[Kenneth Daly] This is the most exciting time in the
history of the energy industry. If you can imagine a century ago, people like
Edison and Tesla and others built the
electric grid that we're still using
today but a lot is now changing.
The biggest change is the advance of clean
renewable energy. We're bringing on more
solar and wind and renewable gas onto
our electric system than ever before and
that requires new skills and provides
new opportunities for students into the
future. It really creates a program that
allows students to learn about renewable
energy, to learn about greening the grid,
to learning about the challenges of
ensuring that we always provide safe and
reliable and affordable energy but more
and more that it's clean and green and
good for our local communities. These
introductory courses were designed for
anyone interested in understanding and
possibly entering the evolving and
emerging energy industry, whether you're
a high school graduate trying to figure
out your career interests, a professional
contemplating a job change or perhaps a
small to medium sized business owner
seeking insight. Please join us on a
journey about the 21st century energy revolution.
The biggest challenge we have
in our industry right now is attracting
the workforce of the future, hopefully
many of you. We're going through so many
changes between technology, renewable
energy and the changing demands of our
customers and communities that we need a
new workforce, a workforce that is
well-trained, that understands the
dynamics of our electric system, that
understands the flow of our gas system
and that really wants to work closely
with the customers and the local
communities that we provide such vital
service to. So now is a wonderful time to
learn about energy, to develop your
skills and to join us as we prepare for
the energy challenge of the future.
In these courses, collectively called a
specialization, we will provide you with
core concepts of the energy industry by
applying the knowledge you obtain
through these courses you will plan and
implement a roadmap to take your first
progressive step in your energy industry
career path. We are very confident that
you will find it rewarding and exciting.
Most important of all this
specialization will give you the
confidence you need to have an
intelligent fact-based dialogue with
your friends, your colleagues and perhaps
your own organizations management team
either in a nice informal setting or in
a formal job interview. The energy
industry fundamentals specialization is
a collaboration between National Grid,
the University at Buffalo Center for
Industrial Effectiveness and Stony Brook
University's Advanced Energy Training
Institute. University at Buffalo and
Stony Brook University are the two
largest university research centers
within the State University of New York
which is known as SUNY for short. UB's
Center for Industrial Effectiveness is
an outreach center that supports the
business community by delivering
operational excellence services, training
an average of 1000 people per year
through its professional development
offerings and building massive open
online courses which are known as MOOCs
for the Coursera platform. UB is a premier
research intensive public university and
is the largest institution in the SUNY
system and home to the most
comprehensive public school of
engineering in all of New York State.
Stony Brook University's Advanced Energy
Training Institute, which is part of the
Center for Corporate Education has
conducted numerous clean energy programs
and labor market studies directly with
the Department of Labor,
NYSERDA, SUNY and others. Over 2000
professionals participate in these
programs annually. Stony Brook is one of
America's most dynamic public
universities, a center of academic
excellence and an internationally
recognized research institution. Keep in
mind that this specialisation is not
intended to make you an expert but
really it was created to help you
understand the foundational elements of
the energy industry.
We welcome you to this specialization
and are confident that you will enjoy
learning about the industry and being a
major part of the future of energy.