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Purpose: This paper aims to report on a case study concerning the development of sustainable energy partnerships involving engineering faculty and undergraduate students at the University of Girona, Catalonia, Spain. Design/methodology/approach: Faculty were motivated to seek partnerships with public and private entities in the local area for the purposes of realising mutually beneficial outcomes. The educational programmes of future engineers, when sustainability is considered, are analysed. Education for sustainable development has to include multidisciplinary active learning as a desirable competence. Active learning can be obtained when problems are based on real life because they are most motivating for students. Constructive alignment component is obtained because learning objectives are linked with learning activities related to the needs of public and private entities. Findings: Through the provision of technical expertise, the adoption and success of renewable energy projects was facilitated on the one hand, while final year undergraduate students benefited in terms of hands-on experience in helping to bring these projects to life, drawing on the knowledge and skills they had acquired throughout their degree programmes. These works are addressed to students by faculty members with the aim of developing and promoting renewable energies. Outcomes from partnerships surpassed expectations; not only were different benefits realised as were initially hoped for, but this success led to partnerships being sustained over time. Originality/value: Fossil fuel-based energy systems are associated with a myriad of negative environmental and social externalities. It is difficult to overstate the importance of transitioning towards alternative low carbon energy sources for climate change mitigation which are less centralised compared to the status-quo for energy security and energy independence. By actively facilitating the development of decentralised renewable energy sources in Catalonia, the projects reported herein are of significant value in social environmental and educational terms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to identify patterns and trends taking place in engineering education in sustainability, through analyzing the evolution of research conducted in relevant publications in the field of engineering education for sustainability in the past decades. Design/methodology/approach: First, a bibliometric approach has been applied, adopting a co-word analysis based on co-occurrence of the keywords (300 items) in articles from three indexed journals related to engineering, education or sustainability. The selection of the articles has been based on the appearance of the previous three terms in the topic and title fields of the journal, where journal scope (based in the categories of the InCites Journal Citation Reports) covered at least two topics, and the third topic was applied in the search, as follows: International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education – Scope of the journal: sustainability and education, Keyword search: engineering (20 papers); Journal of Cleaner Production – Scope of the journal: sustainability and engineering, Keyword search: education (122 papers); International Journal of Engineering Education – Scope of the journal: engineering and education, Keyword search: sustainability (29 papers); Second, to identify topological patterns and their evolution, a structural and temporal analysis of the network of keywords and a categorization of the keywords in thematic clusters (named categories) have been performed. Findings: The most relevant categories in terms of corresponding number of keywords, even though these have decreased in recent years, are those related with institutional and policy aspects to embedding or applying sustainability in higher education. At the same time, categories related to the professional development of faculty members, implementation and use of learning strategies (i.e. real-world learning experiences, educational innovative initiatives/tools/techniques) and cross-boundary schemes (i.e. transdisciplinarity, ethics, networking, etc.) increase their relevance in the past five years, signaling some of the challenging fields of interest in engineering higher education in sustainability in the near future. Practical implications: Knowledge of the trends in devising sustainability education in engineering allows for designing curricular schemes and learning strategies to achieve competences, which are key factors for the change toward sustainability. Originality/value: This research has a strong strategic value, as it indicates the focus of future research efforts and networking on some of the topics of greatest concern in engineering higher education for sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Promoting excellence in sustainable manufacturing has emerged as a strategic mission in academia and industry. In particular, universities must prepare the next generation of engineers to contribute to the task of sustaining and improving manufacturing by providing appropriate types of sustainability education and training. However, engineering curricula are challenged in delivering educational training for assessing technical solutions from the three domains that define sustainability: economic, environmental, and social. In the research presented here, an educational framework is developed with an aim to improve student understanding of sustainable product design (PD) and manufacturing. The framework is founded on the analyze, design, develop, implement, and evaluate (ADDIE) model for instructional design. The developed framework is demonstrated using an example of a sustainable PD activity. This instructional design case study illustrates how engineering students would be able to investigate