Sustainability principles and their integration into a higher education mechanical engineering undergraduate programme

Current undergraduate engineering programs tend to be organised along fairly standard
engineering themes such as mechanical engineering or automotive engineering. The engineering institutions have made it plain that sustainability needs to be a fundamental
element of all mechanical engineering themed courses yet in reality only a tiny minority
of modules make reference to sustainability. It is true, however that sustainability is a
subject with such a large depth and breadth that the subject could be dedicated to whole degree courses. This paper defines the Principles of Sustainability [4] and suggests several types of degree program through which sustainability can be introduced into a higher education, undergraduate mechanical engineering scheme. The paper explains that sustainability can only be taught through the medium of design since the design function is the only function which has an overview and can influence the life of a
product from "cradle to grave".