Sustainability. Spurred on by climate change. and international development. concerns, engineering educators. are revising curricula to include

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1 SUSTAINABILITY By Michael Mastromatteo Sustainability beginning to infuse engineers formation Spurred on by climate change and international development concerns, engineering educators are revising curricula to include working sustainably as an expected engineering competency. 28 ENGINEERING DIMENSIONS march/april 2011

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3 Engineering educators appear to have embraced sustainability as an increasingly valuable component in the formation of tomorrow s engineers. Beyond the push for green buildings, conservation, waste reduction and in-house energy efficiencies, most engineering faculties are moving to incorporate sustainability as an indispensible component of their graduates expected competencies. This emphasis on sustainability seems especially relevant in light of Ontario s new Professional Engineers Act definition of professional engineering, which requires engineering activities be concerned with the safeguarding of life, health, property, economic interests, the public welfare or the environment to be considered professional engineering and requiring licensure. The new definition, effective October 25, 2010, represents an expansion over the previous safeguarding of simply life, health, property or the public welfare and is the first time concern for the environment has been explicitly stated as within the legal purview of professional engineering in Ontario. As is generally accepted by now, sustainability involves the search for energy solutions, conservation, and careful stewardship of the environment and natural resources. It also embraces an economic component, calling on civic leaders and the custodians of technology to meet the needs of the present generation without compromising the economic, environmental and energy viability of future generations. Sustainability as it relates to engineering, in particular, is considered a process or system for using energy and resources at a rate that does not undermine the natural environment, or weaken the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Sustainability is also bound up with international development, whereby particular technologies are considered and sometimes re-evaluated to address specific needs of developing communities. Engineers Canada has for some time emphasized sustainability as an increasingly important part of an engineering practitioner s professional tool kit. Just as awareness of climate change has come to have an impact on professional engineering practice, so too is sustainability coming to inform present and future practice. Indeed, the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) in the UK has urged that sustainability become one of the expected competencies of the civil engineer. Embedding sustainability into practice constitutes a burden of responsibility, yet an opportunity to provide leadership, the ICE says. It is one of those subjects that we cannot afford to ignore. In its 2006 National Guideline on Environment and Sustainability, Engineers Canada emphasizes the environmental aspect of sustainability, but also hints at the growing impact of sustainability concepts on the education and professional development of professional engineers. The guideline calls on professional engineers to: develop and maintain a reasonable level of understanding, awareness, and a system of monitoring environmental and sustainability issues related to their field of expertise; use appropriate expertise of specialists in areas where a professional engineer s knowledge alone is not adequate to address environmental and sustainability issues; and recognize the value of environmental efficiency and sustainability, consider full life-cycle assessment to determine the benefits and costs of additional environmental stewardship, and endeavour to implement efficient, sustainable solutions. 30 ENGINEERING DIMENSIONS march/april 2011

4 Through the Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board (CEAB), Engineers Canada also has certain expectations of engineering faculties when it comes to incorporating sustainability into teaching curricula. Expectations of graduates In fact, one of the 12 graduate attributes the CEAB demands of a thorough undergraduate education is that it specifically address sustainability. The CEAB also expects graduates to understand the impact of engineering on society and the environment, and to demonstrate an ability to analyze social and environmental aspects of engineering activities. In addition, it requires engineering schools to educate future engineers to an understanding of the interactions of engineering with the economic, social, health, safety, legal, and cultural aspects of society, the uncertainties in the prediction of such interactions; and the concepts of sustainable design and development and environmental stewardship. Chris Kennedy, PhD, P.Eng., professor of civil engineering, University of Toronto (U of T), was part of an academic planning committee overseeing revisions to the teaching curriculum for civil engineers. Kennedy, whose research centres on the economic and environmental aspects of sustainable urban infrastructure, including transportation, buildings and water systems, says a key driver in the committee s work was to incorporate a consistent theme of sustainability into the department s program offerings. Kennedy says the revisions, all of which have since been implemented at the university, established a stronger foundation of sustainability for undergraduates in the civil engineering program. Key components of the sustainability-related curriculum changes at U of T included increasing core material on atmospheric physics and the science of climate change, the social impacts of technology, and sustainable energy systems, plus elective courses on green building design and the design of infrastructure for sustainable cities. As well, U of T s civil engineering department sought to add examples of sustainable engineering practice to existing courses, particularly in transportation, environmental engineering and engineering ecology. We recognized that many of the issues of local and global environmental pollution are a consequence of the way in which civil engineers plan, design and construct buildings and other infrastructure systems, Kennedy says. He also agrees that while civil engineering might be leading the way in having sustainability concepts incorporated into its teaching curriculum, all engineering disciplines would likely benefit by emphasizing sustainability. Student interest Other engineering schools are also working on incorporating sustainability concepts into the teaching curriculum. The University of Western Ontario s engineering school, for example, was recently awarded by the Corporate Knights organization for integrating sustainability into its program. Among the hallmarks of this achievement were Western s new green process engineering program, ENGINEERING DIMENSIONS 31

