Perspectives on greener product development and manufacturing from Sustainable Minds, our partners, customers and contributors.

SM in education

We are extremely proud to be a 2018 Cleantech Open national sponsor.

By Sustainable Minds on July 16, 2018

As an in-kind sponsor, Sustainable Minds is offering a free 6-month subscription to its SM Eco-concept + LCA software for all members of the 2018 CTO cohort.

https://cleantechopen.org/en/page/national-sponsors-en

We kicked things off with the webinar: “Hands-on Training in Life Cycle Thinking & LCA for Cleantech Entrepreneurs.” The webinar provided an introduction to life cycle thinking and LCA and how to use the software in early stage product development to make informed trade-off decisions that can dramatically reduce impacts and drive innovation — in products, business models and systems.

Continue reading >
Certifications & labeling, Designers, Electronics, Green Economy, In the press, Innovation, Life cycle assessment, Manufacturing, Marketing, Materials & processes, Packaging, Product service systems, Products, SM in education, Software & systems, Standards & regulations, Strategies, Supply chain, Sustainability paradox, Sustainable Europe, Sustainable interaction design, Teamwork, Webcast

Creating Knowledge Workers for the Greener Product Marketplace Part 14: Hands-on training in life cycle thinking & LCA for execs

By Sustainable Minds on June 20, 2018

Recorded Wed, June 20 | 11am ET / 8am PT

Environmental performance as a criteria for product design is here to stay.

Evaluating, measuring & reporting on environmental performance has become an ordinary cost of doing business.

Continue reading >
Innovation, SM in education, Webcast

CUSTOMER STORY WEBCAST SERIES: Creating Knowledge Workers for the Greener Product Marketplace, Part 13: Graduate innovation & MBA educators using LCA to generate business / environmental benefits

By Sustainable Minds on August 23, 2017

Two business educators discuss how they use Sustainable Minds to teach innovation through life cycle thinking.

Join us to learn from educators with diverse backgrounds how they are working with students to advance and inform life cycle thinking. They will share how they use SM Eco-concept + LCA software to engage students in the essential conversation about modeling, measuring and interpreting results.

Continue reading >
SM in education, Webcast

Creating Knowledge Workers for the Greener Product Marketplace, Part 12: Creative innovation educators championing lifecycle thinking

By Sustainable Minds on March 11, 2017

Two creative educators discuss how they use Sustainable Minds to teach innovation through life cycle thinking.

Join us to learn from educators with diverse backgrounds how they are working with students to advance and inform lifecycle thinking. They will share how they use SM Eco-concept + LCA software to engage students in the essential conversation about modeling, measuring and interpreting results.

Continue reading >
SM in education

EDU Webcasts | Showcasing great curriculum from our popular series

By Sustainable Minds on June 21, 2016

Creating Knowledge Workers for the Greener Product Marketplace
Showcasing great curriculum stories from this series, 2012–2016

Learn how to integrate Sustainable Minds into your curriculum.
Get ready for next semester!

Designed to showcase curriculum from this popular series, we selected presentations from 12 educators to create one presentation for each discipline. These diverse educators have shared how they are working with students to advance and inform lifecycle thinking. The common thread—they use Sustainable Minds to engage students in essential conversations about environmental performance and product innovation.

MAY 25 – Business & strategy
JUNE 1 – Product design & innovation
JUNE 8 – Manufacturing & mechanical engineering

Continue reading >
SM in education

Webcast: Creating Knowledge Workers for the Greener Product Marketplace Part 11: Introducing lifecycle thinking across disciplines

By Sustainable Minds on March 17, 2016

On March 16th, we held the eleventh in a series of webcasts featuring educators from leading colleges and universities demonstrating how Sustainable Minds is being used in education at different learning levels. Understanding product life cycle concepts has fundamental value to students in a broad spectrum of disciplines beyond design and engineering. Learn from expert lifecycle assessment educators how they are working with students to convey life cycle thinking and ecodesign concepts through hands-on product life cycle modeling. They will share how they use Sustainable Minds to engage students in essential conversations about modeling, innovating, measuring and interpreting results.

Continue reading >
Innovation, SM in education, Webcast

Webcast: Creating Knowledge Workers for the Greener Product Marketplace, Part 10: Making Scalable Solutions

By Sustainable Minds on June 26, 2015

On May 28th, we held the tenth in a series of webcasts featuring educators from leading colleges and universities demonstrating how Sustainable Minds is being used in education. Modeling product concepts is the start of a journey to scaling production. Environmental performance can be included every step of the way. Learn from educators with diverse backgrounds, how they are working with students to advance and inform product design through life cycle thinking. They will share how they use Sustainable Minds to engage students in the essential conversation about measuring and interpreting results.

Continue reading >
Innovation, Life cycle assessment, SM in education, Webcast

Webcast: Creating Knowledge Workers for the Greener Product Marketplace, Part 9: Systems thinking + LCA metrics = sustainable progress

By Sustainable Minds on November 21, 2014

On November 18th, we held the ninth in a series of webcasts featuring educators from leading colleges and universities demonstrating how Sustainable Minds is being used in education. This webcast showcases three educators with diverse backgrounds as they discuss how they are working with students to further systems thinking, understand environmental performance and use Sustainable Minds to measure impacts, interpret results and create actionable recommendations.

Continue reading >
Life cycle assessment, SM in education, Webcast

Webcast: Creating Knowledge Workers for the Greener Product Marketplace, Part 8: Using LCA to analyze and visualize possibilities

By Sustainable Minds on August 29, 2014

On August 28th, we held the eighth in a series of webcasts featuring educators from leading colleges and universities demonstrating how Sustainable Minds is being used in education. Life cycle thinking is now being taught across a wide range of disciplines. Learn how different programs are implementing unique approaches with a common e-learning solution. Professor Meo will share how he got started and the progress over 4 years, including the evolution of the curriculum and the impact on the growth of the program. We will also be learning how Dr. Bouldin introduced undergraduate business students to the complexity of creating everyday products and visualizing a sustainable supply chain.

Continue reading >
Life cycle assessment, SM in education, Webcast

Teaching life cycle assessment with Sustainable Minds: A discussion with examples and student projects

By Sustainable Minds on August 27, 2014

Mark Meo, Kelsey Bowman, Kayla Brandt, Madeline Dillner, Dylan Finley, Justin Henry, Kaylie Sedlacek, and Aaron Winner

Department of Geography and Environmental Sustainability University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK 73019

Abstract
When the Department of Geography at the University of Oklahoma expanded its undergraduate degree options to include Environmental Sustainability in 2011, it was faced with the question of how should the Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA) core course be taught, and what aspects of LCA should it cover. In addition to the textbook selected for the classroom, it was clear that students would also need to get hands-on experience using LCA in a manner that reinforced and extended the themes taught in class. This dual challenge was resolved with the selection of a readable and easily understood text and the adoption of Sustainable Minds software for the conduct of student projects. In this paper, we describe the manner in which LCA is taught in the classroom and the important role that LCA software has played to help students acquire a working understanding of the merits of the technique as well as its limitations. Examples of student projects that were completed as course assignments are used to illustrate the scope of student interests and accomplishments.

Continue reading >
Life cycle assessment, SM in education