Conference Session

Introducing Sustainability into Engineering Education

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

David Brandes, Lafayette College, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

provide small islands of green space in urban environments, and capture a resource that is otherwise unused. Because existing urban areas, including college and university campuses, were largely developed prior to the implementation of ordinances requiring BMPs, an opportunity arises for incorporating both on-campus and community stormwater retrofit projects into civil and environmental engineering courses, and in the process, exploring sustainability in a quantifiable way that tangibly connects to the student experience. This paper will describe a case study of a five-year project in which students conceptualized, designed, helped to construct, and now monitor a stormwater detention wetland near campus. The objective of the

Conference Session

Introducing Sustainability into Engineering Education

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Melanie L. Sattler, University of Texas, Arlington; Yvette Pearson Weatherton, University of Texas, Arlington; Victoria Chen, University of Texas, Arlington; Stephen P. Mattingly, University of Texas, Arlington; K.J. Rogers, P.E., University of Texas, Arlington

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

AC 2011-314: ENGINEERING SUSTAINABLE CIVIL ENGINEERSMelanie L. Sattler, University of Texas, Arlington Dr. Melanie Sattler is an Associate Professor of Civil Engineering at the University of Texas at Arlington. In her 7 years at UT Arlington, she has served as Principal Investigator or Co-Principal Investigator for 21 projects involving emissions measurement, air quality modeling, or air pollution control technologies. She teaches 5 graduate courses in air pollution, and is a registered professional engineer in the State of Texas.Yvette Pearson Weatherton, University of Texas, Arlington Dr. Yvette Pearson Weatherton received her Ph.D. in Engineering and Applied Science (Environmental Engineering) from the

Conference Session

Techniques to Enhance Environmental Engineering Courses

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Isaac W. Wait, Marshall University; Richard F. McCormick, Marshall University; Sydney M. Wait, Marshall University

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

process. Feedback gathered from students indicatedenthusiasm with the project and enhanced understanding of reaction kinetics. Gainingindependent, self-directed experience in the lab provided students with important opportunities topractice critical thinking and experience the independent reasoning that is required for successbeyond graduation.IntroductionReaction kinetics is often taught at the beginning of undergraduate environmental engineeringcourses in order to help students understand temporal relationships in processes such as drinkingwater disinfection, secondary treatment of wastewater, and remediation of contaminated soil.Although some students intuitively understand concepts without physical examples, others findreaction kinetics

Conference Session

Introducing Sustainability into Engineering Education

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jean D. MacRae, University of Maine

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

themselves best to each of these contexts.Environmental sustainability has been most heavily and effectively emphasized in the technicalcourse, since material and energy balance approaches can readily be used to assess sustainability,and the concepts of ecosystem services and resilience fit well within the scope of the field.Group projects encourage the exploration of sustainability issues including energy, water andresource use and management, biodiversity, resilience, ways to reduce negative environmentalimpacts and assessment techniques to “measure” sustainability.The international context of the EWB project and non-technical class brings the cultural andsocial aspects of sustainability into relief, so they are easier to recognize and

Conference Session

Techniques to Enhance Environmental Engineering Courses

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Stephanie Luster-Teasley, North Carolina A&T State University; Cindy Waters, North Carolina A&T State University

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

learner. When the final focusgroup interviews were performed at the conclusion of the semester, students spoke on theirperceived level of engagement compared to other labs they have taken. Students were alsoqueried as to their opinion of the merit of two additional module topics for future development. The ultimate goal of this two year research project is to develop four modules forenvironmental sustainability. Two modules were developed for the first year of the research withthe anticipation of adding two more modules during year two. The spring 2010 modulesconsisted of: (1) Green Engineering Design and (2) Water reuse and recycling. The year twoactivities are being partially shaped by student input from the focus groups and will

Conference Session

What Else do Environmental Engineers Need to Know

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Susan Powers, Clarkson University; Jan DeWaters, Clarkson University; Suresh Dhaniyala, Clarkson University; Mary Margaret Monica Small, Clarkson University

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

53% of the questions correctly.9 Affective and behavior scores are slightly better,suggesting that although students may recognize the energy problem, they generally lack theknowledge and capabilities to effectively contribute toward a solution. Intensive course workthat combines a project-based approach with relevant problem-solving experiences does help toincrease students’ energy literacy.7,8A review of literature and web resources in 2008 suggested that no course existed on climatechange that was specifically tailored for engineering undergraduates. Climate change courseshave been offered predominantly by science departments in American universities and, therefore,are not typically considered by engineering students. As the scientific

