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PurposeLiterature limited in scope regarding the incorporation of sustainability into engineering curriculum encouraged authors to look at the current approaches of universities to the integration of sustainability into university curricula. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the literature published and analyse the university secondary data (information published on the university websites and magazines and programme catalogues) to understand the current status of Australian universities regarding the integration of sustainability in engineering.Design/methodology/approachArticles and reports from different trustworthy sources have been analysed in this study. A text mining methodology was used to gather information from websites, magazines and programme catalogues.FindingsObtained information and data indicate that the universities are considering sustainability seriously with both internal and external stakeholders of universities working towards embedding sustainability in engineering curricula. Most of the Australian universities have successfully implemented sustainable engineering education and the rest are focussing on integrating sustainability into their engineering education curriculum.Originality/valueThis is the first review, which focusses on incorporating sustainability into the engineering education of Australian universities. However, considering current progress and also some drawbacks of the universities regarding the integration of sustainability into engineering curriculum, 15 future research questions have been developed, which should be considered to make the integration process more efficient and equip engineers who would be able to engage and tackle the environmental, personal, social and economic challenges of the twenty-first century.

Engineering education underpins local capacity. As such, it forms a key component of sustainable engineering for development. While education is needed at all levels, this paper focuses on the tertiary level where it is assumed that graduating students aspire to become professional engineers. In much of Africa, however, university engineering education is criticised for being little changed since the early independence period. It uses outdated pedagogy, lacks professional relevance and fails to attract a diverse range of students. Through contrasting case studies, the paper examines, therefore: (i) the potential to move curriculum towards a problem‐based learning pedagogy where students focus on real‐world problems and associated engineering solutions; and (ii) the contribution of diverse case studies to this pedagogy and the content of courses. We argue that these twin shifts will broaden the curriculum beyond its habitual industry and physical infrastructure focus, is attractive to a wider range of students and links to human development as expressed through the United Nations sustainable development goals. It is also a major component in the pursuit by African institutions for international recognition of the quality of their engineering programmes. © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Engineers play an important role in implementing the Sustainable Development Goals defined by the United Nations, which aim to provide a more sustainable environment for future generations. Through design thinking, creativity, and innovation, sustainable engineering solutions can be developed. Future engineers need to acquire skills in their engineering curriculum to feel equipped to address sustainable design challenges in their career. This paper focuses on the impact of perceived design thinking traits and active learning strategies in design courses to increase senior engineering students’ motivation to engage in energy sustainability in their career. A national survey was distributed to senior engineering students in the United States (n = 4364). The survey asked students about their motivation to engage in sustainable design, their perceived design thinking traits (i.e., integrative feedback, collaboration), and if they experienced active learning strategies in design courses (i.e., learning by doing). The results highlight that higher perceived design thinking ability increases senior engineering students’ interests in designing solutions related to energy sustainability. Active learning experiences positively influence senior engineering students’ interests in designing solutions related to energy sustainability. These findings show the importance of teaching design thinking in engineering courses to empower future engineers to address sustainable challenges through design and innovation.

Nowadays, more and more students feel a lack of teaching development for sustainability topics in their curriculum. In French engineering schools or universities most of training courses do not answer to this challenge because they modestly include the question of sustainability in their curricula. Companies also strongly evolve in their industrial strategy in order to integrate environmental, economic and social perspectives and criteria in their product development process. Thus, they are looking for new skills by recruiting young technicians and engineers. The question arises how can be improved the integration of basics of sustainable engineering in trainings rooted in technical knowledge. To start addressing such a question, we propose in this paper a skill crossover matrix. Later, this matrix will evolve toward guidelines which may allow combining specific knowledge of eco-design skills and cross-disciplinary competencies. First, we conduct a systematic review of the literature to identify fundamental skills and knowledge associated to sustainable development approach in engineering and then specifically focusing on ecodesign. Second, we have confronted advanced technical skills from engineer's framework to cross-disciplinary skills in order to identify which connection could be possible. Then, we propose a survey with different academic profiles at different levels of training courses in the French education system. This allow us to clearly define what means eco-design teaching for them to compare expectations with reality on the academic ground. Last, we identified which skills need to be developed. This maturity assessment will allow us to define basis for guidelines which must help later teachers in engineering and technology to create and define their own fundamental and training content for ecodesign. Furthermore, this tool will also allow students to have a better vision over of their progress in skill growing level.

