Integrating Sustainability Grand Challenges and Experiential Learning into Engineering Curricula: Years 1 and 2

Abstract

Kristen Parrish is an Assistant Professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment at Arizona State University (ASU). Kristen's work focuses on integrating energy efficiency measures into building design, construction, and operations processes. Specifically, she is interested in novel design processes that financially and technically facilitate energy-efficient buildings. Her work also explores how principles of lean manufacturing facilitate energy-efficiency in the commercial building industry. Another research interest of Kristen's is engineering education, where she explores how project-and experience-based learning foster better understanding of engineering and management principles. Prior to joining ASU, Kristen was at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) as a Postdoctoral Fellow and then a Scientific Engineering Associate (2011)(2012) in the Building Technologies and Urban Systems Department. She worked in the Commercial Buildings group, developing energy efficiency programs and researching technical and non-technical barriers to energy efficiency in the buildings industry. She has a background in collaborative design and integrated project delivery. She holds a BS and MS in Civil Engineering from the University of Michigan and a PhD in Civil Engineering Systems from University of California Berkeley. Her research ranges from design of systems based on industrial ecology and byproduct synergies, life cycle and sustainability assessments of biopolymers and biofuels, and design and analysis of sustainable solutions for healthcare. Since 2007, she has lead seven federal research projects and collaborated on many more, totaling over $7M in research, with over $12M in collaborative research. At ASU, Dr. Landis continues to grow her research activities and collaborations to include multidisciplinary approaches to sustainable systems with over 60 peer-reviewed publications. Dr. Landis is dedicated to sustainability engineering education and outreach; she works with local high schools, after school programs, local nonprofit organizations, and museums to integrate sustainability and engineering into K-12 and undergraduate curricula. Complex global challenges require multidisciplinary, sustainable solutions; the next generation of engineering students must be prepared to apply sustainability concepts to solve these challenges. Many undergraduate engineering students, however, report that they do not feel prepared to address these challenges because they were not introduced to these concepts during their engineering education. In addition, students report educational deficiencies of real world engineering and applied sustainability concepts as areas that need critical improvement in their education. This NSF TUES 2 project evaluates two methods for integrating grand challenges and sustainability into engineering curricula, termed as the stand-alone course method, and the module method. In the stand-alone course method, engineering programs establish one to two distinct courses t...

Integrating Sustainability Grand Challenges and Experiential Learning into Engineering Curricula: Years 1 through 3

“…The core TUES 2 research team has engaged several faculty outside of their institutions, including faculty at Laney College, Community College of Allegheny County, and Mesa Community College 14 . During Y2 the TUES 2 project expanded its original boundaries to Chandler-Gilbert Community College (located in Chandler, Arizona) due to the movement of one collaborator 15 . The establishment of our faculty network and deployment of modules and courses within engineering courses and curriculum six institutions has impacted the education of more than 2,000 students in the first three years of this project.…”