By Katie Knapp Schubert
Omaha, NE – Creighton University is adding a new degree program in energy technology.
The new program coincides with a $1.4 million project to build a solar array on campus. The project includes installation of solar cells, a solar tracker panel, and wind turbines on campus.
Creighton physics professor Michael Cherney says the new degree program will help students prepare for the energy technology field. "It gives students a strong background in math and science, but on top of it it carries over in to areas of policy and ethics," Cherney says. "So what we're doing is we're not just developing math and science and design course, we're also developing courses in the social sciences and the humanities to go along with this."
Cherney says the energy technology program begins in the fall of 2011. Part of the project-based curriculum will be building and monitoring the solar array project.
Installation of photovoltaic cells on the roof of the Kiewit Fitness Center is already underway. Creighton officials say the rest of the project should begin in one to two months.