New engineering course offered

Some may call it "Engineering for the Artist." But next semester's first-ever non-technical engineering course entitled "Quantitative Perspectives on Energy and the Environment" will be anything but artistic. In fact, the course, which will be taught by Professor of Chemical Engineering Daniel Perlmutter, satisfies the Physical World Distribution Requirement for College of Arts and Sciences students. "Basically, what this is aimed at is the general population of people that are interested in technology but are not science majors," Perlmutter said. "They will be able to get some inkling of how engineers work." Whereas in past years, hard science courses for non-majors such as "Physics for Poets" were offered, this new course will focus on the practical aspects of science, he added. "Those courses don't necessarily teach you to apply what you've learned," said John Vohs, the undergraduate curriculum chairman for the Chemical Engineering Department. The new course will help students gain a greater understanding of environmental and energy problems addressed in the news, he added. Discussion will range from sources of energy to renewable resources to risk and pollution, Perlmutter said. The text for the course, Informed Choice: A Citizen's View of Environmental Protection, written by Perlmutter, will be supplemented by outside readings. "There is a widespread acceptance today of the idea that men and women who do not have professional interests in science and engineering still need to become informed in these areas in order to function effectively in a complex world," Perlmutter said in the introduction to his book. Therefore, his course, which is open only to College students, is aimed at the 85 percent of students who are not headed for a career in science, math or engineering. "The Engineering School as a whole supports it," Vohs said. "[And] I would hope it's well received by the students." Perlmutter explained that the course is intended to promote greater awareness and consequently greater interest in environmental and energy issues. "The goal is to make possible more informed decision making on public policies, not by offering answers but rather by stripping away?intimidating mathematics and science phobias," the prologue to Informed Choice explains. The course will be offered in two sections, one as a General Honors seminar and the other in a large lecture format.