Sustainable Development Assignment

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Department of Electrical Engineering and Electronics
ELEC171-ELEC172
Employability and Sustainability Assignment

Assignment Task
Choose a product or process from the list below. Write a report on the sustainable development of your
chosen product or process from the perspective of an engineer working in that industry.
 Jet engines
 Hydrogen vehicles
 Batteries for electric vehicles
 Smartphones
 3D printing
 Running shoes / trainers
 Cloud computing
 Drone delivery
In order to write your report, you will need to investigate the product thoroughly, determine its
sustainability issues, assess their importance and propose several possible ways that the product might
be made more sustainable.
Your report should have the format given in the template below. Any figures or tables should be
numbered and have appropriate captions. You should reference all information in your report, using the
standard IEEE style of referencing
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Report Template
1. Introduction
(suggested length: 150 words)
Using one or two short paragraphs, state the product or process you have selected and briefly explain the
purpose of your report
2. Description of the scope of product or process
(suggested length: 300 words)
Give an overview of the scope of your product or process, its main design features, its market situation and
your sustainable development concerns
3. Framing of Product or System in a Sustainable Development Context
(suggested length: 500-600 words)
Summarize the attitudes of the stakeholders in your product or process. The stakeholders might include
consumers/users, retailers, manufacturers, any relevant pressure groups, government, and regulators. You
should only consider the groups relevant to your product or process
4. Description of the life cycle of the product or process
(suggested length: 200 words)
Using the examples given in lectures as a guide, describe the life cycle of your product or process. You might
choose to use a cradle-to-grave diagram to help with your description.
5. Matrix of Life Cycle Stages and Sustainable Development Impacts
Using the examples given in lectures as a guide,
 create a matrix of the life cycle stages and the sustainable development impacts. In the table, the
minimum font size should be Arial 9pt.
 rate the impact of the sustainability issues.
6. Design Opportunities
(suggested length: 450 words total)
Identify three design opportunities that would improve the sustainability of your chosen product or process.
Describe each of your design improvements using 150 words or less, as indicated below. As part of your
description, you should explain the likelihood of this design opportunity being successful.
7. Summary
(suggested length: 150 words total)
In a few short paragraphs, summarise the main points of your sustainability investigation.
8. References
List your references. You should use the IEEE format style.
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Marking Criteria: