Minor in Energy and Sustainability

The Energy and Sustainability (ENSU) Minor offered by Penn Engineering provides students with a broad coverage of technical and societal issues confronting the world and in-depth treatment of selected topics in technical areas relevant to energy and sustainability.

To apply for the ENSU Minor, complete the declare/update field of study form found on Path. Professor Lorena Grundy is the director and faculty advisor for the minor. You may email her with advising and course substitution questions here.

Requirements for the Minor

Students participating in the minor are expected to have taken at least one semester of introductory chemistry, introductory mathematics and introductory physics, and will take a minimum of 6 courses toward the minor.

Fundamental Engineering Science: 1 CU

Students will be required to satisfy the basic engineering science course requirement by taking one course from the list below:

1 CU in engineering thermodynamics:

  • CBE 2300 Material and Energy Balances of Chemical Processes*
  • CBE 2310 Thermodynamics of Fluids
  • MEAM 2030 Thermodynamics
  • MSE 2600  Energetics of Macro and Nanoscale Materials
  • CHEM 2210 Physical Chemistry I
  • PHYS 1230 Principles of Physics III: Thermal Physics and Waves

*Of the two CBE courses, CBE 2310 is preferred

Energy and Sustainability Systems and Technology: 1 CU

  • CBE/ENGR 4215/5215 Energy and Sustainability: Science, Engineering, and Technology

OR

  • ENGR 2500 Energy Systems, Resources and Technology

Energy and Sustainability Policy, Regulation, and Societal Impact: 1 CU

Students will take one course in the Technology, Business and Society category, choosing from:

  • EAS 3010/5050 Climate Policy and Technology
  • EAS 4010/5010 Energy and its Impacts
  • EAS 4020/5020 Renewable Energy and its Impacts
  • EAS 4030/5030 Energy Systems and Policy
  • EAS 5110/ENMG 5100 Societal Grand Challenges at the Interface of Technology and Policy
  • ENMG 5020 Intro to Energy Policy
  • ENMG 5070 Ideas in Energy Policy
  • ENMG 5400 Clean Energy Technology Deployment to Achieve Net Zero
  • ENMG 5450 The Role of Greenhouse Gas Removals in Achieving Net Zero
  • ENVS 5600 Developing Environmental Policy

Energy and Sustainability Electives: 3 CU

  • CBE 3750 Engineering and the Environment
  • CBE/MSE 5020 Sustainability of Materials
  • CBE 5050 Carbon Capture
  • CBE 5430 Sustainable Development of Water Resource Systems
  • CBE 5440 Computational Science of Energy & Chemical Transformations
  • CBE 5450 Electrochemical Energy Conversion and Storage
  • ESE 5210 The Physics of Solid State Energy Devices
  • MEAM 5020 Energy Engineering in Power Plants and Transportation Systems
  • MEAM 5620 Water Treatment Engineering
  • MSE 4550/5550 Electrochemical Engineering of Materials
  • MSE 5040 Materials Sustainability
  • MSE 5450 Materials for Energy and Environmental Sustainability