Sustainable energy development requires a transition to low-carbon and environmentally benign energy resources.  This introductory course will;  i) provide an overview of the history energy use in the world and status of energy use today.  It in addition will provide an overview of various alternative energy futures derived from IEA scenarios, with focus on low-carbon energy resources and sustainability ii) provide an overview of conventional and alternative energy resources, such as hydropower, geothermal power, wave- , solar- and wind-power in addition to biomass with focus on physical and engineering perspectives, iii) given an introduction to electricity production iv) provide an overview over the environmental impact of energy use and v) provide an introduction to energy policy in the context of sustainable energy futures and other pressing issues such as climate change. 

The structure of the course consists of lectures and field trips.

The course is only open for students registered in the specialization renewable energy.

The main topics of the course are: 

• Geothermal power plants worldwide and in Iceland.
• Thermodynamics in flash power plants, power cycles.
• Steam separators, condensers, incondensable gases, cooling.
• Alternative power cycles, ORC and Kalina power plants.
• Co-production of heat and power.
• Mechanical design of pipe systems, especially for steam and steam gathering.
• Scaling and corrosion.  Environmental effects related to geothermal utilization.
• Economics and cost, both in building phase and operation.
• Exergy and its relation to environmental conditions.
• Energy and exergy analysis, Sankey og Grassmann charts.
• Flow of energy cost, thermo-economics and estimation of net cost in improving parts of energy systems.
• Production control and equipment for process regulation.

The main topics of the course are: 

• Geothermal wells, different types and drilling methods.
• Well casings and mechanical design of geothermal wells.
• Well cementing, work procedures and standards.
• Wellheads and their design.  Load on wellheads and related security issues.
• Well logging and measurements along wells. Methods for measuring temperature and pressure.
• Well flow initiation and measurement of the mass flow of steam and water. Energy flow from geothermal wells and potential power production capacity.
• Two phase flow of steam and water. Flow in wells and steam gathering pipes on the surface. Flow properties and determination of flow regimes. Pressure variations in two phase flow.

The main topics of the course are:

• Energy usage in Iceland, a broad overview.
• House heating and district heating systems:
• Thermodynamics of house heating and energy flow in houses.  Heat loss and heat transfer from radiators.
• Minimum requirements for indoor temperature levels, related to quality of living.
• District heating connections to houses, obligatory equipment, heat exchangers.
• Mathematical representation of district heating systems, steady and unsteady operation.
• Base load for district heating suppliers, its determination based on weather data.
• Swimming pools.
• Greenhouses and heating of soil.
• Snow melting and the use of heat in industry.
• Fish farming.
• Heat pumps.

The course is split into two sessions:

Part 1: April 8th – 10th
Introduction, groups formed, and project planning.

Part 2: May 11th – 19th
Data gathering, group work, report and presentation.

This is an independent project course for students within the Renewable Energy Graduate Program. The project is based on interdisciplinary collaboration involving the following topics and related faculties:

Geothermal Engineering (Mechanical Engineering)
Hydroelectric Engineering (Environmental and Civil Engineering)
Electrical Power Engineering (Electrical and Computer Engineering)
Geothermal Resources (Earth Sciences)
Energy Economics, Policy and Sustainability (Environment and Natural Resources

In the project, realistic scenarios are considered that involve the students in evaluating the use of a resource for energy production or direct utilization. Main points of emphasis are:

Resource estimation and sustainability assessment.
Assessment of the possible utilization processes and engineering design of the chosen energy process.
Business plan for the project including capital cost estimates and sensitivity analysis of cost data.
Environmental assessment and permits for utilization and construction.
Social and environmental impacts of the project.
Project management of interdisciplinary projects.

Heat budget of the Earth, heat transport to the Earth´s surface. Geothermal systems and their structure, renewability of geothermal systems, methodology in geothermal development, estimation of resource size, fluid origin and chemistry, water-rock interaction, environmental impact of utilization, well testing and well data integration.  The coruse is taught during 7 week period first part of the fall semester.  It consists of lectures, practical, student lectures, student posters, essay and exams.  The course is taught in English.

sustainable development.  To approach sustainability we need a holistic vision which takes into account three major foundations: environment, economy and society.  The course will give an overview of Earth´s energy resources, generation and use of fossil fuels, non-renewable and renewable energy sources - including the non-renewable resources of coal, oil, gas, uranium and thorium. The course will cover resources that need to be carefully exploited such as geothermal, hydro- and bio-energy. Other topics of the course include renewable energy based on the sun, wind, tides and waves. The course will also outline the most important natural resources that are used for technology, infrastructue of society and in agriculture, including metals, fertilizers, soil and water. The course will cover how resources are formed, are used, how long they will last and what effect the use has on the environment, the economy and society.  Understanding the socio-economic system that drives natural resource consumption patterns is key to assessing the sustainability of resource management. Thus, recycling of non-renewable resources is also discussed in addition to recent prosperity thinking based on the circular economy and wellbeing economy.

A 7-week intensive course (later 7 weeks of autumn term). Taught if sufficient number of students. May be taugth as a reading course.

The course gives basic insight into geothermal reservoir engineering, on how to monitor, conceptualize, model and manage geothermal reservoirs. Contents:  Heat conduction and convection, well logging, heat and fluid transfer in geothermal reservoirs, well test analysis, resource assessment, lumped parameter modelling, two phase flow, numerical models, reservoir management, reinjection, production strategies and sustainability.

Course layout: Lectures, practical sessions, exercises/projects, student lecture on a selected topic and a one-day well logging field exercise.

A 7-week intensive course (first 7 weeks of fall term). 

Taught if sufficient number of students. May be taugth as a reading course.

Occurrence of groundwater, the water content of soil, properties and types of aquifers (porosity, retention, yield, storage coefficients; unconfined, confined, leaky, homogeneous, isotropic aquifers). Principles of groundwater flow. Darcy's law, groundwater potential, potentiometric surface, hydraulic conductivity, transmissivity, permeability, determination of hydraulic conductivity in homogeneous and anisotropic aquifers, permeability, flow lines and flow nets, refraction of flow lines, steady and unsteady flow in confined, unconfined and leaky aquifers, general flow equations. Groundwater flow to wells, drawdown and recovery caused by pumping wells, determination of aquifer parameters from time-drawdown data, well loss, capacity and efficiency. Sea-water intrusion in coastal aquifers. Mass transport of solutes by groundwater flow. Quality and pollution of groundwater. Case histories from groundwater studies in Iceland. Numerical models of groundwater flow.   Students carry out an interdisciplinary project on groundwater hydrology and management.

