Aims

The aims of the course are to:

• Introduce some of the key engineering challenges to promote global sustainability

Objectives

As specific objectives, by the end of the course students should be able to:

• Recognise the scale of the global challenges in energy production and control of climate change, and the importance of identifying, quantifying and pursuing developments which will have significant impact.
• Understand a range of opportunities to reduce energy consumption and to implement lower carbon technologies, in different sectors of engineering, in both developed and developing economies.
• Complete a technical investigation into an aspect of Sustainable Engineering.

Content

Students follow up 5 lectures with an individual assignment over the Christmas vacation, submitted as a poster. This is will be followed by a presentation and discussion during Lent term.

Climate Change Mitigation: an Engineering challenge

• Climate Change: review and targets
• What makes a difference and what progress has been made to date?
• Net Zero vs Absolute Zero
• The need for electrification of energy uses

Technology implementation to step up climate change mitigation

Pathways for climate change mitigation

• Buildings
• Transportation
• Industry: steel, cement, plastics, fertilisers

Sustainable Development Goals

• Historic review of international coordination and policy
• Responsibilities for achieving Sustainable Development Goals and implications for the engineering profession
• Examples of evolving engineering practices in response to the sustainability agenda

Objectives

As specific objectives, by the end of the course students should be able to:

• Appreciate the scale of the global challenges in energy production and control of climate change, and the importance of identifying, quantifying and pursuing the developments which will have significant impact.
• Understand a range of opportunities to reduce energy consumption and to implement lower carbon technologies, in different sectors of engineering, in both developed and developing economies.
• Complete a technical investigation into an aspect of Sustainable Engineering of their own choice.

Content

The need to move rapidly toward a lower carbon economy is widely accepted in the Engineering community, to mitigate against climate change, to improve future energy security, and to assist the developing economies of the world. This course will illustrate some of the current issues and applied developments relating to sustainability, in all areas of Engineering. Students follow up the lecture course with their own short research project over the Christmas vacation, submitted as a poster.

1. 29 October. Professor Julian Allwood. Absolute Zero: a pragmatic view of how the UK can deliver on its zero-emissions legal commitment within 29 years

For the past twenty years, we have recognised that climate change is a pressing threat, discussed it endlessly, but every year emissions have risen.  One of the key reasons for this lack of urgency is the hope that new technologies will take the problem away, or at least make it easier to deal with, than if we act now. Obviously, it suits politicians and incumbent businesses to delay acting, in the hope that future action will require less change.  However, we now have just 29 years left to reach zero emissions, and it is relatively unlikely that any new large-scale technologies will have much effect, because it takes a long time to introduce and deploy them.  In this talk, we’ll therefore look in detail at what it would take to reach zero emissions with today’s technologies, and explore the commercial and political context in which decisions about climate mitigation are being played out.

2. 5 November. Dr André Cabrera Serrenho. Are electric cars really zero-emissions? — key principles of technology implementation to step up climate change mitigation

3. 12 November. Dr Claire Barlow. Plastics: a wicked problem

Lightweight, versatile, cheap and hygienic: plastics have transformed our world in the last half century, pervading all aspects of our lives and bringing countless benefits. But their durability, which can be such a valuable attribute, is also their downfall. David Attenborough’s Blue Planet documentaries have highlighted  the devastating effect that waste plastic is having on our environment, particularly focusing on the marine environment. Plastic packaging is seen as iconic of our wasteful throwaway society: should it just be banned?  A more thoughtful approach to the problem requires us to see packaging as part of a complex system, and to consider resource usage across the whole lifecycle of materials and products: used and disposed of wisely, packaging can save huge amounts of resources. In this lecture we will explore wider sustainability aspects of the use of plastics for packaging and examine the alternatives.

4. 19 November. Dr Shaun Fitzgerald. Sustainable buildings

In this session we will first quickly look at the forecast for CO2 emissions under different scenarios, and then delve into the demand which is driving these. Energy use associated with the operation of buildings accounts for the highest forecast growth of any sector, and we will therefore examine some opportunities to reduce this. The session will highlight how we can apply engineering principles and help transform the energy consumption of buildings. We will discuss not just how improvements in our understanding of buildings physics can lead to potential improvements, but use examples from industry and explore some of the barriers which engineers have to overcome in practice. These include working with complete supply chains, understanding the pressures involved, the practical issues of building regulations/guidelines and how these have been changed and can be developed further by you.

5. 26 November. Dr Kristen McAskill. United Nations sustainability goals

This session will provide an overview of the Sustainable Development Goals and the significance of these goals in coalescing an international agenda for sustainable development. To put these goals into context, it will include a short historic review of international coordination and policy. It will consider responsibilities for achieving these goals and implications for the engineering profession. The session will briefly explore examples of how engineering practices have evolved in response to the sustainability agenda and take a brief look at how some professional engineering institutions are now responding.