Without a doubt, we are living in interesting times, characterized by both continuous economic development and improved standard of living, but also uncertainty, increased pollution, and environmental degradation, which means that, now, more than ever, global and consistent action is needed in order to create a more sustainable future. In this context, education in general and higher education in particular, face both, a significant challenge and a substantial role due to their formative function both in terms of mindset and practical tools. The main objective of our research was to explore the way technical universities in Romania have integrated into their curricula courses that aim at shaping sustainability competencies in engineering students. The study was carried out based on an exploratory empirical content analysis of the technical universities&rsquo, curricula, in order to identify the courses, including sustainable development (SD)-related topics. The analysis covered 255 bachelor programs and 394 master programs with a total of 25,920 courses, both mandatory and optional. The results revealed that there are differences in approaching sustainability education between the universities and also faculties within the universities included in the sample, revealing a rather siloed approach.

Mobility and transnational migration are current social developments among the population of the European Union. These developments in both society-at-large and companies, linked to the challenges of sustainability, lead to new requirements for working in the European Union. Teaching and learning in higher education needs to adapt to these requirements. As a result, new and innovative teaching and learning practices in higher education should provide competencies for transnational teamwork in the curriculum of tomorrow's engineers in order to ensure their competitiveness in the job market. A transnational project-oriented teaching and learning framework, which provides the future key competencies for young engineers was implemented in the course European Engineering Team (EET). Engineering students from four countries participated in a new project-based course that focused on the development of innovative and sustainable products and opportunities. The goal of this paper is to present results and lessons learnt from three cohorts of EET.

Purpose This paper aims to introduce a case-based module teaching sustainable engineering, linking the Envision rating system with behavioral decision science. Three complete modules are publicly available in a repository for any instructor to adapt, use and review. Design/methodology/approach A case study was written about the Tucannon River Wind Farm, a project-certified Gold by the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure’s Envision™ rating system. The case was used as the basis for an in-class PowerPoint module to achieve student learning outcomes related to sustainability. Findings Before and after surveys showed significant (p < 0.05) learning increases. Word clouds show changes in student perceptions of sustainable design. Rubric scoring of writing assignments and concept maps yielded valuable insights and improvements and demonstrated the overall validity of the module approach. Research limitations/implications Modules lasting only one or two class days must be well-integrated into courses and curricula to promote greater learning value. Concept mapping may be a useful addition but involves a learning curve for both instructors and students. Practical implications By offering instructors access to a set of case-based modules, it becomes more practical for them to teach about sustainable infrastructure and decision-making. Social implications The module exemplifies a project owner and an engineering firm strongly committed to social and environmental sustainability. Envision’s Quality of Life and Leadership categories emphasize community well-being, involvement and collaboration. Originality/value This module offers a unique transdisciplinary focus meeting several needs in engineering education on sustainability, complex problems and decision-making.

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.

PurposeThis paper aims to present key findings from an inquiry into engineering accreditation and curricula renewal. The research attempted to ascertain conceptions of requisite sustainability themes among engineering academics and professionals. The paper also reflects on the potential role of professional engineering institutions (PEIs) in embedding sustainability through their programme accreditation guidelines and wider implications in terms of rapid curricula renewal.Design/methodology/approachThis research comprised an International Engineering Academic Workshop held during the 2010 International Symposium on Engineering Education in Ireland, on “accreditation and sustainable engineering”. This built on the findings of a literature review that was distributed prior to the workshop. Data collection included individual questionnaires administered during the workshop, and notes scribed by workshop participants.FindingsThe literature review highlighted a wide range of perspectives across and within engineering disciplines, regarding what sustainability/sustainable development (SD) themes should be incorporated into engineering curricula, and regarding language and terminology. This was also reflected in the workshop discussions. Notwithstanding this diversity, clusters of sustainability themes and priority considerations were distilled from the literature review and workshop. These related to resources, technology, values, ethics, inter‐ and intra‐generational equity, transdisciplinarity, and systems and complex thinking. Themes related to environmental and economic knowledge and skills received less attention by workshop participants than represented in the literature.Originality/valueThis paper provides an appreciation of the diversity of opinion regarding priority sustainability themes for engineering curricula, among a group of self‐selected engineering academics who have a common interest in education for SD. It also provides some insights and caveats on how these themes might be rapidly integrated into engineering curricula.

