Materials Engineering

Materials 4: Design Strategies for Transformative Innovation

Linda Vanasupa — Wed, 19 Dec 2012 15:08:13 PST

What can we learn from nature's designs for sustainability? This video compares nature's methods with the industrial era methods of design. It recommends a design strategy based on the connection or relationship between things as a means to achieve transformative innovation for sustainability. This video is part of the Sustainability Learning Suites created by Jane Qiong Zhang and Linda Vanasupa in association with Julie Zimmerman and Jim Mihelcic.

Materials 3: Assessing and Reducing Life Cycle Impact

Linda Vanasupa — Wed, 19 Dec 2012 15:08:11 PST

Life cycle assessment methods help designers identify high-leverage re-design opportunities. Each method has advantages and disadvantage, which are reviewed here. This video is part on the Sustainability Learning Suites created by Jane Qiong Zhang and Linda Vanasupa in association with Julie Zimmerman and Jim Mihelcic.

Materials 2: Life Cycle View of Material

Linda Vanasupa — Wed, 19 Dec 2012 15:08:08 PST

The life cycle of a material or process enables one to consider account for the impact of the raw material, the manufacture, the use and disposal steps. The life cycle framework is explained in this video. It describes what happens at each step in the life cycle and why designers should consider the life cycle in the design process. This video is based on the Sustainability Learning Suites created by Jane Qiong Zhang and Linda Vanasupa in association with Julie Zimmerman and Jim Mihelcic.

Materials 1: An Introduction to Global Resources and Reserves

Linda Vanasupa — Wed, 19 Dec 2012 15:08:04 PST

This video examines the global perspective of materials. It looks that the difference between reserves and resources and considers the question of "running out" of materials. This videos is part of the Sustainability Learning Suites created by Jane Qiong Zhang and Linda Vanasupa in association with Julie Zimmerman and Jim Mihelcic.

The Systemic Correlation Between Mental Models and Sustainable Design: Implications for Engineering Educators

Linda Vanasupa et al. — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 14:54:21 PST

Many studies have illuminated our understanding of the kinds of competencies and behaviors exhibited by effective designers. Against the backdrop of global challenges made more urgent by unintentional negative impacts of engineered products and systems, however, we are left to deduce that our ways of educating engineering designers is fundamentally flawed. We assert that one can trace the cause of our collective, unintended negative consequences to the mental models of reality that we consciously or unconsciously carry. In this paper, we present the case for developing awareness and facility with mental models. We also suggest an alternate mental model as the foundation for sustainable design. This model depicts reality as embedded systems of economies inside society and inside the environment. We also discuss how the engineering educator can use the model to build a foundation for holistically viewing design for sustainability. Student responses to a course based on the proposed ideas are also presented as evidence that students’ can value mental models and that working with them effectively changes their world conception.

The Human Dimension of Systemic Department-Level Change: A Change Agent’s Retrospective on a Case of Reform

Linda Vanasupa — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 14:54:19 PST

This paper represents a narrative of the process of department-level reform through the eyes of the initiating agent of change. Over the course of reform, our program has grown by 40%, primarily through retaining students. We exhibit a 10% net important rate of engineering students in the first two years of the curriculum relative to the college’s 5% mean export rate. Student freshmen SAT scores also indicate that we are attracting students with more balanced learning interests. The design of our Department Level Reform grant was to advance the knowledge of how to design engineering learning experiences that accomplish two social imperatives: retaining women and other underrepresented groups in the engineering degree programs; and equipping engineers to solve the technical challenges in the context of our complex global society. There is evidence that we are fulfilling our aims, but time will tell. This paper is focused on the impact that our reforms have had on the faculty. In the process of reform, I have emerged with these convictions: 1. Decisions are not made by data but by examining consequences against our values; 2. Humans should not be viewed or treated like mechanistic objects; 3. Structural changes that do not proceed from changes in mental models will not survive; 4. The anxiety around change must be mindfully managed at multiple stakeholder levels; and 5. Sustained change requires interactions with external agents. In this paper, I chronicle the process of change, the agents of change, their actions, and some of the results by the numbers. I also reflect on the meaning and provide recommendations.

Challenges in Transdisciplinary, Integrated Projects: Reflections on the Case of Faculty Members’ Failure to Collaborate

Linda Vanasupa et al. — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 14:54:11 PST

In this article we describe the challenges of transdisciplinary teamwork involving four faculty members from dissimilar epistemological traditions in the process of developing a manuscript on the lessons learned in our teaching collaboration. Our difficulty originated in implicit mental models and assumptions that caused incongruence between our intent to collaborate and the (habituated) relationship structure of the partnership. The dynamics are described through the lens of Tannenbaum and Schmidt’s leadership model and Aristotle’s causality. We suggest that successful collaboration necessitates careful attention to the process of establishing the collaboration, its structure, and the metacognitive capacities to see one’s own thinking, suspend one’s epistemic beliefs, and engage in productive dialogue around conflict.

