a risk problem, modelling it, supporting and communicating recommendations, both theoretically and in practice. Risk management is linked with decision analysis in so far as we explore decision-making under uncertainty and it has links with quantitative business analysis as we explore the use of statistics in understanding risk. However, the topic has some unique attributes such as risk communication and the role that experts play in risk assessment.

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Project Management

This class aims to provide you with skills relating to the use of engineering practices in project management with particular respect to the effective and efficient use of resources.

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Learning & teaching

There are two teaching semesters of 11 weeks each.

Each year about 15 experts from the industry give talks and seminars on wide-ranging topics. Industrial visits are made to a variety of companies.

You’re required to attend an induction prior to the start of the course.

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Assessment

There are two types of method for module assessment. One is course work assessment only, the other is examination assessment. For examined modules the final assessment mark consists of 30-40% course work and 60-70% examination.

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Chat to a student ambassador

If you want to know more about what it’s like to be an Engineering student at the University of Strathclyde, a selection of our current students are here to help!

Our Unibuddy ambassadors can answer all the questions you might have about courses and studying at Strathclyde, along with offering insight into their experiences of life in Glasgow and Scotland.

Chat now!

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Careers

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Job titles include:

Graduate Design Engineer

Project Engineer

Renewable Energy Consultant

Thermal Performance Engineer

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Employers include:

Arup

Eaton

Esteyco Energua

Granite Services International

Moorfield International

Mott Macdonald

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Glasgow is Scotland's biggest & most cosmopolitan city

Our campus is based right in the very heart of Glasgow. We're in the city centre, next to the Merchant City, both of which are great locations for sightseeing, shopping and socialising alongside your studies.

Life in Glasgow

Glasgow is very famous for shipbuilding. I wanted to study my course somewhere with a long history of naval architecture as well as modern technology. Strathclyde is the perfect place for me.

Sung-il Ahn

Sustainable Engineering: Offshore Renewable Energy (MSc) Find out why Sung-il loves Strathclyde

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Overview:

• Founded in 1796 as Anderson's Institution
• Received its Royal Charter in 1964, becoming the University of Strathclyde
• Consistently ranked among the top 10 universities in the UK for engineering and technology
• Home to the Advanced Forming Research Centre (AFRC), a world-leading research center in metal forming
• Notable alumni include Sir James Black (Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine), Sir David Murray (former CEO of Rangers Football Club), and Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell (astrophysicist)

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Student Life:

• Over 23,000 students from over 100 countries
• 150+ student clubs and societies, including sports teams, cultural groups, and academic societies
• Student support services include counseling, health, and disability support
• Campus facilities include a sports center, library, and student union

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Academics:

• Offers a wide range of undergraduate and postgraduate programs in engineering, science, business, law, and social sciences
• Faculty includes world-renowned experts in their fields
• Teaching methodologies emphasize hands-on learning and industry engagement
• Academic support services include tutoring, writing centers, and language support
• Unique academic programs include the Strathclyde MBA, which is ranked among the top 100 MBAs in the world

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Top Reasons to Study Here:

• Excellent reputation for teaching and research, particularly in engineering and technology
• Strong industry connections and opportunities for internships and placements
• Specialized facilities such as the AFRC and the Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences
• Vibrant student life with a diverse and inclusive community
• Located in the heart of Glasgow, a vibrant and cosmopolitan city

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Services:

• Counseling and mental health support
• Health center with a range of medical services
• Accommodation services with a variety of on-campus and off-campus options
• Library resources with over 1 million books and journals
• Technology support including IT services and free Wi-Fi
• Career development services with support for job searching, CV writing, and interview preparation