Materials and our environment: striving for sustainability

This course introduces you to the multi-disciplinary confluence of materials, engineering, history and biology, to enable design of sustainable products. To inform material choices and product design philosophies, we will explore product life-cycles. Exploring material classes including natural and ancient materials, fibres, plastics, and building materials, we will reflect on how advancements in materials have led to unique opportunities – think timber skyscrapers – and presented new challenges – think the ocean plastic problem.

This course will introduce you to the multi-disciplinary confluence of materials, engineering, history, biology, and ergonomics to enable creative inter-disciplinary design of more sustainable products. Taking a journey through the interconnected history and evolution of materials with our natural and built environments, we will begin by identifying various classes of ancient and advanced engineering materials, their enabling properties and end-use in products. Through this journey, we will explore how materials have shaped our diverse society as well as how society has shaped materials-based technologies.  

Considering the life-cycle of a material, we examine and assess how and how much a product impacts our natural environment, and what design choices we can make to reduce impact. We will also look at how biology generates solutions, and how through philosophies of biomimetics we may learn from Nature. We then delve deeper into our materials world and by focusing on classes of materials, reflect on how advancements in materials and materials-related technologies have led to unique opportunities – think timber for skyscrapers - and presented new challenges – think the ocean plastic problem. On this course we will explore natural materials, plastics, building materials (concrete, earth, brick), metals, ceramics, glasses and composites. It will be taught through a combination of discursive lectures, hands-on activities and design exercises in inter-disciplinary groups, and flipped lectures. 

Learning outcomes

The learning outcomes for this course are:

• Awareness of the impact of materials on our environment, and carrying-out an assessment of material (and product) life cycles to inform design choices.  
• Appreciation of the interrelated nature of materials engineering and society (including cultural and historical contexts), and reflection on how technological advancements lead to new solutions and new challenges.  
• Applying critical and creative thinking in solving problems with the multi-/inter-disciplinary confluence of materials, engineering, and design. 

Classes

1. Why materials matter? The life cycle of a product  
An introduction to the key classes of materials, their properties, and applications, and how these have evolved over ten thousand years to shape our society. We then focus on the impact of materials life cycle (extraction, processing, use, disposal) on the natural environment.

2. Biomimetics: Learning design from Nature  
This interactive class will explore the spider’s silken web as a case study natural structure, and introduce concepts of bio inspiration and biomimetics for smart and sustainable design.
 
3. The age of plastics  
What were our ancient plastics, how did plastics become a victim of their own success, and where to next in terms of natural alternatives and disposal options?  

4. Building materials
What is the scale of our concrete addiction and what are environmentally wise materials choices for our future buildings? How can we transform wood into a reliable material for construction of super-tall buildings, and what are its implications on forest sustainability?  

5. Group design exercise
Amalgamating what you have learned in the course, in interdisciplinary groups, you will design a product to meet specific user needs, selecting materials with environmental impact in mind. Present A3-sized poster to class. 

Required reading

Materials and the Environment: Eco-informed Material Choice, 2nd Edition by M F Ashby, Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford 2009. Chapters 1, 3, 4, 9, 12.  
This is a useful reference book, which is also complementary to the CES EduPack educational software. The proposed chapters are relevant reads, and skimming through them is recommended. 
Or
Sustainable Materials - with both eyes open by J M Allwood and J M Cullen, UIT Cambridge 2011, UK. Chapters 2, 5, 12, 15-17, 20-22, 24, 25. Available to download free online: www.withbotheyesopen.com/read.php  
This is also a useful reference book, presented with more graphics and numbers. The focus is on metals, but the principles apply to other materials as well. Chapter 2, 5, 24, and 25 are particularly interesting.

Typical week: Monday to Friday

For each week of study you select a morning (Am) and an afternoon (Pm) course, each course has five sessions, one each day Monday to Friday. The maximum class size is 25 students. Your weekly courses are complemented by a series of two daily plenary lectures, exploring new ideas in a wide range of disciplines. To add to the learning experience, we are also planning additional evening talks and events.

Evaluation and Academic Credit 

If you are seeking to enhance your own study experience, or earn academic credit from your Cambridge Summer Programme studies at your home institution, you can submit written work for assessment for one or more of your courses. 

Essay questions are set and assessed against the University of Cambridge standard by your Course Director, a list of essay questions can be found in the Course Materials. Essays are submitted two weeks after the end of each course, so those studying for multiple weeks need to plan their time accordingly. There is an evaluation fee of £65 per essay.

For more information about writing essays see Evaluation and Academic Credit.

Certificate of attendance

A certificate of attendance will be sent to you electronically within a week of your courses finishing.