Golisano Institute for Sustainability
Seminars and Workshops
Golisano Institute for Sustainability has hosted a series of educational forums featuring experts from around the world in the areas of life cycle engineering, industrial ecology, alternative energy development, and remanufacturing. The series’ goal is to disseminate information in a host of sustainability disciplines to researchers and students both at RIT and in the greater Rochester community.
Total Life Cycle Management: Framework, Disciplines and Application
Dr. Christoph Herrmann
Technical University Braunschweig
Dr. Herrmann's presentation focused on the need for life-cycle analysis to encompass and comprehend all manufacturing managerial processes – extending from Product Management through Production Management and After Sales Management to End-of-Life Management. Dr. Hermann is a member of the board and deputy director at the Institute of Machine Tools and Production Technology (IWF) at Technical University Braunschweig, and he heads the research group “Product and Life Cycle Management.” He has published numerous articles in the area of life cycle assessment and product development. He is a member of the CIRP Collaborative Working Group “Energy and Resource Efficiency & Effectiveness (EREE),” the Coordinator of Task Force “ReUse” of the StEP initiative at the United Nation University, and a member of the International Society for Industrial Ecology, Association of German Engineers.
August 2009 (Photo by Laura W. Nelson)
Integrating Life Cycle Perspectives for the Sustainable Management of Electronic Products and E-waste
Dr. Callie W. Babbitt
The rapid development, evolution, and adoption of electronic products presents a double-edged sword to the sustainable use and management of these products. On the one hand, electronic information technology has enabled increased communication and productivity, and reuse of computers in secondary markets can contribute to growing economies and narrow the digital divide between developed and developing countries. On the other hand, computer manufacture and use requires significant material and energy inputs, and improper downstream management of “e-waste” can potentially create significant human health and environmental impacts. This challenge is further complicated as electronic products undergo rapid technological evolution, which is expected to induce changes in the environmental characteristics of manufacturing processes, performance of products, and in how consumers purchase, use, and dispose of products.
Dr. Babbitt reviewed her research on one methodological approach recently applied in a case study of personal computers in universities, which resulted the first quantification and characterization of personal computer trends specific to higher education, including purchase rates, stocks, ownership percentages, lifetimes, and obsolete equipment generation rates. A new approach for understanding the evolution of computer lifespan and incorporating this variable into life cycle studies was introduced as well as how this, and other life cycle methodologies, could advance our understanding and inform policy decisions, consumer behavior, and industrial practices for increased sustainability in the production, use, and management of electronic products and e-waste.
January 2009 (Photo by Laura W. Nelson)
Alternative Energy Systems and Sustainable Materials from Secondary and Renewable Resources
Paul Rayar
Director, Arcilla Research
Mr. Rayar discussed the need for developing construction materials from locally available and sustainable resources and examples of prototype materials developed by Arcilla Research.
October 2008 (Photo by Laura W. Nelson)
Organizational and Collaborative Strategic Management for Sustainable Development
Amelia C. Clarke
McGill University
Desautels Faculty of Management
Ms. Clarke presented her current research on the implementation of collaborative regional sustainable development strategies - those bound by a local region (such as a city boundary), and involve numerous cross-sector partners, including local businesses, universities, the municipal government, and NGOs.
October 2008 (Photo by Laura W. Nelson)
All Consuming Debt: The International Economics of (Un)sustainable Consumption
Dr. Maurie J. Cohen
Department of Chemistry and Environmental Science
New Jersey Institute of Technology
Dr. Cohen’s talk explored the notion of sustainable consumption in macroeconomic terms via a framework linking proponents of sustainable consumption and economists concerned with more customary measures of overconsumption. Assessed in such terms, several affluent nations can be described as consuming at unsustainable levels, though the United States appears to be an exceptional case of a country that is living substantially beyond its means. This situation could have profound—and thus far largely unacknowledged—consequences for the rest of the world should the American government prove in future years be unable to meet its extensive international obligations.
October 2008 (Photo by Laura W. Nelson)
Increasing Materials Recovery: Research Questions from Complex Systems Modeling
Dr. Gabrielle Gaustad
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
One of the key engineering challenges of the 21st century will be reducing the harmful effects associated with a growing population and the attendant flows of materials. Materials engineers are uniquely positioned to play a central role in addressing these problems by fundamentally changing the materials and processes used by society. For this to happen, however, engineers must consider the environmental impacts of their design choices and will require additional analytical tools to quantify those broader implications. As these implications affect a number of stake-holders throughout a product’s life-cycle, this analysis requires a systems engineering approach. Dr. Gaustad’s research begins to address this need by developing analytical tools that identify opportunities to increase materials recycling through the following operational, technological, policy, and manufacturing strategies:identifying and removing barriers and disincentives to secondary usage (specifically managing compositional uncertainty; evaluating effective technologies for “upgrading” secondary materials; and designing and selecting recycling-friendly alloys.
