New USC graduate program to train tomorrow’s energy technology leaders

With exponential growth in the worldwide demand for energy, industry has faced a critical need to pivot towards a more diverse and broad energy portfolio.

Given the rapid pace of energy innovation, the current challenge is how to foster future leaders with the interdisciplinary knowledge and creativity to manage the sector’s seismic shift towards cutting-edge technologies — leaders who can navigate the intricate balance between new and legacy energy systems.

USC Viterbi School of Engineering is meeting this challenge with a unique cross-disciplinary graduate program to train the innovators who will shepherd the energy sector into an exciting future.

The new MS in Energy Engineering, which commenced in Spring 2025, draws in world-leading expertise in engineering, materials and processes to address the cutting-edge developments in energy production, conversion and storage in the ongoing efforts to deliver focused engineering training to the next generation of energy leaders.

Andrea Hodge, the Fluor Professor in Engineering and chair of the Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science — home to the new program — said students will benefit from a unique multidisciplinary perspective on energy transition, leaving them in high demand for careers in a growing energy sector in rapid transition.

“Energy engineering is at the forefront of technology. Without energy, the world cannot function,” Hodge said. “Energy affects a wide range of fields, from transportation, to food, to communications. Every aspect of our life demands energy.”

The MS in Energy Engineering is open to students from any undergraduate engineering background. It offers them a common foundational core of subjects covering energy processes and efficiency, materials science and subsurface engineering. From there, students will have the opportunity to study within the following energy engineering themes:

• Energy production, storage and carbon management,
• Data science, AI and machine learning for energy transition,
• Energy process design.

Students can also choose from new electives covering critical areas such as digital energy, carbon capture and machine learning, as well as existing electives addressing power systems and engineering and economic evaluation. Coursework and research opportunities will look at a broad range of areas, from solar cells, wind power technology and new materials for carbon capture and storage, to engineering of the subsurface environment for storage of hydrogen and other resources.

Key faculty teaching into the new program include M.C. Gill Chair in Composite Materials Steve Nutt — a leading expert in the field of recyclable composite materials — as well as Kristian Jessen, a professor of chemical engineering and materials science whose research combines experiments, modeling and simulation to understand flow and mass transfer in porous materials. Other teaching faculty include atomic scale materials expert Yu-Tsun Shao, an assistant professor of chemical engineering and materials science and Shaama Sharada, an associate professor who develops catalysts and photocatalysts for energy-efficiency and sustainability.

For Jessen, the advantage of the program is the focus on energy diversification — a deep understanding how the industry will successfully adapt legacy infrastructure towards newer and more efficient technologies while meeting increasing demand and optimizing and improving existing systems.

“We are seeing contributions from renewables steadily increasing, but there’s still a long way to go. But we need to be at the forefront of this and get the right processes and the right materials integrated into our education as well as our research,” Jessen said.

The Mork Family Department is at the cutting edge of research and teaching in the growing field of energy transition, with existing energy research and initiatives including the Ershaghi Center for Energy Transition (E-CET). The center was launched in 2022 with a gift from Gary Buntmann (B.S.’ 80) and Mary Buntmann, and is led by Iraj Ershaghi, professor of chemical engineering and materials science and Omar B. Milligan Chair in Petroleum Engineering. It focuses on creating new technologies and advancing research across a wide range of energy-related areas from industrial decarbonization to CO2 conversion to the development of the next generation of engineers needed for energy transition.

The department also recently announced a new Donald L. Paul Chair in Energy and Technology Management, expanding USC Viterbi’s commitment to and capacity in energy transition research and education.

“In the Mork Department we have a unique mix of research leaders covering energy processes, cutting-edge materials and composites, solar and sustainable energy. In combination with our long-held expertise in petroleum engineering and subsurface technology, we provide a strong foundation for this new cross-disciplinary program. We look forward to training the graduates who will shape our global energy future,” Hodge said.