2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

To catalyze curricular transformation and thus the training and practice of engineering, we proposed the creation of an Engineering for Sustainable Development specialization within the Department of Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering incorporates learning outcomes from the Engineering for One Planet framework. These efforts served to help institutionalize the ongoing sustainable engineering instruction at The Ohio State University in a meaningful way.

Currently, engineering students at OSU do not have a formal pathway or structure to engage with sustainability-related, community-engaged content. While culturally competent sustainability focused coursework may be obtained piecemeal, it is certainly not broadly accessible as a primary focus to engineering students with tight degree plan requirements within their majors.

The proposed specialization is an important long-term programmatic creation effort to advance sustainability education within engineering. The department chair has supported a multi-year effort to support and create student-centric community-engaged learning opportunities. This department driven (top-down) effort is also supported at college level by the Associate Dean and Director for Academic Programs in the College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

The Engineering for One Planet Mini-Grant resources were to develop General Education course offerings within the Sustainability theme as well as technical electives that promote social responsibility. Course creation and revisions incorporated EOP learning outcomes; many of these revisions took effect in Autumn 2023. Additionally, one of the core courses of our proposed specialization will be offered on a satellite campus beginning Spring 2024.

The EOP framework provided the guiding principles for the proposed specialization. These programmatic elements balance student learning with community impacts while weaving Sustainability, Intercultural Competence and Cultural Awareness into a core tenet of engineering. Further, the EOP mentorship program was instrumental in guiding the project participants in creating buy-in from stakeholders across the university enterprise.