info on masters in ucc??

jimmy11

Hi im thinking of doing the following masters in UCC starting september 2012.

just wondering has anyone any info on UCC in general and on the Masters in Sustainable Energy (full-time) ?

any info is much appreciated thanks

Archibald_SM

completing this course myself at the moment. V interesting course but as you would expect a lot of content to get through as well as a thesis to research and write. You will need a 1.1 or at a minimum a 2.1 Hons degree to be accepted also if you had some work experience in the area of sustainables, this would also be advantageous.

What are you studying at the moment and how are your grades?

jimmy11

Hi, your doing this masters , god that's great thanks for replying! The course I'm doing is construction management & engineering in UL and my grades currently lie in the 2.1 bracket. My degree is a B.Sc and my biggest worry with the masters that's it's very math orientated being a M.Eng.Sc masters. I think I would be at a disadvantage if it was almost purely Mathis based as I'm not an engineer as such and do not have 4 years or engineering maths behind me. Any info at all you can give me would be great
Thanks again

Archibald_SM

yep the maths content may catch you alright with some subjects. I think the course had over 300 applicants this year for 25 places. All I'd say is keep your options open and if you do get accepted be prepared for a steep learning curve with subjects like power electronics (90%) maths based.

jimmy11

Jesus tat many applicants! Wow. Yea the maths aspect may catch me alright , watsit like as a course in general? Enjoyable exciting? Worth doing?

nicholasn7322

I completed that masters a few years ago. TBH I wasn't overly impressed with it. It was very broad, covering all areas of Sustainable Energy so you end up with just 24 hrs of actual lecture time in each subject. On top of that some of the subjects were bearly relevant and we obviously just shoved in to bulk up the course. Alot of the lecturers are just going through the motions as they are very busy with research. It does give you just about enough knowledge to bluff through a interview in the sustainable energy sector tho...which thankfully I managed. Alot of companies are impressed with a Masters in Sus Energy from a University. The liklihood is that you will have to look abroad for employment after completing it as jobs in the energy sector are like hens teeth, unless you have previous experience in the power generation sector, the majority of my class are doing research for UCC or in Oz/Dubai/Uk. All of my class had first class honours degrees and demand has increased since then so without the H1 it would be very difficult to get in. I dont think the masters is beyond non engineers, I managed to dodge the most difficult subjects as I'm from a Civil Eng background. Theres a masters in denmark run by RISO which is supposed to be the best wind energy masters going but with out programming experience its supposed to be extremely difficult. If I was doing a masters now, I'd look at doing one in the Uk and target the Uk market for jobs after.

ILikeBananas

I was told that this course just splices together modules from 4th year civil engineering and 4th year electrical engineering with the only new content being the dissertation. I was told this by an electrical engineering graduate so I'm open to correction on that.

nicholasn7322

Some of the modules are Elec Eng and Civil Eng undergraduate modules however there are a few new ones, primarily on sustainable energy technology e.g. wind energy, solar & geothermal, hydro & ocean, biomass, energy modelling. However even some of the parts of those modules are probably covered in the undergraduate engineering courses as well.