UBC ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING PROGRAMME (ENVL-UBC)
In 2018, I co-wrote (along with Greg Lawrence, Madjid Mohseni, and Sue Baldwin) the successful proposal for a new environmental engineering programme at UBC. The hall-mark of this program is the curricular focus on sustainability and engineering concepts and practices.
ENVL-UBC CORE COURSES
- ENVE 200 – Environmental Engineering Design & Decision-making
Co-developed in 2020 with Naoko Ellis, this case-based course trains students to effectively consider design solutions to complex sustainability problems.
- ENVE 203 – Environmental Engineering & Sustainability
Developed in 2020.
ENVL-UBC TECHNICAL ELECTIVE COURSES
- CIVL 475/598K – Environmental Stewardship in Civil Engineering
In collaboration with the Municipal Natural Assets Initiative, this course was redeveloped in 2021 to focus on Municipal Natural Asset Management
UBC/UNBC ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING CORE COURSES
- CIVL 250 – Engineering and Sustainable Development
This on-line course consists of 8 learning modules that first introduce students to the concept of sustainable development and its relevance to engineering practice, then help students uncover engineering-for-sustainability topics such as systems thinking, professional development, engineering for sustainable cities (including mass and energy flows in cities, the integrated design process of buildings, and sustainability certification processes for the built environment), engineering for sustainable supply chains (including bio-mimicry, industrial ecology, and life cycle assessments) and humanitarian engineering (including stakeholder analysis and appropriate technology). the course culminates in a small leadership project.
The new course described above was piloted in 2013-2014 with approximately 40 students. The course will offer 160 “seats” in the 2014-2015 academic year. This course replaces the former CIVL 200 (also entitled “Engineering and Sustainable Development”), introduced by Professor Jim Atwater in 1994 and subsequently developed into an on-line course by sessional lecturer, Dr. Fiona Crofton, who taught the course for many years.
CIVIL ENGINEERING CORE COURSES
- CIVL 201 and 202 – Introduction to Civil Engineering Practice
These consecutive core courses, offered since the 2007/08 academic year, are intended to situate students to civil engineering practice (approximately 120 per year) by asking student teams to work with community partners to complete service-learning projects aimed at enhancing community assets (see McKnight). The community partners take on the critical role of co-educators as each student team learns about project management and is prepared to consider the influence of interacting and nested systems on civil engineering professional practice.
- CIVL 302 – Engineering Impacts
This is a blended course focusing on sustainability and urban infrastructure, was developed and first taught in 2019. It is based on material from CIVL 475 (see below), after consultation with undergraduate students that were organized by the CIVL Club.
- CIVL 445 – Engineering Design and Analysis
The capstone design course for the civil engineering programme (approximately 130 students/year), this course was first introduced, co-developed and co-taught by Dr.s Jim Atwater, John Howie, Barbara Lence, and me. The course focuses on students gaining experience in applying the civil engineering design process. It consists of weekly plenary lectures followed by design sessions during which student teams work on the design of a significant civil engineering project.
CIVIL ENGINEERING TECHNICAL ELECTIVE COURSES
First designed and taught in 2009, students learn the ecosystem approach to infrastructure design and explore applications of environmental stewardship. This version of the course is no longer offered but the fundamental material was shifted to CIVL 302 (see above) in 2019.
- CIVL 598b – Leadership in Sustainability in Civil Engineering (offered once)
This student-driven, CSL course, introduces students to the fundamental concepts of sustainability in civil engineering practice, then asks students to develop leadership skills and a foundational sustainability tool kit for civil engineering applications.
- CIVL 598 – Civil Engineering and Sustainability (offered twice)
This student-driven course, co-developed and co-taught with Dr. Thomas Froese, first introduced students to the fundamental concepts of sustainability in civil engineering practice, then asked students to develop and present materials related to the application of sustainability concepts in civil engineering practice.
- APSC 498b – Assessing for Sustainability (offered once)
This course was a transdisciplinary, student-driven, course for senior students from across campus. Course content focused on collaborative discussions and analysis support for decision-making about natural resource use. The development and delivery of this course was supported, in part, by funds from the Aqua-3 Consortium led at UBC by Dr. Barbara Lence.
- CIVL 598 – Angles on Green Buildings (offered once)
A trans-institutional course offered jointly by Simon Fraser University, The British Columbia Institute of Technology, Emily Carr University of Art and Design, and the University of British Columbia, this course was co-designed and co-taught by Duane Elverum (ECUAD), Meg Holden (SFU), John Robinson (UBC), Don Yen (BCIT), and me. The course content focused on a range of topics related to green infrastructure.
UBC APPLIED SCIENCE PROGRAM CORE COURSES
- Sustainability in Engineering Design
A three week learning module in APSC 150 – Engineering Case Studies. introducing first year engineering students to the concept of sustainability. This module has been taught to the first year engineering class (approximately 800 students per year) since 2004. The learning in this module asks students to consider context during engineering design. Analysis tools such as Life Cycle Assessments and Stakeholder Analysis are introduced.