Report on Engineering Schools 2

Students savour green content

More engineering courses and extracurricular activities are catering to a growing interest in environmental issues among engineering students

PAUL LIMA

Special to The Globe and Mail

May 5, 2008

Peter Topalovic is working as an intern with the city of Hamilton, Ont., on sustainability infrastructure programs. One might expect to find a civil engineering graduate helping a city go green, rather than a computer engineer. But Mr. Topalovic spent an extra year at McMaster University so he could graduate from "computer engineering and society," a combined program that allowed him to develop technical skills and explore the social aspects of engineering.

"We looked at the implications of technology at the design stage, including how design affects the environment, and how engineering can be used to prevent environmental problems," says Mr. Topalovic, 29, who will complete his master's of engineering and public policy in September.

Among other things, the master's program makes engineers aware of the lifecycle of products - design, use, discard -and how waste can be reduced by using less material or by maximizing reuse and recycling. He is also studying how government policies, voluntary corporate governance and private-public partnerships can help foster a greener approach to design, manufacturing, ecosystems and waste reduction.

"Technology development, too, often goes along unchecked, without looking at the consequences," Mr. Topalovic says.

"As engineers, we have to ask how to mitigate negative consequences. We have to think about the future now, which can be difficult," as his course of study demonstrated. For example, nanotechnology might revolutionize the production of solar panels but a great deal of uncertainty surrounds the effect nanoparticles may have on health and the environment. "There is a lot of promise in the technology, but will short-term gain lead to long-term pain?" he wonders.

Mr. Topalovic may not be a typical engineering graduate, but he thinks he is starting to represent a change in attitude in engineering. "There is a trend towards more responsible engineering. It's not large, but is definitely growing."

McMaster statistics support that view. About 10 per cent, or 200 students, of the school's engineering students are enrolled in five-year programs that include environmental courses and components, says David Wilkinson, dean of engineering.

Students in five-year programs can take courses in psychology, drama or language, as well as courses that help them see where engineering "fits into the context of societal events," says Brian Baetz, director of the five-year Engineering and Society program. He says the school is training "the renaissance engineer" with technical, critical thinking, analytical, research and writing skills. "They can do the nitty-gritty but they can also step back and ask if there are solutions that use fewer resources, or even ask if a project is needed."

McMaster has been offering five-year programs for 15 years and green studies are becoming more important to the university and its students, Mr. Wilkinson says.

However, students don't have be part of a five-year program to take courses that address green issues. "Sustainable manufacturing process" is a popular elective that four-year engineering students in a variety of disciplines take. Chemical engineering students take courses dealing with biotechnology; the civil engineering program includes water resource management courses; and engineering physics has a number of courses related to nuclear technology. In addition, McMaster, like many other universities, offers graduate engineering programs that target environmental issues.

Undergrad engineering programs are starting to include environmental courses, "but the more pervasive invasion is green topics in many existing courses and in extracurricular activities," says Bruce Dunwoody, associate dean, engineering programs at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.

For example, UBC students in a first-year course complete four case studies dealing with how to approach problems.

One professor is passionate about sustainability and her case studies focus on how to develop more sustainable projects.

Engineering student clubs and extracurricular activities often focus on green initiatives, such as the international Supermileage competition in which engineering and technology students design and build a single-person, fuel-efficient vehicle.

Last year, UBC's Supermileage Team placed first (for the fourth year in a row), beating 40 teams from Canada, the United States and India. The 36-kilogram, carbon-fibre vehicle with a 54cc engine set a course record of 3,145 miles per gallon, beating the closest rival by more than 1,300 miles per gallon.

As well, the UBC chapter of Engineers Without Borders has designed an irrigation pump for use in developing countries; the club looked at simplifying the design and using materials that might be available in remote villages. Leather was used to create gaskets because it is more likely to be available and is easier to repair so the pump does not have to be fixed by a plumber, Dr. Dunwoody notes.

Not all university administrators are gung-ho about having green courses as part of undergrad engineering programs, however.

"Environmental issues are extremely complex and should be examined at the post-graduate level," says Dr. René Tinawi, acting dean of engineering at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology in Oshawa.

Speaking personally, he says he believes students should obtain classical technical skills at the undergrad level and then specialize in post-graduate programs. "Some universities are touching on [environmental programs] because it is fashionable or to attract more students. You become a doctor first, before you become a heart surgeon. We need to do major surgery on the environment and it's complicated."

Having said that, Dr. Tinawi points out that undergrad engineering students complete a thesis project in their final year and some chose to examine green issues, such as making air conditioners or heat pumps more efficient.

Many engineering students are interested in green initiatives, even if green concepts are not part of their course of study, says James Goh, a computer engineering student at the University of Waterloo.

He's also director of the Waterloo Alternative Fuel Team, an environmental club that integrates alternate fuels with existing automobiles, such as converting a gas-powered vehicle into a propane-powered one, or replacing an internal combustion engine with one that runs on hydrogen. Computer engineering plays a part in such vehicles because they use computerized signal controls, rather than gears and shafts, to ensure the alternative fuels propel the vehicle.

Mr. Goh says that while the "green content is quite low" in many of his engineering courses, students can get involved in going green - if they want to.