Curriculum Design for Sustainability of Globally Integrated Manufacturing

Integrating the scalable nanotechnologies into existing industrial systems is highly beneficial for improving the quality, capability and performance of almost all kinds of industrial sectors. However, significant sustainability issues and challenges exist in the practical integration and subsequent operations of the integrated macro-nano industrial systems, including increased waste generations, extra energy consumptions, additional greenhouse gas emissions, novel nanoparticle emissions for occupational and public exposure, etc. This paper will analyze which competence domains, a curriculum towards sustainable manufacturing should have and how a certificate program in “Sustainable Manufacturing” can be accomplished. This curriculum design is based on the experience of creating and teaching new graduate level courses “Sustainable Manufacturing” at Texas Tech University and “Energy Efficiency and Industrial Sustainability” at University of Wisconsin Milwaukee. All segments of society must be educated to understand, environmental, economic and social connections within manufacturing systems engineering to facilitate sustainability. The innovations in technology and management play a fundamental role in solving the global challenge in economic development, while simultaneously preserving life, conserving natural resources and creation of social justice. This pilot study could be a pioneer for further countries in the world such as China, Indian, Brazil and Saudi Arabia, which would be interested in implementing sustainable manufacturing.