Amy Landis - US grants

This award provides funding for a 3 year continuing award to support a Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) in Engineering Site program at the University of Pittsburgh entitled, "Connecting Research and Teaching Through Product Realization: The Pittsburgh Quality of Life RET Site," under the direction of Dr. Michael Lovell.

This program is a renewal of a successful RET Site, which retains the best elements of the existing RET, integrates new elements of best practicces observed in other RET programs, and embraces a new Quality of Life (QoL) engineering research theme. A total of 33 high school science teachers (11 per year for three years) will be recruited from high needs urban high schools in the Pittsburgh area. They will spend 8 weeks in the summer working in engineering labs performing fundamental scientific research and then translate that research into innovative products, involving topics related to Quality of Life Technology. The major research thrust in the QoL theme will focus on innovations in computation, robotics, machine learning, communication, and miniaturization technologies that transform the lives of people with reduced functional capabilities. Other program activities will include redesigning design-based-learning (DBL) units that will be implemented in their classrooms, workshops and classroom visits by faculty mentors.

The site will directly impact 33 teachers and 4,500 students from high need urban high schools in the Pittsburgh region, with a particular focus on high schools comprised almost entirely of minority and low socio-economic status students. By focusing on QoL, the RET Site will improve awareness and develop technology for a growing segment of the population that is often overlooked--people with reduced functional capabilities due to aging or disability.

0933249
Landis

Biofuels are currently derived from corn and soybeans in the US to make ethanol and biodiesel, respectively. While energy and greenhouse gas savings are realized, several significant tradeoffs have arisen including a) increase in food prices and b) a shift in environmental burden to impacts manifesting as eutrophication and hypoxia (i.e. the Dead Zone in the Gulf of Mexico). Cultivating biofuels on marginal lands may alleviate these problems and may serve to contribute additional environmental benefits in the form of soil remediation.

The goal of the proposed research is to quantify the benefits of growing bioenergy crops on marginal lands. Throughout this project they will: (i) quantify on-site phytoremediation of biofuel crops, (ii) evaluate runoff related to biofuel crops, and (iii) compare the life cycle environmental impacts of biofuels grown on marginal lands to petroleum fuels and traditional biofuels (i.e. soy biodiesel, corn ethanol).

The PIs at the University of Pittsburgh will partner with Alcoa Corp and a local nonprofit, GTECH Strategies, to form a unique collaboration. Alcoa Corp is involved in a mine reclamation demonstration at the Mather Mine site in PA. Alcoa is aiding in the evaluation of the use of alkaline clay to assist in reclamation. GTECH Strategies cultivates biofuel crops on vacant urban lands; their mission is to foster community growth in underserved communities through the creation of "egreen collar" jobs.

This project is unique not only for Pennsylvania, but for the water resources, water quality, and biofuels research community at large. The findings of the proposed research will inform the research community about the life cycle environmental benefits of alternative uses for marginal and vacant lands, and will also contribute to the literature and understanding of phytoremediation. The findings of the life cycle assessment will also contribute to the ever growing and highly debated body of LCA research on biofuels.

The proposed activities will have broad reaching impacts that serve the purpose of energy production, storm water management, nutrient management, water conservation, reclamation, and job creation in underserved communities. The impacts of the proposed research extend from contribution to the scientific study of biofuel crops to community engagement and empowerment through the collaboration with GTECH Strategies. The proposed project will directly aid in the increase of job opportunities in environmental justice communities through GTECHs green job corps program and will foster the growth of GTECH as a sustainable nonprofit. Clearly, the development of new strategies for sustainable biofuel production will aid in addressing national security issues and help the nation meet national 2010 fuel standards. In addition to the outreach inherent in the collaboration with GTECH, they also propose to continue to include a diverse set of students (REU, grad, and high school, via GTECH's green job corps) in the proposed research. They also have outlined an extensive plan for integration of the research partnership into the sustainability curriculum at Pitt.

0932606
Landis

The goal of this research is to quantify the water quality degradation tradeoffs associated with 2nd (cellulosic ethanol) and 3rd generation (e.g., algae-produced) biofuels. A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) framework will be applied. Strategies for avoiding or mitigating unintended consequences of the introduction of 2nd and 3rd generation biofuels will be evaluated. The research targets to inform a more sustainable trajectory for biofuels development in the U.S. The LCA developed within the research effort will be broadly applicable and potentially will guide future assessments of biofuels. Education and outreach will include the incorporation of research into undergraduate and graduate courses.

This project is co-funded by the Environmental Sustainability Program and the Energy for Sustainability Program of the CBET Division of the Engineering Directorate.

