Wind power and solar energy systems are definitely the way of the future. That’s how Brendan Daley, mechanical engineer from Boston sees it, and that is why he attended the Sustainable Energy Systems-programme.– The next 50 years we will be doing something completely different when it comes to energy, and I want my education to be as up-to-date as possible.
Brendan Daley describes himself as more of an engineer than an environmentalist, and says that his interest in renewable energy sources lie within the technology itself. He figured the right school for him was to be found in Scandinavia rather than in the US where fossil fuels still plays a mayor part. The reason why he chose Sweden has to do with one of his former professors.
– He used to live in Sweden and told me how much he liked it. And now I understand why. I feel very much at home here. Winter is a bit colder than in Boston, but people are friendly and everyone speaks English. For a while I thought about studying in Germany, but the language seemed to be more of a problem there.
Part from the fact that lectures are held in English, he enjoys the opportunity to hear guest speakers share their experiences from industry.
– At my programme at Chalmers we get a lot of lecturers from outside the university. I don’t think that is very common at home, but find it very useful.
Brendan Daley’s plan for the future is to stay and work in northern Europe for at least ten years from now. He thinks he can find interesting jobs in Sweden, Denmark or Germany.
– I figured that if I stayed in the US I would probably end up working with defence systems, and I prefer to work with something that feels more upcoming, important and modern.
Name: Brendan Daley
Master's Programme: Sustainable Energy Systems
Age: 23
From: Boston, USA