The Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering (AE) has been awarded an Undergraduate Sustainability Education Innovation (USEI) grant through the Georgia Tech Office of Sustainability’s Sustainability Next Plan. The grant integrates the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) concepts and skills across undergraduate curricula. The grant will be used to bring a global perspective to the AE 1601: Introduction to Aerospace Engineering course which will impact future AE students.  

Triple Jacket and AE School lecturer Kelly Griendling prepared the proposal and will collaborate with colleagues to add a new unit to the curriculum on sustainability concepts as it relates to aviation and space. She recognized a need to bring a global focus to aerospace engineering, and the USEI grant provided the opportunity to make it a priority. Students will leave the enhanced course with an understanding of the interplay between aerospace and global sustainability. 

“It is important that we situate our student’s technical knowledge in the global context. They need to understand how what we do connects with the rest of the world and how it matters outside of our own research concentration. It’s easy to put on blinders and be myopic,” Griendling said.

Griendling will present her planned project at the Undergraduate Sustainability Education Jamboree on April 26 and will work on evaluating the course redesign to advance scholarship in the field of sustainability education research.

The Sustainability Next Plan is tied to Georgia Tech’s Strategic Plan and includes requirements for all six colleges to develop sustainability student outcomes and undergraduate degree programs that include at least one required course that incorporates key sustainability concepts and skills and at least one required course that provides an in-depth introduction to SDGs. This grant moves AE towards meeting those objectives.

Professor Griendling earned her B.S., MS, and Ph.D. in aerospace engineering at Georgia Tech and is no stranger to improving the lives of students. In addition to her sustainability work, she founded the Science, Technology, and Engineering Pipeline (STEP) program, which creates engineering internships for Georgia high school students.