Called to Action
We live in the Anthropocene era, as columnist Deborah Jackson points out in this issue. The epoch is defined—and dominated—by the impact of humans on climate and the environment. Dire accounts warn of greenhouse gas emissions triggering the irreversible warming of our planet, rising sea levels, and devastation wrought by increasingly severe weather.
But the engineer’s task is to solve problems, and the climate crisis is no exception. Prism has previously reported on efforts to build resilience (“People Get Ready,” November 2019). This issue’s features investigate three additional ways that researchers and engineering educators are addressing our environmental crisis. Each highlights the type of creative thinking that engineers uniquely can contribute to developing multifaceted solutions.
In our cover story, Prism editors Jennifer Pocock and Yara Palin focus on the critical need to consider the impact of engineering projects not only on overall climate but also on local environments and communities. Their piece highlights past injustices experienced by residents—largely people of color with lower socioeconomic status—and shares the pioneering work of institutions, faculty, and students to think beyond the technical aspects of projects and examine their effects on people early in the engineering design process.
For the second feature, Tom Grose, Prism’s chief correspondent, looks at new developments in geothermal energy. Advanced techniques and technologies—some drawn from oil and gas fracking—are literally opening up potential for this cleaner, greener alternative to fossil fuels.
Finally, Pierre Home-Douglas reports on how engineering academics are taking aim at waste and planned obsolescence by incorporating “cradle-to-cradle” or life-cycle design lessons into their classes. The idea: incorporate repairability, disassembly, and material recovery into the product-development process. As Home-Douglas finds, closing the life-cycle loop seems like a simple approach until measured against a host of trade-offs.
There are no easy answers for our planet, nor is there an environmental justice playbook to ensure community members’ voices get heard as engineering projects are planned. Perhaps the best answer, as Berkeley environmental engineering instructor Khalid Kadir puts it in our cover feature, is for each of us to “keep showing up.”
The honorees showcased in this year’s ASEE Awards program and running in ASEE’s 2022 Board of Directors election are doing just that, stepping up to lead and to serve their institutions, communities, and our Society. Please return your ballots by February 15.
Best wishes for a peaceful holiday season and a happy, healthy new year.
Eva Miller
e.miller@asee.org