MS4664: Environmental Sustainability & Materials
| Academic Units | 3 |
| Semester | 2 |
| Pre-requisite(s) | MS1013; MS1017 |
| Co-requisite(s) | Nil |
Course Instructors
Associate Professor Andrew Clive Grimsdale
Course AIMS
The objectives of this course are to introduce you to the environmental aspects of materials, and the role materials engineers play in building a sustainable environment, including topics such as the principles of green design, industrial ecology, product life cycle assessment, and relevant materials research for environmental and energy applications.
This course will be helpful to students intending to specialize in environmentally conscious product design and manufacturing processes involving the usage of modern materials.
Intended Learning Outcomes
By the end of this course, you (as a student) would be able to:
- Understand the broad principles of environmental engineering.
- Understand the environmental impacts of materials and chemical processing.
- Evaluate and critically assess environmental life cycles of various materials.
- Evaluate and describe advanced material usage in energy and environmental applications.
Course Content
- Introduction to environmental issues and sustainability
- The essential natural environmental cycles
- Carbon cycle and climate change
- Environmental remediation – Soil and Water
- Sustainable concepts for food production
- Competing energy sources
- Renewable energy sources
- Energy transport and storage
- Materials life cycles, life cycle analyses, and eco-audits 1
- Materials life cycles, life cycle analyses, and eco-audits 2
- Case studies and materials selection 1
- Case studies and materials selection 2
Reading and References
Textbook
Michael Ashby, Materials and the Environment, Butterworth-Heinemann, 2013