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Designing and Innovating Sustainable Products, Services and Systems: Infusing the Entrepreneurial Mindset in Undergraduate and Graduate Industrial Engineering Training

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Conference

2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

Baltimore , Maryland

Publication Date

June 25, 2023

Start Date

June 25, 2023

End Date

June 28, 2023

Conference Session

Industrial Engineering Division (IND) Technical Session 1

Tagged Division

Industrial Engineering Division (IND)

Page Count

14

DOI

10.18260/1-2--42974

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/42974

Download Count

132

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Paper Authors

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Ana Cram University of Texas at El Paso

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Arunkumar Pennathur University of Texas at El Paso

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Dr. Arunkumar Pennathur is Associate Professor of Industrial Engineering at the University of Texas at El Paso. His research interests are in human factors engineering and engineering education.

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Amirmasoud Momenipour Rose-Hulman Institution of Technology

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Amir Momenipour is an Assistant Professor of Engineering Management at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology with interests and expertise in teaching human factors and user-experience. Momenipour is a member of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers, and American Society For Engineering Education. Momenipour's studies focus on human factors to design and evaluate human-centered systems and effective practices of teaching human factors to develop a human-centered design mindset in engineering students.

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Priyadarshini R. Pennathur University of Texas at El Paso

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Dr. Priyadarshini R. Pennathur is an associate professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering.

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Abstract

A typical IE course in sustainability engineering introduces students to engineering design, manufacturing, supply, and systems aspects while highlighting global sustainability, energy management, and life cycle analysis. Although such courses provide students with the knowledge required to assess the environmental impacts of existing products, services, and systems, they suffer from a few common weaknesses: (1) they focus more on analysis, and much less on front-end design of environmentally sound products; (2) in many IE curricula, these are only elective courses; and (3) students tend to treat sustainability courses as a one-off class, and often lack a vision and clear next steps toward a career path in designing and innovating around sustainable products. To address the challenges above, and to improve the skills and competency of engineering students, we have introduced in our sustainability engineering course two additional sets of training – one on innovation and product design principles, practices, and methods, and one on entrepreneurial mindset. These additional training sets aim to: (1) encourage constant curiosity among students about our changing world and anticipate the challenges of currently accepted solutions; (2) make connections from many resources to intersect ideas; and (3) develop product designs that create environmental, economic, and social value. We also present insights into ISE curriculum changes to strengthen these sustainability training elements. This effort would create entrepreneurs with engineering training who can innovate and design sustainable products and systems for the future. We are presently implementing this effort in our sustainability course, and will share results from ongoing student projects and student surveys about their attitudes, skills, confidence, and viability for sustainability engineering as a career path.

Cram, A., & Pennathur, A., & Momenipour, A., & Pennathur, P. R. (2023, June), Designing and Innovating Sustainable Products, Services and Systems: Infusing the Entrepreneurial Mindset in Undergraduate and Graduate Industrial Engineering Training Paper presented at 2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Baltimore , Maryland. 10.18260/1-2--42974

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