Environmental Aspects of Engineering

3 ECTS credits
75 h study time

Offer 1 with catalog number 1010496AER for all students in the 2nd semester at a (A) Bachelor - preliminary level.

Semester

2nd semester

Enrollment based on exam contract

Possible

Grading method

Grading (scale from 0 to 20)

Can retake in second session

Yes

Taught in

Dutch

Faculty

Faculteit Ingenieurswetenschappen

Department

Materials and Chemistry

Educational team

Hubert Rahier (course titular)

Activities and contact hours

24 contact hours Lecture

Course Content

The course is divided into three parts.
1. Environmental problems and historical background.
Depletion of natural resources, fresh water depletion, pollution, human expansion, greenhouse effect, desertification, biodiversity. Concept of sustainable development.
GEO-3 (UN program)
2. Politics and environmental legislation
From the international context, comming to the European and Flemish legislation.
Vlarem, task of 'milieu coordinator' and 'veiligheids coordinator', (basic knowledge is required)

3. Technological answers and ethical aspects.
The role of the engineer in solving and avoiding environmental problems
case studies: energy, how much do we use, where does it comes from, possibilities of alternative energy sources; eco-buildings; risk assessment.

Course material

Digital course material (Required) : Overig cursusmateriaal, Canvas
Course text (Required) : Milieuaspecten van het ingenieursberoep, H. Rahier, VUB, 2220170009049, 2022

Additional info

textbook available from VUB
Additional information will be available on pointcarre

Learning Outcomes

General competencies

learning objective
The 3 main objectives are:
-large environmental problems of today - relation with our life (world and style,...)
-political actions taken with respect to environmental problems; juridical implementations (worldwide down to locally)
-case studies of what an engineer can do to avoid environmental problems (sustainable technology/sustainable development)

Competencies:
Knowledge and understandings: the student will have insight in the important environmental problems. The student understands the role of the engineer in the solving of environmental problems.
Making judgements: the relevant information concerning environmental issues has to be retrieved and interpreted. A judgement of the impact of technology on the environment can be made. This allows comparing different technologies, using knowledge of other fields (chemistry, physics).

communication: the students need to be able to put the result of their research on paper in a compact but comprehensive way.

Specific learning outcomes:

The Bachelor in Engineering Sciences has a broad fundamental knowledge and understanding of

2. engineering principles and the ability to apply them to analyse key engineering processes and to investigate new and emerging technologies;

The Bachelor in Engineering Sciences can
5. define, classify, formulate and solve engineering problems, identify the constraints and is able to delimit and formulate the tasks in order to submit these to a critical examination and to check the solutions for their sustainability and social relevance;

6. monitor, interpret and apply the results of analysis and modelling in order to bring about continuous improvement;

12. reason in a logical, abstract and critical way;

The Bachelor in Engineering Sciences has

18. acquired the tools for knowledge collection towards life-long learning.

Grading

The final grade is composed based on the following categories:
Written Exam determines 60% of the final mark.
SELF Paper determines 40% of the final mark.

Within the Written Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:

schriftelijk examen with a relative weight of 1 which comprises 60% of the final mark.

Note: schriftelijk examen over de volledige leerstof.

Within the SELF Paper category, the following assignments need to be completed:

paper with a relative weight of 1 which comprises 40% of the final mark.

Note: Studie over een opgegeven onderwerp. Hier wordt nagegaan of de student een leefmilieuprobleem kan herkennen en de noodzakelijke opzoekingen en berekeningen doen om de impact ervan te bepalen. De bevindingen worden weergegeven in een verslag.
De opgedane kennis in de toolbox ingenieursvaardigheden dient benut te worden. De tekst mag max 2 blz A4 lang zijn, geschreven in times new roman 12. de tekst moet minstens 14 dagen voor het mondelinge examen ingediend worden via email.
Studie over een opgegeven onderwerp. Hier wordt nagegaan of de student een leefmilieuprobleem kan herkennen en de noodzakelijke opzoekingen en berekeningen doen om de impact ervan te bepalen. De bevindingen worden weergegeven in een verslag.
De opgedane kennis in de toolbox ingenieursvaardigheden dient benut te worden. De tekst mag max 2 blz A4 lang zijn, geschreven in times new roman 12. de tekst moet minstens 14 dagen voor het mondelinge examen ingediend worden via email.
Studie over een opgegeven onderwerp. Hier wordt nagegaan of de student een leefmilieuprobleem kan herkennen en de noodzakelijke opzoekingen en berekeningen doen om de impact ervan te bepalen. De bevindingen worden weergegeven in een verslag.
De opgedane kennis in de toolbox ingenieursvaardigheden dient benut te worden. De tekst mag max 2 blz A4 lang zijn, geschreven in times new roman 12. de tekst moet minstens 14 dagen voor het mondelinge examen ingediend worden via email.
Studie over een opgegeven onderwerp. Hier wordt nagegaan of de student een leefmilieuprobleem kan herkennen en de noodzakelijke opzoekingen en berekeningen doen om de impact ervan te bepalen. De bevindingen worden weergegeven in een verslag.
De opgedane kennis in de toolbox ingenieursvaardigheden dient benut te worden. De tekst mag max 2 blz A4 lang zijn, geschreven in times new roman 12. de tekst moet minstens 14 dagen voor het mondelinge examen ingediend worden via email.
Studie over een gegeven onderwerp. Hier wordt nagegaan of de student een leefmilieuprobleem kan herkennen en de noodzakelijke opzoekingen en berekening doen om de impact ervan te bepalen. De bevindingen worden weergegeven in een verslag.
De opgedane kennis in de toolbox ingenieursvaardigheden dient benut te worden. De tekst mag max. 2 blzn. A4 lang zijn, geschreven in times new roman 12. De tekst moet minstens 14 dgen voor het mondelinge examen ingediend woren via e-mail.

Additional info regarding evaluation

The exam consists of 2 parts, a paper and written

Paper: 40% of total score. The subject will be given during the year (for instance: do a proposal on something that can decrease your environmental impact). The aim is to check if the student can recognise an environmental problem and can undertake the necessary literature survey and do calculations to evaluate the impact of the technology. A report is written. Knowledge from 'ingenieursvaardigheden' has to be used. The student has to perfom a 0-measurement and do a calculation on the impact of his changed attitude on the environment. A caclulation of the errors and mentioning of the literature is required. Calculations found on internet are not accepted. In case no decent calculation is done on the proposal, the total score for the written part is zero.

Report text max 1 A4 page, written in times new roman 12. Extra material (detailed calculations, figures, ...) allowed on a 2nd page. The report has to be handed in via email to the titular (lecturer), at the latest on the first day (usually monday) of the weeks for studying preceding the examination period in June.

60% written exam covering the complete course, including the lectures given by invited speakers.

Allowed unsatisfactory mark

The supplementary Teaching and Examination Regulations of your faculty stipulate whether an allowed unsatisfactory mark for this programme unit is permitted.

Academic context