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Given the impending global energy/climate crisis, engineering practice must undergo a paradigm shift from a traditional design process that had little regard to energy and/or environmental costs to a new process that must address a broader set of parameters that include the ultimate sustainability of the design alternatives… more »

Given the impending global energy/climate crisis, engineering practice must undergo a paradigm shift from a traditional design process that had little regard to energy and/or environmental costs to a new process that must address a broader set of parameters that include the ultimate sustainability of the design alternatives. This Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) program will provide the resources for the University of Tennessee to become a national curriculum and research leader in sustainable energy technologies by developing the technological, scientific, and engineering expertise required.

The training of scientists and engineers must now change in two important ways. First, engineers must now learn to work within the context of sustainable production processes. Second, engineers must now learn to work regularly on complex innovative production processes that require advanced interdisciplinary expertise and collaboration of materials, computational and biological sciences and engineering.

This IGERT provides a highly integrated engineering curriculum and training program with a coherent sequence of steps toward the proficiency required to work effectively in the sustainable energy arena. The program fosters the development of technological, scientific, and engineering expertise required in exploring new, sustainable energy technologies. The diverse trainees will have expertise in either biomolecular engineering or materials science and engineering relevant to sustainable production of energy; breadth in both the biomolecular and materials disciplines; pervasive exposure to research performed within the context of sustainability; and a commitment to outreach through workshops at the American Museum of Science and Energy in Oak Ridge and Knoxville ASM Summer Materials Camp.

IGERT is an NSF-wide program intended to meet the challenges of educating U.S. Ph.D. scientists and engineers with the interdisciplinary background, deep knowledge in a chosen discipline, and the technical, professional, and personal skills needed for the career demands of the future. The program is intended to catalyze a cultural change in graduate education by establishing innovative new models for graduate education and training in a fertile environment for collaborative research that transcends traditional disciplinary boundaries. « less