Session F2B 0-7803-6669-7/01/$10.00 © 2001 IEEE October 10 - 13, 2001 Reno, NV 31 th ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference F2B-1 ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING PROGRAM IN BRAZIL Claudio da Rocha Brito 1 , Melany M. Ciampi 2 and Alexandre Botari 3 1 Claudio da Rocha Brito, University Center of Lusiada, Av. Dr. Epitácio Pessoa, 248 - 33, 11.045-300, Santos, SP, Brazil, cdrbrito@lusiada.br 2 Melany M. Ciampi, University Center of Lusiada, Av. Dr. Epitácio Pessoa, 248 - 33, 11.045-300, Santos, SP, Brazil, melany@lusiada.br 3 Alexandre Botari, University Center of Lusiada, Av. Dr. Epitácio Pessoa, 248 - 33, 11.045-300, Santos, SP, Brazil, botari@mmsantos.com.br Abstract  In a Country like Brazil, more than ever it is necessary to increase the number of researchers, committed with environment principally because this Country has an immense challenge to defeat: to promote development for the welfare of people without forgetting the human aspects involved in the relations - man, progress and nature. So it is imperative the creation of alternatives for the qualification of scientific minds to make science and create technology. This project consists in a proposal of an Environmental Engineering Program, conceived by the Coordinating Team of Engineering School of Lusiada University Center. It is a five years program, having in its curriculum some new courses of modern sciences, besides the ones demanded by the Education Law of Brazil, for engineering programs. It is a modular education, developed in periods, called "theoretical modules" and "search modules". They last four months each and they are complimentary. At the end of the Program s/he will be an engineer capable to promote human welfare contributing to decrease the grade of the impact of progress over nature and even over men. Index Terms  Environment, global, modular, science/technology INTRODUCTION University has an important mission that goes through the centuries, from past to future, passing through present. This mission is essentially the conservation of cultural enhiretage generating ideas, values and knowledge. This same University has to defeat the challenge of present world and to serve to the contemporary society viewing the future. The modern man needs to develop different abilities while s/he absorbs and memorizes information and facts in the several sources of the knowledge. And this proposal tries to position the student in this border, helping her/him to notice the need of this autonomy. This autonomy that, gradually, the student should possess to become an inserted professional in the current context. It means to be a step ahead of her/his time, having in mind that the road for non- present knowledge is dangerously turning shorter and shorter. The Environmental Engineering Program conceived by the coordinating team is in according to the new education paradigm. It is a modular program where the students have the “theoretical modules” and the “search modules”. They last four months each, they complimentary and they happen during the last two years of the program. During the “search module” the students work in a poor community of the “Metropolitan Region of Santos” in a joint venture with a Company. This is a great opportunity for the students to enrich their formation as environmental engineers because they can make research and apply it. LUSIADA UNIVERSITY CENTER Before describing the proposed methodology, let's tell about the Lusiada University Center, which as many Universities in Brazil is a very young one. In 1967 the Lusiada Foundation was created and it started its activities with the Medical Science College. In 1969 Management College began and after having consolidated the two Colleges, other Colleges have come. Finally in 1993 the Education Ministry of Brazil recognized the Lusiada as a University Center. The main characteristic of University Center of Lusiada is the preoccupation with the excellence of education that it offers. This characteristic is expressed in its modern and well-equipped laboratories, libraries and research centers. Besides a high level of Faculty with 400 members, the University Center of Lusiada also maintains services to the community. By an agreement between the University and the city Hospital, the “Guilherme Alvaro Hospital” can receive around 11 thousands patients per month. It has 220 places and 22 are reserved for Aids patients. All its Research Centers develop a kind of work to the community, which enriches their work too [1]. THE NEW PARADIGM OF EDUCATION AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING PROGRAMS In a new era, which the supremacy of information and the knowledge are widely preached, the formation of a professional becomes a crucial factor for success. The new work paradigm preaches that the capital is the intellect and people are the most important, but by the other hand, it is still difficult the total absorption of this new model of development. Why? Because it is human the natural resistance of a person to re-structure her/himself cognitively and emotionally, making possible the learning and principally the creation of completely new concepts. The present work paradigm has been a strong incidence in education paradigm in a deep transformation and a new