Assessment of Environmental Equity: Results of an Engineering Service-Learning Project

Harrisburg Area Community College (HACC) offers a course called Design for Environment (DFE), Engineering 271. The traditional, primary focus of a course in design-for-the-environment is applying the principles of pollution prevention and sustainable development. DFE courses are designed to teach about air emission, wastewater treatment, hazardous waste handling, and solid waste disposal. The existing DFE course in HACC has been offered twice, and has been made a requirement for the associate’s degree in Science in Mechanical Engineering Technology. By design there is no prerequisite, so that students across the college can take it as an elective. All team projects in the course involve engineering analyses with economic benefits as a consideration and social responsibility as a goal of each effort. Examples of projects are: “Disassembly evaluation of a hot water heater,” “Solving the use of tires predicament,” and “Constructed wetlands for municipal wastewater treatment.”.