Transformational Innovation: Reflections on How to Foster it in Engineering Education Systems

Roger Burton et al. — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 14:54:09 PST

This paper describes the educators’ disposition that we believe is required for transformational innovation. Innovating in this domain relies on interrupting existing patterns. This interruption requires the conscious recognition of patterns through an active practice of self observation. Though self observation does not necessarily need a collective process, it is served by encountering the diversity of views present in groups. Innovation in this sense consists of a fundamental identity shift in the human system and the innovators themselves. Unlike the processes of problem solving and process improvement, transformational innovation requires insight into the individual and collective attention of the designers. It also allows access to unexamined mental models and apparent cause and effect relationships. The praxis of transformational innovation within organizations looks like an active practice of reflection, experimentation and learning within the human system. We explain the theoretical perspective, suggest a protocol to begin experimenting with self observation for the purpose of pattern interruption, summarize preliminary results from a year-long process of action research involving over 25 university agents in such a change process, and comment on the limitations and risks in the protocol.

Water 4: The Water-Energy Connection

Linda Vanasupa — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 14:08:40 PST

When industrial era technologies are being used, water use is closely connected to energy use; however, 1 liter of water used for one type of energy extraction is not equivalent to 1 liter for another. This video explains why.

Water 3: Accounting For Our Water Needs

Linda Vanasupa — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 14:08:37 PST

While we are surrounded by water, many regions experience water scarcity. How can we account for the water needed? This video looks at different water budgeting methods to include the water footprint tool by Hoekstra et al of the WaterFootprint Network (www.waterfootprint.org).

Water 2: The Hydrologic Cycle

Linda Vanasupa — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 14:08:36 PST

Fresh water is provided for our use through the hydrologic cycle, leading to water stored in various compartments. Global climate change has the effect of moving water from accessible storage compartments to inaccessible compartments.

Water 1: The Global Picture

Linda Vanasupa — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 14:08:34 PST

This video looks at at questions like "How can there be a water shortage when we are surrounded by water?"

Sustainable Development 3: Resilience: Following Nature's Example

Linda Vanasupa — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 12:23:12 PST

This video looks at CS Holling and associates' view of sustainable development - resilience and adaptive capacity. This videos is part of the Sustainability Learning Suites created by Jane Qiong Zhang and Linda Vanasupa in association with Julie Zimmerman and Jim Mihelcic.

Sustainable Development 4: Human Impact - The IPAT Equation

Linda Vanasupa — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 11:24:39 PST

In the 1970s, environmentalists in the United States came up with the concept of human impact (I) on the environment, which was conceived of as a product of the population (P), affluence (A) and technology (T). This equation, the IPAT equation, provides insights and has limitations. This video explores these ideas. This video is based on the Sustainability Learning Suites created by Jane Qiong Zhang and Linda Vanasupa in association with Julie Zimmerman and Jim Mihelcic.

Sustainable Development 2: How Do We Measure It?

Linda Vanasupa — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 11:24:38 PST

A persistent question in the emergent science is "How do you measure sustainability?" This video looks at different sustainability indicators. This video is based on the Sustainability Learning Suites created by Jane Qiong Zhang and Linda Vanasupa in association with Julie Zimmerman and Jim Mihelcic.

Sustainable Development 1: An Introduction

Linda Vanasupa — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 11:24:34 PST

Sustainability is a concept that emerged from scientific understanding of how human activity could affect the planet. In this video, we describe sustainable development's history as a concept and discuss different models for sustainable development. This video is based on the Sustainability Learning Suites created by Jane Qiong Zhang and Linda Vanasupa in association with Julie Zimmerman and Jim Mihelcic.

Population 2: The Ecological Footprint

Linda Vanasupa — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 14:15:54 PDT

This video takes an in-depth look at the ecological footprint. This indicator, developed by Wackernagel an others, is explained along with its limitations. There is also an analysis of the global ecological footprint as currently analyzed. This videos is part of the Sustainability Learning Suites created by Jane Qiong Zhang and Linda Vanasupa in association with Julie Zimmerman and Jim Mihelcic.

Population 1: Global Population and Carrying Capacity

Linda Vanasupa — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 14:15:50 PDT

This video serves as an introduction to global population. It explores the concept of carrying capacity and how this idea might be applied to determining the population that can be supported by the earth. This videos is based on the Sustainability Learning Suites created by Jane Qiong Zhang and Linda Vanasupa in association with Julie Zimmerman and Jim Mihelcic.

Energy 5: Renewable and non-renewable resources

Linda Vanasupa — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 08:13:00 PDT

This video distinguishes between renewable and non-renewable energy resources. It examines the question, "How long to do we have before we exhaust non-renewable resources?" It also looks at alternatives to non-renewable energy resources. This video is part of the Sustainability Learning Suites created by Jane Qiong Zhang and Linda Vanasupa in association with Julie Zimmerman and Jim Mihelcic.

Energy 4: Fossil fuels and the greenhouse gas effect

Linda Vanasupa — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 08:12:59 PDT

This video describes in detail the greenhouse effect and how recovery from energy from fossile fuels results in green house gases. It is part of the Sustainability Learning Suites created by Jane Qiong Zhang and Linda Vanasupa in association with Julie Zimmerman and Jim Mihelcic.