Various incentives, policies and management initiatives are used to influence human behavior, to limit the ecological footprint (EF), and to promote sustainable development. This course focuses on environmental and resource management and policy - in the context of sustainable development (SD). The course is broken to three sessions. In the first session we assess the concept SD from various perspectives - followed by an attempt to operationalize the concept. We compare the concepts growth and SD and ask if the two are compatible and discuss sustainability indicators. In the second session we critically examine various tools that are frequently used in environmental and resource decision-making, such as formal decision analysis, cost-benefit and cost-effectiveness analysis in addition to valuing ecosystem services. In the third session we examine the ideological foundations behind environmental and resource policy, and assess various policy and management initiatives for diverse situations in a comparative international context. Examples are much based on student interests but possible examples include bottle-deposit systems, ITQ's, voluntary approaches and multi-criteria management.

This course seeks to explore the responsibility of companies towards the environment. Active participation of students is required by analysing issues related to companies, the natural environment and various stakeholders, but that is for instance done through a simulation and case studies.

The aim of the course is to create an understanding of and teach students to choose and employ the necessary tools to assess goals and make decisions when it comes to environmental and resource management in the context of sustainable development. Among the tools used are the Sustainable Development Goals, the Paris Agreement, the UN Global Compact, the Global Reporting Initiative and more.

The course is divided into three parts. In part one, we will explore the origins and meaning of corporate liability. The second part focuses on how to manage and implement corporate responsibility. In the third part, we will learn about corporate responsibility from the perspective of impact, criticism, and future prospects.

At a minimum, the successful completion of this course assumes that students have acquired a theoretical understanding of the subject, are able to apply the methods that have been taught and are literate in case of information related to companies and their environmental issues, outcomes, and impacts.

• The topic of the Master's thesis must be chosen under the guidance of the supervisor and the Faculty Coordinator of the student. The thesis represents 30 or 60 credits. All Master's student have been assigned to a Faculty Coordinator from the beginning of their studies, who advises the student regarding the organization of the program. If a student does not have a supervisor for the final project, he / she must turn to the Faculty Coordinator for assistance.
• The choice of topic is primarily the responsibility of the student in collaboration with his or her project supervisor. The topic of the project should fall within the student's area of study, i.e. course of study and chosen specialisation.
• The master’s student writes a thesis according to the School’s template and defends it in a master’s defense.
• Final project exam is divided into two parts: Oral examination and open lecture
• Present at the oral exam is the student, supervisor, examiner and members of the Master's committee. The student presents a brief introduction on his / her project. It is important that the objectives and research question(s) are clearly stated, and that main findings and lessons to be drawn from the project are discussed.
• The student delivers a thesis and a project poster.
• According to the rules of the Master's program, all students who intend to graduate from the School of Engineering and Natural Sciences need to give a public lecture on their final project.
• All students graduating from the University of Iceland shall submit an electronic copy of their final Master's thesis to Skemman.is. Skemman is the digital repository for all Icelandic universities and is maintained by the National and University Library.
• According to regulations of University of Iceland all MS thesis should have open access after they have been submitted to Skemman.

Learning Outcomes:

Upon completion of an MS thesis, the student should be able to:

• Formulate engineering design project  / research questions
• Use an appropriate theoretical framework to shed light on his / her topic
• Analyze and solve engineering tasks in a specialized field.
• Perform a literature search and a thorough review of the literature.
• Demonstrate initiative and independent creative thinking.
• Use economic methodology to answer a specific research question
• Competently discuss the current knowledge within the field and contribute to it with own research
• Work with results, analyze uncertainties and limitations and interpret results.
• Assess the scope of a research project and plan the work accordingly
• Effectively display results and provide logical reasoning and relate results to the state of knowledge.

Lectures on and study of selected topics in current research and recent development in the field of Mechanical engineering. Topics may vary.

Students contact the teacher and the chair of department regarding registration for the course.

The aim of the course is:- To give students overview of processes in materials engineering;- To encourage students to think about feasible ways to utilize renewable energy. The course will cover the industrial processes in some of the larger Icelandic companies, including the production of ferro-alloys, aluminium smelting, rockwool production, recycling of steel, algea and diatomitemining, and production of sodium chlorine, fertilizers, cement. The course will also cover some of the larger material engineering processes that are not in practice in Iceland but may be a feasible option for Icelandic industry. Students will get good overview of the processes, required materials, source of power and power consumption, pollution, products etc. Discussions will be held on the financial background for individual processes, covering aspects such as production cost, profit and the influences of market share changes. Grades are based on 2 larger projects the students work on through the semester. Field trips are an important part of the course.

The aim of this course is to give students an exposure to the theoretical basis of the finite element method and its implementation principles. Furthermore, to introduce the use of available finite element application software for solving real-life engineering problems.

The course covers such topics as: stiffness matrices, elements stiffness matrix, system stiffness matrix, local and global stiffness, shape functions, isoparametric formulation and numerical integration. Various elements are studied, such as, trusses and beams, plane elements, 3D elements, plates and shells. Students mostly solve problems in solid mechanics (stress analysis) but can choose to work on a design project in other areas, such as vibrations or heat transfer.

The course includes class lectures and work sessions where students solve problems, both in python (can also choose matlab) and in the commercial software Ansys, under the supervison of the instructor. There is extensive use of Python (Matlab) and Ansys in solving homework problems and semester projects.

Spectral and wavelet analysis. Linear and nonlinear systems. Envelope and cepstrum analysis Measurement, identification and response problems. Vibrations of continuous systems. Formulation of finite element model for analysis of dynamic problems. Fault diagnostic and machine condition monitoring.

Optimum design concepts. Fundamentals of linear and nonlinear programming, constrained and unconstrained optimum design problems. Simulated annealing and genetic algorithms. Project and applications to realistic engineering design problems.