Objectives

As specific objectives, by the end of the course students should be able to:

• Appreciate the scale of the global challenges in energy production and control of climate change, and the importance of identifying, quantifying and pursuing the developments which will have significant impact.
• Understand a range of opportunities to reduce energy consumption and to implement lower carbon technologies, in different sectors of engineering, in both developed and developing economies.
• Complete a technical investigation into an aspect of Sustainable Engineering of their own choice.

Content

The need to move rapidly toward a lower carbon economy is widely accepted in the Engineering community, to mitigate against climate change, to improve future energy security, and to assist the developing economies of the world. This course will illustrate some of the current issues and applied developments relating to sustainability, in all areas of Engineering. Students follow up the lecture course with their own short research project over the Christmas vacation, submitted as a poster.

1. 25 October. Dr Teng Long. Edison Redux - Greening of electrical power systems using power electronics technologies

120 years ago, Edison and Westinghouse publicly battled over DC (Direct Current) versus AC (Alternating Current) in the War of Currents. Fixed frequency AC won the battle at that time, and became the dominant form of the electric power thanks to its ease and efficiency for high voltage electricity transmission with low losses.  Since that time, however, DC technology has been improved significantly. Transformative semiconductor technologies in electric power applications, known as Power Electronics, enables efficient and controllable conversion between different forms of power: DC, AC, electromagnetic and electromechanical. The advantages offered by Power Electronics have been driving a revolution of greener and more sustainable transport and energy. In this Lecture, state-of-the-art Power Electronics technologies will be introduced, and illustrated with emerging applications of power conversion for intelligent and efficient generation, transfer, storage and consumption of electrical energy. Engineering challenges and future career opportunities in transport electrification and sustainable energy will be briefly discussed, in order to give an overview of the contribution Power Electronics Engineers can make to move and power the world by more sustainable means.

2. 1 November. Dr Michael Ramage. Natural structure: materials, form and force.

The relationship between structural form and natural force allowed medieval master builders to construct spaces that still inspire awe today, many of which would be difficult to recreate.  But with an understanding of antique knowledge, traditional construction, and contemporary computation we can once again explore the form and structure of centuries ago in contemporary architecture and engineering.  Combining historic wisdom with the latest natural material technology offers the promise of novel and sustainable building solutions. Michael Ramage will discus new developments from his research at Cambridge that draws on learning from ancient traditions for contemporary sustainable architecture and engineering.

3. 8 November. Professor Julian Allwood. Use Less.

In this talk, we’ll take a look at how humans are getting on in managing (or not) their impacts on the natural environment, and focus particularly on climate change. The sad reality is that while we talk more and more about global warming, the rate at which our emissions are increasing is itself increasing, and this comes down to the fact that rich countries want to keep continuing getting richer.  As a result, while we’re happy to talk about relative reductions in environmental impact, our absolute impacts are still rising.  The solution is pretty straightforward - we have to use less; less energy, water, material and meat. Doing so wouldn’t be that painful if we made the choice to do so, so we’ll look at how it might happen, how engineers can contribute, and how we can be part of the very broad public debate that’s required to imagine a future in which we aim to grow our well-being more than our incomes.

4. 15 November. Dr Claire Barlow. Critical materials and sustainability: are we running out of resources?

Are we in danger of running out of some materials? It is generally accepted that the way we currently use materials cannot be sustained indefinitely, but opinions vary on what the real ‘crunch points’ are. In this lecture we will explore some of the issues, concentrating on materials which are extracted from the ground. We will look at the basis on which decisions are made about the resources that should be regarded as critical. This is a difficult area: different assumptions and priorities lead to big discrepancies in the materials appearing on the resulting lists. We will then turn to ways in which the problems of materials scarcity can be mitigated. Solutions include substitution of other materials, minimisation of materials usage, and increasing the reclamation of materials and products at end-of-life.

5. 22 November. Dr Claire Barlow. Plastic packaging: challenges, problems and solutions.

Plastic packaging has hit the headlines as iconic of our wasteful throwaway society. But there are other sides to the story: packaging can save huge amounts of resources if used and disposed of wisely. In this lecture we will look at the big picture around the use of plastics for packaging, and examine the alternatives.

Objectives

As specific objectives, by the end of the course students should be able to:

• Appreciate the scale of the global challenges in energy production and control of climate change, and the importance of identifying, quantifying and pursuing the developments which will have significant impact.
• Understand a range of opportunities to reduce energy consumption and to implement lower carbon technologies, in different sectors of engineering, in both developed and developing economies.
• Complete a technical investigation into an aspect of Sustainable Engineering of their own choice.

Content

The need to move rapidly toward a lower carbon economy is widely accepted in the Engineering community, to mitigate against climate change, to improve future energy security, and to assist the developing economies of the world. This course will illustrate some of the current issues and applied developments relating to sustainability, in all areas of Engineering. Students follow up the lecture course with their own short research project over the Christmas vacation, submitted as a poster.