the impacts of raw materials, unit manufacturing processes, manufacturing locations, and design changes on product sustainability performance by integrating PD information and manufacturing analysis methods during the PD phase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The paper aims to examine the current status and development of sustainable development in Finnish engineering education.Design/methodology/approach The study consists of interviews with key stakeholders supplemented with the analysis of documented material. Development is discussed in relation to the findings of collaborative strategy process in the year 2009.Findings The paper observes that the Finnish universities providing engineering education are committed to sustainable development in their strategies. However, a lot of work remains to be done before the strategies are implemented and sustainable development is integrated to all degree programs. Explicit knowledge and individual learning in clearly defined disciplinary boundaries have been the main focus of engineering education.Practical implications The paper suggests that engineers need to be provided with mental tools to cope with uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity. Key competencies include holistic understanding, communication and collaboration skills, ability and willingness for critical and reflective thinking, creativity, innovativeness and entrepreneurship. Thus, collaborative learning, open dialogue and innovation are at the heart of education for sustainable development.Originality/value This paper has a relatively wide approach as it analyses sustainable development in the context of Finnish engineering education both on institutional and societal levels and is based on a national project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Senior design and capstone courses are an integral part of any engineering curriculum around the world. These courses perhaps provide the only opportunity for students to apply the theoretical knowledge and technical skills they have acquired throughout the engineering degree. Moreover, they are often the (sole) environment in which students get some of the professional and transversal skills too. In addition, such courses present a great degree of nonuniformity since the students engage in projects of different nature (e.g., research oriented versus application oriented). Furthermore, not only do these courses prepare students for real-life engineering practice, they also serve as a major component in measuring program outcomes. The survey conducted over two decades ago by Todd et al. [item in the Appendix], which collected responses from 360 departments across 173 schools, highlighted many of the issues related with capstone courses that are still relevant today. Such issues include course format, different degrees of faculty involvement, and project completion requirements. Indeed, all points highlighted thus far emphasize the importance of adequately designing and assessing capstone design courses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aiming at the problems in the teaching of electronic technology curriculum design, the reform based on outcomes-based education concept is implemented to meet the requirements of engineering education accreditation. Firstly, teaching objectives of electronic technology curriculum design are made according to automation graduation requirements. Secondly, CDIO-based project teaching mode is carried out in the teaching reform. A whole project is divided into four processes to complete. The four processes are project analysis and scheme comparison, scheme design, scheme implementation, summary and show of the designed project. Ability training and quality education are included in the teaching activities. The evaluation of the curriculum is the achievement of teaching objectives, which is learning outcomes oriented. The practice in recent years shows that the comprehensive engineering training and quality of the students are greatly improved. That contributes to improve the comprehensive quality of the students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose Sustainable manufacturing may be defined as the creation of manufactured products that use processes that are non-polluting, conserve energy and natural resources, and are economically sound and safe for employees, communities and consumers. Recently, there have been several industrial and governmental endeavors to launch sustainable manufacturing initiatives. To support such initiatives and to prepare the next generation of scientists and engineers, academic institutions have a responsibility to introduce educational programs and tools in the area of sustainable manufacturing. The purpose of this paper is to report on the approach, progress and contributions of a US National Science Foundation-sponsored project titled: “The Sustainable Manufacturing Advances in Research and Technology Coordination Network (SMART CN)”.Design/methodology/approach The project aims to bridge the gap between the academic knowledge discovery and industrial technology innovation for sustainable manufacturing. Toward this goal, various research and educational activities have been undertaken to introduce Sustainable Manufacturing Case Studies for use by academic instructors to a diverse group of undergraduate, graduate and industry professionals.Findings In this paper, the need for education on sustainable manufacturing has been focused upon, followed by approaches toward addressing these needs, concluding with examples of case studies developed through the SMART-CN project framework.Originality/value This work provides the engineering community with structured modules for introducing the topic of sustainable manufacturing in the curriculum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The engineering profession has been highlighted in the