Dr. Gaustad’s talk covered topics related to mapping the systems implications of technology and operational decisions onto the sustainable use of materials including enabling efficient collection and logistics and informing recycling system legislation and policies.
September 2008
Recent Technology Advances in Gas Separation Technologies for Hydrogen Generation
Dr. Bowie Keefer
Founder, QuestAir, Inc.
Dr. Keefer reviewed QuestAir’s patented rapid-cycle pressure swing adsorption (“PSA”) technology and other separation methods for generating hydrogen. Emerging applications for PSA technology include onboard generation of hydrogen for fuel cell powered vehicles. Dr. Keefer discussed the systems-level tradeoffs governing efficiency and key operating parameters.
September 2008 (Photo by Laura W. Nelson)
A Framework for Accessing the Biocomplexity of Sustainable Material Use
Dr. Jun-Ki Choi
Post-doctoral Researcher
Center for Resilience, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
The Ohio State University
Successful design of industrial products and processes requires consideration of the complex interactions between economic, environmental, engineering, and social factors that span multiple spatial and temporal scales. Dr. Choi presented two interrelated research areas utilizing biocomplexity concepts applied to design and manufacturing with a focus on environmental and energy issues.
May 2008 (Photo by Laura W. Nelson)
Process Intensification: The Future is Green
Dr. Roshan Jachuck
Research Associate Professor
Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Clarkson University
Process intensification technologies accelerate chemical reactions by increasing mixing efficiency. As a result, the production of chemicals can often be increased while simultaneously reducing the energy used in the process and waste byproducts. Dr. Jachuck reviewed the basic fluid dynamic principles responsible for increased mixing efficiency along with several approaches to designing scalable processes based on these principles.
May 2008 (Photo by Laura W. Nelson)
Earth Day 2008
GIS hosted a series of talks in observance of Earth Day.
April 2008 (Photo by Laura W. Nelson)
The Combustion Characteristics of Emulsified Fuels
Professor Vito Agosta
Professor Emeritus
Polytechnic University in Brooklyn, N.Y.
Fuel oils emulsified with ammonia have been shown to exhibit high burn rates and reduced emissions of nitrous oxides. Professor Agosta presented his theoretical and experimental research conducted at both the Polytechnic University and the US Merchant Marine Academy on the utilization of these fuels in diesel engine and heating applications.
March 2008 (Photo by Laura W. Nelson)
Sustainability Begins at Home: Using Less Energy in Our Homes and Vehicles
Dr. Beth Parks
Associate Professor of Physics
Colgate University
in collaboration with RIT's Department of Physics
American families are directly responsible for 1/3 of our national energy consumption through home and vehicle use, and in 2005 median households spent 9% of their pre-tax income on energy. Professor Parks’ talk outlined easy, economical steps consumers can take to reduce their energy foot print enhancing the environment and reducing household costs.
January 2008
SUSTAINABLE MANUFACTURING V: Global Symposium on Sustainable Product Development and Life Cycle Engineering
Center for Integrated Manufacturing Studies building
Rochester Institute of Technology campus
The Golisano Institute for Sustainability at Rochester Institute of Technology hosted SUSTAINABLE MANUFACTURING V: Global Symposium on Sustainable Product Development and Life Cycle Engineering, between September 18-21, 2007. The objectives of the event were to identify and highlight the needs of industry, government, academia and independent stakeholders in the areas of Environmentally Benign Design and Manufacturing (EBDM) and Life Cycle Engineering. More than 70 participants attended eight plenary talks given by leading government, industrial, and academic experts along with panel discussions, paper presentations, workshops, and tours of local industry.
This fifth global symposium was a follow-up to previous workshops held at the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil in October 2006; at Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China in October 2005; at Technical University, Berlin, Germany in September 2004; as well as the Environmentally Benign Manufacturing (EBM) workshop held in Birmingham, Alabama, in January 2003.