Basic thermodynamic and electrochemical principles that cause corrosion. Procedures of electrochemical measurements used to investigate corrosion behavior. Methods of corrosion protection and prevention, materials selection and design.

The course is taught every other year on even numbered years.

The course is an introduction to some basic concepts of condensed matter physics. Curriculum: Chemical bonds, crystal structure, crystal symmetry, the reciprocal lattice. Vibrational modes of crystals, phonons, specific heat, thermal conductivity. The free electron model, band structure of condensed matter, effective mass. Metals, insulators and semiconductors. The course includes three labs.

ARMAX and other similar time series models. Non-stationary time series. Correlation and spectral analysis. Parameter estimation, parametric and non-parametric approaches, Least Squares and Maximum Likelihood. Model validation methods. Models with time dependent parameters. Numerical methods for minimization. Outlier detection and interpolation. Introduction to nonlinear time series models. Discrete state space models. Discrete state space models. Extensive use of MATLAB, especially the System Identification Toolbox.

Objectives:   To introduce continuum mechanics, fluid dynamics and heat transfer and their application to problems in physics and geophysics. I. Stress and strain, stress fields, stress tensor, bending of plates, models of material behaviour: elastic, viscous, plastic materials. II. Fluids, viscous fluids, laminar and turbulent flow, equation of continuity, Navier-Stokes equation. III. Heat transfer: Heat conduction, convection, advection and geothermal resources. Examples and problems from various branches of physics will be studied, particularly from geophysics.

Teaching statement: To do well in this course, students should actively participate in the discussions, attend lectures, give student presentations and deliver the problem sets assigned in the course. Students will gain knowledge through the lectures, but it is necessary to do the exercises to understand and train the use of the concepts. The exercises are intergrated in the text of the book, it is recommended to do them while reading the text. Instructors will strive to make the concepts and terminology accessible, but it is expected that students study independently and ask questions if something is unclear. In order to improve the course and its content, it is appreciated that students participate in the course evaluation, both the mid-term and the end of term course evaluation.

The course focuses on simple and multiple linear regression as well as analysis of variance (ANOVA), analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) and binomial regression. The course is a natural continuation of a typical introductory course in statistics taught in various departments of the university.

We will discuss methods for estimating parameters in linear models, how to construct confidence intervals and test hypotheses for the parameters, which assumptions need to hold for applying the models and what to do when they are not met.

Students will work on projects using the statistical software R.

Introduction to the scientific method. Ethics of science and within the university community.
The role of the student, advisors and external examiner. Effective and honest communications.
Conducting a literature review, using bibliographic databases and reference handling. Thesis structure, formulating research questions, writing and argumentation. How scientific writing differs from general purpose writing. Writing a MS study plan and proposal. Practical skills for presenting tables and figures, layout, fonts and colors. Presentation skills. Project management for a thesis, how to divide a large project into smaller tasks, setting a work plan and following a timeline. Life after graduate school and being employable.

Iceland is somewhat unique in that almost all electricity is produced with renewable energy sources. Hydropower is one of the two main pillars of electricity supply in Iceland, together with geothermal power. 

Goal: Provide technological insights into hydropower harnessing, with special emphasis on Icelandic conditions. This is a critical class in the emphasis areas of Water Resources Engineering and Renewable Energy Engineering, and touches upon United Nations Sustainable Development Goal nr. 7, sustainable energy.

Topics: Hydropower potential. Technically feasible hydropower. Main structural components in a hydropower plant. Structural design of hydropower plants, both underground (tunnels) and above ground (dams, spillways). Regulations. Environment, health and safety considerations over life cycle of plant. Ice and sedimentation. Hydro- and electromechanical components. Electricity production. 

Assessment

Term assignments/projects, final presentation and oral final exam at the end of semester. 

Teaching methods 

Emphasis is on self-study and independent project work. Weekly meetings, 3 x 40 min, are planned. A field site visit is planned. The class is taught in English.

Students in following specialization have predecedence over others in registration in the course:  Renewable Energy - Hydroelectric Engineering, Water resource engineering

Mankind depends heavily on energy for virtually every aspect of daily life. The main energy source is currently fossil fuels, but the associated pollution (greenhouse gasses, particulate matter, ...), and the fact that it is a limited resource, has lead to an increased interest in other energy resources. Sustainable energy development is the requirement, and in this course we will look at different energy options. For example, we will consider hydropower, geothermal energy, wave-, wind- and solar-energy and biomass energy (nuclear energy).  An overview of current energy use in the world and fossil fuels will be given.

The physical principles behind each energy source will be explained. Also the environmental impact, the associated risks, policy and economics of different energy options.

The aim of this course is to introduce water supply systems design and operation, and how to secure drinking water safety.  Also to introduce simple solutions for water supply in rural areas.

Course content: Legal framework for water supply. Drinking water quality requirement, threats to water quality and preventive management to secure public health. Water demand estimate for design. Water resources, water harnessing and water supply solutions.  Main elements of water treatment. Storage tanks and their design. Pumps and pumps selections. Design of supply network. Pipes, valves and hydrants.

The course includes design project of a small water supply from catchment to consumer, project in water safety planning including risk assessment and planning of preventive measures to secure water safety, and a field visit.

This is an introductory course in the collection and transportation of wastewater in urban areas. This class covers topics relating to the United Nations Sustainable Development goals nr. 6 (sanitation) and nr. 11 (sustainable cities).

Course contents: Chemical and biological characteristics of sewage and stormwater. Types and quantities of sanitary sewage.  Design of wastewater systems: Pipe flow calculations, allowable pipe slopes and water speeds, Manning´s equation. System components: Pipelines, manholes, pumping stations, combined sewer overflows. Construction, operation and rehabilitation of sewers. Rainwater quantity: Rainfall intensity, duration, frequency and run-off coefficients. Causes and characteristics of urban floods in Iceland. Climate adaptation with sustainable, blue-green stormwater management. Soil capacity to infiltrate water in cold climate. 

The course includes a design project of a wastewater system, data collection and analyses.

