Gertrude Villaverde

An Oregon State University-Cascades program that trains engineers about energy systems, storage and efficient energy use now has over 200 alumni working in the field in Central Oregon and other parts of the state.

Energy systems engineers also study the effects of energy use on the environment and the economy. These engineers are in high demand in Oregon and nationwide. Oregon has set clean energy targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions over the next several years. Other states have followed suit.

Rebecca Webb, the program’s Tykeson Endowed Faculty Scholar and a senior engineering instructor, said, “Students get a broad background.

Largely because the energy field is so broad, we didn’t want to focus in any one area, but wanted to better prepare them for where they wanted to go.”

One of only six of its kind in the country, OSU-Cascades’ energy systems engineering degree is multidisciplinary in scope, combining the essentials of mechanical, electrical and industrial engineering with energy-focused electives. It has been running for over a decade.

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Webb, who has been with the program for seven years, teaches a first-year course sequence where students design, build and test a hand-cranked generator. Students learn circuitry, how to 3-D print and computer programming in the course. Webb also teaches classes on energy consumption, classical thermodynamics and a capstone design class.

Students are given design ideas for the capstone course in a number of ways. A business designer might come by with a project that they don’t have time to complete, or an entrepreneur might reach out to the college asking for engineering help on a project idea, she said.

Students want to save the world

Gertrude Villaverde is an alum of the class of 2019, and now works for Energy 350, a Portland-based energy efficiency company. She focuses on energy efficient construction, mainly though analysis for industrial buildings and maintenance of existing buildings.

Villaverde, 35, enjoyed her time at OSU-Cascades, and felt that she could form tighter connections with students and professors due to the small class sizes.

“In so many ways it’s important for Oregon. It’s sort of a niche program,” she said. “We have this regional, I don’t want to say energy crisis, but we do have regional considerations for energy, we’re growing quite a bit, and that means that quite a bit of energy capacity is going to be used up….We’ve got to figure out how to use our energy wisely.”

The OSU-Cascades program has evolved to focus more on electrical engineering due to industry requests, said Webb. Students have also become more interested in energy engineering as a course of study over simply wanting to go to an engineering school in Bend.

“Now we have people who are passionate about saving the world, if you will. They really care about energy and they’re really excited to be here,” said Webb.

Graduates have gone on to work for national labs, including the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and have started their own companies in the energy sector.

Webb was previously a researcher but felt that she could make more of an impact by teaching students who would go on to make their own contributions to the field. She said she hopes that her knowledge prepares future engineers to “save the world” and help face current issues.

Chris Hagen is an energy systems engineering professor at OSU-Cascades and also runs the university’s Energy Systems Lab, which opened in 2012. The lab focuses on researching energy conversion, and has researched biomass and natural gas as they relate to energy efficiency.

“I really enjoyed working with these students,” said Hagen, who has worked with 23 alums in his lab. “I think students are well-rounded to work in the energy industry. After over a decade of having programs, it’s proven out with some of our alumni in their placements and their performance. (The program) is a jewel of OSU-Cascades.”

Engineers in demand

The program launched in 2011. Tucker Ruberti, who is the director of corporate development and strategy at SOLV Energy, was asked to join the advisory council to create the program when OSU-Cascades began thinking about adding an energy systems engineering degree.

“I was proud to be part of the conversation, because it was a program that I wish was available to me when I was in college,” he said.

SOLV Energy, which builds utility-scale solar power plants, has hired five alumni of OSU-Cascades’ program since 2021. Ruberti has enjoyed working with all of them.

“They come out with a much better understanding of energy technology and the entire energy system, so they need much less training than somebody who comes out with just a mechanical engineering degree. …It makes a huge difference, they come in much more ready to work, they got a great understanding,” said Ruberti.

He said there is a demand for engineers in the field, and it’s valuable to hire people out of school. His company has needed to pull people from other fields, such as the fossil fuel industry, to fill in the gaps.

Right before the pandemic started, Webb hosted an Energy Night. She invited people she knew in the energy field, and asked them to invite people in the same field she didn’t know. She reserved a room with 50 seats, and by the time everyone arrived, there were more people than the room could hold, she said.

“It’s not well known, but we have an incredibly strong vibrant energy community in town that needs our students,” said Webb. “There’s a lot of people in the energy sector in town doing wonderful things, and it’d be good if I could continue to bring them together, and bring them together with the students, because I think we could do a lot of great things here.”