North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (N.C. A&T) has received a $350,000 allowance from the National Science Foundation and The Lemelson Foundation to balance environmental and social sustainability into its engineering syllabus. Building on past success with other sustainability-focused grants from the National Science Foundation, the latest grant seeks to revise how future generations of engineers will learn about, engage with, and cultivate sustainability throughout their education.
Dr. Steven Jiang is a professor within the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, also the principal investigator for this grant. “Sustainability is often treated as an afterthought,” Jiang said. “This grant allows us to successively mix environmental and social sustainability into our program, guaranteeing that students consider the community and ecological impact in their designs from day one.”
The program will use the framework from Lemelson, especially the one so titled “Engineering for One Planet,” with which it aligned the principles of the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology. This is because the standards have been important to any graduating engineer, thus ensuring that one would acquire competencies needed in designing, coding, and eventually applying solutions that could prove not only openly responsible but also environmentally answerable. This method aligns with the calculated objectives of the department in creating industrial and systems engineers who are “Leaders, Integrators, and Transformers (LIT).”
Furthermore, there is a provision for setting up an advisory board that will help in the integration of the curriculum with industry standards and expertise on the element of sustainability. It shall comprise a sustainability curriculum design specialist, a partner from the industry who has exposure in environmental and social sustainability, and a program officer from a nonprofit whose mission focuses on the betterment of both human life and the planet. The award is part of collaborative efforts toward ensuring that students graduate as forward-thinking engineers committed to driving change across industries toward sustainability.
Faculty members include ISE co-principal investigators: Dr. Lauren Davis, Dr. Muyue Han, and Vernal Alford, M.S. They will work together to ensure sustainable practices are permanently embedded throughout the ISE curriculum.
“Sustainability is at the core of systems thinking, which is the key of industrial and systems engineering,” said Jiang. “Our multidisciplinary approach makes us well-positioned to lead this initiative. Our students have consistently embraced social and environmental responsibility, and this grant offers them more opportunities to apply their knowledge in ways that positively impact the community.”
This initiative will equip N.C. A&T engineering graduates with the skills and capabilities needed to sustainably have a future in an industry becoming increasingly focused on both environmental and social responsibility, thereby enabling its graduates to lead the industry.
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