Achievement

One of the major goals of the IGERT program is to inform both the IGERT Fellows and the science and engineering community about the technical challenges to long-term sustainability, particularly in terms of energy. To introduce the topic, Prof. Francis DiSalvo (Chemistry) presented an educational module that provided a partial framework for thinking at least semi-quantitatively about the scale of the energy components of sustainability, their relationship to other challenges, and potential solutions. The discussion largely focused on building motivations for fact-based decision making and for thinking about what roles physical scientists and engineers can play in addressing these complex, multidisciplinary issues. The discussion was supplemented by readings from "Sustainable Energy -- Without the Hot Air" by D. J. C. MacKay.