Renewable Energy Engineering Courses

Renewable Energy Engineering

The following year course planner is a list of all classes offered for the Renewable Energy Engineering degree.   Please review the "Advising Guide" attachment and "Projected Course Offerings", these will provide you with more details.

NOTE:  Subject to change without notice; these courses are a projection of what will be available but are not guaranteed.

CHE 260 - Electrochemistry (3-3-4)

Development of electrochemistry concepts, including thermodynamics, reaction kinectics, charge transport and mass transport. Topics are presented in the context of fuel cells, electrolysis, electroplating and batteries. Also discussed, the chemistry of hydrogen; its properties, production, storage and transportation.
Prerequisite: CHE 222.

EE 221 - Circuits I - DC and 1st Order Tansient Analysis (3-3-4)

DC and 1st Order Tansient Analysis.  Ohm's Law.  Kirchhoff's Law (KCL and KVL).  Nodal analysis.  Branch analysis.  Source transformations. Thevenin and Norton equivalent circuits.  Maximum power transfer.  Introduction to operational amplifiers.  Inductance. Capacitance.  Mutual Inductance. Transient response of RL and RC.
Prerequisite: MATH 251.
Corequisite: MATH 252, Student must register for a laboratory section.

EE 223 - Circuits II - AC and 2nd Order of Transient Analysis (3-3-4)

AC and 2nd Order Transient Analysis.  Sinusoids and phasors. Sinusoidal steady-state analysis.  Nodal analysis.  Branch analysis. Source transformations.  Thevenin's and Norton's equivalent circuits.  Sinusoidals steady-state power calculation.  Balanced three-phase circuits.
Prerequisites: EE 221, with a grade 'C' or better, MATH 252
Corequisites: Student must register for a laboratory section.

EE 225 - Circcuits III - Laplace Transforms and Applications (3-3-4)

Introduction to the Laplace Transforms. Circuit Analysis using the Laplace Transform. Passive filters. Active filters. Frequency response and Bode plots. Two-port circuits.
Prerequisites: EE 223, with a grade 'C' or better. Math 321.
Corequisites: Student must register for a laboratory section.

EE 321 - Electronics I - Intro to Amplifiers & Semiconductor Devices & Lab (4-3-5)

Top-down approach. Voltage, current, transresistance and transconductance amplifiers.  Operational amplifiers.  Two-part models.  Transfer functions, frequency response, gain-bandwidth-product.  Nonlinear distortion, slew-rate.  Introduction to semiconductors, holes and electrons, p-n junctions, FETs, I vs V curves.  FET amplifiers. 
Prerequisite:  EE 223 with grade 'C' or better.
Corequisite:  Student must register for a laboratory section.

EE 343 - Solid-State Electronic Devices (3-0-3)

Crystal properties and growth of semiconductors. Atoms and electrons. Energy bands and charge carriers in semiconductors.  Excess carriers in semiconductors. p-n junctions. FETs and BJTs.  Optoelectronic devices.  High frequency and high-power devices.
Prerequisite: EE 321 with a grade 'C' or better. 

EE 419 - Power Electronics (3-3-4)

Power transistor characteristics.  Power devices; SCRs, Power MOS, IGBTs, DIACs, TRIACs.  Large signal amplifiers .  Voltage regulators, switching regulators.  Drive and snubber circuits.  Photodiodes, optocouplers.  Thermal de-rating, thermal modeling.  Student must register for a laboratory section.
Prerequisite: EE321 with a grade 'C' or better.

EE 456 - Control System Design (2-3-3)

Continuous-domain systems and Laplace transform review. System modeling, identification and linearization. System response and stability analysis. Classical tracking and regulating controller design using computers. PID tuning. Lab exercises in modeling, design and implementation. Student must register for a laboratory section.
Prerequisites: EE 225, EE 321 both with grade 'C' or better.

ENGR 211 - Statics (4-0-4)

Fundamental principles of mechanics of rigid bodies and the application of these principles to engineering problems.
Pre- or co-requisites: Math 252.

ENGR 266 - Computer Programming for Engineers (2-3-3)

Programming and problem solving using current computer software. General programming techniques using conditional statements, looping, subroutines, and data input/output will be stressed. Consideration of features specific to the software being used will also be presented.
Prerequisites: Math 111.

