On November 10th, World Science Day for Peace and Development, the new Bachelor Program ‘Renewable Energy Engineering’ was presented at the Ivano-Frankivsk National Technical University of Oil and Gas. This new Program was launched with support from USAID ESP.
In September 2020, the first six students of the twenty-two selected started the program that, in this initial stage, has been developed with input from the ESP experts in renewable energy systems.
The University President Evstahiy Kryzhanivskiy, Member of the National Academy of Sciences opened the ceremony. Speaking to the students, he highlighted the following: ‘Throughout the last hundred years, the world’s population has grown fourfold, yet the energy consumption per capita has increased by a factor of thirty. Moreover, most of this energy is derived from fossil sources. Today, we are discussing a progressive development that will not harm future generations. Today, we are looking for decarbonization and, in order to make that possible, traditional sources of energy should be replaced with renewables. To this end, we are beginning to train professionals in this field’.
Yulia Galustian, ESP Gender Expert, greeted the students and faculty members on behalf of the Energy Security Project. She chose to stress the following: ‘The key goal of our Project is to support the energy security of Ukraine, and reform and increase the competitiveness of the country’s energy sector. The research and education component is very important.’ The ESP expert also said that she was delighted to see a female student in the group.
While presenting the well-equipped university facility, Senior Lecturer Andriy Yavorivskiy remarked, “Technical provision of educational programs is an issue for most Ukrainian universities. We are tackling a very modern program – a program on renewable energy – so the technical equipment for training must be the most up to date. Considering the reality that we all have to work within, the equipment we received was ideal. We will be using it – extensively and effectively – to give our students possibilities and opportunities that are comparable with those on offer at western universities.’
The participants were presented with the new equipment purchased with a USAID ESP grant. The new materials included a computer for the class with licensed software, hydro-energy and biological energy equipment, a solar collector, a geo-collecting station, a wind-power generator and a set of equipment to demonstrate the potential of hydrogen energy.
The new program will prepare engineers in the field of renewable energy as an important investment in the energy sector in Ukraine.