Conference Session

Introducing Sustainability into Engineering Education

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jonathan Wiggins, University of Colorado, Boulder; Mary E. McCormick, Tufts University; Angela R. Bielefeldt, University of Colorado, Boulder; Christopher W. Swan, Tufts University; Kurt Paterson, Michigan Technological University

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

reuse, and service-based educational efforts in the engineering curriculum. Specific efforts involving engineering education concern project-based learning and service-based pedagogies their potential impacts on student learning and how these impacts may be evaluated and assessed.Kurt Paterson, Michigan Technological University Kurt Paterson is on the environmental engineering faculty, where he currently serves as Director of Michi- gan Tech’s D80 Center (www.d80.mtu.edu), a consortium of 20 research, education, and service programs dedicated to creating appropriate solutions with the poorest 80% of humanity. His research, teaching and service interests focus on appropriate technology solutions that improve public

Conference Session

What Else do Environmental Engineers Need to Know

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Sirjana Dahal, Missouri University of Science & Technology; Richard H. Hall, Missouri University of Science & Technology; Glenn Morrison, Missouri University of Science & Technology; Seth Paul Lamble, Missouri University of Science & Technology; Ronaldo Luna, Missouri University of Science & Technology

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

retrieval4) The ability to integrate data from different sources, perhaps at different scales and using more than one mode of representationIn addition, Black et al. 1998 have identified five generic types of questions that can beaddressed by GIS technology like location (what is at..?), condition (where is..?), trend (whathas changed since..?), pattern (what is the spatial distribution of..?) and projection or model(what if..?)3. Location determines the attributes of a given place or region. Condition seekslocations fulfilling certain conditions. Trend determines changes in place attributes over time.Pattern investigates the spatial distribution of some phenomena. Projection or model explorespotential patterns based on past data3.GIS is one of

Conference Session

What Else do Environmental Engineers Need to Know

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mahbub Uddin, Trinity University

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

the evening (similar to town hall meeting) to debate on environmental issues, their importance’s and impacts. Students are told that there is very limited funding available and only four projects will be funded for further study. After debating the issues they then develop a consensus and align themselves in four different environmental projects of their top interests. Each group then submits a formal written report on their environmental projects. The major thrust of this report is to provide a thorough analysis of the environmental problem, its impact and recommendations for corrective actions. 4. Making a Difference through Individual Actions: In the reflection Journal/Portfolio each student is

Conference Session

Techniques to Enhance Environmental Engineering Courses

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Philip J. Parker, University of Wisconsin, Platteville

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

screencasts to present example problems. Screencasts arerecordings of computer screen activity with supporting audio narrative. I have created severalscreencasts using a PC, microphone, and Camtasia software. I have used this software to createa series of screencasts for my Introduction to Environmental Engineering course. Students candownload and view the screencasts outside of class whenever they wish and wherever they haveinternet access.BackgroundScreencasts are recordings of on-screen activity and associated voice instructions. They havemost commonly been used as tutorials to teach computer software1 as they record mousemovements and clicks. For this project, I used Camtasia software and a headset withmicrophone.The screencasts were created in

Conference Session

Techniques to Enhance Environmental Engineering Courses

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Andrew Ross Pfluger, U.S. Military Academy; Weimin Wu, Stanford University

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

; Environmental Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA since 2001; Pro- gram Manager of Center for Sustainable Development & Global Competitiveness, Stanford University; and Part-time Ph.D adviser of Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, China. He graduated from Harbin Architectural & Civil Engineering Institute, Harbin, China (1976), received a Masters of Engineering de- gree from Tsinghua University, Beijing, China (1984) and a Ph.D. degree in Environmental Engineering from Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI (1991). Dr. Wu was Engineer/Project Leader of Michigan Biotechnology Institute (1992-2001) and the Manager for Asia-Pacific Business Development (1998-2001). In the 1980s, he was an

Conference Session

What Else do Environmental Engineers Need to Know

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Brett Borup, Brigham Young University

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

themselves (Table 3) we see there are significant differences in only two cases. It may benoted that in every case but one when this comparison is made, the groups perceive that there aremore differences than seem to actually exist. The one exception is students. They perceivefewer differences than seem to actually exist. Perhaps this is due to their lack of experience.Why do these perceived differences exist? The data obtained from this project cannot answerthis question, but it is important to understand these preconceptions may exist among groups andindividuals so that problems in the design process may be avoided.These data may also be analyzed in another way that could be useful. The weights assigned toeach group by themselves can be compared