The goal of the project is to infuse sustainability concepts into three civil engineering courses using experiential learning. The project is involving students in research-quality and service learning experiences and in engaging laboratory activities both in the classroom and in the real-world. In addition, it is reaching middle school and high school students and teachers and residents in low income communities through ongoing programs The evaluation effort, with assistance from an on-campus center for instructional development, is using on-line student and faculty surveys, analysis of student products, and direct observations to monitor progress. Dissemination is being accomplished through postings on websites and through conference and journal publications. Broader impacts include the dissemination of the material, the K-12 outreach, and the interaction with the community through the service learning component.

The objective of this EFRI-SEED project is to develop a multi-faceted, dynamic life cycle based framework that quantifies the environmental impacts of buildings and aids in decision-making at multiple scales. In order to accomplish this objective, the researchers will determine the barriers to the use of life cycle assessment (LCA) and evaluate solutions to overcome these obstacles, and, in doing so, advance the fundamental science and ultimate applicability of LCA in the A/E/C (Architecture/Engineering/Construction) communities. The proposed research will have a significant impact on greening buildings within the US due to the synergistic nature of the team, which includes partnerships with major green building organizations, and addressing the needs of green buildings with the development of the proposed LCA method. A task-based approach will be pursued. First, barriers and possible solutions to LCA will be identified through surveys and focus groups with partners, members, the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) and Pittsburgh's Green Building Alliance (GBA), as well as leveraging information from active case studies. A multifaceted, dynamic life cycle-based method for high-performance buildings, based on the identified barriers and possible solutions will be developed. A scenario building graphic interface "the BUILD dashboard" will be developed. A specific simulation case study, cogeneration, will be used to illustrate the depth of the framework. A culture of evidence will be created in order to demonstrate how the application of the newly developed dynamic LCA will be successful in overcoming the various barriers.

The team plans extensive education, outreach, and reporting. The partner case studies will provide real-time data to the dynamic LCA and exemplify multiple levels and perspectives of the breadth and depth required for buildings: Phipps Living Building, a net-zero energy building currently under design (representing a high-level, complete building LCA); the Mascaro Center for Sustainable Innovation, a green building (representing a new existing building); and Carnegie Mellon University's Intelligent Workspace, an established structure (representing a building with existing sensor system and robust data). Cogeneration systems are also a focus of this proposal and the developed models will cross the building types (representing process and material choices and building system LCA). The PIs' plan for education and outreach includes: incorporation of research into the undergraduate and graduate courses; integration in an existing NSF REU site; capitalizing on Co-PI Landis' RET site to incorporate undergraduates and area high school teachers into the proposed research.

The FY 2010 EFRI-SEED Topic that supports this project was sponsored by the US National Science Foundation (NSF) Directorates for Engineering (ENG), Mathematical and Physical Sciences (MPS) and Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences (SBE), and Computer & Information Science and Engineering in collaboration with the US Department of Energy (DOE) and the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

1066658 (Landis). The aim of the proposed research is to identify the optimal disposal options and infrastructure for compostable bio-based polymers based on each of the three pillars of sustainability. To this end, the research team will quantify the life cycle environmental impacts of different disposal options (environment), evaluate organizational (society) and economic barriers (economy), quantify stakeholders? willingness to pay for infrastructure (economy), assess consumers? disposal habits (environment) and evaluate methods to alter disposal habits (society). These factors will be used to quantify the environmental end of life profile for biopolymers and to contribute to the development of compostable biopolymer infrastructure. The results of the study will contribute to the scientific understanding of infrastructure development for biopolymers, both from the perspective of best management practices, barriers to infrastructure change, and optimal disposal for compostable biopolymers. In addition, the study will result in a comprehensive analysis of consumer disposal habits in the food services industry and will identify optimum disposal scenarios that result in minimum environmental impact while maximizing ease of implementation through stakeholder based life cycle assessment (SBLCA). The research will contribute significantly to advances in methodological development of novel, integrated approaches to assess the tradeoffs and sustainability of a set of alternatives. The results of the project are targeted to aid in the fundamental development and understanding of models that incorporate aspects of human behavior and survey results into life cycle assessment. The project will contribute to multiple avenues of broader impacts from the proposed collaboration with Sustainable Pittsburgh and local businesses to the PIs? plan for incorporation of the research into curriculum and undergraduate research. Additionally, the PIs are collaborating with Shaler High School and the Carnegie Science Center to create modules that address composting and biopolymers in the environment. The collaboration with Sustainable Pittsburgh will connect local companies to the proposed research. The development of educational materials to be employed during waste audits at local restaurants (e.g. literature and creative methods of sharing information on composting) as well as the development of a Best Practices report and workshop for Sustainable Pittsburgh will provide a unique opportunity for the research to reach a broad range of consumers and business owners

