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Fall 2005 Series
During the Fall 2005 semester we hosted the second annual Engineers Without Borders Lecture Series. The lecture series was designed to inform the engineering community about issues that were becoming increasingly important to our field, yet were underemphasized in the engineering curriculum. On 2005, the lecture series featured speakers who helped elucidate the intersection and interaction of policymaking and engineering.
- Nik Katapodes PhD. Dr. Katapodes is the head of the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at the University of Michigan. Professor Katopodes writes extensively on active flood hazard mitigation, flood prediction and the prevention of levee failure. He recently participated in the roundtable discussion “First Response to the Hurricane Katrina Disaster.”
- Edward A. Parson PhD. Dr. Parson is a professor in the School of Natural Resources and the Environment and the University of Michigan Law School. Dr. Parson’s interests include environmental policy, particularly its international dimensions; the political economy of regulation; the role of science and technology in policy and regulation; and the analysis of negotiations, collective decisions, and conflicts. His recent research has included projects on scientific and technical assessment in international policy-making, the policy implications of carbon-cycle management, and the design of international market-based policy instruments.
- Levi Thompson PhD. Dr. Thompson is a professor in the Chemical Engineering Department at the University of Michigan and is currently Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education. His research interests include early transition metal nitrides and carbides, fuel processing catalysts, fuel cells, sol-gel derived materials and nanostructured films.
- Charles Vest PhD. Former President of M.I.T. Dr. Vest will be the Towsley Policy Maker in Residence for the fall semester at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy. Dr. Vest is a past provost and a former Dean of Engineering at the University of Michigan. He also recently completed service as a member of the Robb-Silberman Commission on Intelligence and Weapons of Mass Destruction.
Fall 2004 Series
During the Fall 2004 semester, BLUElab sponsored it's first seminar series. We brought in five speakers to discuss issues related broadly to socially responsible engineering.
- Jonathan W. Bulkey “Sustainable Development” (Environmental Engineering, U of M) Dr. Bulkley is faculty member in both the School of Natural Resources and Environmental Engineering and his work is focused on water policy and sustainable engineering systems.
- Thomas R. Hughes “Engineer in Society” (History, University of Pennsylvania, MIT) Thomas J. Hughes has taught
at MIT and the University of Pennsylvania. He is an elected
member of the National Academy of Engineering, the only
historian to be elected to that society, and the Royal
Institute in Sweden. One of his texts examining the recent history
of technology won a space on the short list for the Pulitzer Prize.
Dr. Hughes spoke to seminar attendees on the criticisms that have,
over the past century and a half, been made regarding the engineering
profession, criticisms for the most part made by engineers themselves.
- Steven J. Skerlos “Eco-Design” (Mechanical Engineering, U of M) Steven J. Skerlos is a faculty
member in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at UofM,
director of the Environmental and Sustainable Technologies Laboratory
(EASTlab), and BLUElab's faculty sponsor.
- Nicholas Steneck “Engineering Ethics” (History, U of M) A member of the History faculty at the University of Michigan, Dr. Steneck has worked with the college of engineering faculty to develop an ethics program for undergraduate students.
- Maria Carmen de Lemos “Environmental Justice” (School of Natural Resources, U of M) Dr. Lemos has done extensive work on the impact of seasonal climate forecasting in policymaking (agriculture, drought-relief, water management) in Brazil.
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