• The topic of the Master's thesis must be chosen under the guidance of the supervisor and the Faculty Coordinator of the student. The thesis represents 30 or 60 credits. All Master's student have been assigned to a Faculty Coordinator from the beginning of their studies, who advises the student regarding the organization of the program. If a student does not have a supervisor for the final project, he / she must turn to the Faculty Coordinator for assistance.
• The choice of topic is primarily the responsibility of the student in collaboration with his or her project supervisor. The topic of the project should fall within the student's area of study, i.e. course of study and chosen specialisation.
• The master’s student writes a thesis according to the School’s template and defends it in a master’s defense.
• Final project exam is divided into two parts: Oral examination and open lecture
• Present at the oral exam is the student, supervisor, examiner and members of the Master's committee. The student presents a brief introduction on his / her project. It is important that the objectives and research question(s) are clearly stated, and that main findings and lessons to be drawn from the project are discussed.
• The student delivers a thesis and a project poster.
• According to the rules of the Master's program, all students who intend to graduate from the School of Engineering and Natural Sciences need to give a public lecture on their final project.
• All students graduating from the University of Iceland shall submit an electronic copy of their final Master's thesis to Skemman.is. Skemman is the digital repository for all Icelandic universities and is maintained by the National and University Library.
• According to regulations of University of Iceland all MS thesis should have open access after they have been submitted to Skemman.

Learning Outcomes:

Upon completion of an MS thesis, the student should be able to:

• Formulate engineering design project  / research questions
• Use an appropriate theoretical framework to shed light on his / her topic
• Analyze and solve engineering tasks in a specialized field.
• Perform a literature search and a thorough review of the literature.
• Demonstrate initiative and independent creative thinking.
• Use economic methodology to answer a specific research question
• Competently discuss the current knowledge within the field and contribute to it with own research
• Work with results, analyze uncertainties and limitations and interpret results.
• Assess the scope of a research project and plan the work accordingly
• Effectively display results and provide logical reasoning and relate results to the state of knowledge.

Lectures on and study of selected topics in current research and recent development in the field of Mechanical engineering. Topics may vary.

Students contact the teacher and the chair of department regarding registration for the course.

The main purpose is to develop methods of predicting numerical solutions in fluid mechanics and heat transfer. Especially of predicting boundary layer phenomena and modelling of turbulence transport properties. Both finite volume and finite difference methods are demonstrated. Solution of non-linear equations and stability criterium. Emphasis is laid on solution of practical problems.

The course is taught every other year on odd numbered years.

Design of parallel computers and parallel programming models. Shared memory architecture. Message passing and distributed memory architecture. Parallel programming of computer clusters using MPI and multicore programming using OpenMP. Parallel algorithms for sorting, searching, linear algebra, and various graph problems.

Course topics will be very similar like HPC in Fall 2019:

http://www.morrisriedel.de/hpc-course-fall-2019

Positioning in the Field of High-Performance Computing (HPC)

• Consists of techniques for programming & using large-scale HPC Systems
• Approach: Get a broad understanding of what HPC is and what can be done
• Goal: Train general HPC techniques and systems and selected details of domain-specific applications

Course Motivation

Parallel processing and distributed computing

• Matured over the past three decades
• Both emerged as a well-developed field in computer science
• Still a lot of innovation, e.g. from hardware/software

‘Scientific computing‘ with Maple, Matlab, etc.

• Performed on small (‘serial‘) computing machines like Desktop PCs or Laptops
• An increasing number of cores enables ‘better scientific computing‘ today
• Good for small & fewer complex applications, quickly reach memory limits

‘Advanced scientific computing‘

• Used with computational simulations and large-scale machine & deep learning
• Performed on large parallel computers; often scientific domain-specific approaches
• Use orders of magnitude multi-core chips & large memory & specific many-core chips
• Enables ‘simulations of reality‘ - often based on known physical laws and numerical methods

Lectures on and study of selected topics in current research and recent development in the field of Mechanical engineering. Topics may vary.

Students contact the teacher and the chair of department regarding registration for the course.

Aim: To give an overview of the principles of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of anthropogenic activities and to introduce the procedures and methods used in the environmental assessment process. At the end of the course, students should have gained an understanding of the main principles of EIA and the methods used for its application.  After having completed the course, students should be able to actively participate in the making of EIA. Subject: Environmental Impact Assessment of Projects is the main subject of the course.  EIA is a systematic process meant to streamline development projects by minimizing environmental effects. The first part of the course is an introduction to the global context and history of EIA, the subject of EIA, and an introduction to the EIA methodology.  The second part of the course focuses on processes. The aim, subject, and process of EIA will be explained, including a discussion on the various stages and aspects of the EIA procedure (such as screening, scoping, participants, stakeholders and consultation, impact prediction and assessment, reporting and monitoring).  Although the examples of processes, definitions and methods introduced in the course will be based on the Icelandic legislation, the learning outcome will be of practical use for all students, without regard to their nationality. Through individual assignments, each student will be able to explore the EIA process in context with an area of their choice.  

Aim: To give an overview of the principles of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of anthropogenic activities and to introduce the procedures and methods used in the environmental assessment process. At the end of the course, students should have gained an understanding of the main principles of EIA and the methods used for its application.  After having completed the course, students should be able to actively participate in the making of EIA. Subject: Environmental Impact Assessment of Projects is the main subject of the course.  EIA is a systematic process meant to streamline development projects by minimizing environmental effects. The first part of the course is an introduction to the global context and history of EIA, the subject of EIA, and an introduction to the EIA methodology.  The second part of the course focuses on processes. The aim, subject, and process of EIA will be explained, including a discussion on the various stages and aspects of the EIA procedure (such as screening, scoping, participants, stakeholders and consultation, impact prediction and assessment, reporting and monitoring).  Although the examples of processes, definitions and methods introduced in the course will be based on the Icelandic legislation, the learning outcome will be of practical use for all students, without regard to their nationality. Through individual assignments, each student will be able to explore the EIA process in context with an area of their choice.  

The role of the fish industry in the Icelandic economy. Fish as raw material, its composition, physical and chemical properties. Fish stocks, fishing gear, selectivity. Storage methods on board and after landing. Processing methods, production process and processing equipment for cooling, superchilling, freezing, salting, drying, canning and shell process. Energy and mass balance for each step in the process and the whole process. 

