Photo credit @IFNTUO&G
A year ago, Yuliia Hryhorash chose the Renewable Energy Engineering specialization which Ivano-Frankivsk National Technical University of Oil and Gas (IFNTUO&G) started with USAID support through the Energy Security Project (ESP). When asked what prompted her to choose renewable energy, Yuliia said: “Strong RES growth in Ukraine and the sector’s demand for qualified specialists. In addition, the rapid development of RES gives impetus to the development of new professions at the intersection of energy and other sectors of the economy, and this makes my choice even more promising.”
The first year of study in the new specialization was a year of challenges and achievements for Yuliia. She was the only girl in the program and ranked top among the students of the chosen specialization. She also took a lot of interesting opportunities: she became a member of the British Council Project “Creative Spark”, participated in the “Young Energy XXI” marathon, attended lectures by professors from leading universities in Slovakia, Romania, and Hungary. Yuliia knows exactly what needs to be done to get a good education and continue to build a successful career in the energy sector: “There are three things that make me successful: planning my long-term and short-term goals, an inspiring environment, and a constant desire to learn new things!”
Recently, Yuliia became an ambassador of energy education among girls, so she plans to introduce girls aged 7 to 18 to the field of energy and inspire them to research energy processes, encourage them to work and develop in this field. “I plan to give lectures, develop materials in the format of presentations and videos for school teachers on Energy, Energy Efficiency, Career Guidance, and Gender Inequality, and organize a conference ‘Career Prospects in the Energy Sector’ and disseminate information among the public,” says Yuliia.
Yuliia motivates girls by example to choose energy as their future profession, and tells them about the benefits of the program she is taking: “The Bachelor Program in Renewable Energy Engineering is new, it meets the modern requirements of the renewable energy market, and the university laboratories involved in the program have received modern educational and training equipment from USAID, including computers and software needed to obtain fundamental knowledge of electricity generation at renewable energy facilities, management of power systems, design of power facilities and much more”.
To all those who are interested in where program graduates will work in the future, Yuliia reminds that the range of professions in green energy is constantly expanding. New professions appear alongside traditional ones: electromechanical engineers of wind power plants, specialists in the analysis of wind facilities’ efficiency, specialists in forecasting electricity generation by RES facilities, and others. Graduates of the program will be able to work not only as engineers for non-conventional and renewable energy generation systems but also as engineers in the field of electronics and telecommunications.
And for those who ask “But who teaches you?”, the student says that after one year of study she is convinced of the professionalism of Ukrainian and international lecturers involved in the program.
Because of the success of the Program, USAID has extended the grant for the Bachelor Program in Renewable Energy Engineering and plans to set up a new training and production laboratory for the installation, commissioning and maintenance of solar power plants which will improve the educational program and provide students with additional skills.
The program has both full-time and part-time degree programs and provides internships at universities in Belgium, Norway, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, and Poland. Despite the pandemic, this Program created by specialists of the Ivano-Frankivsk National Technical University of Oil and Gas, with the support of the USAID Energy Security Project, helps to address the issue of staffing in the renewable energy sector.
Video on how USAID equipped the laboratories
Information for future students +38 067 342 8282 and http://tdm.nung.edu.ua/