Earth Day Teach In: A Model For Industry, Community, And Education Collaboration
- Conference
- Location
-
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Publication Date
-
June 22, 2008
- Start Date
-
June 22, 2008
- End Date
-
June 25, 2008
- ISSN
-
2153-5965
- Conference Session
- Tagged Division
-
Engineering Technology
- Page Count
-
9
- Page Numbers
-
13.457.1 - 13.457.9
- DOI
-
10.18260/1-2--3835
- Permanent URL
-
https://peer.asee.org/3835
- Download Count
-
454
Paper Authors
Ken Barnard K-State at Salina
Ken Barnard has a doctorate in Aviation and Space from Oklahoma State University, and is a professional pilot with Airline Transport Rating, Certified Flight Instructor in airplanes and helicopters and Mechanic Airframe and Power Plant ratings. Ken is a professor in Aviation at Kansas State University at Salina. A former Department Head and Director of an International Pilot Center Ken became interested in climate change issues while doing atmospheric research for the Aviation Meteorology class he currently teaches. He was selected as one of the one-thousand individuals from around the world to be trained at the Climate Project founded by the Honorable Al Gore. Ken is active on the lecture circuit addressing climate change issues.
Greg Stephens K-State at Salina
Greg Stephens teaches business and management courses in the Technology Management program at Kansas State University at Salina. He is an Associate Professor and serves on several non-profit organization boards. Greg also produces local TV programs for Community Access. He served as chair for the Institute for Rural America and has worked with sustainable agriculture organizations for over 30 years. In 2007, he was awarded The Inspire by Example faculty award for community service by K-State.
Raju Dandu Kansas State University at Salina
Raju S. Dandu is the program coordinator and professor of Mechanical Engineering Technology at Kansas State University at Salina. He teaches courses in CNC Machine Processes, Material Strength and Testing, Advanced CAD/CAM, Industrial Instrumentation and Controls, and Automated Manufacturing Systems II. He is active in offering workforce training in reliability centered maintenance, CE certification, process instrumentation and PLCs. His areas of interest are: Product risk analysis, Reliability Centered Maintenance, Energy Efficient Lighting, CAD/CAM, and Industrial Automation. He is a member of ASEE, ASME, SAE, and SME.
Abstract
NOTE: The first page of text has been automatically extracted and included below in lieu of an abstract
Earth Day Teach-In: A Model for Industry, Community, and Education Collaboration
Abstract
Earth Day is a driving force for environmental awareness around the world. It can also be an effective event for educating the local community and the 21st century engineer since technologists will play a vital future role in civic engagement, green economic development, and global awareness related to energy, global warming and conservation. This paper presents a cross disciplinary team presentation from faculty in Engineering Technology, Business, and Aviation collaborating together to explain the first campus Earth Day Teach-In at K-State Salina. This paper includes a focus on current environmental issues that apply to Earth Day and an explanation on how Earth Day can be organized to educate the community and the 21st century engineer. Attendees will leave with ideas on how they can organize an industrial, educational, and community collaborative Earth Day Teach-In.
Introduction
Developed nations are now enjoying the highest standard of living than any other time in human history. Technology in large part has contributed to these societies’ safe structures with climate controlled atmospheres incorporating every appliance imaginable to include worldwide communication links. Convenient electric energy supplied through regional and national electrical grid networks is taken for granted. Commuting to workplace and shopping malls with environmentally controlled vehicles powered with cheap oil is common place. Further, technology helped design and build aircraft coupled with a support system that allows inexpensive travel to anywhere in the world with significant savings in that other precious limited resource called time. Emerging economies (nations) with huge population bases are now well on their way to emulate developed nations’ consumption patterns.
Current Environmental Issues
There is a price to pay beyond the energy costs for this way of life. The environment in which all living things are interconnected is being adversely affected. Many aspects of technology have played major roles associated with the discovery, extraction, and the consumption of energy as well as bringing efficiencies throughout the process. The problem now being recognized is that the cheap fossil fuel era of the past cannot be sustained into the future. McDonough & Braungart (2002) stated, “The design of products and manufacturing systems growing out of the Industrial Revolution reflected the sprit of the day- and yielded a host of unintended yet tragic consequences”. Burning fossil fuels increase levels of pollutants and greenhouse gasses (carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and water vapor). The molecules of green house gasses resonate with reflected infrared radiation from the earth and prevent most of this radiated heat from escaping into outer space. Burning of coal adds mercury, sulfur oxides, and fly ash, among others to the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide levels have been increasing exponentially since the mid 1800’s when humans started burning fossil fuels in earnest. Internal combustion engines burning fossil fuels, powered the industrial revolution. Burning fossil fuels add carbon dioxide to the
Barnard, K., & Stephens, G., & Dandu, R. (2008, June), Earth Day Teach In: A Model For Industry, Community, And Education Collaboration Paper presented at 2008 Annual Conference & Exposition, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 10.18260/1-2--3835
ASEE holds the copyright on this document. It may be read by the public free of charge. Authors may archive their work on personal websites or in institutional repositories with the following citation: © 2008 American Society for Engineering Education. Other scholars may excerpt or quote from these materials with the same citation. When excerpting or quoting from Conference Proceedings, authors should, in addition to noting the ASEE copyright, list all the original authors and their institutions and name the host city of the conference. - Last updated April 1, 2015