Sustainable development as a meta-context for engineering education

At the end of the first decade of the twenty-first century, there is unprecedented awareness of the need for a transformation in development, to meet the needs of the present while also preserving the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. However, within engineering, educators still tend to regard such development as an ‘aspect’ of engineering rather than an overarching meta-context, with ad hoc and highly variable references to topics. Furthermore, within a milieu of interpretations there can appear to be conflicting needs for achieving sustainable development, which can be confusing for students and educators alike. Different articulations of sustainable development can create dilemmas around conflicting needs for designers and researchers, at the level of specific designs and (sub-) disciplinary analysis. Hence sustainability issues need to be addressed at a meta-level using a whole of system approach, so that decisions regarding these dilemmas can be made. With this appreciation, and in light of curriculum renewal challenges that also exist in engineering education, this paper considers how educators might take the next step to move from sustainable development being an interesting ‘aspect’ of the curriculum, to sustainable development as a meta-context for curriculum renewal. It is concluded that capacity building for such strategic considerations is critical in engineering education

Choosing the corporate future. Technology networks of chiose concerning the creation of high performance fiber technology

This study deals with the question of what determines the outcomes of the choices made by large corporations when they develop new technology. To this end, four types of choice made in the course of the development of technology are distinguished in Chapter one: - concerning the entrance to a scientific./technological research domair. - coocerning the product to be developed and its characteristics. - concerning the processes and additional techaologies to be developed in order to be able to manufacture and sell the product efhciently. - concerning the construction of large scale production facilities. Zie: Summery

Needs Assessment and Technology Assessment: Crucial Steps in Technology Transfer to Developing Countries

Technology transfer has been a common practice of most developing countries and countries in economic transition as they usually don’t have their own R&D and industries for producing the required technology. In transferring a technology there are a lot of factors to be considered. Most failures of technology transfer occur because of the failure to consider those factors. This paper focuses on the initial (though often forgotten) and crucial steps of technology transfer, Needs Assessment and Technology Assessment, and identifies factors involved in those steps. The study is based on a literature survey and case study analysis of technical, institutional, economic and environmental factors that should be considered in the needs- and technology assessment processes. The model that is developed serves as a guideline for technology transfer processes for developing countries. To validate the model, case studies from literature are used and discussed.Peer Reviewe

Trends in technological master programs focused on sustainability in Europe

The Bologna process is close to be finished, 2010 is the deadline. Not all the goals are fully accomplished yet, but several changes in all Europe (46 countries involved) have been accomplished and have created a new image for the European Higher Education Space. The main goal of the Bologna process is to offer a common framework for European Higher Education to allow the mobility of all the academics involved, students, researchers, teachers and graduates. University education will be structured on three levels: bachelor, master and PhD. Bachelor and master education will allow graduates to acquire professional attributions, while doctoral level education is limited to research purposes. In the case of engineering education the full professional attributes will only be achieved after the master level.Peer Reviewe

Sustainable Development as a Meta-Context for Engineering Education

At the end of the first decade of the twenty-first century, there is unprecedented awareness of the need for a transformation in development, to meet the needs of the present while also preserving the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. However, within engineering, educators still tend to regard such development as an ‘aspect’ of engineering rather than an overarching meta-context, with ad hoc and highly variable references to topics. Furthermore, within a milieu of interpretations there can appear to be conflicting needs for achieving sustainable development, which can be confusing for students and educators alike. Different articulations of sustainable development can create dilemmas around conflicting needs for designers and researchers, at the level of specific designs and (sub-) disciplinary analysis. Hence sustainability issues need to be addressed at a meta-level using a whole of system approach, so that decisions regarding these dilemmas can be made. With this appreciation, and in light of curriculum renewal challenges that also exist in engineering education, this paper considers how educators might take the next step to move from sustainable development being an interesting ‘aspect’ of the curriculum, to sustainable development as a meta-context for curriculum renewal. It is concluded that capacity building for such strategic considerations is critical in engineering education

Introducing sustainable development in engineering education: competences, pedagogy and curriculum

Introducing sustainable development (SD) in engineering education has been a key topic in many technological universities [1], accreditation agencies and International and National networks of universities. At the UNESCO chair of Sustainability of the Technical University of Catalonia (UPC) under their PhD program on Sustainability the authors have carried out a research on: 1. Which SD competences may engineers have when graduating? 2. How should SD competences be taught/learned at technological universities? 3. Which curriculum structure is more suitable to facilitate the acquisition of SD competences? To evaluate the competences we compared three leading European universities in introduction of SD. The competences are classified in three categories: knowledge and understanding, skills and abilities and attitudes [2]. To evaluate the pedagogical approach that facilitates the SD learning we analysed 10 case studies of courses on Sustainability from 5 European technological universities. We used conceptual maps [3, 4] as assessment tool. To analyse the curriculum design for SD 50 experts on curriculum design and teaching SD courses were interviewed. The methodology and results of this work are presented and recommendations to introduce SD in technological universities in the three fields: competences, pedagogy and curriculum are suggested.Peer Reviewe

Needs Assessment and Technology Assessment: Crucial Steps in Technology Transfer to Developing Countries

Technology transfer has been a common practice of most developing countries and countries in economic transition as they usually don’t have their own R&D and industries for producing the required technology. In transferring a technology there are a lot of factors to be considered. Most failures of technology transfer occur because of the failure to consider those factors. This paper focuses on the initial (though often forgotten) and crucial steps of technology transfer, Needs Assessment and Technology Assessment, and identifies factors involved in those steps. The study is based on a literature survey and case study analysis of technical, institutional, economic and environmental factors that should be considered in the needs- and technology assessment processes. The model that is developed serves as a guideline for technology transfer processes for developing countries. To validate the model, case studies from literature are used and discussed

Biomimicry design thinking education: a base-line exercise in preconceptions of biological analogies

Preliminary empirical research conducted by the leading author has shown that design students using biological analogies, or models across different contexts, often misinterpreted these, intentionally or unintentionally, during design. By copying shape or form without integrating the main function of the mimicked biological model, students failed to consider the process or system directing that function when attempting to solve the design need. This article considers the first step in the development of an applicable educational model using distant analogies from nature, by means of biomimicry thinking methodology. The analysis examines results from a base-line exercise taken by students in the Minor Design with Nature during the Spring semester of Industrial Design Engineering at The Hague University of Applied Sciences in 2019, verifying that students without biomimicry training use this hollow approach automatically. This research confirms the gap between where students are at the beginning of the semester and where they need to be as expert sustainable designers when they graduate. These findings provide a starting point for future interventions in biomimicry workshops to improve systematic design thinking through structural and scientifically based iterations of analogical reasoning