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 (n=153) 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 ed...

Medical Education professionals in the U.S. have realized that medical education now consists of three main features: diagnosis, cure and in the case of chronic illness, health management (sustaining life). In a similar way, engineering education may be characterized by problem definition (diagnosis), problem solving and in the case of chronic engineering problems, problem management. Medical education has taken steps to modify its curriculum and pedagogy to reflect this new awareness whereas engineering education has not. What can engineering education learn from the medical education community? And, in particular, how do further challenges of sustainable engineering impact how engineering education should change?

An existing multidisciplinary course on sustainable engineering in developing societies was expanded to include sustainability issues and challenges faced in the developed world. The new course consisted of independent modules on general background, sustainability concepts and tools, sustainable water and waste systems, sustainable energy systems, sustainable agricultural and food systems, and sustainable building systems. The course included a semester-long project experience conducted in interdisciplinary teams. Projects were sourced from local businesses and institutions or from organizations involved in international development. Course evaluation included an end-of-semester self-assessment by students and an analysis of project reports. Thirteen out of 18 students surveyed (72%) agreed that their ability to consider techno-economic, environmental, and social aspects of sustainability was improved as a result of the course. An improved student understanding of aspects of sustainability and its measure...

The objectives of this study were to describe two approaches to incorporating sustainability into the undergraduate engineering curricula and to list a variety of existing course resources that can easily be adopted or adapted by science and engineering faculty for this purpose. The two approaches described are (1) redesigning existing courses through development of new curricular materials that still meet the objectives of the original course and (2) developing upper division elective courses that address specific topics related to sustainability, such as manufacturing or life-cycle assessment, in depth. Case studies of three courses—Green Industrial Organic Chemistry, Environmentally Conscious Design and Manufacturing (Kettering University), and Sustainable Engineering (University of Oklahoma)—are presented. Assessment results from Green Industrial Organic Chemistry indicate that alternative curricular materials incorporating green chemistry can be used to meet the learning objectives of more traditiona...

In order for our future engineers to be able to work toward a sustainable future, they must be versed not only in sustainable engineering but also in engineering design. An engineering education must train our future engineers to think flexibly and to be adaptive, as it is unlikely that their future will have them working in one domain. They must, instead, be versatilists. The School of Engineering at James Madison University has been developed from the ground up to provide this engineering training with an emphasis on engineering design, systems thinking, and sustainability. Neither design nor sustainability are mutually exclusive, and consequently, an education focusing on design and sustainability must integrate these topics, teaching students to follow a sustainable design process. This is the goal of the James Madison University School of Engineering. In this paper, we present our approach to curricular integration of design and sustainability as well as the pedagogical approaches used throughout the curriculum. We do not mean to present the School’s model as an all or nothing approach consisting of dependent elements, but instead as a collection of independent approaches, of which one or more may be appropriate at another university.

This paper explains the organization and execution of a summer engineering outreach camp designed to attract and motivate high school students as well as increase their awareness of various engineering fields. The camp curriculum included hands-on, competitive design-oriented engineering projects from several disciplines: the electrical, environmental, mechanical, civil, and chemical engineering fields. The camp also provided additional information on financial aid, the academic programs in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) offered at Texas A&M University-Kingsville (TAMUK), as well as various career options for prospective engineers. The implementation of the camp activities and the well-designed hands-on projects not only increased the students' satisfaction, but also improved their self-confidence and their interest toward engineering disciplines. The engineering outreach camp survey results clearly indicated the success of the camp and the effectiveness of the hands-on, competitive engineering design experiences to attract students to engineering professions. Thus, it demonstrated an effective, feasible, and sustainable engineering recruitment approach.

