Materials and our environment: striving for sustainability

Learning outcomes:

This course has been designed to enable you to:

• Have an awareness of the impact of materials on our environment, and applying this to inform design choices
• Have an appreciation of the interrelated nature of materials, engineering and society (including cultural and historical contexts), and reflection on how technological advancements lead to new solutions and new challenges
• Apply critical and creative thinking in solving problems with the multi-/inter-disciplinary confluence of materials, engineering, and design

Course sessions:

1. Why materials matter? The life-cycle of a product
This session will introduce the key classes of materials, their properties, and applications, and how these have evolved over ten thousand years to shape our society. We then focus on understanding and assessing the impact of a life-cycle of a material and product (from extraction, processing, use, to disposal) on the natural environment.

2. Biology vs Technology: What can we learn about design from Nature?
This session will explore the spider’s silken web as a case study natural structure, and introduce concepts of bioinspiration and biomimetics for smart and sustainable design. We will also ask (and try to answer) questions regarding the (sometimes assumed) efficiency of Nature’s solutions and the sustainability of natural materials.

3. The age of plastics
This session explores our ancient plastics (bone, elephant ivory), and reflects on how did modern plastics become a victim of their own success, and where to next in terms of natural alternatives and disposal options. We will also explore reinforced plastics (a form of composite material) and the fascination of designers and engineers with this material category.

4. The materials in our buildings
The session reflects on the scale of our concrete addiction and what is the environmental impact of buildings and building materials. In exploring environmentally wise materials' choices for our future buildings, we will also examine how we can transform wood and bamboo into reliable materials for construction of super-tall buildings, and what are the implications on forest sustainability.

5. How do materials impact your life?
Amalgamating what we have learned in the course, we will reflect on how materials impact our daily life. We will consider case studies such as how bicycles designs have evolved through history, how the applications of a simple material – plywood – have been so varied, and how smart and intelligent materials are being deployed in our cars, homes, and bodies. These will serve as templates, or inspiration, for your own reflections to share with the class.

Non-credit bearing

Please note that our Virtual Summer Festival of Learning courses are non-credit bearing.

Certificate of Participation

A certificate of participation will be sent to you electronically within a week of your Summer Festival course(s) finishing.

Welcome week: Before the course starts

Courses are delivered online via our Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). A week before your course starts you will receive an email from our Teaching & Learning (TEL) team confirming your VLE login details. Once you have logged into the VLE, you should:

• Access the ‘Course Information’ and ‘Welcome to the course’ areas.
• Carry out any technical checks, including video checks.
• View the VLE ’Online course tour’ and familiarise yourself with your learning environment.
• Watch the Course Director’s welcome video.
• Introduce yourself to the Course Director and other students using the general forum.
• Access and carry out any pre-reading or activities for the course provided in the ‘Welcome to the course’ area.

Study week: Course delivery, video content and study time

• You will be taught largely through a series of pre-recorded course videos.
• Course videos will be released on a daily basis, Monday to Friday.
• We suggest that you set aside around 1.5 hours each day to watch the course videos, view course materials and resources and complete any related reading, activities and discussions in the daily forums. This does not need to be done in one sitting, you have the flexibility to access content when and where you want, and to go back and review it as often as you wish.

Zoom Session

• Dr Darshil Shah will be hosting a live Zoom session on Friday 9 July at 2pm BST (GMT + 1). The session will last approximately 30 minutes. Access via the VLE.

At the end of the course

• Content for each course will remain available on the VLE for 5 weeks after the course has finished
• Course forums will close for postings on the Monday after the course, but existing messages will still be visible for 5 weeks after the course has finished
• You will receive a certificate of participation via email within a week of your course finishing

Pre-recorded course videos

Courses include one or two videos per day, these are designed by the Course Director to help you address different aspects of the main topic. All of our course videos are subtitled.

Course discussion forums

There will also be the opportunity to engage in written form with other course participants and discuss questions set by the Course Director on the discussion forums. Your Course Director will launch a number of discussions on the daily forums and will generally respond to a selection of key questions and comments on a daily basis. You are encouraged to actively take part in these discussions to get the most out of the course and to add to your overall enjoyment.

Resources, reading lists and activities

During the course and up until 5 weeks after the course has finished you will have access to a number of learning resources which may include links to websites, readings and research papers. These are provided by the Course Director to support the teaching and will be available on the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE).

You may wish to consider these additional related courses on offer in the Festival:

If you are able to study more than one course or for more than one week, you may wish to consider streams of related course subjects.  There will be many other options – this is just an illustration of possible course combinations:

And don’t forget to watch the series of talks included in your course booking (usually charged at £50). Further details and a link to access the talks will be sent to you a week before the Festival starts.

Booking a course

To book a Festival course please click the Book Now button at the top of the course page. You will be taken to our secure bookings portal where you can set up an account using your email address, and pay for your course by credit or debit card.

All of our courses are limited to 50 places, in order to allow students and Course Directors the opportunity for interaction via the discussion forums on the VLE.

Bookings will remain open until midnight the day before the course starts. If your preferred course is full at the time of booking you can add yourself to a waiting list. You will be notified, by email, if a place becomes available. We recommend that you book early to avoid missing out.

Please note that if you book a place the weekend before a course starts, it may take up to 48 hours to process your application and notify you of your VLE log in details. You may therefore not have access until the end of the second day of the course, but can go back and review sessions which have already been released.

‘How to book a course’ video

Our short video below talks you through the necessary steps to register and create an account before booking on to your chosen course(s) via our secure payment portal.

Before booking, please ensure that you have read and understood our Booking terms and conditions

Talks

As part of our Summer Festival we will also be offering a series of talks showcasing the variety of subjects on offer here at the University, as well as research, global current affairs and a range of other topics.

By booking a Summer Festival course, you automatically qualify for free access to these talks (usually charged at £50). Further details and a link to access the talks will be sent to you a week before the Festival starts.