Towards a Sustainable Approach to Nanotechnology by Integrating Life Cycle Assessment into the Undergraduate Engineering Curriculum

Because rapid growth of nanotechnology is expected to lead to intentional and non-intentional releases, future engineers will need to minimize negative environmental and health impacts of nanomaterials. We developed two upper-level undergraduate courses centered on life-cycle assessment of nanomaterials. The first part of the course sequence introduces students to nanomaterial synthesis and applications, while the second part focuses on potential risks and life-cycle assessment of nanotechnology. The courses were assessed by a series of knowledge surveys which demonstrated a continuous improvement of students' awareness of various life cycle stages of nanomaterials.