An interdisciplinary sustainable design project that combines membrane technology with renewable energy to provide water for remote communities and developing countries was offered to students for voluntary participation. Through continuous design stages and improvements on several prototypes, laboratory testing and several field trials in Australia, and interactions with industry partners and funding agencies, the project has offered very important experience to students and contributes significantly to graduate attributes that are difficult to gain during traditional coursework education. Such initiatives offer an exciting addition to the environmental engineering curriculum and can be adapted to various teaching frameworks and topic areas. In addition to acquiring technical skills, the students gained skills in the areas of teamwork and interpersonal skills, project management, interdisciplinary skills, and confidence in interacting with non-engineers. A number of the students involved who have now graduated as well as peers were subsequently surveyed to evaluate student learning using critical incident questionnaires. One student felt that involvement in the project was more important than the entire engineering degree. Students also reported a boost in confidence, motivation, inspiration, pride of involvement, high degree of engagement, especially during field trips. One drawback was negative team experiences, caused by students who thought they should have been selected as project managers. However, this was described by a student (now in the workforce) as a representation of later office politics and as a good opportunity to develop character strength. Poor communication, team-building tools and lack of institutional support were additional issues needing addressing, as well as concerns from other academics that such activities could be to the detriment of other, more traditional, coursework-based learning activities. Significantly enhanced employment opportunities and extremely positive industry feedback were also noted. Industry emphasised the need for more project and time management skills.

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...

Engineering education has focused on the mathematical and scientific principles which underpin proper design. Technological capabilities have, in some instances, overcome society's ability to adapt behavior to new technologies. Sustainable systems should be engineered to address economic, environmental, and behavioral issues as well as technical issues. Developing education curricula that encourages students to consider all facets involved in sustainable systems has challenged engineering programs. A pilot course based upon the design of a sanitation facility for a school in Azove, Benin, was taught in the 2004–2005 academic year. The objective of the course was to create a meaningful project that would teach sustainability as part of the design process. Over 1,200 7th- to 10th-grade students at CEG in Azove lack access to clean water and basic sanitation facilities. A site visit to the CEG confirmed that water and sanitation were priorities of the school board and parents of the children. Students at Gon...

Engineers have a duty of care to end users of the systems they design under current statutes and at common law. Considerations such as cognitive compatibility and usability of equipment and system design are becoming issues of increasing importance, as society becomes more reliant on information technology and automation. That engineers contribute to human error in these systems through latent design error and poor management decision-making is well documented. Therefore, the role of engineers can be considered integral to positive outcomes in workplace safety. This research offers an opportunity to understand why engineering design work may be contributing to human error on part of the operator, and offers hope toward a future when engineers will embrace safe design principles. This cross sectional study examines the relationship between professional engineering education and ergonomics. This research specifically addresses the attitudes of engineers to the inclusion of ergonomic principles in engineering practice and in undergraduate engineering curriculum. It was found that the surveyed members of the Australasian Association for Engineering Education (AAEE) had a positive attitude toward the inclusion of ergonomic principles in their design practice. The intensity of their attitude was more positive if they had some previous exposure to ergonomic training. At present few engineering faculties systematically include ergonomic principles in their design courses. The most encouraging finding was the overwhelming support for the inclusion of ergonomic principles in undergraduate engineering curriculum. This finding was complimented by current literature suggesting a changing engineering paradigm, one that would facilitate and embrace these concepts, encouraging promotion of sustainable engineering design well into the future.

The undergraduate civil engineering department has for years introduced students to the economic, environmental, and social aspects of sustainability. Within courses and through freshman and senior design projects students learned sustainable design. Students mastered the ability to recognize and discuss sustainable design but were unable to demonstrate the principles of sustainable design. In 2011, a more structured strategy to teaching sustainable design was adopted. In year one, an introduction to sustainable design principles was added to the Freshman Design course. The objective was to increase students' awareness of sustainable design. Assessment confirmed an increase in student awareness and understanding of sustainable design concepts. In the following year, Sustainable Civil Engineering Design was added as a required sophomore level course. The course objectives are to introduce the science behind the environmental constraints imposed by sustainable engineering, to utilize life cycle analysis as a design tool, and to incorporate a systems approach to design when identifying various sustainable development techniques. Future efforts will focus on integration of more sub-discipline specific sustainability concepts into junior engineering courses and to have students demonstrate the principles of sustainable design in the Senior Design course.

Engineering can be characterized as the exploitation of potentials for useful applications. It is oriented towards solutions within a framework of limited resources. Education is needed to enable engineers to act as “change agents”. It is their responsibility to innovate in the development, manufacturing and marketing of products throughout their full life cycle, to fulfill the needs of humankind, protecting public health, welfare, and environment. Productivity of learning and teaching has to be increased by a new curriculum including innovative methods and forms for engineering education. This paper will analyze which competence domains a curriculum towards sustainable development should have and how the education in the international master study program “Global Production Engineering” is accomplished. This best practice from Germany can be a pioneer for further countries in the world that target to construct a knowledge-based economy like the United Arab Emirates. The paper shows possibilities of a master program to motivate students with bachelor degrees and initial work experience to walk paths in their careers combining professional success and global responsibility.

