Industry 4.0 Competencies as the Core of Online Engineering Laboratories

Online laboratories are widely used in higher engineering education and due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they have taken on an even greater relevance. At Tecnologico de Monterrey, Mexico, well-established techniques such as Problem-Based Learning (PBL), Project-Oriented Learning (POL) and Research-Based Learning (RBL) have been implemented over the years, and over the past year, have been successfully incorporated into the students’ learning process within online and remote laboratories. Nevertheless, these learning techniques do not include an element which is crucial in today’s industrialized world: Industry 4.0 competencies. Therefore, this work aims to describe a pedagogical approach in which the development of Industry based competencies complements the aforementioned learning techniques. The use and creation of virtual environments and products is merged with the understanding of fundamental engineering concepts. Further, a measurement of the students’ perceived self-efficacy related to this pedagogical approach is carried out, focusing on the physiological states and mastery experiences of the students. An analysis of its results is presented as well as a discussion on these findings, coupled with the perspectives from different key stakeholders on the importance of the educational institutions’ involvement in developing Industry 4.0 competencies in engineering students. Finally, comments regarding additional factors which play a role in the educational process, but were not studied at this time, as well as additional areas of interest are given

Continuous vocational training in response to the challenge of industry 4.0: Required skills and business results

Purpose: To identify the technical skills which, linked to digitalization processes, are required to achieve different types of business results. Design/methodology/approach: The Delphi method was applied, through the opinions of a group of Spanish experts, to identify the importance of certain skills for the advancement of digitalization and the implementation of Industry 4.0. Findings: The results show that: 1) skills in Robotics, the Internet of Things, Networks and Artificial Intelligence are necessary to achieve results in the management of company technical areas; 2) commercial management needs skills in Intelligent Systems, Big Data, Cybersecurity, Distributed Technology and Contents; and 3) for the business challenges of sustainable development, the environment and energy efficiency, the most needed skills are in Big Data, Intelligent Systems and Artificial Intelligence. Originality/value: The results are useful, firstly, in providing firms with a training and selection tool for the development of I4.0 and, secondly, in offering training centers criteria for drawing up their training programsPeer Reviewe

Homogenous and interoperable signaling computer interlocking through IEC 61499 standard

The technological evolution of signaling systems has created a dependency from infrastructure managers to suppliers and industrials dominating the market. Indeed, for each deployed computer interlocking, the modification of field equipment is required to allow an adaptation with the new interlocking in terms of communication protocols and logical interface. In addition, to ensure safe traffic of trains, the communication of railway signaling data is necessary between interlockings. However, delayed deployments from one station to another make the establishment of communication channels costly and difficult, or even impossible, since each supplier keeps confidential its communication protocols and usually opts for interfacing based on wired logic. This paper presents our approach to a homogeneous architecture of interlocking meeting modularity requirements, interoperability, and logical interfacing between interlockings. This approach relies on a classification of internal functions of the computer interlocking, a distribution of the execution of those functions and making useful information available for interfaces between adjacent interlockings through the IEC 61499 standard coupled with service-oriented architecture (SOA)

A modern teaching environment for process automation

Emergence of the new technological trends such as Open Platform Communications Unified Architecture (OPC UA), Industrial Ethernet, cloud computing and the 5th wireless network (5G) enabled the implementation of Cyber-physical System (CPS) with flexible, configurable, scalable and interoperable business models. This provides new opportunities for the process automation systems. On the other hand, the constant urge of industries for cost and material efficient processes demands a new automation paradigm with the latest tools and technologies which should be taken into account while teaching future automation engineers. In this thesis, the modern teaching environment for process automation is designed, implemented and described. This work explains the connections, configurations and the test of three mini plants including the Multiple Heat Exchanger, the Three-tank system and the Mixing Tank. In addition, OPC UA communication between the server and its clients has been tested. The plants are a part of the state of the art of the architecture that provides the access of ABB 800xA to the cloud services via OPC UA over the 5G test wireless network. This new paradigm changes the old automation hierarchy and enables the cross layered communication in the old architecture. This modern teaching environment prepares the students for the future automation challenges with the latest tools and merges data analytics, cloud computing and wireless network studies with process automation. It also provides the unique chance of testing the future trends together in this unique process automation setup

Insights Into Global Engineering Education After the Birth of Industry 5.0

Insights Into Global Engineering Education After the Birth of Industry 5.0 presents a comprehensive overview of recent developments in the fields of engineering and technology. The book comprises single chapters authored by various researchers and edited by an expert active in the engineering education research area. It provides a thorough overview of the latest research efforts by international authors on engineering education and opens potential new research paths for further novel developments

Skills Needs of the Civil Engineering Sector in the European Union Countries: Current Situation and Future Trends

The construction sector has always occupied a strategic place in the European economy. The European construction industry suffered during the 2007–2008 global financial crisis, and today the sector is undergoing a recovery process. Among all the construction subsectors, civil engineering has the highest growth rate. Currently, the sector has to face profound industrial changes emerging with digital transformations (Industry 4.0), sustainability, climate change and energy efficiency. To promote the growth of the civil engineering sector and accelerate the recovery, we need to create a highly qualified and competent workforce that can handle the challenges coming up with the technological progress and global competitiveness. The main condition to achieve this capable workforce is to define the expected evolution of skills requirements. For that purpose, our work focuses on identifying current and near-future key skills required by the civil engineering occupations. To achieve this, we developed an automated sectoral database for the current and near-future skills requirements of the selected professional profiles. It is our belief that this sectoral database is a fundamental framework that will guide the sector through the future changes. We also believe that our research can be used as a key tool for construction companies, policy-makers, academics and training centers to develop well-designed and efficient training programs for upskilling and reskilling the workforce.This research was partly cofunded by: the European Union through the Erasmus Plus Programme (Grant Agreement No. 2018-3019/001-001, Project No. 600886-1-2018-1-DE-EPPKA2-SSA-B), Accenture, Inzu Group, Fundación Telefónica and Fundación BBK, partners of the Deusto Digital Industry Chair