# NLI: Design and Development: Cross disciplinary co-teaching sustainability across the formal and informal engineering undergraduate curriculum

> **NSF 01002526DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT** · Brown University (RI) · $400,000

## Abstract

Over the past two decades, efforts to reduce waste, reuse materials, and design products to last have become more important in how we approach business, design, and engineering. These ideas are foundational to a circular economy, wherein landfill waste is significantly reduced, and central to global efforts to fight climate change. As such, teaching engineering students the concepts of sustainability is now critical, yet many college programs focus mostly on theory and hypothetical scenarios. Hands-on experiences that help students connect classroom learning to real-world challenges are distinctly lacking. These endeavors can include working with local community partners, collaborating with businesses, or using creative spaces like makerspaces. This project proposes an approach that addresses these deficits: embedding sustainability into core courses using faculty expertise that already exists within the school, developing a new course that pairs undergraduate students with community partners and industry to tackle real-world challenges, and transforming how students learn about sustainability outside of the classroom, such as in makerspaces and independent research projects. Ultimately, helping students see themselves as engineers and sustainability problem solvers is critical to the future engineering workforce. As design and sustainability become increasingly integral to the engineering profession, we must support students in building a strong sense of identity in this field so they are prepared to solve sustainability challenges for and with society moving forward. This research will be aligned with the NSF-Lemelson Initiative on Environmental and Social Sustainability in Engineering Education by embedding critical Engineering for One Planet skills into the core curriculum for design engineering and applying the skills through collaboration with community partners and regional industry.

The overarching goal of this research is to activate our teaching team’s 

## Key facts

- **NSF award ID:** 2533679
- **Awardee organization:** Brown University (RI)
- **SAM.gov UEI:** E3FDXZ6TBHW3
- **PI:** Louise Manfredi
- **Primary program:** 01002526DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT
- **All programs:** ENGINEERING EDUCATION, EXP PROG TO STIM COMP RES, EDUCATION RESEARCH
- **Estimated total:** $400,000
- **Funds obligated:** $400,000
- **Transaction type:** Standard Grant
- **Period:** 07/01/2026 → 06/30/2029

## Primary source

NSF Award Search: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2533679

## Citation

> US National Science Foundation, Award 2533679, NLI: Design and Development: Cross disciplinary co-teaching sustainability across the formal and informal engineering undergraduate curriculum. Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nsf/2533679. Licensed CC0.

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