by Future Navigation
July 10, 2022
An alienating narrative often surfaces in discussions of sustainability: it is up to young people to use SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) to fix the errors of those who came before—alienating because it removes the older generation from the conversation. Of course, many in the older generation are passionate about using their own experience to bring about change.
“For many years, I worked on the carbon fibers reinforced plastics used in wind turbines, but while that was renewable green energy, I came to see that it was also an industry with a big recycling problem,” says Larry Lessard, a professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at McGill University in Canada. After three decades of teaching and conducting highly regarded research in the fields of mechanical engineering and composite materials, Larry Lessard is uniquely placed to tackle structural issues in composites—but also in environmentalism. “Solar power is much the same. Through my work, I came to understand that almost everything we think of as ‘green’ brings with it new challenges,” explains Lessard.