A Comprehensive Energy Curriculum
Master of Science in Energy (MSE), Certificate in Energy, and Certificate in Energy Technology, Law and Policy
Available Fully Online or In-Person
The Master of Science in Energy, the Certificate in Energy, and the Certificate in Energy Technology, Law and Policy introduce students and professionals to the multiple interdisciplinary facets of energy ranging from an overview of energy technologies (fossil-based, renewable, and non-fossil based) to multi-scale energy systems engineering methods, to energy economics, law, security, policy, and societal impact.
How The Energy Programs Work
Master of Science in Energy
The structure of the Master of Science in Energy degree is based on (a) short sequential modules, (b) distinguished seminar series, and (c) research thesis (Track 1 only).
Each module is 1.5 weeks long and has 5 teaching days, including a total of 22 hours of lecture/lab material (22 contact hours) with 4.4 hours of lectures per teaching day. Therefore, two modules are equivalent to a semester-long course, and correspond to 3.0 credits. Bi-weekly seminars are delivered by distinguished energy experts from academia, industry, and government. Research thesis topics are provided and supervised by faculty members affiliated with the Texas A&M Energy Institute and representing numerous departments across the campus.
The Master of Science in Energy degree is offered in two tracks. Track 1 is with a research thesis, and Track 2 is with only course work (i.e., without research thesis). There are two enrollment periods per year (Fall semester and Spring semester).
Track 1 (Thesis Option)
Face-to-Face
Track 1 requires 16 modules, thesis, and seminars, and results in 32 student credit hours. This track includes a research thesis and requires students to be Face-to-Face in College Station, Texas. Students will work in conjunction with faculty members affiliated with the Texas A&M Energy Institute.
The Fall semester structure of Track 1 has 8 modules, the distinguished seminar series, and research thesis work. The Spring semester structure of Track 1 consists of 8 modules and research thesis work. The additional 2 summer months will be devoted towards the completion and defense of the research thesis work for cohorts beginning in the Fall semester. The total number of credits will be 32 (i.e., 24 for the 16 modules, 2 for the seminars, and 6 for the research thesis work).
Track 2 (Non-Thesis Option)
Face-to-Face/Online
Track 2 is a coursework only Master’s degree and requires 23 modules and seminars, and results in 36.5 student credit hours.
This track is offered to students or professionals Face-to-Face in College Station, Texas or Online via distance learning.
The Fall semester structure of Track 2 has 10 modules and the distinguished seminars. The Spring semester structure of Track 2 consists of 10 modules. Three additional modules will be offered in the Summer semester. The total number of credits will be 36.5 (i.e., 34.5 for the 23 modules, and 2 for the seminars).
Certificate in Energy
Face-to-Face or Fully Online
The Certificate in Energy is offered by taking 10 modules of the Master of Science in Energy degree program either Face-to-Face in College Station, Texas or Fully Online via distance learning.
The Certificate in Energy takes approximately 10 months to complete and there are two enrollment periods per year (Fall semester and Spring semester).
Certificate in Energy Technology, Law and Policy
The Certificate in Energy Technology, Law and Policy is jointly offered by the Energy Institute and the School of Law.
The Required and Elective Courses in Energy
Required Modules
Available Fully Online or In-Person
Students pursuing the Master of Science in Energy have a set of Required Modules that cover a breadth of energy topics. These courses are:
Required Modules
ICPE 601
Credits: 1.5 (1.5 Lecture Hours)
Introduction to energy-related engineering principles and energy conservation efficiency; basic processes and chemicals/materials used in the current and emerging energy systems; impact on the environment; approaches for minimizing contaminants released by usage of energy sources.
Prerequisite: Graduate classification.
ICPE 604
Credits: 1.5 (1.5 Lecture Hours)
State-of-the-art topics for energy systems engineering including modeling of energy systems, mixed integer and continuous optimization techniques for the analysis of energy systems, model based control, and interactions of design, control and scheduling of power and energy systems.
Prerequisite: Graduate classification.
ICPE 608
Credits: 1.5 (1.5 Lecture Hours)
Introduction to the history of U.S. science and technology policy with a specific emphasis on energy; focus on regulatory rules, the key government agencies at the national level, the role states and localities play, how government funds are allocated in research and technology transfer related to energy innovations, the role of universities, the threats and opportunities to energy-related educational success at all levels.
Prerequisite: Graduate classification.
ICPE 610
Credits: 1.5 (1.5 Lecture Hours)
Global energy outlook including energy demand, population growth and humanitarian issues, environmental and climate concerns, and the energy/water nexus and water scarcity; evolution of the global oil and gas industry; controlling nations, laws and agencies (OPEC, IEA, etc.); international and domestic climate change laws and policies; global future of climate change adaptation and mitigation.
Prerequisite: Graduate classification.
ICPE 611
Credits: 1.5 (1.5 Lecture Hours)
Basics of economics concepts as they relate to energy applications; how the government policies affect the energy economy; present the economics of energy and climate change; introduction to renewable technologies and their impact.
Prerequisite: Graduate classification.
ICPE 613
Credits: 1.5 (1.5 Lecture Hours)
Focuses on important role played by natural and shale gas in energy market and the potentials to grow; major monetization processes including production, treatment, processing and conversion; key economic and technical aspects as they pertain to the processing technologies and the supply chains of natural and shale gas.
Prerequisite: Graduate classification.
ICPE 633
Credits: 1.5 (1.5 Lecture Hours)
Application of management processes to complex interdisciplinary organizational environments through the study of program and project management; adoptions of traditional management theories to the project environment; master typical project management microcomputer software for project planning; resource allocation; project budgeting; and control of project cost, schedule and performance.
Prerequisite: Graduate classification; enrollment in the MS Energy program.
Elective Modules
Available Fully Online or In-Person
Students pursuing the Master of Science in Energy are free to select from the entire set of Elective Modules to design a custom array of courses. The modules fit into one or more Elective Course Themes in the following topical areas:
- Resilient and Sustainable Energy
- Energy Policy and Management
- Energy Digitization
Each academic year, a subset of the Elective Modules listed below will be offered, based on instructor availability and other factors.
Elective Modules
ICPE 603
Credits: 1.5 (1.5 Lecture Hours)
Introduction to the fundamentals of biomass (biochemistry and resources); basics of important processing technologies for the pre-treatment and conversion of biomass to useful products.
Prerequisite: Graduate classification.
Thematic Area: Resilient and Sustainable Energy
ICPE 618
Credits: 1.5 (1.5 Lecture Hours)
Introduction to technologies for carbon capture, modeling and technoeconomic analysis and comparison of different carbon capture technologies, and economics of carbon capture, utilization, and storage statewide and nationwide.
Prerequisite: Graduate classification.
Thematic Area: Resilient and Sustainable Energy
ICPE 689
Credits: 1.5 (1.5 Lecture Hours)
Meeting the net-zero emission paradigm will require a realignment of hydrocarbon production strategies with other forms of energy production. Carbon Capture Storage and Sequestration (CCS) and Compressed Hydrogen (H2) energy storage along with Geothermal energy production will contribute tremendously to achieve a sustainable form of cleaner energy production in the future. Many of these systems requires constant monitoring (e.g., CO2 plum detection) and controls (e.g., injection and production rates). To meet this requirement, it is necessary to find ways to incorporate new technologies to leverage drilling, production and reservoir management processes with emerging new technologies. In particular, data-driven modeling embedded into a digital twin framework can leverage the many sensors (downhole, uphole and surface) deployed already in many parts of an oil-field in the last decade. A digital twin is an analytic representation of an engineered system that when used in combination with sensor data provides an improved performance for tasks such as diagnosing operational anomalies, understanding system health, and improving system efficiency. The deluge of data streams nowadays is impressive and yet many of the technologies used for performance-prediction for subsurface production is not used to its full capacity. This “revolution” of the “digital oil field” (DOF) will be the main topic of discussion in this course. This course covers the state-of-the-art digital technologies applied in the context of reservoir exploration and production, that is, instrumentation, workflows for automation in drilling, production, and reservoir. It also covers the basic working knowledge in artificial intelligent (Machine Learning and Data Analytics) for smart integration of production systems.
Prerequisite: Graduate classification.
Thematic Area: Energy Digitization
ICPE 637
Credits: 1.5 (1.5 Lecture Hours)
Basic concepts and methods of data science with an emphasis on energy-related applications; discussion of probability theory, data-based statistical modeling and inference, linear and non-linear regression and predictive models, dimensionality reduction, introduction to machine learning and statistical modeling of dependent data.
Prerequisite: Graduate classification.
