Course syllabus

PPU206 – Sustainable Products and Production Systems

Year 2, Study Period 1-2

4 HP

Course Objectives and Goals

The course Sustainable Products and Production Systems:

• focuses on developing technological awareness and understanding of theories, methods and engineering tools aimed at being able to develop products and production systems that are sustainable in terms of economic, environmental and social aspects.
• focuses on multidisciplinary issues within product and production development with the aim of raising awareness of the interplay between disciplines and their individual impact on the whole.
• aims to introduce sustainable thinking and develop such skills with some of the tools of virtual technology that a deepening in graduate work becomes possible.
• aims to arouse interest in further studies in the subject area as well as an awareness that will be preserved during upcoming courses and serve as preparation for them.

Organisation

The course contains an introduction to sustainability aspects in product and production development with the aid of:

• Lectures
• Exercises / laboratory work
• Seminars
• Study visit
• Knowledge test towards the end of the course
  
  

The purpose of the course's practical parts is to create an understanding of and develop skills in evaluating sustainability aspects in key areas (product and production system, manufacturing technology, economics), which are central aspects and useful later during the course. The purpose of the study visit is to establish contact with industrial reality.

Learning Objectives

After completing the course you (the student) should be able to:

• Describe what sustainability means and exemplify how the constituent components relate to each other.
• Analyze material choices with the sustainability aspects in mind (Eco-design).
• Compare & evaluate a limited number of possible production systems and motivate the choices based on economy, environment and social aspects.
• Compare & evaluate a limited number of possible energy types and motivate the choices based on economy, environment and social aspects.
• Be able to discuss how the engineering role can contribute to social sustainability from an individual, corporate, social and global perspective.
• Explain basic concepts and apply simple methods regarding environment and sustainable development.
• Describe some basic economic concepts and explain how it can link to sustainability issues.
• Conduct a sustainable reasoning with balancing the environment, economy and social aspects of an industrial problem.
• Explain the benefits of having a sustainability strategy to enable systematic analysis and improvement work within product and production systems.

Examination

The rating scale is Fail / Pass

Requirements: Attendance for study visits and seminars, approved knowledge test, completed exercises and approved reports.

Examiner

Björn Johansson

E-mail: bjorn.johansson@chalmers.se

Telefon: 031 - 7723809

Course Assistants

Clarissa Alejandra González Chávez

E-Mail: clarissa.gonzalez@chalmers.se

Arpita Chari

E-Mail: arpitac@chalmers.se