‘Renewable Energy’ Renews Textbook for Beginning Engineers
OGDEN, Utah — Engineering schools around the country want to prepare students to design renewable energy systems, but textbooks have not caught up to the times.Weber State University professor Kirk Hagen, chair of the engineering department, tackled that challenge with a new textbook, “Introduction to Renewable Energy for Engineers,” published by Pearson in August.
Hagen said that existing textbooks on renewable energy are either too general, with little to no mathematics, or are too advanced for beginning students.
“This book bridges the gap by providing a text with meaningful subject matter for engineering students that includes college-level mathematics and a basic understanding of the physical sciences,” he said. “This will prepare students for more advanced courses later in their academic
programs.”
Hagen hopes making renewable energy easier to grasp and more accessible to beginners will help more students choose that career path.
“Renewable energy is one of the most exciting industries in which engineers work,” he said. “The renewable energy industry is multi-disciplinary in the respect that engineers from most engineering disciplines, including electrical, mechanical, civil, environmental and chemical are needed to make renewable energy systems work.”The text discusses the main forms of renewable energy: solar, wind, hydro, geothermal, marine and biomass. Students are guided through a basic energy analysis of each power-generation system.
In 2014, Hagen was named a WSU Brady Presidential Distinguished Professor. He began teaching at WSU in 1993, and was instrumental in creating WSU’s first engineering program and securing accreditation. Engineering is housed in the College of Engineering, Applied Science and Technology (EAST). This is Hagen’s fourth textbook.
“I have always believed that publications are the primary hallmark of scholarship and a critical component of student learning,” Hagen said.
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- Marcus Jensen, Office of Marketing & Communications
801-626-7295 • marcusjensen@weber.edu - Contact:
- Kirk Hagen, engineering chair
801-626-6998 • khagen@weber.edu