context of a growing need for professionals capable of addressing the pressing challenges of sustainability. The purpose of this study is to present innovative experiences in engineering education for sustainable development in Brazil. This research was conducted in three stages: first, innovative initiatives were mapped through document research, literature review, grey literature, and the press; second, 37 academics who created and/or participated in these initiatives were interviewed, including professors, program coordinators, department heads, engineering school directors, and university chancellors; and third, the initiatives were analyzed and discussed with a team of specialists. The initiatives can be categorized into two types: innovative actions, projects, and structures (i.e., isolated actions, institutional projects, and institutional structure) and engineering programs with innovative characteristics (i.e., innovative curricula and pedagogical approaches, and new organizational paradigms to support engineering schools). Key characteristics, conceptual foundations, examples, and contributions to the sustainable development goals are discussed for each type of initiative. Emerging topics related to engineering education for sustainable development were identified and related to real cases. A shift towards a sustainability paradigm in engineering education is dependent on university top management commitment and can be accelerated by integrating initiatives at multiple levels of the university system. [Display omitted] • Innovative EESD initiatives in Brazilian universities are mapped. • Interviewees held key positions in the main Brazilian engineering schools. • Contributions from EESD initiatives to achieve SDGs are discussed. • Emerging EESD-related topics are identified and linked to real cases. • A systems perspective on innovative EESD initiatives is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current age is one in dire need of teaching engineers of all branches about sustainability. The principle is that engineering choices have to be decided in the framework of constraints related to energy and materials and decreasing wastes. The federal government would be the most appropriate entity to take actions to drive the burgeoning of sustainable energy technologies. Coal is the most popular fuel globally used with the Rankine cycle for electric power generation. Most of the electric power produced in the world is generated via the Rankine cycle. One of the most efficient simple thermodynamic cycles for electric power generation currently is the gas cycle using natural gas, with the additional potential to decouple the energy sector from the water sector. The combined gas and Rankine cycle is an even more efficient cycle to generate electric power, but then couples the energy sector again to the water sector. Carbon dioxide, the greenhouse gas with the longest half-life, is still produced with the gas turbine cycle, but to a lesser degree than the Rankine cycle using coal. The main components of the sustainability aspects of the energy sector are outlined. A number of themes related to sustainability in the energy sector are also presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- The purpose of this study was to design an assessment instrument to evaluate students' attitudes toward sustainable engineering (SE). Factors that impact SE beliefs could then be explored. Design/methodology/approach -- Using the definition of sustainability from the Brundtland report and expectancy value theory, students' sentiment toward SE was evaluated using items to assess SE self-efficacy, SE value and SE affect. The survey was distributed at three diverse universities with 515 responses from students ranging from first year through graduate studies in a variety of engineering majors. The survey instrument was validated using principal components analysis, and internal reliability was established via high Cronbach's alpha for each construct. Findings -- Participation in more experiential, enriching learning experiences correlated to higher SE self-efficacy, value and affect. Extracurricular club involvement correlated with a lower self-efficacy but high SE value. Students who had participated in undergraduate research had a high SE self-efficacy, particularly in the environmental and social sub-scales. The students who participated in internships had high SE self-efficacy but lower SE affect. A greater number of volunteer hours correlated with increased SE affect. Female students possessed higher SE value and affect than male students, but self-efficacy was not significantly different. SE self-efficacy increased with academic rank. Originality/value -- This is the first effort to measure engineering students' attitudes toward SE using the three sub-scales of expectancy value theory and assessing correlations in these attributes with students' participation in various learning experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainability issues are increasingly important in engineering work all over the world. This article explores systematic differences in self-assessed competencies, interests, importance, engagement and practices of newly enrolled engineering students in Denmark in relation to environmental and non-environmental sustainability issues. The empirical base of the article is a nation-wide, web-based survey sent to all newly enrolled engineering students in Denmark commencing their education in the fall term 2010. The response rate was 46%. The survey focused on a variety of different aspects of what can be conceived as sustainability. By means of cluster analysis, three engineering student approaches to sustainability are identified and described. The article provides knowledge on the different prerequisites of engineering students in relation to the role of sustainability in engineering. This information is