Engineering for Sustainability ENCE 215. Syllabus Summer 2015

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1 University of Maryland, Department of ENCE215 Engineering for Sustainability Instructor: Natasha Andrade, Ph.D. Office: 0160 Glenn L. Martin Hall Course Description This course provides a review of physical, chemical, and ecological principles used to examine interactions between humans and the environment, as they relate to the field of civil engineering. The fundamental concepts will be taught using analytical and computational methods, which are necessary for designing and analyzing the sustainability of various engineering processes and technologies. The course will also provide the background needed to think critically about environmental sustainability and its relation to: energy and materials, infrastructure design, water resources, human population growth, and resource consumption. Prerequisites: CHEM135 Chemistry for Engineers and permission of department. Course Goals Act as an academic bridge to progress from fundamental math and science courses to upper level engineering and design courses. Apply knowledge of basic science principles related to chemistry, physics, and biology (including ecology) to engineering problems related to sustainability. Develop the ability to identify and solve engineering problems related to environmental sustainability. Increase student understanding of the interdisciplinary nature of sustainable development and to inform engineering decision making related to societal issues (e.g. energy and water resources, environmental quality). Reading Material No required textbook. If a reading assignment is required, you will be notified in class. Any reading assignments will be posted to the course website on Canvas. It is recommended that you have access to any General Chemistry textbook (e.g. Chemistry for Environmental Engineering by Sawyer, McCarty & Parkin. McGraw-Hill Book Co. ISBN: ). If you do not own a copy, many are available for check-out in the UMD Chemistry & EPSL libraries. Course Structure This course will be delivered entirely online through the course management system (ELMS). You will use your University Directory ID to login to the course from the ELMS login page ( To access this course on ELMS you will need access to the Internet and a supported Web browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari). To ensure that you are using a supported browser and have required plug-ins please see the Knowledge articles on Minimum Requirements for Browser Compatibility, ( /MRhomepage.pl,).

2 In ELMS, you will access online video lectures, course materials, and resources. At designated times throughout the semester, we will participate in a blend of self-paced and group-paced activities using ELMS and alternative internet-based technologies. Activities will consist of discussion forums, , and video conferencing. Online Requirements Since this is an entirely online course, you must have a reliable computer where you will be able to access course materials and interact with the instructor and other students. You must have a camera and a microphone for the group presentation. Technical Assistance If you need technical assistance at any time during the course or to report a problem with ELMS you can: Visit the ELMS Student Resources link. Call the ELMS student help desk ( , press option 4). Send an to elms@umd.edu for assistance. Important Note: This syllabus, along with course assignments and due dates, are subject to change. It is the student s responsibility to check ELMS for corrections or updates to the syllabus. Any changes will be clearly noted in course announcement or through ELMS . Course Communication All course communication will occur with the use of ELMS Conversations tool. Make sure your address is up to date in Testudo and ELMS. Response time policy: I will respond to s within 24 hours during the week and within 48 hours during the weekend. The use of the forum post Ask the Instructor is extremely encouraged. This forum post will be created so that students can pose questions about the material, assignments, and other course content. Fellow students may have similar questions. We should all check this forum frequently. Academic Integrity "The University is one of a small number of universities with a student-administered Honor Code and an Honor Pledge, available on the web at The Code prohibits students from cheating on exams, plagiarizing papers, submitting the same paper for credit in two courses without authorization, buying papers, submitting fraudulent documents, and forging signatures. Compliance with the Code is administered by a Student Honor Council, which strives to promote a community of trust on the College Park campus. Allegations of academic dishonesty can be reported directly to the Honor Council ( ) by any member of the campus community. For additional information, see the Office of Judicial Programs and Student Ethical Development website (

3 The University of Maryland Honor Pledge reads: "I pledge on my honor that I have not given or received any unauthorized assistance on this assignment/examination." Unless you are specifically advised to the contrary, the Pledge statement should be handwritten and signed on the front cover of all papers, projects, or other academic assignments submitted for evaluation in this course. Students who fail to write and sign the Pledge will be asked to confer with the instructor. Accommodations for Students with Disabilities The University is required to provide appropriate accommodations for students with disabilities. Students with disabilities should inform me of their needs at the beginning of the semester so that I can contact the appropriate individuals who will work to determine and implement appropriate academic accommodations. Policy on Religious Holidays The University System of Maryland policy on religious observances provides that "students should not be penalized because of observances of their religious beliefs; students shall be given an opportunity, whenever feasible, to make within a reasonable time any academic assignment that is missed due to individual participation in religious observances." However, "it is the student's responsibility to inform the instructor of any intended absences for religious observances in advance. Notice should be provided as soon as possible but no later than the end of the schedule adjustment period." Prior notification is especially important with respect to the final exam and other exams. Grading Quizzes 15 pts each) 15% Project 100 pts) 20% Midterm Exams 75 pts each) 30% Discussion Forum Participation (50 pts) 10% Final Exam (125 pts) 25% Total (500 pts total) 100% Final Grade = (Q + P + M1 + M2 + D + F)/50 Q = Quiz Grade = Σ Quiz Points Received P = Project Grade M1 = Midterm 1 Grade M2 = Midterm 2 Grade D = Discussion Grade F = Final Exam Grade 0 F 6.0 D D 6.67 D+ 7.0 C C 7.67 C+ 8.0 B B 8.67 B+ 9.0 A A 9.67 A+

