A new form of engineering that is focused on mitigating the impact of humans on the environment will be a topic of upcoming lectures sponsored by NASA’s Langley Research Center.

Virginia Tech professor Sean McGinnis will give the lecture ”Green Engineering: Making NASA (And the World) More Environmentally Sustainable” Tuesday, Aug. 6 at 2 p.m. EDT in Langley’s Pearl Young Theater as part of the center’s Colloquium Series. He will also give a similar talk at 7:30 p.m. EDT at the Virginia Air and Space Center as part of the Sigma Series of lectures.

McGinnis will discuss the application of green engineering from a NASA perspective. Green engineering is a technical approach to quantitatively assess environmental impacts of products, processes and systems and then actively make design choices to minimize these impacts while balancing other critical requirements including performance, safety and economics.

The talk will include the NASA technologies that allow quantitative measurement and modeling of environmental impacts, green engineering principles which NASA already incorporates into its research and project management, and the opportunities for environmental improvement which continue to cause environmental and economic issues for the agency and the communities surrounding its centers.

McGinnis is an associate professor of practice in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Virginia Tech. He also directs the green engineering program which teaches undergraduates concepts and skills to quantify and minimize environmental impacts across a wide variety of engineering disciplines. His current research focuses on life-cycle assessment, sustainable manufacturing processes, renewable energy, green building and engineering education. McGinnis has worked closely with NASA headquarters and the Academy of Program/Project and Engineering Leadership (APPEL) to develop the Green Engineering short course which has been taught 15 times at nine NASA sites since 2011. McGinnis also works with local governments, communities and companies to understand their energy use, carbon footprints, and environmental impacts and to help them develop sustainability plans.

Langley’s Colloquium and Sigma lectures provide monthly talks and demonstrations related to science and technology. The lectures are intended to stimulate the creative processes of Langley employees and enhance the quality of life at Langley by providing more opportunities for learning.

The Sigma Series talk is free and open to the public. The lecture at Langley limited to employees. For more information about Langley’s Colloquium and Sigma Series Lectures, visit:

http://colloqsigma.larc.nasa.gov