Thematic Area: Energy Digitization
ICPE 638
Credits: 1.5 (1.5 Lecture Hours)
Discussion of basic concepts and methods used in data science with an emphasis on applications in energy; topics include concepts of probability theory, probability distributions, statistical data modeling and inference, linear regression and predictive models, dimension reduction, introduction to machine learning and statistical modeling of dependent data.
Prerequisite: Graduate classification.
Thematic Area: Energy Digitization
ICPE 689
Credits: 1.5 (1.5 Lecture Hours)
This is an introductory course discussing machine learning methods commonly seen in data science with an emphasis on applications in energy. Topics to be discussed include supervised and unsupervised learning, clustering, classification, predictive models, performance evaluation, neural networks, and reinforcement learning.
Prerequisite: Graduate classification.
Thematic Area: Energy Digitization
ICPE 689
Credits: 1.5 (1.5 Lecture Hours)
This course teaches students the benefits and limitations of modeling and computational solutions. Students learn to formulate and solve complex numerical problems and understand the limitations and sources of error in simulation and numerical computing packages.
Prerequisite: Graduate classification.
Thematic Area: Energy Digitization
ICPE 607
Credits: 1.5 (1.5 Lecture Hours)
Exploration of the financial aspects of the energy industry; emphasis on oil and gas with additional attention placed on all sources of power generation including alternatives; interactive with cases worked in each session; advanced preparation guided by the instructor.
Prerequisite: Graduate classification.
Thematic Area: Energy Policy and Management
ICPE 622
Credits: 1.5 (1.5 Lecture Hours)
Introduction to energy efficiency in buildings; understanding the energy use in buildings, the heating and cooling requirements, the role of renewable energy resources, the impact of lighting, the role of optimal control measures in existing and new buildings, the verification of energy savings, and the building energy simulation.
Prerequisite: Graduate classification.
Thematic Area: Resilient and Sustainable Energy, Energy Policy and Management
ICPE 636
Credits: 1.5 (1.5 Lecture Hours)
Overview of project portfolio management (PPM) especially regarding the energy industry; PPM is the highest level of the project organizational hierarchy; appreciation for the elements of portfolio planning and optimizing; focus on portfolio management including selecting projects that align with strategy and monitoring to ensure they continue to add value.
Prerequisite: Graduate classification.
Thematic Area: Energy Policy and Management
ICPE 624
Credits: 1.5 (1.5 Lecture Hours)
Various aspects of energy-water nexus including the fundamentals, technologies, applications and economics; focus on energy production, conversion and utilization; connection with water production, treatment, delivery and usage.
Prerequisite: Graduate classification.
Thematic Area: Resilient and Sustainable Energy, Energy Policy and Management
ICPE 612
Credits: 1.5 (1.5 Lecture Hours)
Focus on developing an understanding of the techniques and issues for growing emerging organizations in the energy field; participants will be guided through a range of issues faced by a venture team in building and growing a new organization or pursuing innovative projects inside existing organizations.
Prerequisite: Graduate classification.
Thematic Area: Energy Policy and Management
ICPE 629
Credits: 1.5 (1.5 Lecture Hours)
Overview of energy-related international law policies and practices, including detailed case studies and discussions of legal frameworks for trade and investment in the energy sector, as well as rules governing energy development, the climate, and the environment; corporate responsibility and human rights consequences of energy activities.
Prerequisite: Graduate classification; enrollment in the MS Energy program.
Thematic Area: Resilient and Sustainable Energy, Energy Policy and Management
ICPE 639
Credits: 1.5 (1.5 Lecture Hours)
Discussion of machine learning methods commonly seen in data science with an emphasis to applications in energy; topics include supervised and unsupervised learning, clustering, classification, predictive models, performance evaluation, neural networks and reinforcement learning.
Prerequisite: Graduate classification.
Thematic Area: Energy Digitization
ICPE 606
Credits: 1.5 (1.5 Lecture Hours)
Basics of deterministic optimization with focus on modeling and computer solutions; practical examples to develop understanding of modeling and solution techniques that can be used to improve decision-making; linear, non-linear, mixed integer, combinatorial and network optimization problems.
Prerequisite: Graduate classification.
Thematic Area: Energy Policy and Management
ICPE 609
Credits: 1.5 (1.5 Lecture Hours)
Introduction to energy law and regulation in the United States; focus on the key sources of energy (both nonrenewable and renewable) driving the U.S. economy, and identifies the various challenges facing the industry in their production and distribution; key regulations and laws governing energy production as well as the jurisdictional and regulator divisions between federal and state governments.
