Environmental Materials Technology
A new subject for a new Millennium
Take a jump in time and picture the world as you think it will be around fifty years from now. Will we face pollution, global warming, a scarred landscape and depleted or exhausted natural resources? Or will we find a world where humanity has created a sustainable economy and a clean environment. Where advanced transport systems are not dependent on fossil fuels, where recycling is the norm and where industry and the environment exist in harmony.
Environmental concerns and the need or desirability for change, are all issues that arouse great passion and debate. However, whatever one's individual views on the environment, the subject is of great importance. It is evident that it is no longer politically acceptable to ignore environmental issues and as a result it is no longer economically possible for industry to avoid taking steps to reduce its environmental impact.
Legislation worldwide is demanding a sustainable economy with recycling, clean processing, reduced energy consumption, reduced pollution, greater durability and minimal environmental impact from products. More importantly perhaps, consumers are demanding these features too.
So who can help industry implement this change, to advise on better systems, to assess the real benefits of changing processes? Remember - Industry must conform to environmental rules, but it must still generate products that people want and at a cost that they can afford.
The Environmental Engineer will advise on the impact of current or future practice on the environment, the Lawyer will advise on compliance with regulations and statutes, the Marketing Specialist will advise on what will go down well with consumers - but who will ensure that changing a manufacturing process will still produce a good car tyre? Who will develop the plastic car body panel that can be recycled - and still look good? Who will design the lightweight truck that improves fuel economy but doesn't cost anymore than existing trucks, or the new road bridge that will last twice as long but which is just as safe as current bridges?
Enter - the Environmental Materials Technologist!
This new breed of engineer is fully conversant with environmental issues. Legalisation, environmental impact factors, economics, life cycle analysis, political and strategic factors are all familiar topics. In addition, the new Environmental Materials Technologists will also be fully trained in the selection and use of materials, materials processing technology and engineering design.
Materials have always been a key factor in the development of society and both the cause and solution to environmental problems.
The achievement of a truly sustainable society requires fundamental changes in the way industry uses materials including the development of new environmentally safe materials and processing technologies. Materials and processes are being developed that meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. In a sustainable society we may, for example, use only recycled materials or materials made from renewable resources like biomass or fast growing plants. Recent innovations in environmentally safe materials include; the development of a variety of bioplastics and coatings derived from plants for food packaging, the use of natural fibres like flax and hemp for the development of fibre-reinforced plastics for the automotive industry and the development of car body panels made from recycled PET-bottles.
Other 'green' areas where new materials have played an important role are for example, windmill rotor blades made of fibre reinforced plastics, fuel cells based on zirconia ceramic electrodes and solar cells based on silicon photovoltaics. Novel lightweight materials such as fibre-reinforced plastics and aluminium-alloys enable designers to reduce the weight of aircraft, trains and cars, leading to a lower fuel consumption and therefore less pollution.
Every company in every industry requires solutions to environmental problems to ensure the future health and survival of that business. The future for graduates on Environmental Materials Engineering courses is very bright indeed. It is no longer sufficient to be aware of a scientific or engineering discipline in isolation. It is not so long ago that the term simultaneous engineer was coined to describe the process in by which the development of a new product took place. A process where the design of the part, selection of materials and identification of a suitable (economic) manufacturing route was undertaken as part of a single integrated step rather than a sequence of unconnected operations. Now the most dynamic companies will have to introduce assessment of environmental impact as a fourth element in the simultaneous engineering process.
Environmental Materials Technology is the new discipline that will allow a new world to be created that is sustainable, prosperous and safe. Studying Environmental Materials Technology provides the route to a secure career, personal job satisfaction and a valued position in the community.
For More information on courses offered by the Department of Materials at Queen Mary, University of London, visit our website at: www.materials.qmw.ac.uk
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