Green Engineering: Making NASA (and the world) more Environmentally Sustainable

Prof. Sean McGinnis

August 6, 2019 at 2:00 P.M. in the Pearl Young Theater

(video within Langley firewall only.)

Abstract

The ability of human society to sustain our health, our quality of life, and our environment is increasingly at risk due to resource depletion and emissions into the air, water, land, and space. There are no simple solutions to this complex problem and progress requires efforts by citizens, businesses, and governments at local, regional, national, and global scales. Green engineering is a technical approach to quantitatively assess environmental impacts of products, processes, and systems and then actively make design choices to minimize these impacts while balancing other critical requirements including performance, safety, and economics.

Professor McGinnis will discuss the application of Green Engineering from a NASA perspective. This will include the NASA technologies that allow quantitative measurement and modeling of environmental impacts, green engineering principles which NASA already incorporates into its research and project management, and the opportunities for environmental improvement which continue to cause environmental and economic issues for the agency and the communities surrounding its Centers.

Speaker

Professor Sean McGinnis is an Associate Professor of Practice in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) at Virginia Tech. He also directs the Green Engineering program which teaches undergraduates concepts and skills to quantify and minimize environmental impacts across a wide variety of engineering disciplines. His current research focuses on life cycle assessment (LCA), sustainable manufacturing processes, renewable energy, green building, and engineering education. McGinnis has worked closely with NASA Headquarters and the Academy of Program/Project & Engineering Leadership (APPEL) to develop the Green Engineering short course which has been taught 15 times at nine NASA sites since 2011. Dr. McGinnis also works with local governments, communities, and companies to understand their energy use, carbon footprints, and environmental impacts and to help them develop sustainability plans. McGinnis received a PhD in Materials Science and Engineering from Stanford University. He worked in industry for 10 years before joining the faculty at VT in 2005. He lives in Roanoke, VA, with his wife and 2 daughters.