Interview: Director of the REYST Sustainable Systems academic program
Reykjavik Energy Graduate School of Sustainable Systems (REYST), Reykjavik/ Iceland, website snapshot
Alexander Richter
19 Jul 2011
In an interview with ThinkGeoEnergy, the Director of the REYST Sustainable Energy graduate program speaks to us about the role geothermal energy education has played in Iceland and what role the program plays in educating for geothermal work.
Having planned to speak with Edda Lilja Sveinsdottir, the Director of REYST (Reykjavik Energy Graduate School of Sustainable Systems), I finally managed a week ago.
REYST has in the last few years been established as an academic program covering geothermal energy, can you describe the program shortly for the readers of ThinkGeoEnergy?
Sustainable use of energy resources is the basis for future economic growth and well being. To promote research and organized education in this field, Reykjavik Energy, the leading geothermal energy company in Iceland and Reykjavik University, the leading engineering university in Iceland operate REYST – an interdisciplinary MSc program for engineers and scientists in order to create leading experts in management, design and research in the field of sustainable energy.
REYST is characterized by its focus on sustainable energy use, especially geothermal energy, practical experience in the field and ready access to on-site work with experts on various subjects. The international graduate program is open for students holding a BSc degree in engineering, earth sciences and business.
We offer a 120 ECTS units MSc programme that includes a selection of REYST courses, other MSc courses at Reykjavik University and a 60 ECTS (full year) master’s thesis. REYST is located in Reykjavik, Iceland and the language of instruction is English.
Can you tell us how many students have graduated from the program so far and what they are doing now?
We have already graduated two groups of students from REYST, altogether some 19 students. About half of them are Icelandic and the others come from countries such as Indonesia, Philippines, Taiwan, India, Djibouti, Ethiopia, United States of America, Germany, Scotland, Finland and Columbia.
After graduation they have either found jobs in the energy sector here in Iceland or in their home countries or continued studying towards a PhD. They have been active publishing their research work, either in peer reviewed journals or at conferences. Two of them have received awards for best paper, see example here: http://www.reyst.is/AboutREYST/News/More/2208.
With the financial situation currently being so difficult everywhere, how does this affect the program in Iceland and the interest in it?
The financial situation did affect us and for a new program – started in 2008, it is especially hard. A new program needs at least 5-10 years to „prove“ itself and develop to the point where its reputation is well known and disseminated.
So what we did after the first year was to trim down the cost of the program without compromising the content. We still operate a sound academic program with a good research connection with real projects in the industry. The financial backup from day one has been from Orkuveita Reykjavikur, as well as OR has supported us by participating in course design and training of students in research projects. The program has been well organised and operated efficiently with the income from tuition fees and from financial support from OR, but from the middle of this year OR will not support REYST financially. But still OR will continue by providing the „hands-on“ training of the program. Now when the financial situation is still bad, it is even more important to invest in the manpower that we need in the future to build up the sustainable energy resources we have. That fact is clear to OR and that is why the company is a proud owner of REYST.
Even now in hard economic times, REYST received around 50 applications this year from students all over the world, whereof 20 were invited to join us. We will welcome a group of well qualified students in August.
What role do you believe geothermal education has played in development in Iceland and the “cluster” of companies working on development here?
The well educated workforce in geothermal is the foundation we build our success on, as well as the long experience we have in utilising geothermal resources. Geothermal education is not only academic, but also experience that can only be gained by working on the utilization here for the past decades. This includes the cooperation of scientists from various disciplines (geophysics, geology, geochemistry, environmental….), engineers and different technical specialists as well as business specialists.
The United Nations University Geothermal Program has been operated here in Iceland for over 30 years and has trained hundreds of people from countries from all over the world in geothermal practices. These people have been good ambassadors for Icelandic knowledge and valuable connections for Icelandic companies who have ventured into geothermal projects overseas.
These are the two main reasons why Iceland is scoring high on the “best geothermal education” scoreboard.
The fact is however that the majority of our well educated workforce is well over middle-aged and will be retiring within the next 5-10 years. We do not have enough supplies of young people to replace them. The situation here in Iceland is like in most other western countries – young people do not consider natural sciences (geosciences, engineering etc.) as an interesting subject in their education and we have to change that fast. This is one of the reasons programs like REYST is very important for trying to turn this trend around. We also need to start earlier to ignite the interest of young people in science, but that is another story.
What role can REYST play as part of the Icelandic Geothermal Cluster work? (see article)
REYST is an important player in the Icelandic Geothermal Cluster as it is the only international MSc program here in sustainable energy sciences. And it has been an active member of the Geothermal Research Group (GEORG) – the other cluster that was established in 2009. Hopefully we will manage to merge the two clusters into one strong unit – or cluster, that is the popular word for cooperation these days. Without the education and training of new generation of people in these disciplines, we are not able to move ahead.
Do you see academic programs like REYST in competition with other academic programs in other countries, or do you see some cooperation potential?
I can see both competition and cooperation with other programs. But it is necessary to build up units like REYST not only here in Iceland, but in other locations where geothermal utilisation is well on its way. We should bear in mind that geothermal resources are located at very different geological settings in the world and the need for expertise cannot always be transferred from one location to the next. We need many REYST´s to build up academic and practical education and that way we can move toward our common goal – to increase the utilisation of geothermal resources in the world.
ThinkGeoEnergy thanks Edda Lilja for the time taken for the interview.
The programs website: www.reyst.is
