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The Panasonic Trust Fellowships
Tim Stiven – MSc Sustainable Energy Systems, University
of Edinburgh
 In
2009 The Panasonic Trust awarded me a Fellowship to study for a full time
Masters degree in Sustainable Energy Systems at the University of
Edinburgh. My aim was to transfer my skills from the defence industry to
the Marine Renewable Energy sector. Plugging a gap in my understanding of
how energy companies’ profits are driven by the sale of electricity in
de-regulated and liberalised markets. This meant getting to grips not only
with the technology, but how the electricity grid works and how electricity
is priced, traded and regulated. As a direct result of my studies, I lead
the Business Development activity across the UK and Europe for ‘Ocean Power
Technologies’, a leading ‘Wave Energy’ technology developer.
Talking to potential employers, I could see that whilst my studies were
important in helping me to achieve my goals. There were a number of other
things that counted, first among these was being in Edinburgh, with its
rapidly growing renewable energy market, I immediately began to develop my
network of contacts in the right places. Secondly, by taking the risk of
going back into education, I have shown renewed commitment to my career,
which has differentiated me from many others.
There were indirect benefits as well – which are only just becoming apparent
six months later. My time studying in Edinburgh gave me the opportunity to
consolidate a lot of experience and ‘intuition’ that I had for business
issues from my years of work and to critically evaluate it in a formal
academic framework. As a result, I feel much more confident and quicker off
the mark dealing with all the complex business issues that surround the
energy market.
I hope my experience, which has been very positive encourages others to take
the initiative and go back to education, developing their careers and their
contribution to society.
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