5 as well as such program offerings as an environmental engineering within civil engineering option, and incorporation of environmental, international development and biochemical engineering components into engineering degree programs. The incorporation of sustainability concepts is happening within courses, as well as through program development and renewal, says Andrew Hrymak, PhD, P.Eng., dean of Western s faculty of engineering. As we learn more from societal and industrial needs, we will have to adapt our examples and projects to reflect the changes in practice as sustainability concepts are incorporated in engineering analysis and design. Hrymak says the push for deeper integration of sustainability into teaching curricula is a reflection of the interests of the students themselves. Students are definitely interested in sustainability both inside and outside the classroom, he says. We see very active student participation in various aspects through student organizations such as Engineers Without Borders; club teams, such 32 ENGINEERING DIMENSIONS march/april 2011

6 as solar car; women in engineering; and a variety of other opportunities for them to participate in activities that reflect environmental and societal concerns. Their interests are certainly reflected in changes to the programs to incorporate sustainability concepts. Western s green process engineering program, initiated in 2009, was set up to apply fundamental principles of chemical engineering to the design of commercial products and processes meeting strict safety, economic and environmentally friendly standards. The program, which was profiled in the August 2010 issue of The Journal of Policy Engagement, emphasizes green energy and chemistry, including the study of solar energy, and the conversion of waste material into bio-fuels. Cedric Briens, PhD, P.Eng., director of the green process engineering program, says the initiative is a leading example of revising an engineering educational program for the sake of sustainability. In contrast to more traditional environmental engineering programs, the green process engineering program doesn t focus on cleaning up effluents but, instead, on developing processes that are inherently sustainable and environmentally benign, he says. Among the distinguishing features of our program is its emphasis on green chemistry, green power, solar and bio-fuel cells, and the conversion of residues to value-added products. Western s program will educate a new corps of engineers dedicated to the creation and implementation of environmentally sustainable approaches, to the design and development of processes and products to meet society s needs. Overcoming gaps Western s engineering department also links international development with sustainability. Clare Robinson, PhD, is head of Western s civil engineering and international development program, in the department of civil and environmental engineering. The program aims to educate future engineers in the areas of poverty reduction and social progress, both in Canada and in the developing world. The impetus for the development of the program was to train students to be more socially and globally minded engineers, Robinson told Engineering Dimensions. The program s objective is to provide students with expo- sure to international and development issues, including understanding the challenges and potential impact and sustainability of solutions in a global and societal context. Robinson believes sustainability extends well beyond international development issues, and engineers should be encouraged to bring a sustainability mentality to local, regional and global practice considerations. All engineers, not just civil engineers, have a crucial role to play in poverty reduction and sustainable development, and thus all engineers require a different set of skills beyond the traditional engineering sub-disciplines, Robinson says. Regardless of sub-discipline, engineers need to be able to incorporate sustainability concepts into their practices and to understand the social, global and environmental consequences of any engineering solution. Expanding options At Carleton University in Ottawa, sustainability concepts are emphasized in programs in the area of energy systems, with a bachelor of engineering program in sustainable and renewable energy engineering, and a master s program in sustainable energy. The latter includes the study of sustainable energy policy, mechanical energy conservation and efficient electrical energy systems. On the way, however, is a new program, architectural conservation and sustainability, that will expand the range of an undergraduate engineering student s sustainability options. Paul Van Geel, PhD, P.Eng., chair, department of civil and environmental engineering, says the impetus for his department s new program was partly the need to preserve and restore heritage buildings, but also a demand ENGINEERING DIMENSIONS 33