important input to educators trying to target new engineering students and contribute to the provision of engineers equipped to meet sustainability challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although UNESCO and the UN's Sustainable Development Goals have articulated the critical role of engineering in achieving sustainable forms of development, there remains the need to analyze the design, features, and nature of sustainability-focused initiatives in engineering education. To date, few studies have identified the main knowledge gaps in this sector of higher education. At the same time, there is no known research exploring student and graduate learning outcomes in particular contextual settings. To address these gaps, this article uses a realist scoping review to map and analyze how engineering education has approached sustainability in higher education institutions since the 1990s. Our study explores the approaches of curricula, teaching, and learning renewals promoted in higher education engineering programs identifying critical differences between the expected and actual learning outcomes. Key findings drawn from a range of international contexts include broad evidence that engineering education providers desire to approach sustainability from an integrative perspective. However, this approach typically demands more administrative resources to develop formal and hidden curriculum mechanisms. As a result, engineering education struggles to foster the associated intra- and inter-cultural learning characteristics expected within integrated sustainability education. Findings also suggest re-evaluating the connotation and senses of 'being and becoming an engineer', including social responsibilities in engineering education, to empower students as active agents of change. Implications for practice, policy, and curriculum development of nine approaches to engineering education for sustainability are also offered, alongside possibilities and priorities for future research. [Display omitted] • Shows how scoping reviews can enrich research on higher education for sustainability. • Identifies nine approaches to how engineering education has approached sustainability. • Discusses key mechanisms and contextual factors for each of the nine approaches. • Finds the 'triple bottom line' is prevalent and directed towards economic progress. • Illustrates why cultural perspectives need engaging to support sustainability goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For sustainable engineering to contribute to sustainability, curricular reforms are needed to train sustainability-conscious engineers. Examining student perceptions of sustainability education can provide insights for benchmarking the current quality of a curriculum and for identifying strategies for reforming a curriculum. Thus, the goal of this study was to examine student interest in, knowledge of, and experiences related to sustainability in civil and environmental engineering (CEE) at the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech). A survey was developed and administered to students () enrolled in CEE capstone courses. The results indicated that although students are interested in sustainable development, there is potential for further enhancing sustainability learning. In addition, students reported that CEE courses strongly impacted their learning, which underscores the importance of curricular quality. Finally, although students were generally satisfied with CEE sustainability education, they cited the need for more guidance on integrating sustainability into the design process. Although this case study provides feedback to improve CEE sustainability education at Georgia Tech, it also serves as an example for other programs interested in evaluating their curricula from a student perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 2001, the International Institute of Women in Engineering (IIWE) at EPF, Ecole d'ingenieurs generaliste, Sceaux, France, has conducted a 3 week short course for culturally and discipline diverse, recently graduated and final year engineering students. The aim of this course is to introduce young engineers to broad global concepts and issues relating to their future professional practice, through intercultural learning. The initial course programme provided examples of engineering practices in various countries throughout the world. However, to achieve an intercultural, multidisciplinary learning outcome, a specific course theme and a project focussing on sustainable engineering and the inclusion of a variety of industrial visits were introduced in 2006. This paper will discuss the success of the strategies used to engage international students in the IIWE course activities, and after consideration of the results of participant surveys, the curriculum initiatives that followed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In addition to developing deep knowledge of a single discipline, engineers must also be able to collaborate across disciplinary boundaries and develop interdisciplinary expertise to successfully address the complex challenges of the contemporary workplace. While numerous descriptions of interdisciplinary courses and projects appear in the literature, educators still lack rigorous research about learning barriers, outcomes, and concrete interventions to support this interdisciplinary development. This paper addresses that gap by pairing a review of the literature with a case study of students in a sustainable engineering program to identify the key challenges to success in interdisciplinary contexts. The findings suggest that students (1) lack the ability to connect interdisciplinary subjects to their own more narrowly defined fields of expertise, and (2) fail to identify and value the contributions of multiple fields to complex problems. This paper concludes with possible teaching interventions