An Assignment For Awareness Of Some Environmental Issues Related To Thermodynamics

The new ABET criteria outcome (h) is the broad education necessary to understand the impact of engineering solutions in an environmental and societal context. This was partially addressed by selecting an assignment for a class of seven students taking the first course of thermodynamics at the mechanical engineering department of the University of Detroit Mercy. The assignment consisted of identifying one of the negative impacts of energy conversion on the environment, describing it, its cause, the pollutants associated with it, its effect on the environment and any governmental regulations that deal with it. The students selected acid rain, greenhouse effect and smog formation. They worked in three groups. The assignment proved to be beneficial in many ways. It put one of the topics of thermodynamics in perspective. The assignment also partially fulfilled one of the targeted outcomes for accreditation, as mentioned above. The benefits of the assignment on the students’ understanding of some of the environmental issues were assessed by carefully analyzing their reports and by using a survey that they had to complete. Both methods showed that the students enjoyed and learned a great deal about the topic they had to write about. When asked if the assignment would resonate with them after graduating, they all said ‘yes’, and thus they would take the environmental effects as a factor when making engineering decision.