Sustainable energy development requires a transition to low-carbon and environmentally benign energy resources.  This introductory course will;  i) provide an overview of the history energy use in the world and status of energy use today.  It in addition will provide an overview of various alternative energy futures derived from IEA scenarios, with focus on low-carbon energy resources and sustainability ii) provide an overview of conventional and alternative energy resources, such as hydropower, geothermal power, wave- , solar- and wind-power in addition to biomass with focus on physical and engineering perspectives, iii) given an introduction to electricity production iv) provide an overview over the environmental impact of energy use and v) provide an introduction to energy policy in the context of sustainable energy futures and other pressing issues such as climate change. 

The structure of the course consists of lectures and field trips.

The course is only open for students registered in the specialization renewable energy.

The main topics of the course are: 

• Geothermal power plants worldwide and in Iceland.
• Thermodynamics in flash power plants, power cycles.
• Steam separators, condensers, incondensable gases, cooling.
• Alternative power cycles, ORC and Kalina power plants.
• Co-production of heat and power.
• Mechanical design of pipe systems, especially for steam and steam gathering.
• Scaling and corrosion.  Environmental effects related to geothermal utilization.
• Economics and cost, both in building phase and operation.
• Exergy and its relation to environmental conditions.
• Energy and exergy analysis, Sankey og Grassmann charts.
• Flow of energy cost, thermo-economics and estimation of net cost in improving parts of energy systems.
• Production control and equipment for process regulation.

The main topics of the course are: 

• Geothermal wells, different types and drilling methods.
• Well casings and mechanical design of geothermal wells.
• Well cementing, work procedures and standards.
• Wellheads and their design.  Load on wellheads and related security issues.
• Well logging and measurements along wells. Methods for measuring temperature and pressure.
• Well flow initiation and measurement of the mass flow of steam and water. Energy flow from geothermal wells and potential power production capacity.
• Two phase flow of steam and water. Flow in wells and steam gathering pipes on the surface. Flow properties and determination of flow regimes. Pressure variations in two phase flow.

The main topics of the course are:

• Energy usage in Iceland, a broad overview.
• House heating and district heating systems:
• Thermodynamics of house heating and energy flow in houses.  Heat loss and heat transfer from radiators.
• Minimum requirements for indoor temperature levels, related to quality of living.
• District heating connections to houses, obligatory equipment, heat exchangers.
• Mathematical representation of district heating systems, steady and unsteady operation.
• Base load for district heating suppliers, its determination based on weather data.
• Swimming pools.
• Greenhouses and heating of soil.
• Snow melting and the use of heat in industry.
• Fish farming.
• Heat pumps.

The course is split into two sessions:

Part 1: April 8th – 10th
Introduction, groups formed, and project planning.

Part 2: May 11th – 19th
Data gathering, group work, report and presentation.

This is an independent project course for students within the Renewable Energy Graduate Program. The project is based on interdisciplinary collaboration involving the following topics and related faculties:

Geothermal Engineering (Mechanical Engineering)
Hydroelectric Engineering (Environmental and Civil Engineering)
Electrical Power Engineering (Electrical and Computer Engineering)
Geothermal Resources (Earth Sciences)
Energy Economics, Policy and Sustainability (Environment and Natural Resources

In the project, realistic scenarios are considered that involve the students in evaluating the use of a resource for energy production or direct utilization. Main points of emphasis are:

Resource estimation and sustainability assessment.
Assessment of the possible utilization processes and engineering design of the chosen energy process.
Business plan for the project including capital cost estimates and sensitivity analysis of cost data.
Environmental assessment and permits for utilization and construction.
Social and environmental impacts of the project.
Project management of interdisciplinary projects.

Heat budget of the Earth, heat transport to the Earth´s surface. Geothermal systems and their structure, renewability of geothermal systems, methodology in geothermal development, estimation of resource size, fluid origin and chemistry, water-rock interaction, environmental impact of utilization, well testing and well data integration.  The coruse is taught during 7 week period first part of the fall semester.  It consists of lectures, practical, student lectures, student posters, essay and exams.  The course is taught in English.

sustainable development.  To approach sustainability we need a holistic vision which takes into account three major foundations: environment, economy and society.  The course will give an overview of Earth´s energy resources, generation and use of fossil fuels, non-renewable and renewable energy sources - including the non-renewable resources of coal, oil, gas, uranium and thorium. The course will cover resources that need to be carefully exploited such as geothermal, hydro- and bio-energy. Other topics of the course include renewable energy based on the sun, wind, tides and waves. The course will also outline the most important natural resources that are used for technology, infrastructue of society and in agriculture, including metals, fertilizers, soil and water. The course will cover how resources are formed, are used, how long they will last and what effect the use has on the environment, the economy and society.  Understanding the socio-economic system that drives natural resource consumption patterns is key to assessing the sustainability of resource management. Thus, recycling of non-renewable resources is also discussed in addition to recent prosperity thinking based on the circular economy and wellbeing economy.

A 7-week intensive course (later 7 weeks of autumn term). Taught if sufficient number of students. May be taugth as a reading course.

The course gives basic insight into geothermal reservoir engineering, on how to monitor, conceptualize, model and manage geothermal reservoirs. Contents:  Heat conduction and convection, well logging, heat and fluid transfer in geothermal reservoirs, well test analysis, resource assessment, lumped parameter modelling, two phase flow, numerical models, reservoir management, reinjection, production strategies and sustainability.

Course layout: Lectures, practical sessions, exercises/projects, student lecture on a selected topic and a one-day well logging field exercise.

A 7-week intensive course (first 7 weeks of fall term). 

Taught if sufficient number of students. May be taugth as a reading course.

Occurrence of groundwater, the water content of soil, properties and types of aquifers (porosity, retention, yield, storage coefficients; unconfined, confined, leaky, homogeneous, isotropic aquifers). Principles of groundwater flow. Darcy's law, groundwater potential, potentiometric surface, hydraulic conductivity, transmissivity, permeability, determination of hydraulic conductivity in homogeneous and anisotropic aquifers, permeability, flow lines and flow nets, refraction of flow lines, steady and unsteady flow in confined, unconfined and leaky aquifers, general flow equations. Groundwater flow to wells, drawdown and recovery caused by pumping wells, determination of aquifer parameters from time-drawdown data, well loss, capacity and efficiency. Sea-water intrusion in coastal aquifers. Mass transport of solutes by groundwater flow. Quality and pollution of groundwater. Case histories from groundwater studies in Iceland. Numerical models of groundwater flow.   Students carry out an interdisciplinary project on groundwater hydrology and management.