to address these barriers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The work provides guidelines for instructors who wish to incorporate green engineering concepts into a typical non-green engineering course without diluting course content or modifying the course syllabus by identifying 5 critical elements necessary to the successful integration of green engineering concepts into any traditional, design-oriented, non-green engineering course. The 5 critical elements result from the assessment of the incorporation of green engineering concepts into a traditional, design and analysis oriented heat transfer course offered to chemical engineering students in the fall semester of their junior year. This work not only incorporates the instructor's assessment of the newly greened course but also assessment of the same course by a student task force. This work includes portions of the instructor's assessment, the student task force's independent assessment of the course as well as the task force's assessment of the instructor's proposed modifications to the course. Even though this study focuses on green engineering as it relates to heat transfer, the assessment and suggestions are relevant to all non-green engineering courses that attempt to integrate green engineering topics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental responsibilities have evolved beyond controlling the emissions and wastes of industrial production to now incorporating logistics, products and processes. Corporations have become environmentally conscious to satisfy corporate responsibilities and to ensure sustainable development, increasing the demand for environmental engineering professionals. Engineering education should not be restricted to satisfying the demands of employers, industry and the marketplace or be isolated within disciplines. This study examined the instructional strategies implemented by a professor in his environmental sustainability engineering course to make his students critical thinkers, who can create sustainable products, programs and solutions. This mixed methods single case study adopted a positive deviance approach to identify this best practices case where the professor applied attitudinal learning principles in a non-intrusive way, that is without trying to change attitudes directly and forcefully. This allowed students to critically examine presented content, connect emotionally to issues they valued, take ownership of their learning, and make decisions and take responsibility for their actions, according to this study. Since sustainability projects are multi-disciplinary in the real world, ill-structured problem solving incorporated in semester-long team projects showed that students learned to work in diverse teams and understood team dynamics. These skills are expected to be transferred into students' future engineering professional careers where they could demonstrate broader management, multidisciplinary, and communication skills, in addition to social, economic and environmental responsibilities. • Course objective: Creating critical thinkers, problems solvers and team players. • Non-intrusive instruction (without trying to change attitudes directly and forcefully). • Attitudinal instruction focused on cognitive, affective, behavioral, and social learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on challenges in teaching sustainable engineering, which can be considered the operational arm of industrial ecology. The author asserts that the acceptance of sustainable engineering programs is complicated because some are still skeptical of sustainability. He adds that engineering, as a profession, was also struggling due to the packed undergraduate curriculum which is constrained by accreditation requirements. Industrial ecology deals with integrating social and environmental considerations into product design. The author concludes that it is hard to educate engineers to be aware of the social and environmental context within which products used.

This paper focuses on the need for sustainable energy engineering degrees and the problems found in establishing appropriate curricula contents. Proposals are made for developing adapted energy engineering degrees. Relevant contents are provided for these curricula, which should train engineers to deal with current and future problems. This need for updated curricula is established in view of the paradigm shift taking place in the energy sector, which includes a considerable increase in renewable energies and the need to radically address sustainability issues. A detailed description of potential contents is presented, which is supported by a critical review of the existing literature. Three parallel issues may lead to the identification of new contents. First, new contents may arise from the identification of changes in conventional energy engineering education. Such changes result from the increasing relevance of unconventional energy systems and of energy management issues. Second, new contents may arise from the need to include sustainability topics in engineering degrees. Third, new contents may become relevant when focusing on underserved regions and energy poverty niches, in view of the need for specific alternative technologies for those conditions. Once a detailed description of curricula contents is made, an analysis of a sample of current curricula in higher education institutions, based on the relative content weight of the main modules, is presented. The analysis shows a clear lack of consensus on the appropriate contents for energy engineering, an insufficiency of sustainability topics, and an absence, when dealing with underserved regions, of addressing the need for appropriate, affordable, and sustainable technologies. Certain proposals are made to address these problems. • Alternatives are discussed for coherent degrees on sustainable energy