The practice oriented and solution focused training prepares graduates for self employment or for positions in:

• Research institutes
• Plant and system manufacturers
• Energy suppliers
• Engineering and planning offices
• Energy agencies
• Associations
• Public policy and administration

Graduate Profiles:

M.Sc. Linda Lochmann – born 1986, lives and works in Hamburg

During her bachelor’s degree in Infrastructure Management (B.Eng.) at Stuttgart University of Applied Sciences, she specialized in sustainable energy production and supply engineering alongside construction and project management.

To prepare for the SENCE master’s program, she completed an internship at an energy supplier, gaining practical experience in renewable energy project planning. During the master’s program, she worked as a student assistant in several wind energy companies and built valuable industry contacts. Her master’s thesis at W I N D Energien GmbH, in cooperation with ZSW Stuttgart, focused on combining renewable energies with storage technologies.

After graduation and extended travel, she moved to Hamburg—Europe’s wind energy capital—where she now works as a project engineer at Planet energy GmbH (a subsidiary of Greenpeace energy eG). She develops, plans, and implements wind farm projects involving municipalities and local citizens.

M.Sc., Dipl.- Ing. Hanno Brühl - born 1976, married, two children, lives in Ofterdingen

His qualification for the SENCE master’s program was a degree in Mechanical Engineering with a focus on Energy Technology in Wiesbaden. After six months as a freelance employee at an international project management engineering firm in Frankfurt, he began the SENCE program (09/2003–05/2005).

During his studies, he co founded Senergy GmbH with a fellow student, advising medium sized companies on renewable energy use and energy saving concepts.

In 2007, he transitioned into the evolving energy sector. After roles in district heating and renewable energy sales, he became Head of Renewable Energies and Energy Efficiency at Stadtwerke Tübingen GmbH in September 2010. His department now includes five employees, and he is responsible for expanding renewable energy and developing energy efficiency measures.

He is motivated by the opportunity to drive change in the energy sector: "The challenge was to adapt long established structures to the demands of a young ‘eco market’. A promising path is to combine solid, cautious business development with environmentally responsible, innovative action."
Stadtwerke Tübingen cooperates with several universities (Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Tübingen, Rottenburg) and offers internships as well as supervision of bachelor’s and master’s theses.

Dr., Dipl.-Ing. Tobias Erhart, Born 1979, married, one child, lives in Stuttgart
 

After completing secondary school and civilian service, Dr. Erhart studied Mechanical Engineering and Energy Technology at Ulm University of Applied Sciences (now Hochschule Ulm). Following internships at Bosch, Dornier, and DaimlerChrysler, he moved into research at EADS. His diploma thesis at EADS Daimler Research—on the development of a fuel cell reformer as an auxiliary power unit for passenger vehicles—sparked his interest in research and new energy technologies.
From 2005 to 2006, he completed the SENCE master’s program. After writing his master’s thesis on the simulation of material properties for ORC systems at Stadtwerke Esslingen, he decided to pursue research in this field. From 2007 to 2009, he worked as a research associate at zafh.net at Stuttgart University of Applied Sciences, contributing to national and international projects (RegioEnergie, POLYCITY). Since 2010, he has been a project manager at zafh.net, working on:

• Optimization of biomass CHP plants
• ORC systems (RecoORC)
• Indoor climate optimization through natural ventilation (KonLuft)
• Optimization and storage of photovoltaic electricity (Licht & Luft)

He is completing his PhD part time at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow on the optimization of heat driven ORC systems.

His main interests include the measurement, simulation, and optimization of thermal and electrical systems in the field of renewable energies.

From 2008 to 2011, Dr. Erhart taught Photovoltaic Systems at HFT Stuttgart. Since 2009, he has been a lecturer for Mathematical and Scientific Modeling in the SENCE master’s program.

Verena Kindl, M.Sc., Dipl.-Ing. (FH)

Since 2012, Verena Kindl has been working in the field of Power to Gas in the Department of Renewable Energy Carriers and Processes at the Center for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research (ZSW) in Stuttgart. Her research focuses on optimizing and further developing alkaline electrolysis.

She studied Mechanical Engineering at Esslingen University of Applied Sciences with a specialization in development and design, spending two semesters in Glasgow. She oriented her studies toward renewable energies and turbomachinery. After completing her diploma thesis “Flow Simulation of Valves with Check Function”, she earned a Postgraduate Certificate in Flow Simulation from the University of Southampton.
Motivated by the desire to contribute to the challenges and developments of the German energy transition, she pursued the Sustainable Energy Competence (SENCE) master’s program. As part of her master’s thesis at ZSW, she designed and built a membrane conditioning system to produce vehicle grade fuel by conditioning biogas.