Prerequisite: Graduate classification.
Thematic Area: Energy Policy and Management
ICPE 635
Credits: 1.5 (1.5 Lecture Hours)
Overview of domestic renewable energy law policies and practices; exploration and analysis of laws that allocate interests in energy resources and that regulate energy production and delivery strategies so as to promote economic efficiency and to mitigate adverse impacts on the natural environment; cases studies worked in each session; advanced preparation required, which will be guided by the instructor.
Prerequisite: Graduate classification.
Thematic Areas: Energy Policy and Management, Resilient and Sustainable Energy
ICPE 602
Credits: 1.5 (1.5 Lecture Hours)
Application of geostatistical techniques to build reservoir models through integration of geological core/well log, seismic and production data to generate a consistent reservoir description; background and insights to geostatistical modeling techniques and situation where the application of geostatistics could add value.
Prerequisite: Graduate classification.
Thematic Area: Energy Digitization
ICPE 626
Credits: 1.5 (1.5 Lecture Hours)
Role of leadership and development of management systems to ensure safety performance in energy systems, a systems approach to safety management for energy systems, lifecycle analysis and the energy supply chain, and applications of engineering principles of process safety and hazards analysis.
Prerequisite: Graduate classification.
Thematic Area: Energy Policy and Management, Resilient and Sustainable Energy
ICPE 615
Credits: 1.5 (1.5 Lecture Hours)
Fundamentals of electricity grid development; monitoring, control and protection; renewable generation; microgrids and grid integration; electricity markets; long term planning and associated risk, and grid robustness.
Prerequisite: Graduate classification.
Thematic Area: Energy Policy and Management, Energy Digitization
ICPE 689
Credits: 1.5 (1.5 Lecture Hours)
In today’s highly competitive, volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous international environment, companies do not compete. Supply chains and industries compete. This course is a critical component of a business and national security education and is directed at managers and students in all the major functions of business across the energy and manufacturing sectors.
The Supply Chain is the most significant and critical component of business and national security, and accounts for the bulk of the material, people, cash and value-added in an organization. The COVID-19 pandemic, extreme weather events, war and major international trade crises have highlighted the critical role that the Supply Chain plays in business, global trade and world economy but also in national security and competitiveness.
The Supply Chain involves the flow of materials, cash, information and processes among all of the firms in the eco-system that contribute value to a product, from the source of raw materials to end customers… and back. The objectives of supply chain strategy, structure and management include maximizing shareholder (and stakeholder) value while minimizing total costs, investment and working capital, optimizing the customer life cycle experience (customer life cycle value), minimizing risk while maximizing resilience and ensuring sustainability.The course will be taught using a combination of several learning approaches – classroom lectures, simulation exercises, case analyses and projects.
Prerequisite: Graduate classification.
Thematic Area: Resilient and Sustainable Energy, Energy Policy and Management
ICPE 689
Credits: 1.5 (1.5 Lecture Hours)
In today’s highly competitive, volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous international environment, companies do not compete. Supply chains and industries compete. This course is a critical component of a business and national security education and is directed at managers and students in all the major functions of business. The current Covid-19 and international trade crises have further highlighted the critical role that the Supply Chain plays in business, global trade and the world economy but also in national security and resilience.
The Supply Chain involves the flow of materials, cash, information and processes among all of the firms in the eco-system that contribute value to a product, from the source of raw materials to end customers… and back. The objectives of supply chain strategy, structure and management include maximizing shareholder (but also stakeholder) value while minimizing total costs, investment and working capital, optimizing the customer life cycle experience (customer life cycle value), minimizing risk while maximizing supply chain resilience.This course will cover the key cost and working capital elements of the supply chain, the impacts on the financial statements and market value, and the levers in the supply chain. Students will learn about key strategic cost and cash applications such as financial and operational analysis, operational and process costs, concepts such as Activity-Based Costing, “Should” Costs and Total Costs of Acquisition and Ownership, Costs-to-Serve in evaluating Customers and service, and a Full-Cycle Costing. The class will enable students to understand the costs and cost implications of the End-to-End supply chain, discuss these with executives, and apply them in their organizations.
Prerequisite: Graduate classification.
Thematic Area: Resilient and Sustainable Energy, Energy Policy and Management
ICPE 689
Credits: 1.5 (1.5 Lecture Hours)
This course focuses on supply chain sustainability by covering issues related to employment and labor compliance in global value chains. Compliance with national law and international labor standards is increasingly important and often highly scrutinized by the public, governments, and international organizations.
