Sustainability & Engineering Education
Teach the Teacher – Building a Sustainable World Workshop
In its 5th year, this program is now a collaboration with UCLA’s CenterX for Teachers. Dr. Sanchez has built new sustainability and engineering modules around the Next Generation Science Standards that showcases SSOE faculty expertise and makerspaces.
Recruitment focuses primarily on Western PA middle school teachers to help them integrate engineering and sustainability modules for their classrooms. The program indirectly engages about 2000 students in the SW PA region. After surveying the teachers, over half of them serve students on free-reduced lunch. 93% of teachers shared that they would be incorporating these engineering modules into their classrooms with 100% of them recommending this workshop to their peers and colleagues. Below are links to some of the modules we built.
- Charged Up and Teacher Notes
- Power of Music and Teacher Notes
- Reclaiming Waste and Teacher Notes
- Food Waste and Teacher Notes
Makerspace and Mindsets Bootcamp
Dr. Sanchez created (in collaboration with Brandon Barber) The Makerspace and Mindsets Bootcamp program which is designed for rising sophomores in the Swanson School of Engineering. “Our goal for the boot camp is to cultivate this approach to design and making that inspires all our students to incorporate it into their experience here at the Swanson School.”
https://www.engineering.pitt.edu/News/2019/Makerspace-Bootcamp-2019/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hhjw6Ktk-E&feature=youtu.be
Pitt Design EXPO
The Design Expo is a biannual public showcase of engineering solutions created by students at the Swanson School of Engineering. The Expo features nearly 100 design projects from more than 400 students who utilize their creativity and ingenuity to address real-world problems. Several teams have gone on to win competitions at Pitt and nationwide. Dr. Sanchez has served as the Faculty Director for the Design EXPO since it’s inaugural year.
Faculty, alumni and industry professionals select winners in each category, and all attendees can vote on the People’s Choice Award.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/129807342@N05/albums/72157673941608093/page1
https://www.flickr.com/photos/129807342@N05/albums/72157698710490810
Constellation Energy Inventor Labs
The Energy Inventor Labs is funded by Constellation Energy and is a program designed to engage students using design-build challenges. We have created long-term partnerships with the Manchester Academic Charter School to engage their middle school science students year after year. These students come primarily from underserved communities in Pittsburgh. To the left are pictures of some of the science students building their own solar house. Dr. Sanchez serves as the PI for this project.
The Series – Fundamental skills for Inventors
Community Engagement
Oasis Project
In partnership with the Oasis project, Ivan Menz who is CEE student working with Dr. Sanchez has helped to facilitate the creation of a new system to grow Tilapia in their Bioshelter as a demonstration of Sustainable Food in a food desert. A Sustainability Capstone group helped Ivan this spring implementing the project. Here a few pictures below of the Capstone group and the inside the bioshelter.
Pitt Hydroponics & Community Health Services
Green Week
Manchester Academic Charter School
Sustainability & Engineering Programs
University of Pittsburgh- Master’s in Sustainable Engineering
PROGRAM OBJECTIVES
- Create regional and nationally scalable sustainability solutions through service learning projects with a cohort of students.
- Provide students with experiences that enable them to communicate sustainability issues and solutions to multiple audiences.
DEPTH OF LEARNING
- Provide advanced education to graduate students to identify and solve sustainability issues using systems approaches in the context of the triple bottom line of environmental, societal, and economic problems.
- Create a rigorous program with breadth and depth to propel graduate students to foster sustainable technologies, science, and practices in the U.S. and abroad
https://www.engineering.pitt.edu/MSSE/
University of Pittsburgh – Sustainability Certificate
University of Pittsburgh – Undergraduate Sustainability Research Program
Study Abroad – Sustainability of Island Nations – Jamaica