ENGR 355 - Thermodynamics (3-0-3)

An introductory course in thermodynamics, the science of heat energy conversion.  Develops understanding of energy, heat, work, efficiency, and ideal thermodynamic cycles.  Teaches first and second laws of thermodynamics and perfect gas law.
Prerequisites:  MATH 252; PHY 202 or PHY 222.

HIST 356 - History of Energy (3-0-3)

Study of emphasis societies place on the development, safeguarding and exploitation of energy resources. Development of energy resources since the Industrial Revolution; exploitation of energy resources; oil schocks of the 1970's, glut of the 1980s; the modern energy paradigm
Prerequisites:  WRI 123 or WRI 227.

MECH 318 - Fluid Mechanics (3-3-4)

Covers fluid properties, fluid statics, conservation laws of pipe flow, drag, lift fluid dynamics, measurement of flow, viscous flow, laminar, and turbulent flow, and forces due to fluid motion.
Prerequisite: ENGR 211, PHY 221.
Corequisite: EE 223 or MECH 363.

MECH 323 - Heat Transfer (3-0-3)

An introduction to the three modes of heat transfer: conduction, convection and radiation.  Teaches the analytical and empirical techniques used for solving problems in heat transfer, including those for which computer application is most suited. 
Prerequisite: MATH 321, ENGR 355, MECH 318. 

MECH 433 - HVAC (2-3-3)

Heating, ventilating, and air conditioning. Application of laws and principles of thermodynamics to analysis, design, and control of mechanically-controlled environments for human comfort, animal health, and food preservation. Teaches computation of heating and cooling loads, humidity control, heating, and refrigeration. 
Prerequisite: MECH 323. 

REE 201 - Intro to Renewable Energy Systems (3-0-3)

An introduction to renewable energy.  Topics include photovoltaics, solar thermal systems, green building, fuel-cells, hydrogen, wind power, waste heat, biofuels, wave power, tidal power and hydroelectric.  Discussions of economic, environment, politics and social policy are integral components of the course.
Prerequisite: MATH 111.

REE 243 - Electrical Power (3-3-4)

Fundamentals of electrical power; maximum power transfer, single-phase circuits, three-phase circuits, wye-delta transformations, power factor, harmonics.  Electrical power systems studied include: transmission lines, power transformers, autotransformers, three-phase transformers, resonance and power factor correction, building electrical systems, the national power grids. 
Prerequisite: EE 223; MATH 252 with grade 'C' or better.

REE 253 - Electronmechanical Energy Conversion (2-3-3)

AC machines, including single phase, split-phase and three-phase (induction and synchronous machines) motors and generators; introduction to power switching devices, speed control and brushless DC motors.  DC machines including shunt, series and compound.  Control devices and circuits, including ladder diagrams.
Prerequisites: EE 223; MATH 252 with grade 'C' or better.

REE 331 - Fuel Cells (2-3-3)

Introduction to fuel cell technologies: PEM, PAFC, AFC, SOFC, MCFC and DMFC systems. Fuel cell components and systems; field flow plates, electrolytes, electrode materials, electrode catalysts, on-board reformers. Portable devices, utility-scale power production, transportation systems. Fuel types and fuel storage.
Prerequisites: CHE 260 and PHY 222 with grade 'C' or better.

REE 339 - Senior Project I (1-3-2)

Selection, definition, and analysis of a problem suitable for a renewable energy systems senior project prior to actual project development. Includes consideration of project parameters, and implications, proposal of alternate solutions, and justification of selected solution. Culminates in the writing of project proposal.
Prerequisite: WRI 327.

REE 344 - Nuclear Energy (3-0-3)

Introduction to nuclear energy. Atomic and nuclear physics; the interaction of radiation and matter. Nuclear reactor operation; reactor components, nuclear cycles, neutron diffusion and moderation. Reactor shielding. Fuel reprocessing and waste disposal. Reactor licensing and safety. Economics and environmental concerns.
Prerequisites: PHY 223, CHE 222 or CHE 202/205.

REE 345 - Wind Power (3-0-3)

Introduction to power production from wind resources.  Historical uses of wind resources.  The Earth's wind systems.  Physics of wind power.  Vertical and horizontal axis turbines.  Aerodynamics of wind turbines.  Large-scale turbine farms and siting.  Commercial development, economics and environmental impacts.
Prerequisite: PHY 222, REE 253.

