Sustainable Product Design & Innovation is a degree program developed early in the 21st century at Keene State College. Keene State College is part of the University System of New Hampshire. Here is a link to the schools website https://www.keene.edu/academics/programs/spdi/

It took me a couple years to figure out the acronym SPDI. At first I had assumed it was a STEM or STEAM program (I can be oblivious). Then I noticed that the letters didn’t match. I had to ask what they ment.

My first introduction to SPDI was a tour with the Society of Manufacturing Engineers were we saw their first 3D printers and a machine shop. A few years later we were invited student presentation on their Manufacturing Enterprise course to the . I was quite impressed. I had spent most of my life in manufacturing and the students did a good job of representing the manufacturing structure.

A few years later I was asked to join academia and become a member of SPDI staff. It has been a privilege. Somewhat surprisingly this has been my third longest job. I have only spent more time making automobile headlights and medical devices. Having worked with many engineers in the past, I hope to train the students how to be better engineers.

Let me break down what SPDI means to me.

Let’s start with the word sustainable. The UN defined sustainability in 1987 as the ability to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Written by international politicians that statment can mean whatever you want it to be. I am sure someplace that would be, I have slaves, so my children should have slaves. Myself, I would say, make good things so you do not go out of business. Yes, sustainable is considered a political word. Politicians do choose what is sustainable, that is the way things work. Most politicians support manufacturing. They know we need things.

The next word is product. This is a word I can understand. A product is a thing. Our world is made of things. We depend on things. There is no society without things. Things keep us alive and let us live longer. The vast majority of things in our lives are manufactured. Musical instruments, books, paint brushes, and your phone are all manufactured. Manufacturing is an art.

Design, how do we define our things. How big are they, what are things made of? How are going make these things. We learn computer aided design, how to digitally render things. That is just the start. When we have a thing, how does it relate to other things. How do things work together. Are there unexpected consequences? Form fit and function is what we said in the factory. How does the product do the job? I could go on and on, however I will take a break and go on to what may be the most important word.

Innovation, for me it means collaboration to make better things. How can we make better things? Can we improve the result of two interacting things? Can an assembly of things work better together? That is what learning is.

SPDI is something I can belive in. Recently I have been trying to promote SPDI by giving away SPDI jackets that the students designed. As usual, some people do not agree. We are a Liberal Arts school, not a technical college. My view is manufacturing is the one art all the other arts are dependent on. Just my opinion.