The goal of this TUES Type 2 project is to incorporate sustainability grand challenges and experiential learning into classrooms and throughout engineering programs, with the aim of attracting and retaining a talented and diverse set of students who are prepared to tackle the engineering challenges of a global economy. The project team is developing and implementing three stand-alone sustainability courses and 14 modules at five partner institutions (Arizona State University, Mesa Community College, University of Pittsburgh, Community College of Allegheny College, and Laney College) and evaluating the effectiveness of the modules and classes on student, faculty, and program performance. Specifically, this project (1) creates and (2) implements ready-to-use content for three new stand-alone sustainability courses and fourteen modules, (3) evaluates the effectiveness of each course and module based on student and faculty feedback and performance, (4) evaluates the different degrees of program-wide curricula change: the stand-alone course method and the module method, and (5) disseminates the courses, modules, and findings to other institutions.

The stand-alone courses (Life Cycle Assessment, Green Buildings, and Sustainability Topics) and sustainability modules employ experiential learning, which has been shown in educational research to enhance the quality of student learning, and build on the team's sustainability engineering educational expertise. Flexibility is built into the stand-alone course materials and modules to accommodate the resources of different faculty and facilitate the adoption of these courses across different universities. The team is developing engaging activities for students both within the classroom and in the real world and increasing faculty expertise by mentoring numerous faculty over the four-year project. Moreover, the project includes well-integrated activities to address research questions on the effectiveness of the stand-alone courses' and modules' methods for incorporating sustainability topics. Evaluation includes student-centered evaluation of learning outcomes for each module and course, evaluation of faculty and institutional outcomes for the two different methods of course integration, and evaluation of outcomes from the collaborative project. Results are used to create recommendations on how institutions can best integrate sustainability and systems thinking into engineering curricula and to advance the understanding of faculty and institutional barriers to integrating sustainability and experiential learning into curricula.

This project creates resources aimed at different engineering courses across the range of undergraduate levels; the program is reaching hundreds of undergraduates at two research universities and three community colleges. This project has the potential to facilitate integration of sustainability education into existing curricula by developing flexible curricular material and identifying and minimizing barriers to implementation of sustainability education and experiential learning. Faculty development workshops and mentoring activities are employed to facilitate dissemination and adoption of the developed courses and module.

Arizona State University and the University of Pittsburgh will implement a project entitled "Developing a Framework to better engage students in STEM via Game Design," focused on active learning through game design approaches for civil engineering and construction courses. The framework will be not only modular and scalable, fitting into a variety of content areas, but will also serve as a method of assessing student learning with minimal barriers to classroom use. It will offer STEM instructors a relatively easy way to implement active learning in the classroom, and rather than teaching through game play, the project will require students to apply course content to the design of their own games, in turn illustrating their mastery of course content. To do this, the investigators will employ three approaches for game design implementation, and compare these approaches within and across courses. The approaches include: (1) asking students to re-purpose classic board games to reflect course content, (2) modifying existing educational games to better reflect course content, and (3) creating a new game with student-developed learning objectives. Topics will include, but are not limited to, excavations and foundations, structural systems, industrial ecology, energy use, emissions, resource scarcity, and implications of environmental policies and factors related to resource consumption. All of these topics have significant implications for public safety, health and welfare. Additional broader impacts will be achieved through promoting the game design framework and its effects on student learning and retention, publishing and marketing student-created games as education resources that are easily adoptable by faculty at various institutions, and by sharing the games in K-12 outreach efforts, thereby promoting interest in civil engineering and construction.

Games and game-based learning have been used in many classrooms as an active learning strategy. They are well-documented methods to engage and motivate students through course material in order to improve student learning outcomes. The investigators have found that following game play with game design easily moves students up the cognitive dimensions of Bloom's taxonomy, from merely understanding to reflection, creation, and evaluation. They will aim to discover if implementation of this framework promotes increased student engagement, sense of community, metacognition, and retention in STEM. The research questions to be studied are: (1) As a curricular tool, does game design support student engagement, strengthen a sense of community, improve metacognition, and increase intention to remain in engineering? (2) What are the principles and characteristics of this approach that make it successful for a given student level or program? (3) What are effective practices for widespread transferability and scalability? Using the outcomes of formative assessments such as observations, surveys, evaluations of student work, etc., investigators will continuously refine the three approaches that make up their framework to document and disseminate successful practices, providing transformative curricular materials to other instructors in civil engineering and construction.