Industrial hemp is a versatile, sustainable plant with several applications of its various forms, including fiber obtained from hemp stalks, food obtained from hemp seeds, and oil obtained from hemp flowers and seeds. Industrial hemp has the potential to offer a solution to the crisis of climate change, since it is a viable energy source that satisfies the three pillars of sustainability, namely economy, environment, and society. Although industrial hemp has been growing as an agricultural commodity in different parts of the world for decades, its production was banned until recently in the U.S. because of its association with marijuana. We conducted a literature review to explore some of the reasons why the U.S. production of industrial hemp has increased significantly since the ban was lifted. Our findings revealed that hemp’s rapidly increasing popularity in the U.S. since 2018 can be attributed, in part, to its sustainability potential (defined as the potential to positively impact the sustainability of products, using hemp as a renewable raw material). This study fills a gap in the knowledge regarding hemp’s potential as a sustainable crop.

The pursuit of an environmentally sustainable manufacturing process requires the substitution of less damaging and recyclable solutions for harmful reagents. This study aims to assess the effectiveness of using cellulose microfibrils synthesized via different hydrolysis reactions as reinforcing agents in polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) at varying concentrations. The investigation explores the morphology, thermal properties, and chemical behavior of the cellulose particles. The cellulose microfibrils (CMFs) produced using citric acid exhibited the highest yield and aspect ratio. Notably, particles from organic acids demonstrated greater thermal stability, with oxalic acid-derived particles displaying the maximum thermal degradation temperature. Subsequently, cast films of PVA reinforced with the cellulose microfibrils underwent comprehensive analyses, including Fourier transfer infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, thermal degradation temperature (T_d), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and tensile strength tests. The thermal behavior of cast films experienced notable changes with the addition of cellulose particles, evidenced by increased melting and crystallinity temperatures, along with a rise in the degree of crystallinity. The incorporation of cellulose particles led to a substantial improvement in mechanical properties. Films containing CMF displayed higher Young’s modulus, and the sample incorporating 5% CMF derived from citric acid exhibited the most significant increase in modulus.

Changes in damage accumulation and energy absorption were studied as a function of strain rate in a glass reinforced polypropylene composite during uniaxial ten sile testing. The polypropylene matrix was reinforced with long discontinuous glass fibers, and was manufactured using a du Pont proprietary wet-forming process. Acoustic emission monitoring was combined with mechanical testing and microscopic observation to study details of the damage accumulation process. Maximum stress, strain at maximum stress, and energy absorption capability all increased with increasing strain rate. Mechanical re sponse, acoustic emission signatures and micrographs of the fracture surfaces all showed a strain rate dependent transition in failure mechanism. Results show that the "apparent" fiber-matrix interface properties changed as a function of strain rate, and were closely coupled to the balance between the time scale of fiber pull-out and the characteristic time scale of resin deformation. Also, a systematic change in total energy absorption capability was used to demonstrate the competition between specific energy absorption (i.e., per unit volume) and the size of the damage zone.

Global competitiveness, outsourcing, and increased production of overseas engineers are issues that are becoming increasingly relevant in undergraduate engineering education and have prompted a number of calls to protect U.S. global competitiveness. Recent examples of such works include: Educating the Engineer of 2020 [1], Rising Above the Gathering Storm [2], and The World is Flat [3]. All these reports have challenged engineering institutions to increase the production and improve the education of engineering graduates. This is an increasingly important concern because, with the rapid pace of technological change, the future engineer is not only expected to offer technical ingenuity but also adapt to a continuously evolving environment while simultaneously being able to operate outside the narrow limits of one discipline in solving the complex problems of the future.