Description: _x000D_ Abstract: A new sequence of courses at Carnegie Mellon University exposes students to concepts in the emerging discipline of Sustainable Engineering and prepares them to play leadership roles in the years ahead. This sequence includes four half-semester courses: (1) Introduction to Sustainable Engineering; (2) Industrial Ecology and Sustainable Engineering Design; (3) Life Cycle Assessment, and (4) Case Studies in Sustainable Engineering. Students successfully completing this sequence have an appreciation for the myriad ways in which engineering decisions can affect the environment and for the responsibilities of engineers in helping society cope with future challenges. Citation: IJEE, Special Issue on Educating Students in Sustainable Engineering, Vol. 23, No. 2, pp. 287-293, 2007._x000D_
Cost: Free
Learning Resource Type: Teaching - Case Study (College Freshman - College Senior)
Media Type: Website
Difficulty: Medium
Audience: From College Freshman To College Senior
Interventions: Integrated curriculum
Resource Use: Concluding Implications: population is straining the Earth's resources, why have engineers not made changes in their practices? The answer is clear: there are always pressures to get the job done at the lowest cost and following what the client wants, which usually means using tried and tested methods. It is simply not good business to deviate from accepted methods until changes are required by regulationsýýor by a changing environment. The challenge is to enact regulations for manageable transitions before environmental change forces us into less manageable transitions. Luthy et al. [43] note that an engineering career may span 40 or more years, requiring educational goals consistent with a long time frame. The next generation of engineers is likely to find that very different pressures are emerging, such as limitations on fossil fuels, restrictions on the availability of land, and use of products that are less harmful to the environment. Furthermore, controversy is likely: there will certainly be opposition to the new paradigm, as the costs will be high and the changes will affect huge numbers of people. But the risks of not supporting the new paradigm will also be high, and some of the most-feared changes may be irreversible. In mid-2005, the Center for Sustainable Engineering (CSE) was established as a three-way consortium at Carnegie Mellon, University of Texas at Austin, and Arizona State University. The goal of the CSE is to assist engineering programs in incorporating issues in sustainability in training students for future challenges. The three primary institutions will host workshops for faculty members nationwide and will start a peerreviewed Website for educational materials on sustainable engineering. Through the activities of the CSE and other groups dedicated to this emerging discipline, it is hoped that engineering graduates will be better prepared for the challenges ahead.
Interactivity: Not Specified
Publication Date: Not Specified
Platform: Cross Platform
Copyright: Not Specified
Comments: 1)Rating: -1_x000D_Title: Brenda alternate Panelist Agency , 8/7/09_x000D_By: MESSAGE_x000D_2)Rating: 3_x000D_Title: How I Use Sustainable Engineering: A Sequence of Courses at Carnegie Mellon, 9/1/07_x000D_By: Alice Agogino_x000D_Details: Concluding Implications: population is straining the Earth's resources, why have engineers not made changes in their practices? The answer is clear: there are always pressures to get the job done at the lowest cost and following what the client wants, which usually means using tried and tested methods. It is simply not good business to deviate from accepted methods until changes are required by regulations��or by a changing environment. The challenge is to enact regulations for manageable transitions before environmental change forces us into less manageable transitions. Luthy et al. [43] note that an engineering career may span 40 or more years, requiring educational goals consistent with a long time frame. The next generation of engineers is likely to find that very different pressures are emerging, such as limitations on fossil fuels, restrictions on the availability of land, and use of products that are less harmful to the environment. Furthermore, controversy is likely: there will certainly be opposition to the new paradigm, as the costs will be high and the changes will affect huge numbers of people. But the risks of not supporting the new paradigm will also be high, and some of the most-feared changes may be irreversible. In mid-2005, the Center for Sustainable Engineering (CSE) was established as a three-way consortium at Carnegie Mellon, University of Texas at Austin, and Arizona State University. The goal of the CSE is to assist engineering programs in incorporating issues in sustainability in training students for future challenges. The three primary institutions will host workshops for faculty members nationwide and will start a peerreviewed Website for educational materials on sustainable engineering. Through the activities of the CSE and other groups dedicated to this emerging discipline, it is hoped that engineering graduates will be better prepared for the challenges ahead.