engineering. • Contents on fundamentals, renewables, management, and sustainability are discussed. • Content weights of a sample of current degrees are analyzed, showing poor coherence. • Current degrees lack contents on sustainability, management and even on renewables. • Affordable and sustainable solutions for energy poverty are seldom addressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the results of recent research carried out with the UK energy sector to assess low-carbon related skills gaps and training requirements at the masters-level. Via iterative engagement across the industry, the characteristics of the market for new 'needs-driven' industry-focussed masters-level training offerings were defined. The results, taken together with the outcomes of a gap analysis of existing masters-level training, support the creation of a new framework for masters-level energy education that will more effectively meet the growing unmet need for such skills in the UK and beyond. The outcomes of the research indicate that flexibility in both delivery mode and curriculum content across both technical and non-technical disciplines is essential, along with improved supplier agility to rapidly develop new courses in evolving engineering specialisations. Without responding effectively to such demands from industry, we conclude that the advanced skills needed across the highly dynamic UK and global energy engineering sector will be in increasingly short supply. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A major 2006 survey of US schools of architecture identified significant problems in the way earthquake engineering design was integrated into and taught in their curricula. More than 10 years later, this paper reviews several of the significant problems raised, and reports on new developments in three areas. First, after acknowledging the pivotal role of the design studio in architectural education, two models of teaching earthquake engineering by linking seismic design to design studio projects are reported. The success of the models is attributed to both short and intense tutoring sessions by external professional engineers, coupled with the use of seismic design rule-of-thumb software. The second area of progress has been the remedying of shortcomings in seismic design content and appropriate teaching resources. Finally, the paper focuses on the development and use of rule-of-thumb software. This empowers students to design and size the seismic-resistant structure their design projects require. Results from student surveys in several countries suggest the software is appropriate for its users and it contributes positively to the seismic design education of architects. The paper concludes that an effective approach to teaching seismic design in a school of architecture necessitates a certain minimum content being conveyed to the students, followed by application of this material to one or more of their studio design projects. The inherent structural complexity of these projects requires tutorial advice from professional engineers that can be limited and should then be taken to another level of detail by the use of rule-of-thumb software. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent natural events such as earthquakes in Japan and storm surge effects in New York have led to the growing interest in sustainable civil engineering. While sustainability topics, such as soil liquefaction and green building design, are typically included within civil engineering programs at the baccalaureate or graduate levels, topics in sustainability can be adapted for secondary school students as well. In addition, efforts to attract quality and diverse students into civil engineering have given rise to engineering camps aimed at secondary school students. This research focuses on the exploration of civil engineering sustainable module topics for secondary school students through the development of content as well as implementation of two case studies. Sustainability module topics are identified and instructional content (lesson objectives, key concepts, activities, experiments, and other pedagogical techniques) are proposed. Two modules are applied at the Bucknell Engineering Summer Camp program, targeting secondary school students. The module topics developed, as well as the case study results, can provide examples for how engineering educators throughout the country can introduce sustainable civil engineering as a way to encourage future civil engineering students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A method to evaluate students' application of sustainability principles into engineering design and problem solving was developed. Students were presented with two challenge questions that each posed a scenario. Students responded to one question and their answers were scored using a rubric that combined both analytic and holistic scoring criteria to account for sustainability principles. The rubric was iteratively developed and met standard measures of reliability and validity. Based on responses from primarily civil and environmental engineering students at three institutions, it was found that male students, seniors, and participants in many diverse learning activities (extracurricular service, internships, undergraduate research, and engineering design courses) achieved higher rubric scores. Scores on the challenge questions did not correlate to students' interests in sustainable engineering, which were measured using a Likert-based survey. A challenge-question approach to formative assessment may enable instructors to adapt curricula to foster student learning of implicit sustainability issues in engineering. The rubric may be used with a diversity of content-focused challenge questions as a tool for assessing students' holistic, sustainability-focused approaches to engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]