Various incentives, policies and management initiatives are used to influence human behavior, to limit the ecological footprint (EF), and to promote sustainable development. This course focuses on environmental and resource management and policy - in the context of sustainable development (SD). The course is broken to three sessions. In the first session we assess the concept SD from various perspectives - followed by an attempt to operationalize the concept. We compare the concepts growth and SD and ask if the two are compatible and discuss sustainability indicators. In the second session we critically examine various tools that are frequently used in environmental and resource decision-making, such as formal decision analysis, cost-benefit and cost-effectiveness analysis in addition to valuing ecosystem services. In the third session we examine the ideological foundations behind environmental and resource policy, and assess various policy and management initiatives for diverse situations in a comparative international context. Examples are much based on student interests but possible examples include bottle-deposit systems, ITQ's, voluntary approaches and multi-criteria management.

This course seeks to explore the responsibility of companies towards the environment. Active participation of students is required by analysing issues related to companies, the natural environment and various stakeholders, but that is for instance done through a simulation and case studies.

The aim of the course is to create an understanding of and teach students to choose and employ the necessary tools to assess goals and make decisions when it comes to environmental and resource management in the context of sustainable development. Among the tools used are the Sustainable Development Goals, the Paris Agreement, the UN Global Compact, the Global Reporting Initiative and more.

The course is divided into three parts. In part one, we will explore the origins and meaning of corporate liability. The second part focuses on how to manage and implement corporate responsibility. In the third part, we will learn about corporate responsibility from the perspective of impact, criticism, and future prospects.

At a minimum, the successful completion of this course assumes that students have acquired a theoretical understanding of the subject, are able to apply the methods that have been taught and are literate in case of information related to companies and their environmental issues, outcomes, and impacts.

• The topic of the Master's thesis must be chosen under the guidance of the supervisor and the Faculty Coordinator of the student. The thesis represents 30 or 60 credits. All Master's student have been assigned to a Faculty Coordinator from the beginning of their studies, who advises the student regarding the organization of the program. If a student does not have a supervisor for the final project, he / she must turn to the Faculty Coordinator for assistance.
• The choice of topic is primarily the responsibility of the student in collaboration with his or her project supervisor. The topic of the project should fall within the student's area of study, i.e. course of study and chosen specialisation.
• The master’s student writes a thesis according to the School’s template and defends it in a master’s defense.
• Final project exam is divided into two parts: Oral examination and open lecture
• Present at the oral exam is the student, supervisor, examiner and members of the Master's committee. The student presents a brief introduction on his / her project. It is important that the objectives and research question(s) are clearly stated, and that main findings and lessons to be drawn from the project are discussed.
• The student delivers a thesis and a project poster.
• According to the rules of the Master's program, all students who intend to graduate from the School of Engineering and Natural Sciences need to give a public lecture on their final project.
• All students graduating from the University of Iceland shall submit an electronic copy of their final Master's thesis to Skemman.is. Skemman is the digital repository for all Icelandic universities and is maintained by the National and University Library.
• According to regulations of University of Iceland all MS thesis should have open access after they have been submitted to Skemman.

Learning Outcomes:

Upon completion of an MS thesis, the student should be able to:

• Formulate engineering design project  / research questions
• Use an appropriate theoretical framework to shed light on his / her topic
• Analyze and solve engineering tasks in a specialized field.
• Perform a literature search and a thorough review of the literature.
• Demonstrate initiative and independent creative thinking.
• Use economic methodology to answer a specific research question
• Competently discuss the current knowledge within the field and contribute to it with own research
• Work with results, analyze uncertainties and limitations and interpret results.
• Assess the scope of a research project and plan the work accordingly
• Effectively display results and provide logical reasoning and relate results to the state of knowledge.

Lectures on and study of selected topics in current research and recent development in the field of Mechanical engineering. Topics may vary.

Students contact the teacher and the chair of department regarding registration for the course.

The aim of the course is:- To give students overview of processes in materials engineering;- To encourage students to think about feasible ways to utilize renewable energy. The course will cover the industrial processes in some of the larger Icelandic companies, including the production of ferro-alloys, aluminium smelting, rockwool production, recycling of steel, algea and diatomitemining, and production of sodium chlorine, fertilizers, cement. The course will also cover some of the larger material engineering processes that are not in practice in Iceland but may be a feasible option for Icelandic industry. Students will get good overview of the processes, required materials, source of power and power consumption, pollution, products etc. Discussions will be held on the financial background for individual processes, covering aspects such as production cost, profit and the influences of market share changes. Grades are based on 2 larger projects the students work on through the semester. Field trips are an important part of the course.

The aim of this course is to give students an exposure to the theoretical basis of the finite element method and its implementation principles. Furthermore, to introduce the use of available finite element application software for solving real-life engineering problems.

The course covers such topics as: stiffness matrices, elements stiffness matrix, system stiffness matrix, local and global stiffness, shape functions, isoparametric formulation and numerical integration. Various elements are studied, such as, trusses and beams, plane elements, 3D elements, plates and shells. Students mostly solve problems in solid mechanics (stress analysis) but can choose to work on a design project in other areas, such as vibrations or heat transfer.

The course includes class lectures and work sessions where students solve problems, both in python (can also choose matlab) and in the commercial software Ansys, under the supervison of the instructor. There is extensive use of Python (Matlab) and Ansys in solving homework problems and semester projects.

Spectral and wavelet analysis. Linear and nonlinear systems. Envelope and cepstrum analysis Measurement, identification and response problems. Vibrations of continuous systems. Formulation of finite element model for analysis of dynamic problems. Fault diagnostic and machine condition monitoring.

Optimum design concepts. Fundamentals of linear and nonlinear programming, constrained and unconstrained optimum design problems. Simulated annealing and genetic algorithms. Project and applications to realistic engineering design problems.

