The world’s population is increasingly urban. More than half of us now live in a city. More will do so in the future. We face new challenges in urban design, civil infrastructure and energy management. The Master’s in Energy for Smart Cities programme enables you to contribute to the solution.

The programme adds depth and breadth to your technical and engineering knowledge, equips you with business skills and innovation management techniques, and connects you to the latest thinking on urban development in a changing society. As a result you will be able to play a key role in developing smart, secure and sustainable energy for functional and resource-efficient urban communities.

Throughout the MSc Energy for Smart Cities programme, you will have unrivalled opportunities to engage directly with major industry players and research institutes, small specialist companies and innovative start-ups in the field of smart cities and buildings. Major enterprises such as ABB are actively engaged in the programme, as are companies like EcoBam, SiarQ, Ionseed, Enervalis, Watly, Everis, Iskra, and COMSA Corporación, and innovation support organisations such as ACC1Ó and Barcelona Activa.

The two-year MSc Energy for Smart Cities programme gives you a broad education in electrical and mechanical energy systems. It enables you to refine your knowledge of the electrical, thermo-mechanical and technical-economic aspects of the energy industry, and to participate fully in the design and operation of advanced energy solutions.

Your technological and engineering studies are combined with knowledge of socio-economic and environmental aspect of smart cities, such as energy efficiency in buildings, electric transportation, energy economics, smart lighting, and other urban services.

You will learn how to construct and employ contemporary energy-conversion technologies and secure energy supply, while taking into account the technical limitations, environmental consequences and economic considerations of new energy technologies and systems. Throughout your studies, you are asked to consider the impacts of changing energy systems on the end users in the electrical value chain: the people, the businesses, and the city itself.

MSc Energy for Smart Cities has strong partnerships with internationally renowned businesses, smaller companies and a network of start-ups, who actively participate in the programme to ensure it remains current and relevant to their needs – and to yours. Partners are involved in curriculum design, selection processes, internships, support for Master’s theses, and job opportunities. Experts from the private sector, municipalities and other government bodies also take classes and give guest lectures.

During the MSc Energy for Smart Cities programme, all students have the opportunity to visit at least one international Smart Cities event, two energy companies and an energy research institute. In addition, all students engage with at least one start-up company that is working with InnoEnergy Business Creation Services – our business accelerator and investor.

Year 1

For the first year of the MSc Energy for Smart Cities programme, you can choose to attend either KU Leuven or KTH: Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. In your first year, you will combine electrical and mechanical engineering courses with energy-related socio-economic subjects.

Year 2

In the second year, you choose to attend KU Leuven, KTH, INP: Grenoble Institute of Technology, or UPC: Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya · BarcelonaTech. You will have the opportunity to take general and option-specific elective courses that enable you to specialise in areas that interest you most.

The choice of courses in the second year will determine which university you attend.

Please note: you must attend a different university in each year of study. This means you may not spend both years at KTH or both years at KU Leuven.

Your Master’s thesis

During your second year, you will also undertake a research project on electrical or thermo-mechanical energy, or on one of energy’s technical-economic aspects for your Master’s thesis. During your thesis you will learn to integrate and apply the knowledge and skills acquired throughout the programme. Each year, the programme directors and the directors of InnoEnergy Benelux award a prize for the best thesis on innovation and the best on entrepreneurship.

The MSc Energy for Smart Cities programme takes you across Europe to explore the future of urban living and the resources that will support it.

Giving you an advanced education in all relevant engineering topics, plus solid training in a variety of in-demand business skills – including innovation management –the MSc Energy for Smart Cities is the ideal launchpad for a career in urban planning and development, energy system design and implementation, policy-making and management, or further research.

In particular you will gain:

• Deep knowledge of electrical energy processing, mechanical technology, and applied thermodynamics, plus the design and operation of electrical and mechanical energy systems
  
  
• Understanding of wider socio-economic contexts and insight into ethical, social and economic frameworks for sustainable energy in the smart-city context
  
  
• Communications skills that allow you to discuss ideas with a non-technical audiences and to present ideas and innovative solutions in a structured way
  
  
• An open, analytical approach to problem solving with the ability to gather and apply new insights, methodologies and results in a research or professional context
  
  
• Executive, management and entrepreneurial skills and an understanding where and how to use them
  
  
• The critical ability to understand, assess and pursue the social role of the engineer

You study at two separate universities in two different countries. The programme gives you the opportunity to start building your international network by working closely with fellow students from around the world, while the business-focused elements of the curriculum explore how to work in and manage multi-cultural teams.

You can choose two of the following universities:

• INP: Grenoble Institute of Technology, France
• KTH: Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden
• KU Leuven, Belgium
• UPC: Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya · BarcelonaTech, Spain

After successfully completing the MSc Energy for Smart Cities programme, you will receive a degree from each of your chosen universities.

• INP: International Master of Science in Electrical Engineering for Smart Grids and Buildings
• KTH: Master of Science
• KU Leuven: Master of Science: Energy
• UPC: Master of Energy Engineering

The EIT Label is a quality seal awarded by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) to a KIC educational programme that has been assessed positively by the EIT on the implementation of the EIT Quality Assurance and Learning Enhancement (EIT QALE) system and the application of specific quality criteria with focus on the EIT Overarching Learning Outcomes (EIT OLOs), robust entrepreneurship education, highly integrated, innovative ‘learning-by-doing’ curricula, international mobility and outreach. For more information please check here.

