Course 2A at MIT

Track advisor: Amy Smith (abs@mit.edu)

Two tracks are possible in this program. One track, in Engineering for Sustainability, is intended for students interested in work on sustainability in the context of US industry or in other industrialized settings. The other track, in Engineering for International Development, is intended for students interested in applications of technology for the developing world. Many of the classes listed below are relevant to both US and International concentrations; courses that are particularly pertinent to International Development at marked with an (I).

This track can be coupled to the minor programs in Environmental Engineering Science or Applied International Studies, as well as several HASS minors (recall that courses in your concentration may also be counted towards your minor).

One of the tricky aspects of putting together a 2-A curriculum in sustainability is that there are many excellent courses at MIT relevant to sustainability that do not necessarily include engineering content. We encourage 2-A students to take these classes and include them in their concentration however, since 2-A is an engineering degree, the student’s program must include at least 69 units of engineering beyond the required first and second level mechanical engineering subjects. This means that you must either:

• Include 69 units of engineering in your 2-A concentration OR
• Make up the difference by taking additional engineering courses (e.g. if your concentration includes 60 engineering units you must take an additional 9 or 12 unit class in course 1, 2, 3, 6, 10, 16, 20, or 22 to make up the difference.)

Suggested courses with full engineering content (i.e. for the courses listed below, the number of units is the same as the number of engineering units):

• 1.020: Ecology II: Engineering for Sustainability
• 1.080/1.107: Environmental Chemistry and Biology
• 1.851J: Water and Sanitation Infrastructure in Developing Countries (I)
• 2.500: Desalination and Water Purification (I)
• 2.63J Applications of Technology in Energy and the Environment
• 2.650: Sustainable Energy (I)
• 2.66J Fundamentals of Energy in Buildings
• 2.722: D-Lab: Design (I)
• 2.813: Environmentally Benign Design and Manufacturing
• 2.965J: International Supply Chain Management (I)
• 3.080: Economic and Environmental Materials Selection
• ESD.123J: Industrial Ecology
• SP.784: Wheelchair Design in Developing Countries (I)

Suggested courses with limited or no engineering content (the number of engineering units listed below are estimates; the exact number will be determined in the context of the student’s complete program. If no units are indicated, in general no engineering credit will be awarded for that particular class.):

• 4.230J: SIGUS Workshop (I)
• 4.235: Sustainable Settlement Design in Developing Countries (I)
• 11:491J: Economic Development and Policy Analysis I (I)
• 11.533: Ecological Planning with GIS — 6 engineering units
• 11.601: Introduction to Environemental Policy and Planning — 3 engineering units
• 11.630J: Environmental Law, Policy, and Economics: Pollution Prevention and Control
• 14.42: Environmental Policy and Economics
• 14.44: Energy Economics and Policy
• 14.74: Foundations of Development Policy (I)
• 14.771: Development Economics: Microeconomic Issues and Policy Models (i)
• 14.772: Development Economics: Macroeconomics (I)
• 14.773: Political Economy: Institutions and Development (I)
• 17.181: Sustainable Development: Theory, Research and Policy (I)
• ESD.128J: Global Climate Change: Economics, Science and Policy — 6 engineering units
• MAS:665J: Development Ventures (I)
• SP.721: D-Lab: Development (I)
• SP.723: D-Lab: Disseminating Innovations for the Common Good (I)
• SP.725: D-Lab: Health Technologies for the Developing World (I) — 6 engineering units