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With the success of post-graduate programs in a wide range of individual sustainable development subjects such as environmental sustainability, sustainable manufacturing, infrastructure sustainability, etc. it was recognized that there was a void in undergraduate opportunity related to these areas. Consequently, the time seems appropriate for offering a relevant baccalaureate program to create a pipeline of students educated from a systems perspective in sustainable engineering practices that might feed into postgraduate programs, as well as fill a need in government and industry. This paper presents how undergraduate research supports engineering education linked to sustainable practices and influenced the development of a new degree program in Sustainable Systems Engineering (SSE) at Metropolitan State University of Denver (MSU Denver). Two projects are discussed which represent an approach using sustainable systems methodology: one in the area of new sustainable structural systems and the other in development of water filtration devices to be used in Sustainable Community Development (SCD) projects. Additionally, the research on novel multi-composite structural members for new construction as well as retrofits that could be used in conjunction with solar heating technology was used as a pilot instrument in engineering courses to emphasize to students the application of sustainable engineering practices in design and holistic problem solving. This paper describes the curriculum development of the SSE program that was driven in part by these experiences. Discussed is the contribution of this applied learning approach as a contributing influence to a number of courses in the new program such as Mathematical Modeling, Structural Modeling, Humanitarian Engineering, and Sustainable Systems Design. Moreover, it discusses how these courses have been designed to incorporate elements of Undergraduate Research as part of the learning experience.Copyright © 2016 by ASME

Major challenges such as energy, food, water, environment, health and so many more have never been more prominent than they are today. Engineers and educators, as problem solvers should be addressing these issues and challenges in sustainable ways. They have an enormous opportunity to help create a more sustainable world. Technology problems interconnecting sustainability challenges such as climate change, loss of biodiversity, environmental pollution, economic and social instability are becoming increasingly major concerns for mankind. However, the engineers and scientists have failed on large extend to fully address the sustainability issues. It was also found that engineering graduates do not possess necessary skills to tackle sustainability related problems. Engineering practice and education are changing as social expectations and conditions for engineering practice change too. Students have the responsibility and opportunity to continue improving our life while reducing or even reversing the negative impacts that our industrial society is having on the environment. Current engineering curricula are not equipping them to properly deal with these challenges due to little integration of sustainable and green design strategies and practice. Transforming higher education curricula for sustainable development is a tough challenge, dealing with the complexness of sustainability concepts and integration into engineering education. Teaching students the sustainability principles and equipping them with necessary tools help them to make better choices on materials and energy use, or design. These concepts and methods are still relatively new to engineering curriculum and are not an established practice for most of such programs. Meanwhile, today’s students have a strong desire to improve the world through their work, and sustainability connects with these interest and motivations. However, students’ hunger for knowledge often outstrips what is available in their courses and the experiences of their professors. Furthermore, to make sustainable design compelling to a wider base of engineering students, we need to craft sustainable design in terms of mainstream design problems that are important, cutting-edge, and achievable. Then we need to help them how to effectively deal with environmental and societal needs and constraints as part of their core design process. The paper highlights the process required for embedding sustainability and green design into our programs, curriculum design, implementation and impediments to surmount for sustainability and green design in engineering education. This was done through a project-based approach, developing three new courses and appropriate changes in a number of existing courses. The skill requirements were studied and finally the list of subjects, topics, teaching and learning methods are identified and discussed in this paper.Copyright © 2014 by ASME