Edoardo Zarghetta

MSc Renewable Energy, 2009
MBA Business Administration, 2010

What made you choose to study at Heriot-Watt?
I was looking for a distant learning master in Energy in the U.K. and I came across the FLAME course. I had a very good interview with the course coordinator and I applied.

What course did you study and why did you choose this?
I started with an MSc in Energy, with a focus on renewable energy resources. Because the course had a few courses in common with the MBA program, I decided to take that course too and graduate in both.

What's your favourite / most memorable memory of your time as a Heriot-Watt student?
For the MBA I attended some on-campus exam preparation classes in Accounting. I remember the eerie of the campus during the weekend, the friendly canteen staff and the relaxed ambience around the campus.

How would you summarise your time as a student at Heriot-Watt?
Effective and life-changing.

Tell us about your career since graduating from Heriot-Watt?
I applied for energy related jobs and got two offers, one from Centrica and one from General Electrics. Unfortunately, the salaries where low, I already had three children to support, so I went on working in Banking and ended up not using the knowledge of the MSc in Energy, until sustainable finance became a thing. Finally, it came to fruition when I started to focus on green bonds.

How has your Heriot-Watt University education contributed to your success?
I think it's a good brand internationally, the MBA was very throughout, and the FLAME course was quite unique. No exam will worry me now, HW made me much better at studying and researching.

What advice do you have for current students?
Find straight away a niche where you think you have an edge, and build a career becoming the greatest expert in that niche.

What are your aspirations for the future?
For your career?
I would like to fundraise at least $100 million in the venture capital I created in 2021.
For your local and wider community?
I would like to go back to working with disadvantaged kids, like I did in the U.K. Where I live now, the state does all the work, there is not a culture for community work. The last charity work I did was creating audio-video material for kids to discover the world, RV/AR immersive experiences to make kids expand their knowledge and aspiration, to make them discover how many interesting subjects and places can be studied.