September 18-22, 2007 (Photo by ETC at RIT)
Evaluating the Success of Sustainability Initiatives
Dr. Francisco Szekely (right)
Adjunct Professor at the European School of Management and Technology, Berlin, Germany
Former Mexican Deputy Minister of the Environment
Current efforts to promote implementation of sustainable production in industry have met resistance due in part to skepticism over the link between sustainable development and enhanced profitability. Dr. Szelkely’s research has attempted to address this issue through analyzing the direct impact of sustainable initiatives on company performance. During his presentation at RIT, Dr. Szekely discussed his study of the best available metrics used by twenty major German companies to measure the effectiveness of sustainable practices. The examination and dissemination of current best practices will assist companies in better measuring the effectiveness of sustainability while helping to expand the use of these production methods.
August 2007 (Photo by Laura W. Nelson)
PEM Fuel Cell Technology Development
Dr. N. Rajalakshmi
Senior Scientist
Centre for Fuel Cell Technology, at Chennai, ARC-International
Dr. Rajalakshmi discussed CFCT’s efforts to develop, prototype, commercialize and market PEM fuel cell technology for broad commercial applications. She also addressed the center’s approach to dealing with two main impediments related to fuel cell development; performance issues surrounding fuel cell stacks and the successful integration of various auxiliary systems that go into the development of fuel cell based power systems.
July 2007 (Photo by Laura W. Nelson)
Sustainability Challenges
Paul H. Stiebitz
Interim Academic Director
Sustainability Institute, Rochester Institute of Technology
As part of RIT’s Project Lead the Way Program, Mr. Stiebitz gave a presentation related to challenges affecting global sustainability. He also discussed current educational and research initiatives in the field, including RIT’s proposed Ph.D. program in Sustainable Production. Project Lead the Way is an annual summer program which brings area high school teachers to the RIT campus for comprehensive training in engineering education and research. More than 100 participants attended Mr. Stiebitz’s talk.
July 2007 (Photo by Laura W. Nelson)
Setting a Research/Education Agenda in Environmental Sustainability
Dr. Janet M. Twomey
Boeing Faculty Fellow
Associate Professor, Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering, Wichita State University
Wichita, Kansas is a major hub of the American aircraft industry. In response, Wichita State’s College of Engineering has identified sustainable systems development in aerospace manufacturing as a strategic area of focus. In this presentation, Dr. Twomey discussed the status and evolution of this topic as it applies to research and education.
Topics included: Sustainable Design and Manufacturing Systems Modeling
May 2007 (Photo by Laura W. Nelson)
Sustainability Research and the Principles of Life Cycle
Dr. Michael Overcash
Professor, Dept. of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, North Carolina State University
Sustainability research is an integral component to designing and developing complex manufacturing systems. The concepts in this field involve building interfaces between technology and the relevant social and economic issues through life cycle thinking and techniques. Dr. Overcash addressed an array of sustainability research models and the challenges of expanding life cycle analysis for products, green systems chemistry, and end-of-life management.
Topics included: Sustainable Design, Life Cycle Engineering and Systems Modeling
May 2007 (Photo by Laura W. Nelson)
Earth Day 2007 Colloquium
The Sustainability Institute hosted a series of events in honor of Earth Day, including a panel discussion on Sustainable Mobility featuring Matt Fronk of General Motors, a series of sustainable research presentations by RIT students, and a discussion of current research in remanufacturing by visiting researchers from Linkoping University, Sweden.
Topics included: Sustainable Mobility, Environmental Computing and Decision Making, the Economics of Sustainability and Remanufacturing
April 2007 (Photo by Laura W. Nelson)
The Sciences of Sustainability
Dr. Thomas P. Seager
Asst. Professor of Civil Engineering, Purdue University
There are a host of emerging disciplines in sustainability at the interface of ecological, social and engineering sciences, including industrial ecology, ecosystem health, and ecological economics. Dr. Seager discussed new educational and research models that are being developed to properly address these new fields of study.
Topics included: Sustainable Decision-making, Policy and Design
February 2007 (Photo by Laura W. Nelson)
Remanufacturing and Recycling Projects at Tianjin University of Technology
Dr. Jian Li, Professor, Deputy Dean of the School of Management, Tianjin University of Technology
Mr. Qiang Gao, Associate Professor, School of Electrical Engineering, Tianjin University of Technology
Mr. Hongxiang Cui, Associate Professor, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tianjin University of Technology
Chinese cities are currently facing major challenges regarding pollution and waste disposal. Researchers from Tianjin University of Technology discussed two remanufacturing/recycling research projects they are undertaking with the city of Tianjin to assist in addressing these issues.
Topics included: Recycling, Material Restoration, Remanufacturing, and Material Salvage Activities in China
February 2007 (Photo by Laura W. Nelson)