Paper Authors

Abstract

NOTE: The first page of text has been automatically extracted and included below in lieu of an abstract

Session 3151

Environmental Engineering Technology As an Area of Emphasis In Manufacturing

Dr. Charles U. Okonkwo Arizona State University

ABSTRACT Industry practices impacted the environment in such a way that it has become imperative to train engineering and technology professionals who can create, refine, and apply technological advances that minimize deleterious impact on the environment. These professionals are ultimately responsible for making decisions about process and material selection for manufactured products. We had little or no success in finding a model curriculum that incorporates an environmental program into a predominantly metal working based manufacturing curriculum. Many universities offer separate environmental curricula and manufacturing curricula, but do not incorporate the two. Our proposed program will bring the two together.

Our long term goal is to create an undergraduate environmental engineering technology program. This paper describes the addition of emphasis area consisting of six new environmental engineering technology courses to an existing manufacturing engineering technology curriculum. These courses incorporate the philosophy that engineers and engineering technologists must focus on improvements in total waste reduction by designing waste reducing and energy efficient processes, and manage manufacturing in ways that increase the quality of life and reduce negative impact on the environment. In the spring of 1997 the department will teach one of these courses, Waste Minimization and Prevention. This paper serves two purposes: 1) describe what we are doing to create an emphasis area in environmental engineering technology and hope that it may be useful to others thinking about similar programs and 2) stimulate discussions and ideas that will improve our efforts toward curriculum development in this area.

Introduction

Manufacturing is one of several departments at Arizona State University’s School of Technology. Currently, there are no course offerings in environmental engineering technology at a time when increasing governmental regulations dictate that businesses must adopt environmentally responsible practices. Employers require engineering and technology professionals who are knowledgeable in the applications of environmentally safe design and manufacturing processes. Authors such as McCright and Bergmiller(1), Wells(2), believe there is a need for manufacturing engineers trained in product quality, environmental protection and conservation. Wells (3) shares the opinion that environmentally safe manufacturing is cost effective in the long run. We have designed the following six courses to prepare students to work in industries including, but not limited to semiconductor, aerospace, automotive air-bag, environmental consulting firms,

1

• Citation

• Format
  • APA
  • APA - LaTeX bibitem
  • MLA
  • MLA - LaTeX bibitem
  • Bibtex
  • EndNote - RIS

Okonkwo, C. U. (1997, June), Environmental Engineering Technology As An Area Of Emphasis In Manufacturing Paper presented at 1997 Annual Conference, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 10.18260/1-2--6549