With sustainable energy being the hot topic of the day, it’s a wonder there aren’t more energy-focused programs in academia to prepare for the coming boom. Graduating from Wayne State fully equipped for the real world with an engineering degree, I formerly planned to land a Big Three career position, especially since I’m a born and bred Detroiter.
But for the better part of this decade, the job placement shift has been noticeable for engineers like me who don’t want to be limited or pipelined to the automotive industry. So my interest changed to an energy career.
“How can I become marketable in this field?” was the question. I began to conduct research, attempting to uncover energy degree programs that would cover a range of topics while catering to a working professional like myself.
I discovered MBA programs with energy management focus and environmental management degrees that did not address the science behind the energy field. I grew discouraged because there were few programs that would cater to my needs.
I also discovered that people who were landing great energy careers usually took one of two paths. The first was to obtain an energy focused degree (reservoir and petroleum engineering) a diverse energy region such as the South and the West. The alternative is what most future executives follow, which is to acquire an MBA.
Then I stumbled upon this hybrid energy program called the GEM (Global Energy Management) degree. The program was devised in November of 2008 at the University of Colorado Denver Business School.
What impressed me about this program is that the curriculum was put together by current energy executives, making the material absolutely relevant. This program promised to cover a wide range of energy topics such as oil, natural gas, coal, wind, solar, geothermal, wave and nuclear.
I applied to this program, and out of 32 spots to be filled by competitors from all over the world, I (Wayne State University alumni) was one of those chosen to be in the first class of this program. This program was created to rectify two complaints of energy companies.
The first complaint was that within five years, 40 percent to 50 percent of all energy executives will be ready to retire according to the Oil & Gas Journal. The other dilemma is that there was no program that catered to pipelining energy executives into these soon-to-be vacated positions.
This age gap occurred during the tumultuous times that happened in the oil industry during the late ‘70s and early ‘80s. Energy companies also made it known that they were not looking for people with just MBAs any longer.
The reason behind this is that MBA programs do not teach the science in this field. This program helps to bridge the gap, taking those with technical backgrounds and teaching energy specific business, practice, cultures, history and economics.
My global economics professor is the former director of Energy Economics of the Federal Reserve Bank in Dallas. He also belongs to energy think tanks and is on the U.S. board of energy advisors. My energy law and regulation class will be taught by a law professor from the University of Scotland.
The other benefit is the cohort of classmates that come from great places and backgrounds in the energy fields. There are actually a couple of vice presidents from energy companies in this program, one from a Fortune 500 company. Both of them are learning along with me.
So my path is set before me. It is exciting to know that there is great change coming in this field with the possibility of me being in the driver seat. This is where I would like to show my gratitude towards Wayne State for instilling the knowledge that I needed to be an asset in this program. I especially would like to thank two individuals.
The first is being Dr. Gerald Thompkins, Associate Dean, for allowing this Detroit Public School graduate’s feet to be placed on the path to engineering-hood. Second, thanks go to one of my engineering professors, Dr. Mulchand Rathod, for being a great teacher and reference during my application process in this program. I sincerely thank you!
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