Basic thermodynamic and electrochemical principles that cause corrosion. Procedures of electrochemical measurements used to investigate corrosion behavior. Methods of corrosion protection and prevention, materials selection and design.

The course is taught every other year on even numbered years.

The course is an introduction to some basic concepts of condensed matter physics. Curriculum: Chemical bonds, crystal structure, crystal symmetry, the reciprocal lattice. Vibrational modes of crystals, phonons, specific heat, thermal conductivity. The free electron model, band structure of condensed matter, effective mass. Metals, insulators and semiconductors. The course includes three labs.

ARMAX and other similar time series models. Non-stationary time series. Correlation and spectral analysis. Parameter estimation, parametric and non-parametric approaches, Least Squares and Maximum Likelihood. Model validation methods. Models with time dependent parameters. Numerical methods for minimization. Outlier detection and interpolation. Introduction to nonlinear time series models. Discrete state space models. Discrete state space models. Extensive use of MATLAB, especially the System Identification Toolbox.

Objectives:   To introduce continuum mechanics, fluid dynamics and heat transfer and their application to problems in physics and geophysics. I. Stress and strain, stress fields, stress tensor, bending of plates, models of material behaviour: elastic, viscous, plastic materials. II. Fluids, viscous fluids, laminar and turbulent flow, equation of continuity, Navier-Stokes equation. III. Heat transfer: Heat conduction, convection, advection and geothermal resources. Examples and problems from various branches of physics will be studied, particularly from geophysics.

Teaching statement: To do well in this course, students should actively participate in the discussions, attend lectures, give student presentations and deliver the problem sets assigned in the course. Students will gain knowledge through the lectures, but it is necessary to do the exercises to understand and train the use of the concepts. The exercises are intergrated in the text of the book, it is recommended to do them while reading the text. Instructors will strive to make the concepts and terminology accessible, but it is expected that students study independently and ask questions if something is unclear. In order to improve the course and its content, it is appreciated that students participate in the course evaluation, both the mid-term and the end of term course evaluation.

The course focuses on simple and multiple linear regression as well as analysis of variance (ANOVA), analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) and binomial regression. The course is a natural continuation of a typical introductory course in statistics taught in various departments of the university.

We will discuss methods for estimating parameters in linear models, how to construct confidence intervals and test hypotheses for the parameters, which assumptions need to hold for applying the models and what to do when they are not met.

Students will work on projects using the statistical software R.

Introduction to the scientific method. Ethics of science and within the university community.
The role of the student, advisors and external examiner. Effective and honest communications.
Conducting a literature review, using bibliographic databases and reference handling. Thesis structure, formulating research questions, writing and argumentation. How scientific writing differs from general purpose writing. Writing a MS study plan and proposal. Practical skills for presenting tables and figures, layout, fonts and colors. Presentation skills. Project management for a thesis, how to divide a large project into smaller tasks, setting a work plan and following a timeline. Life after graduate school and being employable.

Iceland is somewhat unique in that almost all electricity is produced with renewable energy sources. Hydropower is one of the two main pillars of electricity supply in Iceland, together with geothermal power. 

Goal: Provide technological insights into hydropower harnessing, with special emphasis on Icelandic conditions. This is a critical class in the emphasis areas of Water Resources Engineering and Renewable Energy Engineering, and touches upon United Nations Sustainable Development Goal nr. 7, sustainable energy.

Topics: Hydropower potential. Technically feasible hydropower. Main structural components in a hydropower plant. Structural design of hydropower plants, both underground (tunnels) and above ground (dams, spillways). Regulations. Environment, health and safety considerations over life cycle of plant. Ice and sedimentation. Hydro- and electromechanical components. Electricity production. 

Assessment

Term assignments/projects, final presentation and oral final exam at the end of semester. 

Teaching methods 

Emphasis is on self-study and independent project work. Weekly meetings, 3 x 40 min, are planned. A field site visit is planned. The class is taught in English.

Students in following specialization have predecedence over others in registration in the course:  Renewable Energy - Hydroelectric Engineering, Water resource engineering

Mankind depends heavily on energy for virtually every aspect of daily life. The main energy source is currently fossil fuels, but the associated pollution (greenhouse gasses, particulate matter, ...), and the fact that it is a limited resource, has lead to an increased interest in other energy resources. Sustainable energy development is the requirement, and in this course we will look at different energy options. For example, we will consider hydropower, geothermal energy, wave-, wind- and solar-energy and biomass energy (nuclear energy).  An overview of current energy use in the world and fossil fuels will be given.

The physical principles behind each energy source will be explained. Also the environmental impact, the associated risks, policy and economics of different energy options.

The aim of this course is to introduce water supply systems design and operation, and how to secure drinking water safety.  Also to introduce simple solutions for water supply in rural areas.

Course content: Legal framework for water supply. Drinking water quality requirement, threats to water quality and preventive management to secure public health. Water demand estimate for design. Water resources, water harnessing and water supply solutions.  Main elements of water treatment. Storage tanks and their design. Pumps and pumps selections. Design of supply network. Pipes, valves and hydrants.

The course includes design project of a small water supply from catchment to consumer, project in water safety planning including risk assessment and planning of preventive measures to secure water safety, and a field visit.

This is an introductory course in the collection and transportation of wastewater in urban areas. This class covers topics relating to the United Nations Sustainable Development goals nr. 6 (sanitation) and nr. 11 (sustainable cities).

Course contents: Chemical and biological characteristics of sewage and stormwater. Types and quantities of sanitary sewage.  Design of wastewater systems: Pipe flow calculations, allowable pipe slopes and water speeds, Manning´s equation. System components: Pipelines, manholes, pumping stations, combined sewer overflows. Construction, operation and rehabilitation of sewers. Rainwater quantity: Rainfall intensity, duration, frequency and run-off coefficients. Causes and characteristics of urban floods in Iceland. Climate adaptation with sustainable, blue-green stormwater management. Soil capacity to infiltrate water in cold climate. 

The course includes a design project of a wastewater system, data collection and analyses.

