2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Recently, the Department of Civil Engineering (CE) at X university established a required undergraduate course (CE 218: Sustainable Engineering) to prepare students to consider their future civil engineering courses within the broader context of sustainability and systems thinking. This course contains modules focused on integrated infrastructure (e.g., EOP Systems Thinking), as well as environmental (e.g., EOP Environmental Impact Assessment), economic (e.g., EOP Responsible Business and Economy), and social (e.g., EOP Social Responsibility) sustainability. While CE 218 is dedicated to sustainability, we believe training sustainability-minded students will be most successful if topics are integrated throughout the full undergraduate curriculum. Our paper will discuss the outcomes from this EOP Mini-Grant Program including the development of innovative undergraduate sustainability courses (at two institutions) as well as the integration of EOP into a traditional civil engineering course (CE 303: Construction Engineering at X university).

This endeavor is the focus of our project supported by the ASEE Engineering for One Planet (EOP) Mini-Grant Program. Specific objectives include: (1) revising materials for CE 218 (Sustainable Engineering) to introduce EOP, (2) revising materials for CE 303 (Construction Engineering) to integrate EOP outcomes, (3) mapping EOP outcomes to existing required undergraduate courses, (4) engaging CE faculty by introducing the EOP framework and providing opportunities for implementation, and (5) developing a guidance document for faculty interested in integrating EOP in courses. We know that many CE courses address EOP outcomes (in alignment with multiple ABET outcomes), and we seek to use the EOP framework as a common foundation to document these efforts and identify opportunities. Finally, our project is informed through our mentor at X university, who has aligned the EOP framework with learning objectives and content coverage in an established undergraduate sustainability course (CE 250: Sustainable Civil Engineering) and worked toward similar curriculum-level integration of sustainability concepts in subsequent courses.

These efforts will be assessed for both courses at X university (CE 218 and CE 303) in collaboration with the teaching center at X university who provides course feedback by facilitating student focus groups. Finally, this paper will discuss efforts to work toward curriculum-level change including mapping EOP outcomes to the full CE curriculum at X university and identifying opportunities for integrating EOP into other undergraduate courses.

This project provides an immediate impact on students in service of a larger vision to train sustainability-minded civil engineers. In the short term, this project impacts students in CE 218 (current enrollment: 48) and CE 303 (current enrollment: 25) through the introduction of EOP with a focus on including systems thinking into engineering decision making. Additionally, we anticipate potential positive impacts for faculty (25 faculty members) by providing a foundation for interdisciplinary conversations regarding sustainability and practical support for integrating sustainability concepts (including EOP framework, CE 303 lessons learned, guidance for ABET assessment) into existing courses.

I am an untenured faculty member within the first four years of total academic experience, lead author of the paper, and eligible for the Environmental Engineering Division Early Career Award.