Education

The Stanford Ecopreneurship progam creates new opportunities for sustainability entrepreneurs through hands-on project-based learning, mentorship, coaching and grants for students.

Sponsored by the McCoy Family Center for Ethics and Society, the Computer Science Department and Stanford HAI, the Embedded Ethics Conference, scholars from around the country explored approaches to embedding ethics into computer science curricula.

Students in Stanford's Hacking for Climate and Sustainability class are seeking solutions to complex climate and sustainability challenges through deep analysis, innovative thinking, and careful collaboration with those most affected.

The new book by Mykel Kochenderfer, associate professor of aeronautics and astronautics and colleagues, Tim A. Wheeler and Kyle H. Wray, recommends various approaches for designers solving different kinds of problems.

One of the main themes of the university's Long Range Vision is embedding ethics across research and education. Kathleen Creel, seen here at left, is the inaugural Embedded EthiCS fellow training the next generation of entrepreneurs and engineers to identify and work through various ethical and moral problems they will encounter in their careers. “The objective is to weave ethics into the curriculum organically so that it feels like a natural part of their practice,” said Creel. 

A Stanford undergraduate team, shown here at left, won the national EnergyTech University Prize for the U.S. Department of Energy's inaugural competition to identify a high-potential energy technology, conduct a market analysis to determine commercialization opportunities and create a business plan. The team developed a plan to commercialize the recycling of lithium cobalt oxide batteries.

With the return to campus and in-person learning in 2021, we experienced more changes and different routines from pre-pandemic times. Stanford researchers continue to make advancements in science and technology which include some notable achievements, including the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, a MacArthur "genius" grant and a Rhodes Scholarship, among others.

Stanford's commitment of reaching net-zero emissions from its operation by 2050 will require developing new tools and strategies for emissions generated through operations like business travel and purchasing of supplies and services, known as Scope 3 emissions. Led by Randy Livingston, vice president for Business Affairs, this program will not only help Stanford reach its goal but also establish a path for other institutions and for the more than 100 companies that have pledged to reach net-zero emissions by 2040.

Stanford's new school focused on climate and sustainability will begin operating in Fall 2022 with four transitional divisions that will evolve into departments.as the school grows. The school will also contain cross-cutting themes within institutes to draw on the expertise of the entire university and an accelerator to drive new technology and policy solutions. "Stanford is taking the historic step of creating the university's first new school in 70 years in response to the scale and urgency of threats facing our planet," said President Marc Tessier-Lavigne.

magazine to recommend meaningful reads for summer. Gerdes' recommendation is Go like Hell: Ford, Ferrari and Their Battle for Speed and Glory at Le Mans by A. J. Baime which he gave out to his students a few years ago and which all enjoyed reading. Gretchen Daily, environmental sciences, Yvonne Maldonado, pediatrics and infectious diseases, and Rodolfo Dirzo, environment sciences also have recommendations for your summer reading list.