ESG Energy Initiatives
ESG is at the forefront of teaching undergraduates course materials with a particular focus on energy. In the spirit of supporting research in clean and renewable energy sources, ESG is teaching many of its core subjects using problems and examples that have direct application to issues related to creating alternative energy sources. These subjects include GIRs in Math, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, and Communications. The goal of teaching energy-related problems is multi-fold. First, teaching freshmen about energy helps underscore the urgency of the problem at a global level. MIT has made a public commitment to being a leader in solving the world's energy needs, and helping students to understand how their core subjects relate to this mission is the first step in this process. Secondly, understanding how the GIRs relate to real-world issues makes learning more meaningful for our students; contextualization of the GIRs has always been a vital part of the ESG learning experience. Finally, the study of energy, being an interdisciplinary field, requires knowledge that bridges a wide variety of disciplines. Studying energy-related problems in all of the GIRs helps students understand the value of an interdisciplinary approach to learning. Biology: PSets from Fall 2008 with an energy focus Chemistry: PSets from Fall 2008 with an energy focus Communications: 21W.732 projects that reduce the energy footprint Mathematics: Energy focused projects designed for 18.02, Spring 2009 (A. Slocum)(for freshmen only)Energy-related curriculum at ESG