Your two-year MSc experience offers you two journeys:  a in journey in innovation that forms an integral part of your first year. And for those students who meet the criteria, a journey into entrepreneurship. Working in teams, you take on the real-world challenges that face one of our industry or public sector partners. Year one lays the bedrock in innovation methodologies. You explore the market, the opportunities, the techniques and the tools to prototype, plan and present your business model. Year two is a challenge to hone your entrepreneurial skills and mindset. Students chosen to complete the entrepreneurial journey will be challenged, stretched and supported to take it from concept to business plan to prototype to pitch presentation.

Both journeys will take you to three major European innovation and entrepreneurship hubs: Barcelona, Antwerp and Amsterdam.

Download the below files to see the different challenges of the the Innovation and Entrepreneurship journey:

2019 Innovation and Entrepreneurship Journey Year 1

2019 Innovation and Entrepreneurship Journey Year 2

• Barcelona: Smart Cities Week 

Your first week is spent in the Catalan capital analysing and selecting one of the challenges issued by our partners. Here you explore the basics in innovation methodology – from rapid prototyping to effective communication to investigating future trends in energy for smart cities – before presenting your proposal.

You can find the programme of the recent edition of the Smart Cities Week here:

2019 Barcelona Smart Cities Week Year 1

• Antwerp: BIZBootcamp Week 

Your second week challenges you to build your business model using creativity and brainstorming techniques, market research, modelling methodologies and Intellectual Property (IP) tools. Your innovation prototype and model is then presented to a jury of experts in innovation, IP and digital prototyping.

You can find the programme of the recent edition of the BIZ Bootcamp here:

2019 BIZbootcamp Course Year 1

• Amsterdam: Entrepreneurship School 

The big reveal. Your week in Amsterdam sees you apply the finishing touches to your final prototype. You will use effective communication tools from storytelling to elevator pitch techniques to present your work to the Innovation Competition Jury – Smart City experts drawn from academia, enterprise, startups and the public sector.

• Barcelona: Smart Cities Week

Back to Barcelona at the start of your second year, coinciding again with the Smart City Expo World Congress. Here you will have the chance to present your idea to real-world stakeholders, to validate your theories and assumptions, test the market conditions and spark potential interest in your initiative. Now is your chance to network for real.

You can find the programme of the recent edition of the Smart Cities Week here:

2019 Barcelona Smart Cities Week Year 2

• Antwerp: BIZ Bootcamp 

Year two is where you take it to the next level in Antwerp. Using Bill Aulet’s Disciplined Entrepreneurship methodology, you upgrade your startup proposal, focusing on things like market segmentation, value proposition and business model.

You can find the programme of the recent edition of the BIZ Bootcamp here:

2019 BIZbootcamp Course Year 2

• Amsterdam: Entrepreneurship School 

Bring it all together in Amsterdam. Here is where you identify and validate key assumptions, finalize your pitch deck template and present your final product plan to an external jury.

The Entrepreneurship Journey 2017/2018 have yielded five working startup teams:

“At the core of what we do at InnoEnergy there is an imperative to find how your work will have real impact on our environment. The idea is that you not only develop your technical skills and knowledge, you also acquire the business understanding and tools to exploit market opportunities.” – Simone Accornero, MSc Energy for Smart Cities Graduate and founder of the startup FlexiDAO

The Innovation journey and Entrepreneurship journey are supported by innovation and entrepreneurship leaders in Barcelona, Leuven, Antwerp and Amsterdam

The MSc Energy for Smart Cities programme gives you plenty of chances to meet and engage with our industry partners, business experts, fellow students, recent graduates and thriving start-ups throughout your two years of study.

During the MSc Energy for Smart Cities programme, all students have the opportunity to visit at least one international Smart Cities event, two energy companies and an energy research institute. In addition, all students engage with at least one start-up company that is working with InnoEnergy Business Creation Services – our business accelerator and investor.

Specific opportunities include:

The Innovation and Entrepreneurship Journeys run over your two years and take you to three key European hubs.

Barcelona

Explore real-world, innovation-related challenges. Through rapid prototyping, innovation strategy, effective communication techniques and future trend analysis you develop your product. Take it further in year two, validating assumptions, testing the market and networking with real-world stakeholders.

Antwerp

Master the value creation process, market research, business creation and modelling methodologies to bring your innovation to the market.

Amsterdam

Present your prototype to peers and industry experts using storytelling and elevator-pitch techniques. Finalise your pitch-deck template and present your final product plan to an external jury.

Read more about the Innovation journey and Entrepreneurship journey here 

During your second year, you will also undertake a research project on electrical or thermo-mechanical energy, or on one of energy’s technical-economic aspects for your Master’s thesis. During your thesis, you will learn to integrate and apply the knowledge and skills acquired throughout the programme.

Each year, the programme directors and the directors of InnoEnergy Benelux award a prize for the best thesis on innovation and the best on entrepreneurship.

MSc Energy for Smart Cities works with an ecosystem of partners in innovation and in entrepreneurship. Pioneers and trailblazers in sustainable energy, our partners collaborate with us to share real-word challenges with our students, and to support them as they develop the innovation and entrepreneurship skills and knowledge to make a difference.