Perspectives on greener product development and manufacturing from Sustainable Minds, our partners, customers and contributors.

Webcast: Creating Knowledge Workers for the Greener Product Marketplace, Part 8: Using LCA to analyze and visualize possibilities

By Sustainable Minds on August 29, 2014

On August 28th, we held the eighth in a series of webcasts featuring educators from leading colleges and universities demonstrating how Sustainable Minds is being used in education. Life cycle thinking is now being taught across a wide range of disciplines. Learn how different programs are implementing unique approaches with a common e-learning solution. Professor Meo will share how he got started and the progress over 4 years, including the evolution of the curriculum and the impact on the growth of the program. We will also be learning how Dr. Bouldin introduced undergraduate business students to the complexity of creating everyday products and visualizing a sustainable supply chain.

Life cycle thinking is now being taught across a wide range of disciplines. Learn how different programs are implementing unique approaches with a common e-learning solution.

Join us and our guest educators to learn how they are enhancing their students' experience by using Sustainable Minds to provide hands-on life cycle assessment experience that reinforces and extends the themes learned in class.

Professor Meo will share how he got started and the progress over 4 years, including the evolution of the curriculum and the impact on the growth of the program.

Dr. Bouldin will share how he introduced undergraduate business students to the complexity of creating everyday products and visualizing a sustainable supply chain.

PANELISTS

Mark MeoMark Meo, PhD, Professor of Geography and Environmental Sustainability
Unversity of Oklahoma, Norman, OK

Professor Meo teaches lifecycle analysis for upper division undergraduate at University of Oklahoma. This course is designed into two phases: Phase 1 is built around the SM toaster as an introductory tutorial and Phase 2 is structured for students to select a published LCA that they could subsequently improve. Students gained their sense of accomplishment beyond the class lecture and textbook in learning LCA with Sustainable Minds which helped extend their interest in LCA further than they had initially imagined. Policy initiatives based on LCA principles are becoming a trend that students and professionals will be well-served to understand; how such decision rules are designed and operate, not only to better understand implications, but also to become actively engaged in private and public sector initiatives.

Ryan BouldinDr. Ryan Bouldin, Assistant Professor of Sustainable Chemistry
Bentley Unversity, Waltham, MA

Dr. Bouldin strives to teach the next generation of business leaders how to advocate for sustainable products while creating safer products in the laboratory himself. In his class of Industrial Ecology at Bentley University, students were asked to visualize the interconnectedness of systems at local, regional and global scales as well as environmental impact with Sustainable Minds. Students learned the importance of everyday decisions/objects and were introduced to sustainable production/supply chains. The training to address complex decisions and strive for innovation prepares students to get into industry.

Terry Swack, CEO & Moderator
Sustainable Minds