The wind sector’s new master’s programme gets an academic stamp of approval

With its recent international accreditation, the Offshore Wind Energy MBA has now been recognised as the common master’s programme of the wind energy sector. “The combination of a high academic level and practical working knowledge is ideal,” stated the assessment from the sector.

The wind sector’s very own academic management programme, Offshore Wind Energy MBA, has just been accredited at the international level.

The programme, which was established and developed by Erhvervsakademi SydVest, Energy Cluster Denmark and Hochschule Bremerhaven, was created to provide a management programme that gives students the necessary academic qualifications for management roles in the wind energy industry.

The accreditation agency AQAS has now awarded the Offshore Wind Energy MBA with an international accreditation. This is expected to result in a greater number of applicants to the programme according to Glenda Napier, CEO of Energy Cluster Denmark, which also facilitated the Inn2POWER initiative.

“The wind energy industry is in a state of constant development and change, and the same is true of the required qualifications for those who are driving wind energy forward. The MBA meets a demand for upskilling employees who already possess very high qualifications, and I’m certain that even more wind energy companies will now make use of the MBA to help their employees obtain even higher qualifications,” she said.

Adding value

From day one, the Offshore Wind Energy MBA programme has benefited from a close collaboration between internationally renowned companies within the offshore wind industry such as Ørsted, Vattenfall, RWE, Siemens Gamesa, Energi Danmark, Tennet and Rambøll.

These companies are part of the programme’s advisory board and assist with the development of modules, while also helping to provide students on the programme and relevant teaching material in the form of cases. This helps keep the programme cutting-edge, according to Jacob Øbo Sørensen, vice president of Semco Maritime and member of the Offshore Wind Energy MBA Advisory Board:

“The Offshore Wind Energy MBA is based around the industry’s actual challenges and needs and provides insight and knowledge at the academic level. The combination of a high academic level and practical working knowledge is ideal,” he said.

Semco Maritime expects to be able to provide students for the programme as well as case studies that the students can work on in connection with their studies.

“This accreditation confirms that the academic quality of the programme is robust, and the commitment from the industry ensures that the programme will be able to anchor theory in practice. The result is serious value,” he said.

Building upon a position of strength

Lotte Blanner, global talent & leadership partner at Siemens Gamesa, also sees the potential of the Offshore Wind Energy MBA.

“The programme consists of a combination of a high academic level with the practical realities of our work,” she said.

The Offshore Wind Energy MBA is based on innovative teaching methods with a team of lecturers from the academic world and the offshore wind industry. This ensures that students will be able to apply the latest scientific knowledge through a unique practice-oriented approach, which is a clear virtue of the programme, according to Wolfgang Lukas, Professor of Business Economics at Bremerhaven University of Applied Sciences.

“The programme provides everyone who is working in the offshore wind industry and wants to develop their management skills at the academic level with an opportunity to do so at a level where students can learn to apply high-quality theory in workshops and to concrete case studies. It’s a unique combination,” he said.

Moreover, it is not just individual employees who can look forward to improving their qualifications through an academic-level educational programme; the entire industry can look forward to reaping the associated benefits, according to Glenda Napier.

“Increasing individual qualifications at this level is an important measure in terms of securing and building upon our position of strength here in the North Sea wind energy industry,” she said.

“Educational and insightful” 

The Offshore Wind Energy MBA provides a greater level of expertise and insight, according to one of the students on the programme.

“The Offshore Wind Energy MBA is a truly successful combination of academic and practical insight. The programme’s value can be attributed to the mix of these two different dimensions. You end up with a greater level of expertise and up-to-date theoretical knowledge while also getting the opportunity to put it into practice through real case studies and projects – it’s educational and insightful. The reciprocal feedback is also immensely valuable. When you’re working for an engineering company and are focused on a specific set of tasks, you don’t necessarily know that much about the other links in the value chain. The perspectives gained from the reciprocal feedback result in a broader understanding.”

Offshore Wind Energy MBA graduate Søren Kellenberger, sales director at R&D Technology Solutions.

The Offshore Wind Energy MBA Advisory Board:

The programme is the result of a development collaboration between Vattenfall, Ørsted, Siemens Gamesa, Hempel, Energi Danmark, Semco Maritime, Tennet, RWE, ROBUR Wind, WindMW and RoSch.

The partnership receives funding from Interreg (Inn2POWER) and now also Erasmus+ (WISE Offshore)

Read more about the Offshore Wind Energy MBA here: www.owemba.com