Incorporating Life Cycle Assessment in an Introduction to Engineering Course

Abstract

She received her degrees in civil engineering from Lafayette College (B.S.), Cornell University (M.S.), and the University of Maine (Ph.D.). She joined the faculty at Lafayette in 1991. Her teaching interests include geotechnical and foundation engineering, introduction to engineering courses, and courses designed to engage students from the arts, humanities, and social science with engineering topics. Her research interests include risk assessment for earth retaining structures, site investigation methods in karst areas, the use of bacteria to modify the engineering properties of soils, and engineering pedagogy. She has authored or co-authored over 70 publications and has served as principal or co-principal on nine grants from the National Science Foundation. At Lafayette College Dr. Roth has served as Associate Provost for Academic Operations, Director of Engineering, and Department Head of Civil and Environmental Engineering in addition to multiple faculty committee assignments. She has led campus-wide accreditation and assessment initiatives, implemented new faculty orientation programs, directed the development of multiple proposals to private foundations, and coordinated interdisciplinary academic programs. She has received a number of awards in recognition of her scholarship and teaching including a Fulbright research scholarship in Norway, an American Council of Education Fellowship, and multiple teaching awards. Dr. Roth is a member of ASCE, ASEE, and GBA. She is a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Tau Beta Pi and is a licensed engineer in the states of Maine and Pennsylvania.

Implementing Life Cycle Assessment Module in Introduction to Engineering in Different Modalities

“…With the rising need to include consideration of sustainability and resilience in design, life cycle thinking is becoming an important part of the engineering design process. Roth and Malladi [4] reviewed and discussed the research related to the incorporation of sustainability into engineering program curricula and concluded the following:…”

“…Initial implementation of the LCA module in an introduction to engineering course at Lafayette College was described by Roth and Malladi [4]. This module is project-based, and the projects are selected to support campus sustainability efforts.…”

“…Roth and Malladi [4] also described the benefits of incorporating an LCA approach in an introduction to engineering course. These benefits included the need for minimal course resources (e.g., equipment, supplies, or software), the ease of which the module can be adopted by instructors with varying backgrounds, and the availability of open-source educational resources for students.…”

“…With these benefits, the LCA module is especially suitable for online delivery. In their initial evaluation of the LCA module, Roth and Malladi [4] found that students were able to achieve the module learning outcomes described below:…”

“…Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is an approach that examines the environmental impact of a product or process throughout its interdependent life stages [3]. Previous work by the authors [4] describes an LCA module developed for an introductory engineering course taught in-person and in a small seminar format. The module is designed to help students define sustainability, understand the concepts of product life cycle, and gain experience in quantifying environmental impacts of a product by creating life cycle inventories.…”