Prerequisite: Graduate classification.
Thematic Area: Resilient and Sustainable Energy, Energy Policy and Management
ICPE 631
Credits: 1.5 (1.5 Lecture Hours)
Introduces principles of sustainability within energy systems. Examines economic, environmental, and societal aspects using quantitative assessments. Promotes informed decision-making through explanations of available assessment tools, the boundaries of analysis, and process integration considerations.
Prerequisite: Graduate classification.
Thematic Area: Resilient and Sustainable Energy, Energy Policy and Management
ICPE 620
Credits: 1.5 (1.5 Lecture Hours)
Methods useful for the synthesis of both bulk crystals and nanomaterials (nanoparticles and nanowires); focus on the underlying thermodynamics and kinetic principles involved in the synthesis of these materials; pathways useful for the integration of nanomaterials into functional thermoelectric devices, methods used for ascertaining the thermoelectric performance of materials and devices.
Prerequisite: Graduate classification.
Thematic Area: Resilient and Sustainable Energy
Previously Offered Modules
ICPE 614
Credits: 1.5 (1.5 Lecture Hours)
Introduction to the goals and methods of CO2 sequestration in the subsurface and of monitoring its effectiveness; discussion and explanation of current technological challenges and problems in monitoring CO2 in the subsurface and in implementing sequestration for mitigating climate change; addresses how carbon is transferred between atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere and geosphere by natural processes; basic geologic processes influencing sequestration programs.
Prerequisite: Graduate classification.
ICPE 634
Credits: 1.5 (1.5 Lecture Hours)
Exploration of how political incentives lead politicians to create and dismantle rules and the role that firms and industry associations play in shaping regulatory environments and social outcomes; emphasis on how non-market strategies such as lobbying, political campaign contributions, coalition building, social media campaigns, (mis)information campaigns, self-regulation and others, can shape the regulatory process and outcomes.
Prerequisite: Graduate classification.
ICPE 605
Credits: 1.5 (1.5 Lecture Hours)
State-of-the-art topics for energy systems engineering including modeling of hybrid feedstock energy systems, energy supply chain networks, polygeneration systems, model predictive control, fuel cells and combined heat and power systems.
Prerequisite: Graduate classification, ICPE 604.
ICPE 617
Credits: 1.5 (1.5 Lecture Hours)
Robust foundation of advanced expertise in gas separation technologies including (i) solid-phase absorbent technologies, (ii) liquid amine-based adsorption technologies, (iii) polymeric and inorganic membrane technologies, and (iv) emerging reactive separation for process intensification.
Prerequisite: Graduate classification.
ICPE 619
Credits: 1.5 (1.5 Lecture Hours)
Nanomaterial synthesis and processing with an emphasis on the creation of materials relevant to energy storage (batteries, capacitors, etc.).
Prerequisite: Graduate classification.
ICPE 632
Credits: 1.5 (1.5 Lecture Hours)
Study of the rapid development and progress of renewable abiotic energy resources and conversion technologies – renewable energy and resources; direct power conversion photovoltaics, thermal conversion via concentrating solar and geothermal power strategies; chemical conversion via photon energy systems; energy from the wind; blue energy from oceans, rivers and lakes; overview of fundamentals of renewable energy storage and distribution.
Prerequisite: Graduate classification; enrollment in the MS Energy program.
ICPE 689
Credits: 1.5 (1.5 Lecture Hours)
This course will focuse on the valuation process for energy industry assets, with specific emphasis on project financing—off-balance sheet, non-recourse financing arrangements. Students will work in teams on completing a valuation of several alternative energy projects or assets, develop an investment recommendation, and present their work and findings to an audience of professionals.
Prerequisite: Graduate classification.
STEM OPT Extension: Not Eligible
The Master of Science in Energy offered by the Texas A&M Energy Institute, and approved by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, has CIP code: 30.9999.04 Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies, Other. According to the United States Department of Homeland Security and the Student and Exchange Visitor Program, this code is not among the codes on the 2016 STEM designated list. The majority of the courses within the Master of Science in Energy at Texas A&M University are individually designated as STEM courses, but that factor alone is not sufficient to merit a full designation as a STEM program. Therefore, students who graduate with a Master of Science in Energy are not eligible for the Optional Practical Training Extension for STEM Students (STEM OPT).