On the Measurement and Integration of Sustainability in Engineering Education

Frontier engineering methods for dealing with the social and environmental consequences of modern technology were compared to conventional engineering approaches to formulate the concept of preventive approaches for the engineering, management and regulation of technology. This framework was applied to measure the extent to which North American undergraduate education is preventively oriented. Two indices of professional education for sustainable development were used to show a vast potential for preventive approaches that could be developed to make engineering practice more sustainable. These indices can be used to measure ongoing progress. The broader implications for technological and economic development are briefly discussed.