Post by Bozur on Dec 18, 2009 1:46:59 GMT -5
More college students pursuing 'clean energy' careers
articles.latimes.com — In what could be an encouraging sign of change in the long-standing shortage of Americans preparing for "clean energy" careers, the subject is suddenly hot on college campuses across the nation -- a surge of interest largely stimulated by the specter of global warming.
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Surge of college students pursuing 'clean energy' careers
Climate change is a concern among undergraduates, driving a surge of interest in science and engineering on campuses nationwide.
March 29, 2009 | Jim Tankersley
WASHINGTON — In what could be an encouraging sign of change in the long-standing shortage of Americans preparing for "clean energy" careers, the subject is suddenly hot on college campuses across the nation -- a surge of interest largely stimulated by the specter of global warming.
Concern about climate change is galvanizing more undergraduate students to turn toward a subject involving science and engineering, some educators suggest, in much the same way that Moscow's launching of the Sputnik space satellite jolted baby boomers to turn their eyes to the stars.
What remains uncertain is whether their enthusiasm for renewable energy will carry over into graduate school and lead them to swell the ranks of Americans with advanced science and engineering degrees.
"We have a shortfall of people to do cutting-edge research and do the innovations we need," said Vijay K. Dhir, dean of the engineering school at UCLA. But, he added, "the potential is there."
The rising interest in renewable energy is so new that it's not clearly reflected in the latest enrollment figures, educators say. But leaders from a range of schools -- including Arizona State University, Indiana University and the University of Colorado -- say energy and sustainability are the hottest topic for their students.
President Obama is mounting a multibillion-dollar push to boost "clean energy," in an attempt to create millions of jobs while focusing on the environment. The effort includes stepped-up support for graduate students doing research in the area.
At the White House last week, Obama told a group of academics and energy entrepreneurs that "innovators like you are creating the jobs that will foster our recovery."
The U.S. has struggled in the last two decades to produce enough home-grown scientists and engineers to meet demand. Enrollment in graduate engineering programs dropped more than 5% from 2003 to 2005, the last year for which statistics are available. At the same time, rapidly developing countries such as China and South Korea have ramped up such programs, both in size and quality.
Graduate science enrollment in the U.S. nearly doubled in the last two decades. But the programs are now more than half-filled with foreign students, who increasingly are leaving the country upon graduation.
Aggravating the dearth of newly minted engineers, the rate at which American workers with science and engineering skills retire is expected to triple over the next decade.
articles.latimes.com/2009/mar/29/nation/na-energy-students29