Ivan Baiges Creating a Sustainability Engineering degree

Episode 9 of the Undercooled: A Materials Education Podcast podcast, hosted by Steve Yalisove and Tim Chambers, titled "Ivan Baiges Creating a Sustainability Engineering degree" was published on December 7, 2025 and runs 64 minutes.

December 7, 2025 ·64m · Undercooled: A Materials Education Podcast

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Summary

Steve and Tim talked with Professor Ivan Baiges from University of Puerto Rico - Mayaguez about the new undergraduate program he and his team developed called Sustainability Engineering. He described the need for such a program, especially in Puerto Rico, as well as how he went about assembling a team of faculty to do the hard work of creating new courses, convincing administrators, and making it happen. He suggested several books that inspired him, and he recommends them to all interested in Sustainability Engineering.You can find the YouTube video here:https://youtu.be/DB3lG_fE9L0Here is his reading list:On the subject of “Emergy or Embodied EnergyEnvironment, Power, and Society for the Twenty-First Century: The Hierarchy of Energy Illustrated Edition; by Howard Odum (Author)ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9780231128872Emergy or EMbodied/EMbedded energy is based on the concept that the value of something (ecosystem, products/materials, services, built environment, etc.) is based on the amount of resources/energy that goes into creating that something, instead of how much one is willing to pay for it. This is an excellent method to understand the actual value of any given material solution.On the subject of Economics in a different light:Small Is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered by E. F. Schumacher (Author)Doughnut Economics: Seven Ways to Think Like a 21st-Century Economist by Kate Raworth (Author)Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution by Paul Hawken , Amory Lovins, L. Hunter Lovins (you can download the whole book in pdf format at https://www.natcap.org/ ) On circular design and the circular economy:Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things, by William McDonough and Michael Braungart The Upcycle: Beyond Sustainability--Designing for Abundance, by William McDonough and Michael Braungart Circular Economy, Ellen MacArthur Foundation https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/topics/circular-economy-introduction/overview You can find more about Ivan at this link: www.linkedin.com/in/ivan-baiges-valentin-023106223; email [email protected] You can find more about the U. Puerto Rico Mayaguez Sustainability Engineering here: https://www.uprm.edu/isos/en/ (ISOS stands for Ingenieria de Sostenibilidad or Sustainability Engineering)You can find more about the U. Puerto Rico Mayaguez here: https://www.uprm.eduOur YouTube channel can be found here:http://www.youtube.com/@Undercooled.MaterialsThis episode is sponsored by the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).

Episode Description

You can find the YouTube video here:
https://youtu.be/DB3lG_fE9L0

Here is his reading list:
On the subject of “Emergy or Embodied Energy

Environment, Power, and Society for the Twenty-First Century: The Hierarchy of Energy Illustrated Edition; by Howard Odum (Author)ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9780231128872

Emergy or EMbodied/EMbedded energy is based on the concept that the value of something (ecosystem, products/materials, services, built environment, etc.) is based on the amount of resources/energy that goes into creating that something, instead of how much one is willing to pay for it. This is an excellent method to understand the actual value of any given material solution.

On the subject of Economics in a different light:
Small Is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered by E. F. Schumacher (Author)
Doughnut Economics: Seven Ways to Think Like a 21st-Century Economist by Kate Raworth (Author)
Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution by Paul Hawken , Amory Lovins, L. Hunter Lovins (you can download the whole book in pdf format at https://www.natcap.org/ )

On circular design and the circular economy:
Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things, by William McDonough and Michael Braungart
The Upcycle: Beyond Sustainability--Designing for Abundance, by William McDonough and Michael Braungart
Circular Economy, Ellen MacArthur Foundation https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/topics/circular-economy-introduction/overview

You can find more about Ivan at this link: www.linkedin.com/in/ivan-baiges-valentin-023106223; email [email protected]

You can find more about the U. Puerto Rico Mayaguez Sustainability Engineering here: https://www.uprm.edu/isos/en/ (ISOS stands for Ingenieria de Sostenibilidad or Sustainability Engineering)

You can find more about the U. Puerto Rico Mayaguez here: https://www.uprm.edu

Our YouTube channel can be found here:
http://www.youtube.com/@Undercooled.Materials

This episode is sponsored by the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).