Program Highlights

Vega's World of Renewable Energy Experience

By Rebecca Marietta

Anyone asking questions about the renewable energy program at JBU will soon hear the name "Professor Fernando Vega." After graduating from JBU in 1990 with a degree in engineering, Professor Vega returned to his home country of Honduras and began working as an engineer for a well-known oil company. In 2002, Vega received his Masters in Finance, and his research led him to feasibility studies in renewable energy projects, where he explored how wind, solar, and biomass energies fit into the national strategy for improvement.

Soon Vega began to feel restless in his work. "I really enjoyed renewables," Vega says, "so I basically left this 'conventional' energy business and started looking for study programs abroad in renewable energies."

His search led Vega to Germany, where he worked for a wind consulting company and pursued a Masters of Science in Renewable Energies at the University of Oldenburg. In 2005, Vega was asked by JBU to join the IBCD staff, doing research in indigenous technologies for community development, and in 2009, Vega found himself at the helm of JBU's new Renewable Energy program.

Vega has high expectations for the program, noting the value and growth potential for RE studies. "My hope is that I can give my students the tools that they will need to get started in the field of RE," says Professor Vega, "but also, along the way, plant in them the desire to use their skills to help those people who desperately need it the most."