Through site visits, shop time, community engagement, hands-on work, and time spent with university host faculty, this program in Nicaragua will introduce students to renewable energy production methods on the large and small scale.
Travel dates: Dec. 28, 2017-Jan. 15, 2018
Seminar description:
Award-winning teaching professor Paul Imbertson (ECE) has been involved with local energy production in Nicaragua for more than a decade. He is now turning his experience and connections into a winter break seminar for credit.
Energy production in Nicaragua has relied heavily on imported oil, but this is rapidly changing. Nicaragua is a prime location for renewable energy production—volcanoes for geothermal, steady ocean breezes for wind farms, numerous waterfalls for hydro, and agriculture for biogas. But access to electricity, especially in rural areas, is far below their Latin American neighbors. As such, large green energy projects will impact the overall energy mix, while localized energy production is still needed in many communities.
Through site visits, shop time, community engagement, hands-on work, and time spent with university host faculty, this program will introduce students to renewable energy production methods on the large and small scale.
Students will be introduced to the people and sights of Nicaragua—a land of beaches, volcanoes, and winding roads. Spanish language background is not required, but there will be opportunities to practice Spanish for interested students. The seminar will take place in Managua, León, and Jinotega, Nicaragua.
