SFI Activities in Education

Graduate Certificate in Sustainability

This Certificate formally recognizes curricular breadth in the following areas: i) policy, societal, and economic systems, ii) environmental systems, and iii) industrial systems. The student has the opportunity to achieve specialized education in engineering, forestry, science, social sciences, humanities, business, and economics.

Graduate Certificate in Sustainability

SFI Courses

Course offerings by semester can be found at: http://www.admin.mtu.edu/em/students/plan/index.php

ENG 3530 - Undergraduate Colloquium in Sustainability

Readings and speakers are used to teach concepts of sustainable development and global sustainability. Specific topics are derived from the industrialized and developing world.

ENG 5510 - Sustainable Futures I

Covers introductory and intermediate concepts of Sustainable Development. Explores methods/tools for assessing sustainability from economic, environmental, societal perspectives for current and emerging industrial technologies. Life cycle assessment is the major tool for evaluating sustainability. Explores applications of LCA in the public policy arena and also in the private sector. Industrial applications of sustainable development is further explored through case studies and guest lectures.

ENG 5520 - Sustainable Futures II  

Covers sustainability in developed and developing countries. Topics include policy analysis, regulatory impact & cost benefit analyses, trade & markets, laws & regulations, international disasters, GIS applications, green manufacturing, and evolution of environmental policy in U.S. and other countries

ENG 5530 - Graduate Colloquium in Sustainability

Introduces students to general and specific issues related to sustainability. Topics include review and discussion of historical readings that define the movement towards sustainability, international issues related to sustainable development, corporate leadership, consumption, and societal issues.

CE 5511 - Air Quality and the Built Environment

Investigates the complex interaction between the engineered environments in developed and developing nations and air quality. Major topics include: air pollutant health impacts and epidemiology, indoor air quality, urban design and air quality, infrastructure and air quality, and atmospheric sustainability.

ADDITIONAL COURSE OFFERED IN CERTIFICATE: BA 4630 and 5630>

The School of Business and Economics plans to offer BA 4630 Operation
Strategy in the Fall 2006 for students interested in including this in
their SFI Graduate Certificate in Sustainability. Also, during Summer
2007 Track A the graduate version BA 5630 will be offered.

Link to ENG5510-4510, SS5510-4510 Sustainable Futures I:

Interdisciplinary Educational Programs

Graduate Studies in Sustainability, Industrial Ecology, Pollution Prevention, and Public Policy

Students interested in studying sustainability, industrial ecology, life cycle engineering, environmentally conscious manufacturing, and/or pollution prevention can take classes and conduct their research with an interdisciplinary team of faculty at Michigan Tech. Students interested in this subject area can therefore obtain their graduate degree(s) in Environmental Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or Environmental Policy.

Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) for Sustainable Futures

The vision of this IGERT Project is to develop an integrated scientific and social basis for decision-making on sustainability issues and develop tools and methods that promote sustainability.  This program will engage a diverse group of doctoral, master’s, and undergraduate students in an education/research training program to understand, explore, further develop, and apply the Sustainable Futures Model.

International Programs

Civil & Environmental Master’s International Peace Corps Program

Educational philosophy of the program can be summed up by a graduate student in the program: “Along with gaining valuable engineering skills, he also learned what it was like to put engineering into practice while taking into consideration the social, economic and environmental limitations of the developing world.”

Currently, this is the only Master's International Civil & Environmental Engineering program in the country.  Students have served in the following countries: Belize, Cameroon, Dominican Republic, Honduras, Jamaica, Kenya, Mali, Mauritania, Macedonia, Madagascar, Panama, Philippines, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu    

International Sustainable Engineering Initiative

Our Mission is to promote international sustainable development engineering by nurturing and educating young people to value and implement this vision of a better world.

Undergraduate Students

International Sustainable Development Engineering (ISDE) Certificate

The Michigan Tech International Sustainable Development Engineering (ISDE) Certificate program allows undergraduate engineering students to augment their technical education with the knowledge, skills, and experiences important to working on solutions in developing communities. The 22-semester hour certificate program is designed to be woven throughout any engineering baccalaureate degree program.

Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) in Sustainability

THIS PROGRAM WILL NOT BE HELD IN SUMMER 2008
We HOPE TO RESUME THE PROGRAM IN SUMMER 2009

The Sustainable Futures Model serves as the thematic basis and intellectual focus of the REU program.  The Sustainable Futures Model focuses on research and education in four areas: (1) environmental systems, (2) industrial systems, (3) societal systems, and (4) integrative initiatives that join all three of these areas.

This Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program is open to students majoring in the following (or related) disciplines: engineering, social sciences, business/economics.  Students can elect to perform their research at either Michigan Technological University ( Houghton , Michigan ) or Southern University and A&M College ( Baton Rouge , Louisiana ).

Enterprise Programs

Aqua Terra Tech

The mission of ATT is to develop a comprehensive picture of the hydrogeological setting in which the groundwater supplies reside and conduct a regional water budget analysis to identify groundwater recharge and discharge areas for use by the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community in future development planning.  The members of the enterprise are also actively pursuing several technical opportunities with funding agencies, consulting firms, and industries.

Alternative Fuels Group Enterprise

The Alternative Fuels Enterprise is committed to providing an opportunity for young professionals in multiple academic disciplines to interact with industry and faculty and to provide viable solutions to real world energy problems.

International Senior Design

The class is designed to emulate work of a design/build firm in industry while providing a meaningful class experience that combines field construction with an engineering design project to benefit people of the developing world. The experience provides students a platform to consider economic and health factors, social and societal impact, application of appropriate technology, constructability and sustainability, safety, reliability, aesthetics, ethics, and environmental limitations of the developing world while applying engineering skills to a design that results in a more sustainable Earth.

Pre-college Students, K-12

Western Upper Peninsula Center for Science, Mathematics and Environmental Education

The Center offers a wide variety of programs focused on enhancing the teaching and learning of science and mathematics in the 21 school districts of the five western counties of Michigan 's Upper Peninsula . Teacher professional development programs help teachers to implement state and national standards and to actively engage their students in learning. In addition, Center staff provide support to schools districts as they align their curriculum to state curriculum standards.

K-12 Education Links

Professional Development (K-12 teachers and non-formal educators)

Courses for Teachers

MTU course offerings for Teacher Training, Summer 2007

Lessons/Activities for teaching about sustainability

Green Building

Water / Great Lakes

K-8 Lesson Plans: The Great Lakes and Environmental Sustainability (PDF)

Water Quality Investigations

The Agassiz is available for educational cruses for middle/high school students and their teachers, extending their classrooms to include the waters of Lake Superior and the Keweenaw Waterway. Students have enthusiastically embraced this hands-on learning experience.

"Aboard Michigan Tech's Research Vessel: Agassiz" (PDF)
"Michigan Tech R/V Agassiz: School Reservation Form 2006" (PDF)

Transportation & Energy Use

Online Web Modules

Michigan Environmental Education Curriculum

 

The center is a partnership of Michigan Tech and both the Copper Country and Gogebic-Ontonagon Intermediate School Districts. With an award, funded by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, the Western U.P. Center is working to develop three curriculum units: energy and resources, ecosystems, and water quality.  The development of each curriculum unit will be guided by an eight-member team, comprised of MTU faculty, faculty from other universities, resource professionals, and educators from throughout Michigan .

Tech Alive

Tech Alive is a web-based platform for dissemination of educational materials, research results, and the scholarly products of Michigan Tech's students, staff, and faculty as well as off-campus collaborators in academia, government and industry.

Community

Center for Educational Technology, Research and Assessment (CETRA)

CETRA is dedicated to educational improvement through linkages between cutting edge scientific and engineering research to classroom teachers. CETRA provides program and project assessment and evaluation; designs instructional programs in mathematics, science, technology, and social science based on educational research; develops technology-rich instruction; and provides support for the professional development of teachers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).

Center for Science & Environmental Outreach

The GEM Center for Science and Environmental Outreach is a nonprofit team of professionals and volunteers who provide educational programs, technical expertise, and information to schools, organizations, governments, and individuals to promote awareness and informed personal actions and public policy concerning regional environmental issues.

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Sustainable Futures Institute
Michigan Technological University
1400 Townsend Drive
Houghton, Michigan, 49931 - 1295, USA
Institute Phone: 1-906-487-3612 or 1-906-487-0044
Institute Fax: 1-906-487-2943
Institute E-mail: sfi@mtu.edu

09/17/2007

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