School of Energy
School of Energy
Forging the future of next-generation power systems
Welcome to the School of Energy, situated at the heart of a premier energy hub in the U.S. Our interdisciplinary curriculum prepares graduates to design, build and operate next-generation power systems. By partnering deeply with industry leaders, we ensure our graduates hit the ground running with the cutting-edge skills required to navigate and transform the modern energy landscape.
Why is the energy field so critical?
The urgency for energy infrastructure expertise has never been greater. The U.S. has entered an era of surging electricity demand driven by AI data centers, advanced manufacturing and the broader electrification of the economy. As a nation, we are also experiencing increasingly severe weather and supply chain constraints. The demand for energy is rising, but the infrastructure to support it is aging. The power plants, transmission lines, substations and local distribution systems are not built for this level of demand.
The UNC Charlotte solution:
Pioneering Education
The nation’s first school focused solely on modernizing and digitizing our electrical infrastructure.
Critical Specializations
Advanced curriculum covering grid automation, infrastructure design and energy-component manufacturing.
National Leadership
Proud home to the country’s only NSF Engine project dedicated to solving these urgent grid vulnerabilities.
Do you want a career that can have positive consequences on your community?
In the energy engineering field, you will find thousands of ways to impact your world and make a real difference as a new graduate. Because UNC Charlotte graduates are displaying their skills in career roles across the industry, energy leaders are ready to bring you into the game early — eager to hear your ideas, support your growth and help you build a career of consequence.
Hear what awaits our School of Energy graduates. →
“America’s energy system is facing pressures we have not seen in decades. An analysis of utility forecasts by Grid Strategies projects that U.S. peak electricity demand could grow as much as 166 Gigawatts by 2030, the equivalent of adding 15 New York Cities to the grid. At the same time, more than a quarter of the nation’s transformers are already operating beyond their expected service life. Combined with increasingly severe weather and supply chain constraints, these challenges demand new ideas and a workforce prepared to put them into practice.“
— Rob Cox, Founding Director