The Required and Elective Courses in Energy
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 Texas A&M Energy Institute suggests three Elective Course Themes in the following topical areas: Sustainable Energy, Energy Policy and Management, and Energy Digitization.
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 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 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 Course Themes
(Elective Modules)
Sustainable Energy
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.
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 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 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.
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.
ICPE 623
Credits: 1.5 (1.5 Lecture Hours)
Securing energy, clean water and greening agriculture; principles of the Water-Energy-Food nexus and its application to the corresponding three themes; includes hands on laboratory.
Prerequisite: Graduate classification.
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.
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.
Energy Policy and Management
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
Energy Digitization
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.
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.
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.
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.
ICPE 689
Credits: 1.5 (1.5 Lecture Hours)
Introduction to the “digital oil field” (DOF) and the incorporation of new practices to leverage new technologies in drilling, production, and reservoir management processes. Discusses state-of-the-art digital technologies applied in the context of reservoir exploration and production, instrumentation, workflows for automation in drilling, production, and reservoir management. Overview of artificial intelligence for the smart integration of production systems.
Prerequisite: Graduate classification.
ICPE 689
Credits: 1.5 (1.5 Lecture Hours)
Motivated by the expectations for the impacts that data science will have on science and engineering, the goal of this class is to enhance the fundamental understanding and applications of data science throughout the process systems engineering field, particularly with a focus on energy applications.
Prerequisite: Graduate classification.
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.
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.