Morocco: Mounia Karim, an expert in solar energy

Mounia Karim is a Moroccan renewable energy researcher. After working at the Moroccan Foundation for Advanced Science, Innovation and Research (MAScIR), she joined Cranfield University in the UK in 2018 where she is currently heading the Master’s degree in “Renewable Energy”.

For Mounia Karim, science, research, innovation… are much more than an activity, a job. It is a passion. A love of her youth that she could not get rid of. Already as a child, she was curious to discover the mechanism of everyday objects. Each time she holds an object in her hands, little Mounia would try to understand absolutely how it works. Therefore, it is quite naturally that she moved towards scientific studies.

After a scientific baccalaureate in 2006, she joined the Faculty of Science and Technology of Marrakech-FSTM where she obtained a bachelor’s degree in “Computer Science, Electrical Engineering and Automation” followed by a master’s degree in “Energy, Electronics and Automation” at the Faculty of Science Semlalia. At University, she developed her passion for science and became especially fascinated by scientific research. She was inspired by her teachers whom she admired for their “motivation, love and relentlessness for scientific research”, she says. 

In 2012, she had the privilege to join the Moroccan Foundation for Advanced Science, Innovation and Research (MAScIR). There she prepared a thesis on “the effect of erosion and fouling mechanisms on the optical performance of reflecting mirrors used in CSP thermodynamic solar power plants” in collaboration with the French Atomic Energy and Alternative Energies Commission CEA. An experience that allowed her to “develop her critical sense, scientific spirit and rigour, which are indispensable for a scientific career”, but above all to make her work known at the regional, national and African levels. She was selected among the 5 finalists of the best thesis in renewable energy in Africa at the Green AIB organised by the Institute for Research in Solar Energy and New Research (IRESEN).

Several achievements in solar energy research

She began her professional career in 2015 as a researcher at the MAScIR Foundation. She specialised in renewable energies, more specifically solar energy. She worked, in particular, on the evaluation of the degradation of the reflecting mirrors used in solar power plants such as the Moroccan solar power plant Noor I in Ouarzazate. Her work enabled her to communicate recommendations to mirror manufacturers to help them increase the durability of their products.

She also worked on other subjects, such as the production of electricity that can be adopted in desert environments not connected to the electricity grid in case of crisis, war… She also contributed to the development of new solutions to reduce water consumption in solar power plants so that neighbouring communities can accept them.

In 2018, she made her dream come true. She was selected for a research position at the University of Cranfield in Great Britain.  Her research at University included studying, among other things, the social acceptability of solar installations and their socio-economic impact on the surrounding population. For more than a year, she has been in charge of the “Renewable Energy Master’s Degree” at the University and ensures that the course modules are delivered in accordance with the course documentation.

Mounia Karim was awarded the Prize for the best thesis in Physics at the Faculty of Sciences in Marrakech and the second prize for the best thesis organised by the Moroccan Agency for Sustainable Energy (MASEN).