A methodology to introduce sustainability into the Final Year Project to foster sustainable engineering projects

The introduction of sustainability skills into higher education curricula is a natural effect of the increasing importance of sustainability in our daily lives. Topics like green computing, sustainable design or environmental engineering have become part of the knowledge required by today’s engineers. Furthermore, we strongly believe that the introduction of this skill will eventually enable future engineers to develop sustainable products, services and projects. The Final Year Project is the last academic stage facing students and a step towards their future professional engineering projects. As such, it constitutes a rehearsal for their professional future and an ideal opportunity for reflecting on whether their Final Year Project is sustainable or not, and to what extent. It also provides a good tool for reviewing the lessons learned about sustainability during the degree course and for applying them in a holistic and integrated way. In this paper, we present a guide that allows both students and advisors to think carefully about the sustainability of engineering projects, in particular the Final Year Project.Postprint (author’s final draft

Experiences of Mining Engineering students in cooperation for development

Peer ReviewedObjectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::3 - Salut i BenestarObjectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::8 - Treball Decent i Creixement EconòmicObjectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::13 - Acció per al ClimaObjectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::17 - Aliança per a Aconseguir els ObjetiusPostprint (published version

Experiences of mining engineering students in cooperation for development

Future engineers, in addition to technical knowledge, should incorporate in their academic curricula aspects that contribute to make mining a sustainable activity. This will contribute to changing the concept that society has about mining and to be a socially accepted activity. In the mining engineering studies at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), students have the opportunity to develop cooperation projects together with professors and other staff members. They all collaborate with artisanal miners from different underdeveloped countries, mainly from Latin America, and contribute to making mining more environmentally friendly. Moreover, they have the opportunity to acquire a social sensitivity that can be of great importance during the development of their professional career. This study presents some experiences of undergraduate, master, and doctoral students in cooperation activities in mining. The projects were developed as a collaboration between UPC and universities or NOGs in Latin America. The activities have been carried out in underdeveloped areas where mining is practiced with a high environmental impact and poor use of resources. A survey among the participants in the projects shows the students' favourable perception of this activity.This work has been carried out with the support of the Centre de Cooperació per al Desenvolupament (CCD-UPC), which financed the Cooperation projects. We thank the NGO Mineria per al Desenvolupament for its contribution to the development of the projects

A learning tool to develop sustainable projects

This paper presents a tool developed to help engineers to design and develop sustainable projects. The tool has been designed to introduce and evaluate the sustainability of engineering projects in general, but here we show its application to assess the final project of an engineering degree. This tool is a guide for students to introduce and estimate the sustainability of their projects, but it also helps teachers to assess them. The tool is based on the Socratic Methodology and consists of a matrix where each cell contains several questions that students must consider during the project development and which they must answer in their project report. A positive or negative mark is assigned to every cell, and the sum of all marks states the project sustainability. However, the result is not as simplistic as a final number, but a descriptive sustainability analysis where questions are answered and every mark justified. A pilot test with some students has obtained good results, but the first Final Degree Project using this methodology will be read in July 2016.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Implementation of competences of social and environmental responsibility in IT engineering degrees

In the present globalized world, the impacts of engineering are growing in importance, society is becoming more aware of them, and more and more universities are including ethical and social issues into their engineering degree programs. This article describes the experience of developing competences of ethical, social and environmental responsibility in undergraduate IT engineering degrees at the Technical University of Madrid. The implementation of these competences has evolved in recent years and currently they are developed in two specific subjects in the first and third year, and that work is completed in the Final Year Project. This model allows us to reach all the students at different times along their studies and with a acceptable level of depth. It is an integral experience, where appropriate contents, teaching methodologies and assessment methods have been adapted to deal with social issues in our academic context. As lessons learned, we highlight the effectiveness this model for developing the aforementioned competences and the important role of external references (from professional, governmental and academic institutions) to integrate ethical, social and environmental aspects into engineering degrees

A focus on teaching and learning sustainability and social commitment skills

This JOTSE Special Issue is dedicated to the topic of teaching and learning the Sustainability and Social Compromise Skills, with a special focus in the context of engineering education. This topic was discussed in the Third International TEEM conference held in Porto in fall 2015. This paper discusses about the nature and need of teaching and learning the sustainability and social compromise skill

A methodology to introduce sustainability into the Final Year Project to foster sustainable engineering projects

The introduction of sustainability skills into higher education curricula is a natural effect of the increasing importance of sustainability in our daily lives. Topics like green computing, sustainable design or environmental engineering have become part of the knowledge required by today’s engineers. Furthermore, we strongly believe that the introduction of this skill will eventually enable future engineers to develop sustainable products, services and projects. The Final Year Project is the last academic stage facing students and a step towards their future professional engineering projects. As such, it constitutes a rehearsal for their professional future and an ideal opportunity for reflecting on whether their Final Year Project is sustainable or not, and to what extent. It also provides a good tool for reviewing the lessons learned about sustainability during the degree course and for applying them in a holistic and integrated way. In this paper, we present a guide that allows both students and advisors to think carefully about the sustainability of engineering projects, in particular the Final Year Project

Guía y evaluación de la sostenibilidad en los trabajos de fin de grado

Resumen: El futuro será sostenible o no será. Por eso, es fundamental que todos los Trabajos de Fin de Grado (TFG) incorporen un estudio de sostenibilidad que analice su impacto ambiental, social y económico. Este análisis es importante en todas las disciplinas de la ciencia, pero más si cabe en las relacionadas con las TIC, ya que pueden mejorar significativamente la sostenibilidad en otros campos de la ciencia. En este trabajo se propone una metodología para guiar al estudiante en la realización del análisis de sostenibilidad de su TFG. Consideramos que la existencia de una guía al respecto es fundamental debido a la poca formación en sostenibilidad de los estudiantes. La guía no sólo proporciona ayuda a los estudiantes a la hora de realizar su proyecto, sino también a los profesores a la hora de evaluarlo. La propuesta está basada en una matriz ponderada cuyas celdas contienen preguntas que el estudiante debe plantearse mientras realiza su proyecto. La matriz está inspirada en la matriz del bien común de Felber y en el método socrático, y es una evolución de anteriores trabajos presentados en JENUI.Abstract: Future will be sustainable or it won't be at all. That's why it is essential that all final degree projects include a sustainability study which analyses its environmental, social and economic impact. This analysis is important in every scientific discipline, but even more in those related to IT, for they can significantly make a positive impact on sustainability in other scientific fields. This paper proposes a methodology to guide the student during the sustainability analysis of its final degree project. We consider that the existence of such guide is fundamental because the little amount of time that is, in general, used to teach sustainability to students. The guide not only helps the students when doing the project, but also the teachers when assessing it. The proposal is based on a weighted matrix which cells contain questions that the student has to think about while doing the project. The matrix is inspired in the common good matrix of Felber and on the Socratic methodology, and it's a step forward over previous JENUI papers

Guía y evaluación de la sostenibilidad en los Trabajos de Fin de Grado

El futuro será sostenible o no será. Por eso, es fundamental que todos los Trabajos de Fin de Grado (TFG) incorporen un estudio de sostenibilidad que analice su impacto ambiental, social y económico. Este análisis es importante en todas las disciplinas de la ciencia, pero más si cabe en las relacionadas con las TIC, ya que pueden mejorar significativamente la sostenibilidad en otros campos de la ciencia. En este trabajo se propone una metodología para guiar al estudiante en la realización del análisis de sostenibilidad de su TFG. Consideramos que la existencia de una guía al respecto es fundamental debido a la poca formación en sostenibilidad de los estudiantes. La guía no sólo proporciona ayuda a los estudiantes a la hora de realizar su proyecto, sino también a los profesores a la hora de evaluarlo. La propuesta está basada en una matriz ponderada cuyas celdas contienen preguntas que el estudiante debe plantearse mientras realiza su proyecto. La matriz está inspirada en la matriz del bien común de Felber y en el método socrático, y es una evolución de anteriores trabajos presentados en JENUI.Future will be sustainable or it won't be at all. That's why it is essential that all final degree projects include a sustainability study which analyses its environmental, social and economic impact. This analysis is important in every scientific discipline, but even more in those related to IT, for they can significantly make a positive impact on sustainability in other scientific fields. This paper proposes a methodology to guide the student during the sustainability analysis of its final degree project. We consider that the existence of such guide is fundamental because the little amount of time that is, in general, used to teach sustainability to students. The guide not only helps the students when doing the project, but also the teachers when assessing it. The proposal is based on a weighted matrix which cells contain questions that the student has to think about while doing the project. The matrix is inspired in the common good matrix of Felber and on the Socratic methodology, and it's a step forward over previous JENUI papers.Este trabajo ha sido subvencionado por el CCD de la UPC a través del proyecto S002-2014

A methodology to introduce sustainability into the Final Year Project to foster sustainable engineering projects

The introduction of sustainability skills into higher education curricula is a natural effect of the increasing importance of sustainability in our daily lives. Topics like green computing, sustainable design or environmental engineering have become part of the knowledge required by today’s engineers. Furthermore, we strongly believe that the introduction of this skill will eventually enable future engineers to develop sustainable products, services and projects. The Final Year Project is the last academic stage facing students and a step towards their future professional engineering projects. As such, it constitutes a rehearsal for their professional future and an ideal opportunity for reflecting on whether their Final Year Project is sustainable or not, and to what extent. It also provides a good tool for reviewing the lessons learned about sustainability during the degree course and for applying them in a holistic and integrated way. In this paper, we present a guide that allows both students and advisors to think carefully about the sustainability of engineering projects, in particular the Final Year Project