MSE481

Designing Sustainable Products and Processes

Projects based on environmental sustainability. Project based teamwork. Life Cycle Analysis (LCA). Techno-Economic Analysis (TEA). Engineering economics. Environmental impact with emphasis on CO2 utilization. Identification of key technology drivers to reduce cost and environmental impact. Written and oral presentations of solutions.

Level Undergraduate
Terms Offered Fall
Textbook Production & Processing of Inorganic Materials: Evans/ De Jonghe
Instructor(s)
Carlos Engler-Pinto

Course Objectives


  1. To teach students approaches to engineering design and the role of materials and their selection.

  2. To provide an overview of engineering economic principles and their consideration in design projects.

  3. To introduce technical and economic information searching procedures and their role in design.

  4. To provide an introduction to modern design procedures.

  5. To provide students with a methodology for preparing a project design, and then to present this result in a written and an oral report

  6. To include discussion of ethical, societal and legal issues which may arise in the design context.

Course Outcomes


  1. To teach students approaches to engineering design and the role of materials and their selection.

  2. To provide an overview of engineering economic principles and their consideration in design projects.

  3. To introduce technical and economic information searching procedures and their role in design.

  4. To provide an introduction to modern design procedures.

  5. To provide students with a methodology for preparing a project design, and then to present this result in a written and an oral report

  6. To include discussion of ethical, societal and legal issues which may arise in the design context.

Assessment Tools


  1. Problem sets to test objectives #1-4

  2. Evaluation of design project

  3. Evaluation of written report for written communication

  4. Evaluation of oral presentation for oral communication

Course Topics


  1. Materials in engineering design.

  2. Engineering economics, time value of money

  3. Depreciation, profitability, return on investment.

  4. Cost estimation

  5. Library/Technical and Economic Information Searching

  6. Patents and intellectual property

  7. Report writing

  8. Case histories in design

  9. Alternative processing

  10. Oral presentations

  11. Ethical, societal and legal aspects of design

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