Conference Session

Assessment Issues in Environmental Engineering

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kevin Bower, The Citadel; William Davis, The Citadel

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

AC 2008-898: CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT OF ENVIRONMENTALENGINEERING CURRICULUM IN A CE ACCREDITED PROGRAMKevin Bower, The Citadel Dr. Bower is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at The Citadel in Charleston, SC. Prior to his employment at The Citadel, he worked as an environmental engineer in Akron, Ohio. He received a Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from The University of Akron and specialized in modeling carcinogenic chemical production in the drinking water distribution system. Dr. Bower was the 2005 Most Outstanding New Faculty at the ASEE –SE Conference and a New Faculty Fellow at the 2004 Frontiers in Education Conference. Dr. Bower is

Conference Session

Innovations to Curriculum and Program

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Angela Bielefeldt, University of Colorado at Boulder

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

AC 2008-2289: INCORPORATING ENERGY ISSUES INTO ENVIRONMENTALENGINEERINGAngela Bielefeldt, University of Colorado at Boulder Page 13.729.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2008 Incorporating Energy Issues into Environmental EngineeringAbstractNo single engineering discipline has integrated renewable and sustainable energy topics intotheir core curriculum. Environmental engineering programs may benefit from includingsustainable energy in their curriculum. Many students in a freshman-level introductoryEnvironmental Engineering (EVEN) course viewed EVEN as a potential major to studyrenewable energy, but many have since indicated that they plan to switch into

Conference Session

Innovations to Curriculum and Program

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Angela Bielefeldt, University of Colorado at Boulder

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

. In order to evaluate if curriculum help develop these skills in students, anassessment instrument is needed. A wide variety of such surveys have been developed andvalidated, although generally for settings outside engineering academia. In this research, theMiville-Guzman Universality-Diversity Scale short form (MGUDS-S) was used. It is a written15 question survey with responses on a 6-point Likert scale. It evaluates universal-diverseorientation (UDO) and has been most widely used in medical school settings. The overall UDOscore is composed of three subscales: diversity of contact, relativistic appreciation, anddiscomfort with differences. The author also added four of the Pittsburgh Freshman EngineeringAttitudes Survey (PFEAS) questions and

Conference Session

Innovations to Curriculum and Program

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ralph Ocon, Purdue University; Opal McFarlane, Hadady Corporation

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

with the Carbon DisclosureProject to measure the amount of energy used and carbon emitted through the supply chain ofcertain product categories, including milk and DVDs. Wal-Mart will use this information toencourage suppliers to find news ways to be more energy-efficient and show their customers thatthe products they buy are produced in responsible and sustainable ways5.2) Airbus: Airbus has recognized the benefits of its business practices. Airbus’s eco-friendlystrategy has become an integral part of its business, including product design, manufacturing,operations and aircraft recycling.Airbus innovation involves the dismantling of jets by using techniques to raise the level ofrecyclables and reusable content. Through “Process for Advanced

Conference Session

Service - Learning Projects

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mansour Rahimi, University of Southern California; Alex John, USC

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

Page 13.826.5and needs. The literature in quality engineering is full of references to the fact that the user of asystem must be an integral and an indispensible component in the decision-making process3. Inthis respect, EWB-USC functions predominantly as a technical planner, system integrator, andfinancial fundraiser (see “Partnering Organizations” and “Initial Design Preparation”). 5.1 Participatory Model From the start, we became aware that the any approach to solving the problem should be performed cooperatively; as opposed to EWB-USC defining La Estanzuela’s “problem”, doing the work, and imposing the “solution” without further consultation4. For example, the villagers served as guides for the

Conference Session

Environmental Engineering Undergraduate Research

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

John Reisel, University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

Undergraduates: First Findings from a Three-Year Study. Sci. Educ., 88, 493-594.7. R.S. Hathaway, B.A. Nagda, and S.R.Gregerman (2002). “The Relationship of Undergraduate Research Participation to Graduate and Professional Education Pursuit: An Empirical Study.” J. Coll. Stud. Dev., 43, 614-631.8. H.A. Aglan and S.F. Ali (1996), "Hands-on Experiences: An Integral Part of Engineering Curriculum Reform," J. Eng. Education, 85, 327-330.9. R.M. Felder (1993), "Reaching the Second Tier - Learning and Teaching Styles in College Science Education," J. Coll. Sci. Teaching, 22, 286-290.10. J.R. Reisel, T.A. Kellner, and K.F. Neusen (2000). “Speciated Hydrocarbon Emissions from Small Utility Engines.” J. Air & Waste Manage. Assoc. 50, 522-528.11. D

Conference Session

Sustainability and Engineering Courses

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

David Reisdorph, the GreenTeam Inc.

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

graduate course in Sustainability andInternational Standards. The course conveys the importance of voluntary internationalstandards, such as from ASTM International or the International Organization forStandardization (ISO), to sustainability. The curriculum uses an innovative experiential learningapproach whereby students research and develop a standard using the ASTM Internationalprocess. One driven student joined ASTM International and worked to see her class projectcatalyze the publication of ASTM E 2348 Guide for Framework for a Consensus-BasedEnvironmental Decision-Making Process.IntroductionIn 2004, the Oklahoma State University Environmental Institute established a graduate-levelcourse covering sustainability and international standards

Conference Session

Service - Learning Projects

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Heather Wright, Michigan Technological University; Linda Phillips, Michigan Technological University; James Mihelcic, Michigan Technological University

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

University. He is an elected member to the Board of Directors of the Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors (AEESP) and is currently the AEESP President. He also serves on EPA’s Science Advisory Board Environmental Engineering Committee. Dr. Mihelcic co-led several sustainability education initiatives at Michigan Tech including development of a new “Graduate Certificate in Sustainability” and an “Undergraduate Certificate in International Sustainable Development Engineering”. He is the lead author of one textbook titled Fundamentals of Environmental Engineering (John Wiley) (which has been translated into Spanish) and is the lead author for two additional books to be published

Conference Session

Sustainability and Engineering Courses

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Daniel Lynch, Dartmouth College

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

principles of sustainabilityxii, and their expression in engineeringpractice, is required of all civil engineers.There are social, economic, and physicalxiii aspects of sustainability. The latter includes bothnatural resources and the environment. Technology affects all three and a broad, integrativeunderstanding is necessary in support of the public interest. Beyond that, special competence isrequired in the scientific understanding of natural resources and the environment, which are thefoundation of all human activity; and the integration of this knowledge into practical designs thatsupport and sustain human development. Vestxiv referred to this as the primary systems problemfacing the 21st century engineer.The actual life of an engineered work

Conference Session

Service - Learning Projects

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Paul Boyle, Rice University; Brent Houchens, Rice University

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

area.The first such implementation has been through integration into science fair and science club Page 13.149.2programs at a Houston public high school. Through new partnerships with the Rice BeyondTraditional Borders3 and Rice 360° programs, the scope of the project now includes serviceprojects to developing nations in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, as discussed below.These include both educational and community scale water purification efforts, which build offcurrent work through an EPA P3: People, Prosperity and the Planet grant4.Adaptive WaTER LaboratoryThe partnership with Schlumberger introduced several design requirements. For