REE 346 - Biofuels and Biomass (2-3-3)

Introduction to power production from biomass resources.  Historical uses of biomass resources.  Biomass as a solar energy store; forestry and agricultural sources, crop wastes.  Recycled sources; municipal solid wastes, landfill gas.  Gaseous fuels; anaerobic digestion, gasification, liquid fuels, fermentation, hydrolysis, transesterfication. 
Prerequisite: PHY 222, CHE 222 or CHE 202/205.

REE 347 - Hydroelectric Power (3-0-3)

Introduction to hydro-resource power production.  Hydropower in history.  Physics of hydrology.  Power, head, flow-rate.  Turbine hydrodynamics; Francis, Kaplan, Pelton, Turgo, cross-flow.  System components; generators, governors, penstocks, spillways, valves, gates, trashracks.  Large-scale and microhydroelectic systems.  Pumped storage.  Economic, environmental considerations.
Prerequisite: REE 253.

REE 348 - Solar Thermal Energy Systems (3-0-3)

Introduction to solar thermal energy systems for residential, commercial and industrial applications.  Solar radiation; topics in heat transfer; flat plate and concentrating collectors; non-imaging optics; applications including water heating, building heating, cooling, industrial process heat, distillation, solar thermal power systems.  
Prerequisite: MECH 323, PHY 223.

REE 412 - Photovoltaics Systems (3-0-3)

Grid-connected and stand-alone PV systems. Module and array performance analyzed using Sandias IV tracer software. PV system components including batteries, PV modules, charge controllers, maximum power point trackers and inverters will be discussed. Power inverter parameters will be evaluated.  
Prerequisite: EE 343.

REE 413 - Electric Power Conversion Systems (3-0-3)

Review of power switching devices. Single- and three-phase rectifiers, particularly controlled rectifiers. DC-DC converters; buck, boost, buck-boost, Cuk. AC-AC converters. Inverters. Inverter control; square-wave, pulse-width modulation. Harmonic distortion. Resonant converters. Charge controllers. Maximum power point trackers. 
Prerequisites: EE 419, REE 412.

REE 439 - Energy Systems Managment & Auditing (3-0-3)

Analysis of thermal and electrical loading of buildings and industrial processes; evaluation of electrical loading and timing and efficiency of load components. Improving efficiency of thermal and electrical loads, including economic analysis. Application of renewable energy in the analysis of loading and efficiency. 
Prerequisite: MECH 433.

REE 449 - Senior Project II (0-6-2)

A continuation of REE 339. Prototype construction of project solution begins. Written documentation is produced including design calculations and functional analysis of hardware and/or software needed for project solution. The documentation becomes chapter two of the final senior project report. 
Prerequisite: WRI 327, REE 339. 

REE 451 - Geothermal Energy and Ground-Source Heat Pumps (3-0-3)

 An introduction to geothermal energy resources. Discussion of heat flow mechanisms. Investigation into heat exchange systems including: binary, flash, double flash, total flow. Application of thermal dynamics in analysis, design and control of heating/cooling systems. 
Prerequisite: MECH 323.

REE 455 - Energy-Efficient Building Design (3-0-3)

Principles of integrated, energy-efficient building design. Application of codes, standards. Energy modeling, simulation. Daylighting, natural ventilation, architectural features of passive solar buildings. Application of renewable resources, net-zero designs. Life-cycle economic analysis. Use of software tools for analyzing building energy systems.
Prerequisite: MECH 433.

REE 459 - Senior Project III (0-6-2)

Completion of the project proposed in REE 339 and designed in REE 449. Documentation with specifications, functional description, calculations, test results, schematics, graphs, flowcharts, parts lists, diagrams and photographs become part of the project final report. The student will defend their project before a review panel. 
Prerequisite: REE 449.

REE 463 - Energy Systems Instrumentation (2-3-3)

Application of electrical and mechanical sensors, data acquisition and logic controllers as applied to energy systems. Determination of physical parameters necessary for control and data-logging. Methods of calibration and correction. Lab projects employ programmable logic controllers.
Prerequisites: EE 321. 

REE 465 - Renewable Energy Transportation Systems (3-0-3)

Renewable energy transportation systems including fuel cells, hybrid gasoline-electric engines, electric vehicles, bio-diesel, flex-fuel vehicles, high-efficiency diesel engines, gas turbine prime mover systems. Topics include fuel-air mixing, fuel storage, fuel delivery, cooling, fuel leak detection, chemical safety, and electrical power control systems.
Prerequisite: MECH 323, REE 253.