EOP emerged to close a critical gap — preparing engineers to thrive in our rapidly evolving environment, economy, and society.
of collaborators, including partners from academia, industry, nonprofits, and public sectors.
From 5 initial pilot grants to more than 70 grantees and awardees today!
An Initiative Born from Collaboration for a Shared Vision
Engineering for One Planet was born out of a realization that a gap existed in preparing all engineers to operate successfully in our changing environment, economy, and society. After 20 years of supporting education and entrepreneurship to cultivate future inventors, The Lemelson Foundation embarked on a two-year journey to research this gap and develop a strategy to address it in collaboration with hundreds of individuals from academic, industry, public, and nonprofit sectors.
Those efforts revealed that engineering education was ripe for innovation through:
- Engaging educators, students, practicing engineers, and engineering associations to inform and support the integration of sustainability and climate topics into core engineering courses (bottom-up strategies)
- Working with academic, civic, philanthropic, and industry leaders to develop strategies that reward curricular innovation for a sustainable future (top-down strategies)
- Accelerating change through open source innovation, impact networks, and communities of practice
Robust learning outcomes and instructional resources directly aligned with ABET criteria.
Grants, faculty training, and awards accelerate adoption of sustainability learning outcomes in engineering curricula.
Action-driven collaboration across sectors, fostering powerful, ongoing change.
The Lemelson Foundation is deeply invested in shaping the next generation of engineers. Supporting Engineering for One Planet is crucial because it ensures that sustainability is not just an add-on, but a fundamental principle integrated into engineering education, paving the way for truly innovative and responsible solutions.