7 by industry for engineers with specific training in green building design and energy-efficient structures. Other factors that helped bring about this program were the demand from students for programs related to sustainability and by Carleton s strategic plan, which identifies the environment and sustainability as a major focus for the university, Van Geel says. He says that while sustainability may mean different things to different people, there is no doubt it is making an impact on undergraduate engineering education. I believe sustainability should be an expected competency for all engineers, he says. Our role is to serve the public and, in order to serve the best interests of the public, we must ensure that we evaluate the sustainability of our designs and practices I think the public has become more aware of the impacts we have on our environment and that if we want to maintain our quality of life as our population continues to grow, and as many less developed countries become more developed, we need to reconsider what we consider as quality of life and consider the sustainability of our actions. I believe professional engineers need to play a larger role in educating the public with respect to sustainability concepts and the longer-term benefits or impacts of our actions, designs and practices. Natural link The growing significance of sustainability in future engineering practice appears to be well understood by many of today s engineering undergraduates. Anne Lombardi, a fourth-year student of Western s civil engineering and international development program, for example, says there s a natural link between engineering practice and sustainability, and that it s logical for Canadian engineering educators to impress this on their students. Engineering practices in Canada will provide a model for development in these countries, and so the widespread use of sustainable engineering will not go unnoticed, Lombardi says. Protection of our environment and its resources is becoming a fundamental responsibility of engineers, and should be reflected in the education and training of future professionals. Jessica Barker, another Western engineering student, suggests engineering faculties would do well to institute a sustainability focus into all their program offerings. U of T engineering student Jane Ge, meanwhile, is director of the new U of T-based Sustainable Engineers Association (SEA), which recently hosted a one-day conference at the university. Among its objectives, SEA seeks to create a platform for collaboration between engineering faculty and other teaching departments to promote campus-wide sustainability awareness. It also seeks to support students in developing a personal vision for incorporating sustainability into their future engineering practice. Ge, who insists SEA is not a tree-hugger organization, believes sustainability in education goes well beyond the traditional silos of 34 ENGINEERING DIMENSIONS march/april 2011

8 environmental protection, conservation and efficient use of natural resources. SEA is looking to spread the concepts of social responsibility into engineering education, Ge told Engineering Dimensions. We want the engineers to use what they are good at to lead a positive change on society. SEA is also studying how to incorporate more sustainability practices into the engineering curriculum. From our point of view, however, it is still not enough. Sustainability education in engineering should be like a ladder. Students need to be getting more exposure to the concept of sustainability and concrete examples of sustainable engineering in their foundation years of engineering education, such as first and second year, and then they will be able to choose their electives in their third and fourth years to further develop their interests. This had been done in some of the engineering departments, but not all. Ge says civil engineering is generally the most active department in incorporating the concept of sustainability into the curriculum, but suggests other departments can also pass on the message of sustainability in their students engineering educations. Meeting society s needs For his part, Western s Hrymak says incorporating sustainability concepts and practices into the engineering curriculum is a positive and welcome development to reflect what societal needs are, but also notes that society s needs can change. There will be certain issues that will always be there in some form access to energy, availability of clean water, protection of our environment, to name a few, he says. But the public discourse will change over time as needs change, so my prediction is that the curriculum part of sustainability will be in a constant state of evolution through what is happening in practice, rather than through a set of stated concepts and rules. Hrymak suggests an emphasis on sustainability as an expected competency of engineers could help them take on more influence at public policy tables. Influence in public policy requires an additional dimension of engineers being able to communicate with broader society to provide our technical leadership in a way that can effect change, he says. This view is echoed at U of T where the importance of instilling graduates with a sense of responsibility to future generations is behind changes to the teaching curriculum. To better assist students along the path toward sustainability, we believe that a paradigm shift is needed in the way engineering skills and knowledge are taught and used, say the authors of an abstract explaining the changes. Curriculum changes are only a component of bringing about this paradigm shift Through a process of feedback and refinement, we plan to continue to improve our curriculum. We believe that through such refinement, we can continue educating engineering students who can meet tomorrow s challenges today. ENGINEERING DIMENSIONS 35