Management of interdisciplinary project approaches in Engineering Education: a case study

This paper describes project management processes of coordination teams, in the implementation of interdisciplinary project approaches in Engineering Education. These interdisciplinary projects are based on the Project-Led Education (PLE) concept and are being implemented since 2004/2005 in the Industrial Management and Engineering (IME) master degree course (1st and 2nd cycle of Engineering Education) at University of Minho. Usually, these approaches involve a coordination team of 10 to 15 members with different roles: teachers, tutors and education researchers. This team is responsible for preparing the project for the semester and forming the students’ teams. The coordination of these two types of teams is centred on a project manager that is responsible for, and supports, all the work developed during the semester, e.g., prepare the initial presentation of the project to the students, prepare the web site that supports the work, establish the communication between students and the rest of the team, prepare the students’ guide, and so on. Managing these projects is an intense task that demands a lot of time and different competencies. In this work it is presented a project management framework based on project management knowledge areas, to aid coordination teams to achieve better results

A Bayesian estimate of the CMB-large-scale structure cross-correlation

Evidences for late-time acceleration of the Universe are provided by multiple probes, such as Type Ia supernovae, the cosmic microwave background (CMB) and large-scale structure (LSS). In this work, we focus on the integrated Sachs--Wolfe (ISW) effect, i.e., secondary CMB fluctuations generated by evolving gravitational potentials due to the transition between, e.g., the matter and dark energy (DE) dominated phases. Therefore, assuming a flat universe, DE properties can be inferred from ISW detections. We present a Bayesian approach to compute the CMB--LSS cross-correlation signal. The method is based on the estimate of the likelihood for measuring a combined set consisting of a CMB temperature and a galaxy contrast maps, provided that we have some information on the statistical properties of the fluctuations affecting these maps. The likelihood is estimated by a sampling algorithm, therefore avoiding the computationally demanding techniques of direct evaluation in either pixel or harmonic space. As local tracers of the matter distribution at large scales, we used the Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS) galaxy catalog and, for the CMB temperature fluctuations, the ninth-year data release of the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP9). The results show a dominance of cosmic variance over the weak recovered signal, due mainly to the shallowness of the catalog used, with systematics associated with the sampling algorithm playing a secondary role as sources of uncertainty. When combined with other complementary probes, the method presented in this paper is expected to be a useful tool to late-time acceleration studies in cosmology.Comment: 21 pages, 15 figures, 4 tables. We extended the previous analyses including WMAP9 Q, V and W channels, besides the ILC map. Updated to match accepted ApJ versio

Benefits of lean management : results from some industrial cases in Portugal

This paper documents a set of Industrial Lean projects over a decade timespan in the North of Portugal, which were conducted by final year students of the Integrated Master Course on Industrial Management and Engineering (IME) in partnership with the Department of Production and Systems of University of Minho. The study analyses a total of forty one such projects and reveals a clear growth in the number of Lean projects, and gives some evidence of Lean awareness and importance to companies. The lean tools used were listed and the most frequently applied tools spotted. Resulting benefits to companies were documented and quantification of such benefits endorsed. Results from 2010 indicate a strong growth in the ratio of quantification of benefits, but the remaining data does not clearly support such trend

Overview on the antimicrobial activity and biocompatibility of sputtered carbon-based coatings

Due to their outstanding properties, carbon-based structures have received much attention from the scientific community. Their applications are diverse and include use in coatings on self-lubricating systems for anti-wear situations, thin films deposited on prosthetic elements, catalysis structures, or water remediation devices. From these applications, the ones that require the most careful testing and improvement are biomedical applications. The biocompatibility and antibacterial issues of medical devices remain a concern, as several prostheses still fail after several years of implantation and biofilm formation remains a real risk to the success of a device. Sputtered deposition prevents the introduction of hazardous chemical elements during the preparation of coatings, and this technique is environmentally friendly. In addition, the mechanical properties of C-based coatings are remarkable. In this paper, the latest advances in sputtering methods and biocompatibility and antibacterial action for diamond-based carbon (DLC)-based coatings are reviewed and the greater outlook is then discussed.This research is sponsored by national funds through FCT—Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, under the projects UIDB/00285/2020, UID/EMS/00285/2019 and UIDB/04650/2020, ATRITO-0 (co-financed via FEDER (PT2020) POCI-01-545 0145-FEDER-030446) and On-SURF (cofinanced via FEDER (PT2020) POCI-01-0247-FEDER-024521). Also, this work is supported by European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), through the Centro 2020 Regional Operational Programme under project CENTRO-01-0145-FEDER-000012-HealthyAging2020, and through the COMPETE 2020—Operational Programme for Competitiveness and Internationalization and Portuguese national funds via FCT-Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, under projects POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007440 and UID/NEU/04539/2019

