Integrating an environmental ethic into undergraduate engineering education-a case study at Grand Valley State University

The integration of an environmental theme into the entire undergraduate engineering curriculum at Grand Valley State University (GVSU) is described. This integrated approach for all students is driven by industry demand that all engineers understand how the practice of their profession affects the environment. A new set of tools is required to meet this demand, yet the typical undergraduate curriculum is already so crowded that the insertion of new material is extremely difficult. The author describes how this challenge has been met by the program at GVSU and provides guidance for continued curriculum development. An attempt has been made to integrate an environmental ethic into the program by developing and employing laboratory exercises which use the context of a real environmental problem to teach the traditional engineering topics as well as the newer topics dictated by industry