2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

With the growing consciousness of depleting material and energy resources, the concepts of renewability and sustainability are becoming increasingly important. Sustainable engineering requires improved design of products, systems, and services, targeting better environmental and social performance together with economic viability. The challenge is to reduce this powerful abstract concept into a rigorous educational framework, with clear-cut methods, tools, and metrics, so it can be integrated into engineering curricula and practiced by professionals. The United Nations defines sustainability in terms of development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. This requires a mutually optimal usage of natural, societal, and economic resources. Sustainability education necessitates the use of unconventional approaches as against the traditional lecture-based style. Some institutions have tried to develop a sustainability curriculum using the learning pedagogies of problem-based and project-based learning (PPBL). Using PPBL as a teaching and learning strategy facilitates cooperative learning, critical thinking, systemic reasoning, creative approach, and societal awareness, which are the core values of sustainability. However, translating this into a working curriculum is quite complex, and raises implementation issues such as physical arrangements for an active learning environment, changes in the assessment and grading system, providing both teachers and students with at least rudimentary knowledge of PPBL methods, achieving institutional support, etc. Another issue is the program-level decision of having a full dedicated course on sustainable engineering, or introducing modules on environmental engineering, green engineering, pollution prevention, waste minimization, and design for environment within a few relevant courses. The first part of this paper introduces the issues of sustainable development and sustainable engineering; the overlap of the terms sustainable, renewable, and recyclable; education for sustainable development; and pedagogy for sustainability education. The second part describes the ongoing implementation of sustainability content in the Mechanical Engineering program at our university, giving a roadmap for sustainability curriculum, and giving examples from the Product Design and the Engineering Materials courses. The last part of the paper discusses the major challenges in sustainability education, such as sustainability practice in academia, policy making issues, content overload, cultural issues, and the gray boundary between environmental protection and sustainability.