In order for our future engineers to be able to work toward a sustainable future, they must be versed not only in sustainable engineering but also in engineering design. An engineering education must train our future engineers to think flexibly and to be adaptive as it is unlikely that their future will have them working in one domain. They must, instead, be versatilists. The School of Engineering at James Madison University has been developed from the ground up to provide this general engineering training with an emphasis on engineering design, systems thinking, and sustainability. Students take courses in math and science, business and liberal arts, engineering science, sustainability, and design. In this paper, we discuss how sustainability is taught in a multi-context perspective through the School’s curriculum and pedagogy. We do not mean to present the School’s approach as an all or nothing model, but instead as a collection of approaches of which hopefully one or more may be appropriate at another university.Copyright © 2011 by ASME

Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology has implemented a variety of programs to promote sustainable practices on campus and sustainable engineering as part of the curriculum. Sustainability impacts both technical and professional skills, posing challenges for students both in the ways that they solve technical problems and in their conceptions of their professional identities and bodies of knowledge. This paper reviews principles defining sustainable engineering, defines criteria of ldquogreenrdquo engineering in several disciplines, and analyzes student responses to both elective and required undergraduate courses with a central focus on sustainability.

The natural world has long been impacted by technological society; however, in recent years environmental impacts and constraints are increasingly on the global, rather than local or regional, scale. Moreover, the interconnectivity of biological systems with energy and material flows is increasingly evident. Today, it is well understood that climate change, energy constraints and biological degradation are largely a consequence of technological production and energy use. In this context, one would expect engineering education to have evolved to prepare engineers to be capable of addressing these issues. Rather, excluding the resurgence in design education, we see a curriculum that remains largely unchanged. In this context, we propose an integrated mechanical engineering curriculum that emphasizes sustainable engineering and whole-system design. The curriculum provides mechanical engineering students with a deeper understanding of the broader impact of the products and processes they design, the tools to assess that impact, and the system level thinking to design technologies for a sustainable future.

Establishing the context in which the technical content of an engineering curriculum will be applied to problem solving in the workplace as well as the context in which engineering education will take place are important motivational aspects of freshman engineering education. We have developed a seminar for first semester in college, calculus ready freshman that addresses these contextual issues. Through assigned readings, examination of web sites, presentations by advanced students and faculty, group discussions and writing assignments students were encouraged to reflect on why they chose engineering, how they will achieve their educational goals, what it means to be an engineering professional, and what the engineering profession might be like when they graduate. Emphasis was placed on the engineering disciplines, professional ethics, advising, curriculum, student life, time management, sustainable engineering, and the global nature of collaboration and competition. The seminar was assessed by gathering student comments concerning each of its three major components. Generally, student reaction was positive.

This paper provides specific examples of sustainability education programs within the engineering curriculum at The University of Michigan at Ann Arbor (UM). These programs exist at the undergraduate, Masters, and Ph.D. levels of education. At the undergraduate level, a basic literacy program has been initiated to give each graduating mechanical engineer from UM the understanding required to make design decisions less impacting on the environment. The program is designed as an educational thread consisting of three (3) course modules corresponding to each of three required courses in the Design and Manufacturing sequence in the mechanical engineering department. To compliment the thread, a new joint course between mechanical and environmental engineering in Environmentally Sustainable Engineering is under development to serve as the cornerstone undergraduate course in environmental education for the UM College of Engineering (CoE). At the Masters level, the ConsEnSus (Concentrations in Environmental Sustainability) Program is described. This program has been introduced to enhance general environmental literacy and to prepare students to integrate environmental principles into professional practice. Similarly, a joint Ph.D. program has also been developed between CoE and the School of Natural Resources and the Environment to prepare students for a career in research and education related to sustainable engineering. Both ConsEnSus and the Ph.D. program are supported by a course entitled Principles of Eco-Design and Manufacturing. This course, and the graduate and undergraduate programs it supports, is part of a college-wide effort to make Sustainable Systems Engineering a reality in practice by disseminating operational definitions of sustainability targeted to specific engineering disciplines.Copyright © 2003 by ASME