Combining Graduate Studies, Research And International Experiences In Sustainability
- Conference
- Location
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Chicago, Illinois
- Publication Date
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June 18, 2006
- Start Date
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June 18, 2006
- End Date
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June 21, 2006
- ISSN
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2153-5965
- Conference Session
- Tagged Division
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Environmental Engineering
- Page Count
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11
- Page Numbers
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11.331.1 - 11.331.11
- DOI
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10.18260/1-2--419
- Permanent URL
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https://peer.asee.org/419
- Download Count
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434
Paper Authors
Eric Beckman University of Pittsburgh
Eric J. Beckman received his BS degree in chemical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1980, and his Ph.D. in 1988 from the Polymer Science Department at the University of Massachusetts. In 2000, Dr. Beckman was made the first Bayer Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh. He served as Associate Dean for Research from 2000-2001, and chairman of chemical engineering from 2001-2005. In 2003 he created the Mascaro Sustainability Initiative at the University of Pittsburgh to foster interdisciplinary research in sustainable engineering directed at greening the built environment and the more sustainable use of water.
Gena Kovalcik University of Pittsburgh
Gena M. Kovalcik holds a B.A. from Penn State University in Journalism and Political Science and a Master’s of Management and Public Policy with a certificate in Non-Profit Management from the University of Pittsburgh. She serves as Co-Director of the University of Pittsburgh Mascaro Sustainability Initiative focusing on administration and external relations. She previously served as Vice President for Development at Shady Side Academy and prior as the Senior Executive Director of Development and Alumni Relations for the School of Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh.
Mary Besterfield-Sacre University of Pittsburgh
Mary Besterfield-Sacre is an Associate Professor in the Industrial Engineering Department at the University of Pittsburgh. Her principal research interests are in empirical modeling applications for quality improvement in manufacturing and service organizations, and in engineering education evaluation methodologies. She received her B.S. in Engineering Management from the University of Missouri - Rolla, her M.S. in Industrial Engineering from Purdue University, and a Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh.
Robert Ries University of Pittsburgh
Robert Ries is an Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh. He received a B. Arch. Degree from Pratt Institute and M.S. and Ph.D. from Carnegie Mellon University. Dr. Ries’ primary research work is focused on improving the environmental performance of buildings, with a concentration on environmental impact assessment methods, indoor environmental quality, lighting, thermal comfort, and benefit-cost analysis of high-performance building systems.
Kim Needy University of Pittsburgh
Kim LaScola Needy is an Associate Professor of Industrial Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh. She received her B.S. and M.S. degrees in Industrial Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh, and her Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering from Wichita State University. Prior to her academic appointment, she accumulated nine years of industrial experience while working at PPG Industries and The Boeing Company. Her research interests include engineering management, engineering economic analysis, and integrated resource management. Dr. Needy is a member of ASEE, ASEM, APICS, IIE, and SWE. She is a licensed P.E. in Kansas.
Laura Schaefer University of Pittsburgh
Laura Schaefer is an Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh. She received her M.S. and Ph.D. from Georgia Tech in 1997 and 2000, where she performed research on system analyses, alternative (non-CFC) refrigerants, and absorption cycles. Dr. Schaefer’s current research explores the fundamental fluid and heat transfer issues encountered in energy systems. Dr. Schaefer holds various offices in the Advanced Energy Systems Division of ASME and in ASHRAE’s Technical Committees 1.1 and 8.3.
Larry Shuman
University of Pittsburgh
orcid.org/https://0000-0001-6884-7070
Larry J. Shuman is Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, School of Engineering, University of Pittsburgh and Professor of Industrial Engineering. Areas of interest include improving the engineering educational experience and studying the ethical behavior of engineers. He holds the Ph.D. in Operations Research from the John Hopkins, and the BSEE from the University of Cincinnati.
Abstract
NOTE: The first page of text has been automatically extracted and included below in lieu of an abstract
Combining Graduate Studies, Research and International Experiences in Sustainability Abstract
A new challenge facing engineering educators is how to train graduate students to routinely include sustainability as important design criteria. Equally important is the need for engineering students to both broaden their perspective and learn to function collaboratively in cross-cultural environments. The University of Pittsburgh’s School of Engineering is addressing these issues by educating a cadre of PhD researchers as part of a recently established Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) Program in sustainability. We present our plan to create an innovative sustainable engineering graduate program, with primary research foci in green construction and sustainable water use. This interdisciplinary initiative will involve faculty and students from across the School. To best address global concerns, we have partnered with the University of Campinas (UNICAMP) in Sao Paolo, Brazil to provide an eight-month international research rotation for all IGERT Fellows. In addition, to increase the number of Hispanic American engineering students, we have created partnerships with University of Texas- El Paso and University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez. Also, to best prepare our IGERT Fellows for study and research in sustainability, a special sequence of courses is being implemented that will include a two-part capstone sustainable design course providing students from the various specialties with a common educational framework. Finally, the University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Latin American Studies will develop a sequence of courses in Brazilian Portuguese to better prepare the IGERT Fellows for their research internship. This paper presents an overview of our initiative and describes progress to date with respect to research and pedagogy.
1. Introduction
The hallmark of US engineering has always been innovation, especially in the design of new products and processes that are optimized to reflect performance and price ideals. Although engineering designers have focused on performance and price criteria for over a century, the growing recognition that the world’s resources are finite while its population continues to increase have led to a new criterion – sustainability – that now must be incorporated into the design process often as an objective, but always as a constraint.1 Mihelcic, et al2 have defined sustainability as “the design of human and industrial systems to ensure that mankind’s use of natural resources and cycles do not lead to diminished quality of life due either to losses in future economic opportunities or to adverse impacts on social conditions, human health, and the environment.” To them, environmentally conscious design has evolved from simple end-of-pipe treatment through pollution prevention and green design to sustainable development with each succeeding advance incorporating additional constraints. This evolution is an expansion upon the triple bottom line approach to responsible care initiatives (i.e., society, the economy and the environment).3
As a result, our focus is directed at fulfilling Mihelcic’s definition of sustainability by educating the engineers who will be designing the next generation of technologies to facilitate green
Beckman, E., & Kovalcik, G., & Besterfield-Sacre, M., & Ries, R., & Needy, K., & Schaefer, L., & Shuman, L. (2006, June), Combining Graduate Studies, Research And International Experiences In Sustainability Paper presented at 2006 Annual Conference & Exposition, Chicago, Illinois. 10.18260/1-2--419
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