GMIT to provide online training in renewable energy technologies

GMIT has won substantial funding to develop innovative online training in renewable energy systems, using a state-of-the art online energy laboratory developed in GMIT over the past five years.

Engineering lecturers and researchers have won €250,000 from the EU Leonardo Da Vinci programme to develop high-quality, industry-relevant online training and upskilling programmes for undergraduates as well as for individuals wishing to upskill or enter the renewable energy sector.

Currently all experimentation is done in labs in the GMIT Engineering School. This new project will facilitate best practice teaching through online experimentation using the existing laboratory.

Dr Tom Roche, Principle Investigator of the Innovret EU Project which GMIT is leading, says once the research programme is completed, students countrywide will be able to carry out online experiments through distance learning that would otherwise have required their presence in the lab. People working in the renewable energy industry will be able to avail of individual online accredited modules from September 2013. Further details will be posted on www.innovret.com

"Our lab is unique in that our students can interact with systems and learn about the installation, analysis and performance of integrated, real-working renewable energy systems using a sophisticated web enabled interface. The results of this EU project will allow students to carry out their lab work while not being physically present in the lab. The funding we've received will enable us to research and develop best practice teaching for further online experimentation." adds Dr Roche.

GMIT currently offers a range of evening courses (accredited modules) such as renewable energy installation maintenance and system designs in addition to full-time degree programmes. See: www.gmit.ie/lifelong-learning (click on "Engineering" icon).

The consortium on this Innovret EU Project, lead by GMIT, comprises experts from academia and industry including Dr Tom Roche, GMIT, Professor Dietrich Albert, Technical University of Graz, Austria, and industry partners Daikin BV and Unitherm Heating Systems Ltd.