Offshore wind attracting students from across Europe

High Wind 2024 brought together nearly 40 students from Norway, Denmark, Netherlands, and Scotland. PHD-students, master students and vocational students all joined to learn about offshore wind and to network.

High Wind serves as a hub for students to explore technology and be exposed to challenges in this industry we are trying to build in Norway. Mariell Hunstad, Monica Celegon and Tsz Ching Mak attended High Wind for the second time and sees it as a great platform to network with future employers and get a necessary update on the newest innovations in offshore wind.

My master thesis is about the Norwegian energy mix, which wind is a big part of. I also think observing how other cities deal with offshore wind is valuable to understand how we can approach the challenges we face in Norway, said Mariell. 

Monica and Tsz explained how they enjoy the interactive atmosphere at High Wind and how effective it is to look at offshore wind from market, government, social, technical, and financial perspectives. They also feel that High Wind is an arena where they can properly understand the evolving markets needs when applying for jobs after university.

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Student networking night

Franzisca Bos-Beeken, Ph.D. student at University of Groningen joined the High Wind conference through World Energy Cities Partnership (WECP). Her Ph.D. thesis focused on inclusion and public participation in the energy transition.

In the energy transition, challenges towards social acceptance, inclusion, and public participation are just as important to solve as the technical challenges, said Franzisca.

Franzisca and the rest of the student were all invited to a networking event the night before the High Wind conference to meet Mainstream Renewable Power and Å Energi, learn about the offshore wind project Utsira Nord and network with each other before the big conference. It was a great night and the students appreciated the additional opportunity to connect and meet our sponsoring companies.

High Wind2024 served as a dynamic meeting place for Norwegian and foreign students to connect, learn, and contribute to the ongoing discourse in the offshore wind industry. We also know that we are going to need all the competence we can getto scale up this industry, and seeing all of these students excited about offshore wind, makes the future look very bright!

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