Sustainable engineering refers to the integration of social, environmental, and economic considerations into product, process, and energy system design methods. Additionally, sustainable engineering encourages the consideration of the complete product and process lifecycle during the design effort. The intent is to minimize environmental impacts across the entire lifecycle while simultaneously maximizing the benefits to social and economic stakeholders. The MS in sustainable engineering is multidisciplinary and managed by the industrial and systems engineering department.

The program is designed to accomplish the following educational objectives:

• Heighten awareness of issues in areas of sustainability (e.g., global warming, ozone layer depletion, deforestation, pollution, ethical issues, fair trade, gender equity, etc.).
• Establish a clear understanding of the role and impact of various aspects of engineering (design, technology, etc.) and engineering decisions on environmental, societal, and economic problems. Particular emphasis is placed on the potential trade-offs between environmental, social, and economic objectives.
• Strong ability to apply engineering and decision-making tools and methodologies to sustainability-related problems.
• Demonstrate a capacity to distinguish professional and ethical responsibilities associated with the practice of engineering.