Climate change is one of the most significant challenges in human history. In recent years, it has become clear that our way of life is not 100% sustainable and that something needs to change. This course will introduce you to sustainability and the science behind it. We will cover a wide range of topics, including: climate change; electricity generation and its decarbonization; water scarcity and water harvesting; and the role of materials and their environmental impact. By the end of this course, you will have learned about the science underpinning these applications, including heat transfer, thermodynamics, mechanics, and materials science. More importantly, we hope you will walk away able to talk about sustainability and feeling inspired to create the changes necessary to make society more sustainable and save the world!

The process of heat transfer is extremely important and prevalent on almost every length scale. From electronics, to cooking, to climate change, the ways matter interacts with the three modes of heat transfer—conduction, convection, and radiation—shapes the world around us and the technology we use to solve our problems. This course will introduce students to various thermal properties of materials and their microscopic origins in electrons, phonons, photons, and more. Students will also learn about the cutting edge of thermal materials and how they are being used to solve some of humanity’s greatest challenges, such as water scarcity and climate change. Hopefully, this course will inspire students to pursue careers in the thermal sciences and engineering.

Climate change is one of the most significant challenges in human history. In recent years, it has become clear that our way of life is not 100% sustainable and that something needs to change. This course will introduce you to sustainability and the science behind it. We will cover a wide range of topics, including: climate change; electricity generation and its decarbonization; water scarcity and water harvesting; and the role of materials and their environmental impact, especially plastics. By the end of this course, you will have learned about the science underpinning these applications, including heat transfer, thermodynamics, mechanics, and materials science. More importantly, we hope you will walk away able to talk about sustainability and feeling inspired to create the changes necessary to make society more sustainable and save the world!

Heat transfer is everywhere. From our smartphones to our planet’s climate, the three modes of heat transfer—conduction, convection, and radiation—shape the world around us and the technology we use to solve our problems. But how do they work? What even is heat to begin with? In this course, you will learn the answers to these questions and more. Using a basic understanding of atoms and how they interact, we will learn about the physical nature of heat transfer and “carriers” of heat like electrons, phonons, and photons. Hopefully, students will walk away with a conceptual understanding of heat transfer and why it matters on length scales ranging from atoms to solar systems.

The process of heat transfer is extremely important and prevalent on almost every length scale. From electronics, to cooking, to climate change, the ways matter interacts with the three modes of heat transfer—conduction, convection, and radiation—shapes the world around us and the technology we use to solve our problems. This course will introduce students to various thermal properties of materials and their microscopic origins in electrons, phonons, photons, and more. Students will also learn about the cutting edge of thermal materials and how they are being used to solve some of humanity’s greatest challenges, such as water scarcity and climate change. Hopefully, this course will inspire students to pursue careers in the thermal sciences and engineering.

Come join graduate members of The Rohsenow-Kendall Heat Transfer Laboratory to learn about how you can help solve the climate crisis and ensure the 4 billion people around the world that face water scarcity have water to drink! We will be walking through the basics of thermodynamics and heat transfer as they are applied to solving some of today's most pressing problems. From helping produce the food you eat, to the water you drink, to providing electricity to charge your cell phone, thermal sciences play an essential role in the world around us. We would love to get you started!