2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Work in Progress: Designing for End of Life With Dignity

Presented at The "Bigger Picture" In EnvE and Sustainability- ENVEST Division (Tech Session 2/7)

Engineers are trained to extend and improve life through technological solutions, yet end-of-life (EOL) experiences often reflect a tension between maximizing bodily longevity and supporting emotional wellbeing, spiritual closure, and planetary health. A disproportionate share of healthcare’s environmental footprint – and resource consumption – occurs in the final year(s) of life due to carbon-intensive hospitalizations and “medicalized” deaths. This work-in-progress (WIP) describes a convergence-based educational intervention that integrates palliative nursing perspectives with environmental engineering design to strengthen “death literacy” among engineering students. A pilot module in a senior/graduate-level sustainability course challenged students to re-evaluate standard definitions of “needs” within the classic Brundtland definition of sustainable development while reframing EOL care as a design space where dignity and environmental responsibility intersect. Preliminary assessment data from a single 50-minute lecture offered in two different offerings of a 15-week semester-long course indicate positive student engagement with non-traditional dimensions of sustainability, including psychosocial and spiritual wellbeing. Future iterations are expected to incorporate technical design tools such as Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to evaluate burial practices and identify opportunities for sustainable, dignified EOL systems. These future iterations will require additional course time, including an extended homework example. As a WIP, this ongoing work aims to prepare engineers to design not only for life, but also for the complexities and constraints of dying with dignity on a planet of finite resources.

Authors

Dr. Daniel B Oerther P.E. http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6724-3205 Missouri University of Science and Technology [biography]

Professor Daniel B. Oerther, PhD, PE joined the faculty of the Missouri University of Science and Technology in 2010 as the John A. and Susan Mathes Chair of Civil Engineering after serving for ten years on the faculty of the University of Cincinnati where he was head of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Professor Oerther is internationally recognized for leadership of engineers, sanitarians, and nurses promoting the practice the sustainable development, local to global. Dan is a Past President of the American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists. He is a Diplomate Laureate of the American Academy of Sanitarians. Dan is a Fellow of the Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors, the American Academy of Nursing, the National League for Nursing, and the National Academies of Practice. In the United Kingdom, he is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health, the Royal Society for Public Health, and the Society of Operations Engineers. Professor Oerther's awards as an educator include the Excellence in Environmental Engineering Education Award from the American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists, the Gordon Maskew Fair Distinguished Engineering Educator Medal from the Water Environment Federation, the Engineering Education Excellence Award from the National Society of Professional Engineers, the Robert G. Quinn Award from the American Society for Engineering Education, and the Duncan Fraser Global Award for Excellence in Engineering Education from the International Federation of Engineering Education Societies.

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