The Engineering Science Praxis Sequence: Challenges And Opportunities When Integrating Sustainable Development Into The Engineering Design Classroom

This paper will discuss how Engineering Science, a division within the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Toronto in Toronto, Canada, has developed an undergraduate curriculum to foster engineers that can meaningfully contribute to sustainable development. In particular, Engineering Science has developed Praxis III, a course for second year Engineering Science students, which takes both a systems engineering and an interdisciplinary approach to solving complex global problems and begins to integrate issues surrounding globalism and sustainable development. This paper will describe the broader curriculum context for this course, the content and format of Praxis III as it existed in the 2007 and 2008 academic years, the training in problem-solving that students receive, the lessons learned, and future plans.