2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Although much of the discussion in the climate change space focuses on mitigation and more specifically, sustainability, there is a lack of discussion on climate resilience and adaptation. From areas such as insurance and the utilities industry, climate resilience and adaptation have become more of a discussion topic in recent years. How could an engineering design course be redesigned to include this side of the climate change issue in view while integrating industry-based tools that help engineering design students apply findings from the electric power industry to their designs? This paper seeks to address this question through an analysis of behaviors and attitudes of first-generation and non-first-generation students towards group projects focused on climate resilience and adaptation, as well as the perceived usability of tools used to gather information on climate vulnerabilities and adaptations. This goal is achieved through using a design challenge focused on designing for climate resilience and adaptation in the electric power industry (which focuses on generation, transmission, and distribution) using findings from the Electric Power Research Institute's Climate READi initiative as a means to train students how to design more effectively for electric power systems, as well as take a more creative approach to their designs. The findings from this research will be applied to develop a validated scale for analyzing behaviors, attitudes, and knowledge on climate adaptation and resilience that will be applied on a larger scale.