1. 29 October. Dr Claire Barlow. Critical materials and sustainability: are we running out of resources?

Are we in danger of running out of some materials? It is generally accepted that the way we currently use materials cannot be sustained indefinitely, but opinions vary on what the real ‘crunch points’ are. In this lecture we will explore some of the issues, concentrating on materials which are extracted from the ground. We will look at the basis on which decisions are made about the resources that should be regarded as critical. This is a difficult area: different assumptions and priorities lead to big discrepancies in the materials appearing on the resulting lists. We will then turn to ways in which the problems of materials scarcity can be mitigated. Solutions include substitution of other materials, minimisation of materials usage, and increasing the reclamation of materials and products at end-of-life.

2. 5 November. Professor Julian Allwoood. Use less.

In this talk, we’ll take a look at how humans are getting on in managing (or not) their impacts on the natural environment, and focus particularly on climate change. The sad reality is that while we talk more and more about global warming, the rate at which our emissions are increasing is itself increasing, and this comes down to the fact that rich countries want to keep continuing getting richer.  As a result, while we’re happy to talk about relative reductions in environmental impact, our absolute impacts are still rising.  The solution is pretty straightforward - we have to use less; less energy, water, material and meat. Doing so wouldn’t be that painful if we made the choice to do so, so we’ll look at how it might happen, how engineers can contribute, and how we can be part of the very broad public debate that’s required to imagine a future in which we aim to grow our well-being more than our incomes.

3. 12 November. Dr Mike Sheppard. Climate change and world economy.

In 2014, emissions of carbon dioxide grew by half a percent relative to the previous year. Many had expected emissions to grow by around two percent, the typical growth rate seen in previous years. Some hailed this reduction in growth rate as an indication that measures to limit carbon emissions were finally working. The real cause of the lower emissions growth was the softening of China’s economy which is undergoing a shift from industrial to service activities. How will the world’s future economic growth, and that of Asia in particular, affect future carbon emissions and what will be the consequences for climate?

4. 19 November. Professor David Cebon. Towards sustainable road freight.

Every single thing that you have bought in a shop (or online) has been transported by road at some stage in its life – both as a finished product and at various stages of its creation.  The package that it came in was transported by road, the label on the package was transported by road, the ink on the label on the package was transported by road, the machine that printed the ink on the label on the package was transported by road, as were all the printing machine’s components, the raw materials they were made from, etc.  If road freight stopped tomorrow, our urban society would cope for 4 or 5 days before mayhem broke out.  … Like running fresh water and electricity, road freight is something that we simply can’t manage without.
 
The amount of freight being transported by road is growing rapidly – to serve increasing consumer demands for goods.  This activity currently generates about 7-8% of the UK’s CO2 emissions.  This talk will discuss the ways in which the road freight system can be made more sustainable – by improving the engineering systems that move the freight and the logistics systems that organize the movement of freight.

5. 27 November. Dr Michael Ramage. Natural Structure: materials, form and force

The relationship between structural form and natural force allowed medieval master builders to construct spaces that still inspire awe today, many of which would be difficult to recreate.  But with an understanding of antique knowledge, traditional construction, and contemporary computation we can once again explore the form and structure of centuries ago in contemporary architecture and engineering.  Combining historic wisdom with the latest natural material technology offers the promise of novel and sustainable building solutions. Michael Ramage will discus new developments from his research at Cambridge that draws on learning from ancient traditions for contemporary sustainable architecture and engineering.

Aims

The aims of the course are to:

• develop communication skills, both written and oral, in professional areas.
• raise awareness of the appropriate use of different writing styles (e.g. essays, technical reports, academic journal articles).
• improve confidence and ability to take a lead as an engineer.

Objectives

As specific objectives, by the end of the course students should be able to:

• make an oral presentation of technical material to a non-specialist audience in an accessible way.
• critically analyse the treatment of data in technical articles in popular journals or the media.
• write a good report on a laboratory experiment, including treatment of errors and uncertainties.
• prepare and present balanced arguments on a controversial technical topic.

Content

During the eight weeks of Michaelmas term you will take part in three exercises:

Your exposition leader may introduce alternative forms of these exercises.

Journal Club

A “Journal Club” or similar oral presentation for 15 minutes, in which you will report on a current issue of a technical periodical or similar topic agreed by your leader followed by 5 minutes of questions.

Laboratory Report

A Laboratory report on AC and DC circuits.  There will be discussion about writing reports, following which you will produce a first draft which will be criticised by your peers.  You will then write a final draft which will be assessed by the exposition leader. The Guide to Report Writing on the Exposition website will help with this exercise.

Technical Discussion/DebateA

A discussion or debate on a technical but controversial topic agreed with your leader. You will plan with your colleagues how to split up the material and you will work as a team to present one part of the argument.