(90b) A New Course in Concepts, Assessment Tools and Methods in Sustainable Power and Energy Using Novel Course Format and Delivery Methods

Energy and sustainability are important topics in industry, among the public and across college campuses.  Therefore it is important to find innovative ways to incorporate energy and sustainability into the curriculum, both in Chemical Engineering as well as in other engineering disciplines.  This contribution will describe the development and implementation of a new elective course in Concepts, Assessment Tools and Methods in Sustainable Power and Energy at the University of Kentucky.  This course is designed to utilize a mixture of traditional lecture and self-directed web modules to deliver course content to students in a variety of engineering disciplines.  Additionally, this contribution will describe the use of an interactive television connection to allow students at the University of Kentucky main campus in Lexington, the University of Kentucky Extended Campus in Paducah, and off campus graduate students enrolled in the course to attend lecture and participate in classroom discussions.  This new course is included as part of the Power and Energy Certificate program at the University of Kentucky.

This multidisciplinary course presents an overview of the key topics in sustainability and environmental impact assessment for engineers.  Topics included in the course are: assessment of current and potential future energy systems; renewable and conventional energy technologies; supply chain management; sustainability metrics; energy assessment tools; environmental impact assessment; and life cycle assessment.  Topics included in the course are presented and their attributes described within a framework that aids in evaluation and analysis of energy technology systems and designs in the context of political, social, economic, and environmental goals.  This contribution will also present some of the challenges of developing a multidisciplinary course in sustainability, due to the fact that each engineering discipline approach the topic from a slightly different perspective, and the academic backgrounds are different in each discipline as well.  Finally, in addition to the course topics and content, this contribution will include the results of a Pre- and Post- Course assessment of the student’s attitudes and perceived knowledge with regard to sustainability, as well as their personal assessment of the novel course structure and delivery format.

The course to be discussed in this contribution was developed as part of the Power and Energy Institute of Kentucky (PEIK) which is partially funded by the US Department of Energy under grant DE-OE0000409