• The topic of the Master's thesis must be chosen under the guidance of the supervisor and the Faculty Coordinator of the student. The thesis represents 30 or 60 credits. All Master's student have been assigned to a Faculty Coordinator from the beginning of their studies, who advises the student regarding the organization of the program. If a student does not have a supervisor for the final project, he / she must turn to the Faculty Coordinator for assistance.
• The choice of topic is primarily the responsibility of the student in collaboration with his or her project supervisor. The topic of the project should fall within the student's area of study, i.e. course of study and chosen specialisation.
• The master’s student writes a thesis according to the School’s template and defends it in a master’s defense.
• Final project exam is divided into two parts: Oral examination and open lecture
• Present at the oral exam is the student, supervisor, examiner and members of the Master's committee. The student presents a brief introduction on his / her project. It is important that the objectives and research question(s) are clearly stated, and that main findings and lessons to be drawn from the project are discussed.
• The student delivers a thesis and a project poster.
• According to the rules of the Master's program, all students who intend to graduate from the School of Engineering and Natural Sciences need to give a public lecture on their final project.
• All students graduating from the University of Iceland shall submit an electronic copy of their final Master's thesis to Skemman.is. Skemman is the digital repository for all Icelandic universities and is maintained by the National and University Library.
• According to regulations of University of Iceland all MS thesis should have open access after they have been submitted to Skemman.

Learning Outcomes:

Upon completion of an MS thesis, the student should be able to:

• Formulate engineering design project  / research questions
• Use an appropriate theoretical framework to shed light on his / her topic
• Analyze and solve engineering tasks in a specialized field.
• Perform a literature search and a thorough review of the literature.
• Demonstrate initiative and independent creative thinking.
• Use economic methodology to answer a specific research question
• Competently discuss the current knowledge within the field and contribute to it with own research
• Work with results, analyze uncertainties and limitations and interpret results.
• Assess the scope of a research project and plan the work accordingly
• Effectively display results and provide logical reasoning and relate results to the state of knowledge.

Lectures on and study of selected topics in current research and recent development in the field of Mechanical engineering. Topics may vary.

Students contact the teacher and the chair of department regarding registration for the course.

The main purpose is to develop methods of predicting numerical solutions in fluid mechanics and heat transfer. Especially of predicting boundary layer phenomena and modelling of turbulence transport properties. Both finite volume and finite difference methods are demonstrated. Solution of non-linear equations and stability criterium. Emphasis is laid on solution of practical problems.

The course is taught every other year on odd numbered years.

Design of parallel computers and parallel programming models. Shared memory architecture. Message passing and distributed memory architecture. Parallel programming of computer clusters using MPI and multicore programming using OpenMP. Parallel algorithms for sorting, searching, linear algebra, and various graph problems.

Course topics will be very similar like HPC in Fall 2019:

http://www.morrisriedel.de/hpc-course-fall-2019

Positioning in the Field of High-Performance Computing (HPC)

• Consists of techniques for programming & using large-scale HPC Systems
• Approach: Get a broad understanding of what HPC is and what can be done
• Goal: Train general HPC techniques and systems and selected details of domain-specific applications

Course Motivation

Parallel processing and distributed computing

• Matured over the past three decades
• Both emerged as a well-developed field in computer science
• Still a lot of innovation, e.g. from hardware/software

‘Scientific computing‘ with Maple, Matlab, etc.

• Performed on small (‘serial‘) computing machines like Desktop PCs or Laptops
• An increasing number of cores enables ‘better scientific computing‘ today
• Good for small & fewer complex applications, quickly reach memory limits

‘Advanced scientific computing‘

• Used with computational simulations and large-scale machine & deep learning
• Performed on large parallel computers; often scientific domain-specific approaches
• Use orders of magnitude multi-core chips & large memory & specific many-core chips
• Enables ‘simulations of reality‘ - often based on known physical laws and numerical methods

Lectures on and study of selected topics in current research and recent development in the field of Mechanical engineering. Topics may vary.

Students contact the teacher and the chair of department regarding registration for the course.

Aim: To give an overview of the principles of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of anthropogenic activities and to introduce the procedures and methods used in the environmental assessment process. At the end of the course, students should have gained an understanding of the main principles of EIA and the methods used for its application.  After having completed the course, students should be able to actively participate in the making of EIA. Subject: Environmental Impact Assessment of Projects is the main subject of the course.  EIA is a systematic process meant to streamline development projects by minimizing environmental effects. The first part of the course is an introduction to the global context and history of EIA, the subject of EIA, and an introduction to the EIA methodology.  The second part of the course focuses on processes. The aim, subject, and process of EIA will be explained, including a discussion on the various stages and aspects of the EIA procedure (such as screening, scoping, participants, stakeholders and consultation, impact prediction and assessment, reporting and monitoring).  Although the examples of processes, definitions and methods introduced in the course will be based on the Icelandic legislation, the learning outcome will be of practical use for all students, without regard to their nationality. Through individual assignments, each student will be able to explore the EIA process in context with an area of their choice.  

Aim: To give an overview of the principles of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of anthropogenic activities and to introduce the procedures and methods used in the environmental assessment process. At the end of the course, students should have gained an understanding of the main principles of EIA and the methods used for its application.  After having completed the course, students should be able to actively participate in the making of EIA. Subject: Environmental Impact Assessment of Projects is the main subject of the course.  EIA is a systematic process meant to streamline development projects by minimizing environmental effects. The first part of the course is an introduction to the global context and history of EIA, the subject of EIA, and an introduction to the EIA methodology.  The second part of the course focuses on processes. The aim, subject, and process of EIA will be explained, including a discussion on the various stages and aspects of the EIA procedure (such as screening, scoping, participants, stakeholders and consultation, impact prediction and assessment, reporting and monitoring).  Although the examples of processes, definitions and methods introduced in the course will be based on the Icelandic legislation, the learning outcome will be of practical use for all students, without regard to their nationality. Through individual assignments, each student will be able to explore the EIA process in context with an area of their choice.  

The role of the fish industry in the Icelandic economy. Fish as raw material, its composition, physical and chemical properties. Fish stocks, fishing gear, selectivity. Storage methods on board and after landing. Processing methods, production process and processing equipment for cooling, superchilling, freezing, salting, drying, canning and shell process. Energy and mass balance for each step in the process and the whole process.