Course Description
A global-systems quantitative study, design, model development, and facilitated discussion of global resources, demands, science, engineering, technologies, and anticipated changes in an era of acceleration.
Athena Title
Engineering Rapid Change
Prerequisite
Permission of department
Semester Course Offered
Offered fall
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
1) Earth’s biomes and cycles and their functionality to maintain overall biosphere health. 2) Civilization’s current and future materials, food, energy, and water requirements. 3) Earth’s available renewable and nonrenewable resources. 4) Projected technologies and engineering needed to meet civilization’s future food, energy, and water needs. 5) Ability to conceptualize, quantify, visualize, and design solutions which integrate available resources with corresponding human demands. 6) The role of modern economics to aid in the delivery of goals and services.
Topical Outline
1) Earth’s biomes; carbon, nitrogen, and hydrological cycles; past and current trends. 2) Earth’s energetics, including insolation, photosynthesis, metabolism, and all renewable energies of the biosphere; past and current trends. 3) Preindustrial and industrial civilization; modern age of acceleration. 4) Land impacts, natural resource, food, and energy needs of civilization. 5) Domestic and wastewater science, engineering, technologies, capabilities, and future designs. 6) Food system science, engineering, technologies, capabilities, and future designs. 7) Energy system science, engineering, technologies, capabilities, and future designs. 8) Modern economic policy and systems. 9) Engineering and science systems design technology and methods. Methodologies 1. Faculty and student lectures and discussions 2. Identifying and accessing pertinent past and current literature 3. Assessing validity and quality of information 4. Conceptual and quantitative (software aided) designs and model development 5. Making predictions 6. Visualizing and the development of visual aids
Syllabus
Public CV