Education
Empowering the next generation to shape their futures—and the future we all share
IEE creates a Volunteer experience for students at every level grounded in three pillars: the courage to care, the courage to think big, and the courage to lead. IEE promotes active engagement in research, scholarship, and creative work, aligning initiatives in research and teaching to support curricular innovations and enhance learning outcomes.
Academics
Research, scholarship, and creative work takes on many forms at UT. With a diversity of opportunities, ranging from training and education in partnership with Oak Ridge National Laboratory, to community-based education and clinical opportunities with Cherokee Health Systems, UT students are learning and making impacts where knowledge intersects with opportunity.
Students interested in IEE programs at the undergraduate level should contact the Office of Undergraduate Research and Fellowships.
Students interested in IEE programs at the graduate level should contact the Graduate School.
“Students are the next generation of explorers and discoverers. We teach the skills to do the experiments, and we help them think about creative ways to apply their findings. Maybe they’re working on a washer for a jet; we want to inspire them to think about whether this could also have an application for robotic equipment on a farm. It’s about helping them see their own potential and the potential of their work for transformational applications.”
—Brad Day, Associate Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation Initiatives
Explore Student Experiences
Earning NSF Graduate Research Fellowships
UT graduate students—including many who focus on energy and environmental topics—are recognized for their excellence in research. These students represent a variety of departments and disciplines across UT.
Sharing Research at the State Capitol
As a senior civil engineering major, Caleb Napper presented insights from his research on low-carbon concrete alternatives to members of the Tennessee state government during the annual Posters at the Capitol event.
Vols Bring Multiple Skills to Clean-Water Project in Panama
Sixteen students representing civil engineering, biosystems engineering, nursing, and forestry traveled to Panama, where they learned how to use their skills to improve clean water availability for remote communities.
Building a Landmark
UT architecture and design students are creating new ways to build structures that are innovative, energy efficient, and sustainable. They created this large-scale 3D-printed pavilion using recycled polymers by Loci Robotics.
Policymaking Experiences in Washington DC
The Baker School of Public Policy and Public Affairs connects undergraduate students with faculty and partners researching various energy and environmental topics. Students can participate in the Washington Fellows program to learn about policymaking directly from top US public servants, researchers, and journalists.
Leading the Way in Energy Humanities
The Denbo Center for Humanities and the Arts involves graduate students in the new and evolving field of energy humanities by convening expert speakers, research seminars, and ongoing dialogue across the university. One recent effort includes a team-taught special topics graduate course focusing on energy storage devices.
Listen to Chancellor’s Professor Suzie Allard discuss the class.
Improving Urban Infrastructure over the Summer
The Green Infrastructure for Sustainable Urban Environments Research Experience for Undergrads is a 10-week immersive summer experience that lets students perform field, laboratory, or modeling studies to explore ways to mitigate the effects of urban runoff on surface water quality and hydrology.
Become a Volkswagen Fellow
The Volkswagen PhD Fellows program hires PhD students each year to work as Volkswagen employees while working on their doctorate at UT.
Interdisciplinary One Health Minor
The UT One Health Initiative includes an interdisciplinary One Health minor that helps prepare graduate and undergraduate students for careers in agricultural, environmental, and human sciences while providing experience in communication, leadership, and research.
Power Electronics Opportunities
PoTENNial offers a design-oriented, hands-on graduate traineeship focused on the use of wide-bandgap semiconductors in power electronics, such as those used in electric vehicles.
Workforce Development
Workforce development is a key driver of education, economic growth, and sustainability. At UT, we see ourselves as leaders—not only for our state and region, but for the nation—in the development of the next-generation of innovators and explorers. Our state’s workforce must be prepared to attract new industries, investment, and entrepreneurial opportunities to ensure that we maintain our position as leaders in the innovation economy.
Explore Development Efforts
Driving Tennessee’s Innovation Economy
UT is leading the statewide TEAM TN coalition to develop and commercialize new transportation technologies and prepare Tennesseans for high-demand jobs through STEM and mobility-related upskilling, reskilling, and education programs.
Supporting Clean Energy Entrepreneurs
UT and Oak Ridge National Laboratory launched a collaboration in 2023 to amplify the support and resources that each organization already provided to clean energy and advanced manufacturing entrepreneurs. The partnership will develop more companies that can provide jobs and investments in East Tennessee.
Involving Middle Schoolers in STEM
UT is leading the statewide TEAM TN coalition to develop and commercialize new transportation technologies and prepare Tennesseans for high-demand jobs through STEM and mobility-related upskilling, reskilling, and education programs.
Greening the Southeast
Together with partners from Alabama, Georgia, and North Carolina, UT is developing new technologies and industries to ensure a sustainable future across the automotive, housing, and food sectors.