Scientia Education Academy Lecture Series
Sustainability is one of the greatest challenges of our modern society. It is critical for the survival of current and future generations. Sustainable development was first defined as “… development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” by the United Nations’ Brutland commission report in 1987. Since then, it has been extensively discussed globally and it has been made a prerequisite for numerous university curriculums around the world.
Professor Kara will talk about his eight years of experience teaching the complex subject of sustainability, which has been informed by twenty years of his research experience in the field. We will hear about his approaches to engaging students in the learning process by using a range of methods, including industry engagement, in order to contextualise the relevance of their learning to the respective profession. Professor Kara will also discuss the value of digital uplift in teaching complex subjects such as sustainability.
Learn more about Associate Professor Peter Heslin
Scientia Education Fellow, Sami Kara is a professor in the School of Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering. He is the founder and academic-in-charge of the Sustainable Manufacturing & Life Cycle Engineering Research Group and also the co-director of the Joint German-Australian Research Group on Sustainable Manufacturing.
Since joining UNSW in 2001 with a long track record in industry, he has involved various administration roles in the school and the faculty while maintaining a very high standard of teaching and research. Sami’s passion and commitment for teaching and supervision has been recognised with numerous awards including; UNSW Innovation in Teaching and Education Technology (ITET) Fellowship (2003), UNSW Vice-chancellor’s Postgraduate Teaching Award (2004), UNSW Faculty of Engineering Carrick Citation Nomination (2007), UNSW Faculty of Engineering Dean’s Teaching Award (2009), UNSW ARC Excellence in Postgraduate Research Supervision Award (2012), UNSW Postdoctoral Academy Supervisor of the Year Award (2012), UNSW Vice-chancellor’s Award for Teaching Excellence (2013), UNSW ARC Excellence in PG Research Supervision Award (2013), OLT - Australian Awards for University Teaching (2014), and UNSW Vice-chancellor’s Award for Teaching Excellence in Postgraduate Research Supervision (2016). Sami is an elected fellow of the Royal Society of New South Wales and the International Academy of Production Engineering (CIRP). Read more.