Vishesh Kumar

Infusing sustainability principles into manufacturing/mechanical engineering curricula

Sustainability issues are increasingly important among governments, consumers, and corporations around the world. Many companies are directing their resources to reduce the environmental impact of their products and services. To remain competitive in the global economy, these companies must recruit employees who understand the impact of their decisions on the environment and society, while at the same time influencing the companys bottom line. It is the mission of universities to prepare these future employees to meet this need. A group of faculty and students in the Dept. of Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics at Michigan Technological University is working to address this growing demand. This paper assesses the current undergraduate mechanical engineering curriculum at Michigan Tech with regard to sustainability and identifies barriers to incorporating sustainability throughout the curriculum. A benchmarking study, progress made at Michigan Tech, and a vision for the future of the mechanical engineering curriculum are presented.

Value flow characterization during product lifecycle to assist in recovery decisions

The value of a product at the end of its useful life determines whether it is disposed, recycled, remanufactured or is handled some other way within the recovery infrastructure. This value changes over time, and depends on factors such as the quality of the product and its perception by business entities within the recovery infrastructure. Under the assumption that the last user wants to maximize economic gain, these factors can be considered as uncertainties that affect the decision of the last user with regard to product disposition. Since the choice made by the last user has a significant effect on the environmental impact of a product, it is important to understand the value of the product over its lifecycle and thus its end-of-life value. A model is proposed in this paper to characterize the value flow during the product lifecycle. The model considers three product lifecycle stages: (i) manufacturing (the value creation stage); (ii) usage (value consumption stage); (iii) recovery/post-use (value reclamation stage). The role of product attributes and product usage history on the value flow across the product lifecycle is investigated. In addition, the perception-dependent nature of product value is explored and related to utility theory. The model has application in decisions related to product use and recovery; an example is presented to demonstrate the use of the value model in selecting the best product recovery option.

Sustainability of the automotive recycling infrastructure: review of current research and identification of future challenges

In addition to rising fuel prices, government policy-makers are endeavouring to reduce the environmental impact of the automotive industry through directives and standards. Automotive manufacturers are working to reduce the use phase environmental impact of automobiles by introducing innovative vehicle designs. However, these product design changes may jeopardise the profitability of the business entities within the automotive recovery infrastructure leading to deleterious environmental impacts. This paper focuses on describing past research relative to the automotive recovery infrastructure and those research challenges that may arise in the future. The aim is identify the research gaps in order to ensure the sustainability of the recovery infrastructure.

Towards Sustainable "Product and Material Flow" Cycles: Identifying Barriers to Achieving Product Multi-Use and Zero Waste

Material and energy resource consumption is on the rise in both the industrialized and developing world (e.g., countries like India and China). In order to sustain this growth and provide resources for future generations, there is a need to design products that are easy to recover and recondition, thus enabling multiple use cycles. Processes are needed that can achieve this multiuse while producing zero (or very near zero) waste. There exist a number of barriers and challenges to achieving this vision of multi-use with zero waste; one such challenge is the development of a product recovery infrastructure that will minimize short-term impacts due to existing products and will be robust enough to recover products of the future. This paper identifies the barriers to developing such a recovery and reuse infrastructure. The aim is to achieve product multi-use and zero waste.

A model for material flows and economicexchanges within the U.S. automotive life cycle chain

Abstract A simulation model for material flows and economic exchangeswithin the U.S. automotive material life cycle chain is presented. The model is employed to examine the effect of future changes in vehicle material composition on the automotive recycling infrastructure.The model results indicate that as vehicle material composition changes, higher dismantling/recovery rates are needed to ensure economic viability of the recycling infrastructure. Furthermore, even in the case of significantly higher rates of dismantling and plastics recovery, the amount of shredder residue per vehicle will continue to rise.

Comparing Energy and Other Measures of Environmental Performance in the Original Manufacturing and Remanufacturing of Engine Components

The remanufacturing industry is rapidly becoming a source of economic growth and environmental benefit. In the past, researchers have presented cost and energy savings due to remanufacturing a variety of products, largely based on the results of industry-wide surveys. However, little or no effort has focused on the life cycle assessment of remanufacturing. In fact, no study has performed a life cycle assessment of engine components, comparing the original component manufacture with remanufactured components. In this paper, a comparison of the original manufacture and remanufacture of components from a typical Caterpillar diesel engine is described. The “gate-to-gate” analysis considers components that represent a majority of the engine assembly by weight. The comparison is made in two measures of environmental performance: energy and material usage.Copyright

An Education Program in Support of a Sustainable Future

The historical evolution and current status of sustainability education at Michigan Technological University is described. The history considers the last 15 years, during which, the faculty of Michigan Tech have been collaborating on the development of environmental curricula and courses. This development effort initially focused on specialized offerings for the environmental/chemical engineering programs. With time, recognition of the importance of environmental issues (wastes, natural resources, energy, etc.) to other disciplines across the campus grew. For example, chemists, biologists, foresters, etc. each have a role in characterizing the behavior of ecological systems. Engineering disciplines that are focused on the design of products, processes, or systems influence long term societal sustainability. Social scientists must understand the relationship/linkages between the environment, industry, citizens, and government. Greener products, environmentally responsible processes, life cycle thinking, and environmental stewardship need to become part of the modern lexicon of globally aware students. Faculty from diverse disciplines across the campus are now collaborating to develop courses and modify curricula to educate students with respect to the triple bottom line (i.e., sustainable economic, societal, and environmental future). Problems associated with the traditional education paradigm are discussed. A new education model aimed at training students to create a sustainable future is proposed.Copyright

ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT RECOVERY AND RECYCLING IN TURKEY

Discarded electrical and electronic equipment contains valuable materials, low value parts, and hazardous substances. There is a growing concern regarding the management of end-of-use equipment owing to the environmental concerns associated with discarding used devices. Electronic waste or scrap consumes valuable landfill space and may ultimately contaminate groundwater sources. In addition, replacing discarded components with new components typically consumes valuable virgin material resources. With the advent of the WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) Directive, used electrical and electronic products are now being recovered in Turkey as a European Union (EU) candidate country, and several companies in Turkey have begun to recover latent value through disassembly and reuse/recycling of materials and components. To remain competitive, these companies must implement economical and environmentally responsible recovery processes. There are a number of research challenges associated with product recovery. This paper describes the current product recovery infrastructure in Turkey, and discusses future trends and drivers for successful product take-back.Copyright