Experiential Learning

First-Year Project (FYP)

Tuck's core curriculum provides a solid foundation in management, quantitative skills, and leadership. The First-Year Project takes the learning experience outside the classroom. Past students have embarked upon FYPs in battery-storage commercialization, solar energy crowdfunding in Singapore, and demand response (leading to the creation of EnerNOC).

Global Insight Expeditions (GIX)

Global Insight Expeditions encourage students and faculty to engage in coursework and experiential learning around the globe. Students with an interest in the energy industry may elect to participate in a GIX to examine relevant energy issues for a wide range of companies, organizations and communities abroad. Dartmouth Professor Dirk J. Vandewalle and April M. Salas, Executive Director, Revers Center for Energy, Sustainability and Innovation, co-lead "A New Energy Future for Morocco—Tradition, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship" , the Morocco GIX. The focus of the 10-day, 6 city expedition is to expose students to a society with deep social and cultural traditions, uncover how they preserve the past while guiding the future, and how society adapts to its transitioning clean energy economy. Morocco is home to one of the world’s largest solar fields, and has deployed utility scale storage cost-competitively. Daniel Vasquez T’20 wrote a blog post about his experience

Career Insights and Exploration

Career Insights and Exploration (CIX) trips are three-day pre-term immersion programs offered in energy, marketing, and technology and held in the San Francisco Bay area. Participating students receive a unique and in-depth view into MBA-level roles in these areas, recruiting insights, and a chance to network with alumni and second-year students before starting their first year at Tuck.

Energy Case Competitions

Case competitions allow students to apply the business skills and industry knowledge they develop throughout their MBA program, to effectively analyze the most significant challenges facing today’s energy industry. Case teams often train with a Case Coach (current 2nd year Fellows) to prepare for these events. The events also provide opportunities to interact with corporate executives and recruiters from major companies, as well as students from other top business schools.

• Tuck Renewable Energy Finance Case Competition; Tuck School of Business | First held in 2020, the Tuck Renewable Energy Finance Challenge brought several teams together to present their recommendations to a group of business leaders comprised of representatives from Marathon Capital, New Energy Capital, Shell, and Swift Current Energy. View Past Competitions: 2022, 2020
• National Energy Finance Challenge; McCombs School of Business | A business case competition focused on real world finance issues facing the energy industry.
• Renewable Energy Case Competition; Ross School of Business | Brings together MBA case teams from across the world, competing to solve significant challenges facing the renewable energy industry today.
• Energy in Emerging Markets Case Competition; Duke University
• “Challenges in Energy” case competition; UCLA Anderson School of Management
• Tuck Case Competition; Tuck School of Business | Students representing 12 peer institutions from across the globe competed on Tuck’s campus in a business case presented by Tesla, seeking to elevate the automobile industry to the next level through innovation.

Speaker Series

A speaker series is an integral component to experiential learning. It facilitates a deeper understanding of discrete challenges across the energy sector, and allows for an opportunity to hear from Tuck alumni and other experts working in the field. Past speakers have included:

• Elyse Allen, Former President & CEO, GE Canada.
• Thad Hill T’95, CEO, Calpine
• Dan Revers T’89, managing partner and co-founder of ArcLight Capital Partners
• Travis Sheehan, Lead for City Solutions North America, Shell New Energies
• Michael Cohen, Chief US Economist and Head of Oil Analysis, BP
• Amber Hewett, Campaign Manager, Offshore Wind Energy at National Wildlife Federation
• Kourtney Nelson, Renewable Energy Director, Microsoft
• Colin Hayes, Energy Lobbyist, Lot Sixteen
• Jameela Pedicini, Executive Director of Climate Finance Initiatives, Bloomberg L.P.
• Darren Peers T’01, D’96, Senior VP, Capital Group
• Curtis Probst, Co-CEO, New York City Energy Efficiency Corporation
• Kathy Baughman McLeod, Director, The Adrienne Arsht – Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Center at the Atlantic Council
• Frank Hermelink T’05, Managing Director, Morgan Stanley, Power & Utility Investment Banking Division
• Srini Viswanathan T’07, CEO, Vibrant Energy Holdings
• Daniel Reicher, Executive Director of the Steyer-Taylor Center for Energy, Policy and Finance at Stanford University
• Mary Powell, CEO, Green Mountain Power
• David Hone, Climate Change Advisor, Shell
• Marcus Norton T’09, Chief Partnerships Officer, CDP (formerly Carbon Disclosure Project)

Local Experiential Site Visits

Arguably the most hands-on component of experiential learning, local site visits facilitate a much deeper understanding of and exposure to the energy sector. Students have the opportunity to see first-hand what various energy generation and delivery technologies look like. These visits also provide an opportunity to ask challenging questions and to learn about trends, challenges, and opportunities from professionals working in the space. This exposure helps students refine their focus during their MBA, and to hone in on potential career pathways. Past visits have included:

• Pre-orientation CIX (Career Insight Expedition) to the Bay Area (see above)
• Student-designed career treks to Utah, Texas, Boston, New York City, and Alberta, Canada
• Company-led tours of solar and wind farms in NH and VT
• Shadowing opportunities at firms ranging from private equity to energy technology