Education
The University of California, Davis Program for International Energy Technologies in collaboration with the Energy Efficiency Center (EEC), Center for Entrepreneurship (C4E), and the Energy Institute (EI) with funding from the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance (NCIIA) has developed a two-part series of courses (D-Lab I and D-Lab II) to educate and engage UC Davis students in finding tangible solutions to energy issues in developing countries.
Founded in 2008, The UC Davis D-Lab works with international partners to find scalable, sustainable solutions for specific energy issues in their host communities. Faculty and graduate students from Engineering, International Agriculture Development, Community Development, Business, and Economics work together in teams in the lab and in the field. Using a bottom-up approach, D-Lab works with local communities to understand specific energy needs and assess the sustainability of proposed energy solutions through technical, social, environmental, and financial lenses.
In this process the community partner is the client and guides the D-Lab team in all phases including:
• Community Engagement (Community Mapping, Stakeholder’s Analysis)
• Feasibility Studies (Technology, Market, and Impact Assessment)
• Technology Development and Testing
• Local Capacity Building and Training
• Pilot Projects
D-Lab focuses on innovative technologies and business models that can allow people at the “bottom of the pyramid” to save or earn more money. D-Lab is building expertise in water pumping and irrigation, post harvest drying and storage, off-grid lighting and micro power, and small-scale renewable energy such as solar and biogas.
D-Lab - The Labs!
The UC Davis Program for International Energy Technologies offers five lab modules as an integrated feature of the curriculum. These lab modules include hands-on, practical experience in a laboratory setting, learning about renewable based energy. Lab modules include creating charcoal from agricultural waste, constructing a battery from inexpensive locally available components, understanding both the qualitative and quantitative aspects of lighting including exploring benefits and limitations of solar PV.
D-Lab - The Curriculum!
D-Lab I Energy and Development: An Overview
Winter quarter
Days: T/R Time: 10.00 am-11.50 am
Location: 90 Social Sciences
To Register: Course# 289A-006 / CRN# 52129 (units: 3)
An overview course focused on energy issues in developing economies that emphasizes critical thinking. Curriculum includes four hands-on energy labs , a business development clinic, case studies, and guest speakers. Multi-disciplinary teams, work with local partners to perform feasibility studies for proposed energy solutions.
No prerequisites or prior engineering experience required.
D-Lab II Energy and Development: Designing for the market
Spring quarter
Days: Tues/Thur Time: 10:00 am to 11:50 am
Location: 125 Wellman
To Register: TTP #289A-007 / CRN #91600 (units:3)
A hands-on studio-style design course that focuses on low-cost energy solutions for the developing world. Student teams work with local partners and mentors, to design, prototype, and test scalable solutions for real world energy problems for their client communities.
Curriculum includes lab modules, business development skills, case studies, independent research, and guest speakers.
No prerequisites or prior engineering experience required.
D-Lab Summer Practicum
Summer quarter
Fieldwork and internships either on campus or abroad to support or extend work from D-Lab I or D-Lab II. These 2-8 week experiences are usually supported in part by D-Lab or other programs on campus such as the Blum Center in addition to a student contribution.
NEW COURSE Spring 2012-A Hands-on Approach to Energy Efficiency
Winter quarter
Days: T/R Time: 12:10-4:00 PM
Location: 110 Hunt Hall
To Register: Course# 289A-004 / CRN# 91597 (units: 3)
No prerequisites or prior engineering experience required.
Through Lectures, field trips, guest speakers and hands-on labs students will understand the basic operation and control of common household and industrial energy consuming devices. This course complements the series of Energy Efficiency courses currently offered by the UC Davis Energy Efficiency Center.
Multidisciplinary student focus group teams will perform energy assessment for an actual client. Projects include the UCD Domes retrofit, The UCD cool water storage, and the campus lighting initiative. Teams will present their findings and recommendations to a review panel for feedback.
Other International Development Courses and Programs Available
Global Poverty: Critical Thinking and Taking Action (Science and Society #120)
This new course is part of the newly established Blum Center for Developing Economies at UC Davis. It will focus on world poverty, its causes and effects, and explore the global debate about how best to alleviate poverty. The first part of the course will focus on the global disparity in economic growth, development goals and foreign aid (Is a help or a hindrance?). In the second part of the course we will explore strategies targeted at raising the standard of living of those most directly impacted. What technological, (micro) finance and social entrepreneurship opportunities exist? We will compare and contrast the top-down vs “grass roots” approaches. Students will learn from case studies currently being implemented.
Students should leave this course with an better sense of the problems posed by global poverty, be able to participate more effectively in the ongoing debates about poverty alleviation as well as understand how they might personally engage in efforts to reduce poverty. Selected students will be encouraged to be involved with actual international fieldwork through the UC Davis D-Lab.
Graduate Certificate in Development Practice 
D-Lab is also now part of a new offering at UC Davis. The Certificate in Development Practice prepares graduate students interested in working on international development issues either in the domestic U.S. or abroad. This new certificate combines agriculture, energy, business/marketing and public health in a two year series of courses and technical field work abroad.
California-Denmark Renewable Energy Summer Course
California and Denmark are leading the world in finding and implementing renewable energy solutions. The challenges posed by global climate change, scarce natural resources, and the volatility of the international energy market require targeted action towards finding technologically, economically and socially viable solutions based on renewable energy (RE) sources. The Denmark-California Summer Program on Renewable Energy is a unique educational initiative developed by leading universities in Denmark and California. Students and researchers from the UC Santa Cruz, UC Davis, UC Merced, Technical University of Denmark and Aalborg University will meet in California for a 3-week renewable energy summer school program. Participants will learn about the economics, politics, science, and technology behind RE implementation from leading experts, while exploring communities and relevant energy sites where such technology is in place or currently being implemented. The interdisciplinary approach and holistic perspective allows students with various academic back-grounds to interact and develop concrete final project ideas, while targeting today’s energy problems from different angles. The program is intended for students of all disciplines, chosen on the basis of their academic qualifications, creativity, and commitment to RE. Each year, selected students from engineering, business, environmental studies, political science, geography, economics, and other fields are grouped together across disciplines and national ties to form project-based teams that throughout the program investigate.