4 Quizzes Five short (i.e min) quizzes will be given to test concepts covered during previous class sessions. Quizzes are scheduled in advance (in the schedule below) and will be entirely online. You will only have one chance to complete each quiz, so make sure your computer is robust and your internet connection will not fail. Online Discussion In this online course your attendance and participation are required and will be evident by your completion of the assignments and online activities. Certain information about your online activity is logged by the ELMS learning management system, such as the date you last entered the course, the number of discussion board posts you have contributed and which areas of the course space you have visited. We ll meet twice a week via video conference. We ll have a total of 12 meetings that will be no longer than 1 hours. You are required to attend 75% of these meetings (9 meetings total.) We ll also have a forum discussion post name Muddiest Point. In this discussion board, you are required to enter every week what was the topic that you had the hardest time understanding. You will then post a question and other students will answer your question. Guidelines for Participating in Online Discussion You are expected to read all posted messages and to respond to each other as designated in the discussion assignment rubric. Use a person s name when you reply to a message and add your name at the end of the message. It helps everyone maintain a clearer sense of who is speaking and who is being spoken to. As participants begin to associate names with tone and ideas, they come to know each other better. Change the subject link if you introduce a new topic. Reinforce each other s ideas with comments such as Good Point or I agree or Thanks for the comments. (These comments won t add to your grade, but they establish a warmer, more encouraging community.) Avoid angry or rude comments. Avoid the use of ALL CAPS as it conveys these kinds of emotions in written communication. The use of objectionable, sexist, or racist language is not acceptable. Project The project will be worth 100 points (20% of total grade). What: Each group of 4 students will meet regularly to develop a lecture that will discuss an assigned topic. The topics will are displayed in the schedule below. Each lecture has to include 1) a brief summary of what was taught in class for the specific topic, 2) more detailed and relevant information about the topic, and 3) at least 3 computational problems that are representative of the topic. For items 2) and 3) each group is required to do research on the web to find relevant and reliable references to present new and original information to the class and the instructor. The lectures will be

5 presented by the entire group using Zoom (our video conferencing tool.) The lectures should be at least 30 minutes each and maximum of 45 minutes. Why: The goals of this project are to 1) increase the understanding of the material taught in class, 2) perform practice problems (and understand the application of basic science to engineering), 3) increase the students ability to acquire and competently use external sources of information, 4) increase the students understanding of the interdisciplinary nature of sustainability in engineering, 5) increase the students ability to skillfully prepare a PowerPoint presentation, and 6) increase students ability to develop presentation skills. When: Check schedule below. Presentation Format Presentations should have consistent font and style throughout, should contain original information (information that was not included in the instructor s lecture), and detailed calculations for each computational problem. Moreover, specific references are needed for each piece of information/table/problem/graph. Exams Two mid-term exams (1 hour each) will be given. Exams will be closed-book with emphasis on material covered since the previous exam. A mixture of quantitative and qualitative analysis and reasoning will be expected. The final exam will be cumulative, closed-book/notes. All exams will be online. You will have 1 hour to complete the exam. You can use blank sheets of paper to perform your calculations. You will enter the final answers online. After the exam is finished, you will have 20 minutes to scan or take a picture of your work and upload to ELMS. Partial credit will only be given if the deadline is met. Exams will be conducted via video conference. Each student should log in to ZOOM, turn the camera and mic on and then start the exam. The instructor will be available for questions during the exam.

6 Tentative Course Schedule Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday 1-Jun 2-Jun 3-Jun 4-Jun 5-Jun 1 Introduction to 2 Population and Growth 3 Resources Carbon 4 Energy conversion and Quiz 1 - Population Sustainability Cycle Transfer Fossil Fuels Introduction Group Project Preparation Group 1 Presentation - Population and Growth 8-Jun 9-Jun 10-Jun 11-Jun 12-Jun 5 Biomass Fuels 6 Solar Energy 7 Wind and Hydro Energy 8 Calculations Quiz 2 - Biomass and Fossil Fuels Group 2 Presentation - Fossil Fuels and Biomass Group 3 Presentation - Solar Energy 15-Jun 16-Jun 17-Jun 18-Jun 19-Jun Exam 1 9 Geothermal and Nuclear 10 Waste-to-energy and 11 Energy Storage, 12 Calculations Fuel Cells Conservation and Efficiency Exam 1 Review Group 4 Presentation - Nuclear Energy Quiz 3 - Solar/Wind/Hydro Energy 22-Jun 23-Jun 24-Jun 25-Jun 26-Jun 13 Mark Stewart Guest Lecture 14 Water-Energy Nexus 15 Stormwater Management 16 Calculations Quiz 4 - Nuclear Energy and Water-Energy Nexus Group 5 Presentation - Batteries 29-Jun 30-Jun 1-Jul 2-Jul 3-Jul Exam 2 17 Fulya Kocak Guest 18 Life Cycle Assessment 19 Sustainability in Quiz 5 - Stormwater Lecturer Remediation 6-Jul 7-Jul 8-Jul 9-Jul 10-Jul 20 Rating Systems 21 Envision - Urbanization 22 Sandra Knight Guest Final Exam LEED and Invest Lecture / Final Review Final Exam Review