Probing the two-scale-factor universality hypothesis by exact rotation symmetry-breaking mechanism

We probe the two-scale factor universality hypothesis by evaluating, firstly explicitly and analytically at the one-loop order, the loop quantum corrections to the amplitude ratios for O($N$) $\lambda\phi^{4}$ scalar field theories with rotation symmetry-breaking in three distinct and independent methods in which the rotation symmetry-breaking mechanism is treated exactly. We show that the rotation symmetry-breaking amplitude ratios turn out to be identical in the three methods and equal to their respective rotation symmetry-breaking ones, although the amplitudes themselves, in general, depend on the method employed and on the rotation symmetry-breaking parameter. At the end, we show that all these results can be generalized, through an inductive process based on a general theorem emerging from the exact calculation, to any loop level and physically interpreted based on symmetry ideas.Comment: 17 pages, 3 figure

Cosmological constant constraints from observation-derived energy condition bounds and their application to bimetric massive gravity

Among the various possibilities to probe the theory behind the recent accelerated expansion of the universe, the energy conditions (ECs) are of particular interest, since it is possible to confront and constrain the many models, including different theories of gravity, with observational data. In this context, we use the ECs to probe any alternative theory whose extra term acts as a cosmological constant. For this purpose, we apply a model-independent approach to reconstruct the recent expansion of the universe. Using Type Ia supernova, baryon acoustic oscillations and cosmic-chronometer data, we perform a Markov Chain Monte Carlo analysis to put constraints on the effective cosmological constant $\Omega^0_{\rm eff}$. By imposing that the cosmological constant is the only component that possibly violates the ECs, we derive lower and upper bounds for its value. For instance, we obtain that $0.59 < \Omega^0_{\rm eff} < 0.91$ and $0.40 < \Omega^0_{\rm eff} < 0.93$ within, respectively, $1\sigma$ and $3\sigma$ confidence levels. In addition, about 30\% of the posterior distribution is incompatible with a cosmological constant, showing that this method can potentially rule it out as a mechanism for the accelerated expansion. We also study the consequence of these constraints for two particular formulations of the bimetric massive gravity. Namely, we consider the Visser's theory and the Hassan and Roses's massive gravity by choosing a background metric such that both theories mimic General Relativity with a cosmological constant. Using the $\Omega^0_{\rm eff}$ observational bounds along with the upper bounds on the graviton mass we obtain constraints on the parameter spaces of both theories.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures, 1 tabl

IEM@ProjectNetworking: bringing first year students closer to professional practice

First year Industrial Engineering and Management (IEM) students have difficulties in establishing a clear picture of their future job as industrial engineers. Moreover, these students usually show a lack of proactivity and entrepreneurship attitude, as well as other transversal competences. To promote these competences among students, a team of teachers created a challenge for them which consisted in identifying and contacting two companies and interviewing one of their IEM professionals. This challenge was named IEM@ProjectNetworking. The main objectives of the IEM@ProjectNetworking were, amongst others, to bring students closer to their future professional practice. This paper aims to describe and evaluate the first edition of this challenge that took place in the first semester of the first year, during the 2012/2013 academic year. The evaluation was based on student’s perceptions collected from individual reflections about the experience and data from a workshop held at the end of the semester. The main findings are also presented based on the more than 100 interviews made by the students in 78 companies visited

Ejercicio sobre el "sarilho" en los primeros cursos de la enseñanza básica : análisis de la discusión

En este trabajo presentamos el análisis de la discusión de un grupo de estudiantes de segundo año de enseñanza básica sobre la resolución de un ejercicio de razonamiento sobre la máquina simple «sarilho». Ese ejercicio está basado en la historia «Tão Simples e Tão Úteis» (Barbosa Lima, 1997) leída por todo el grupo bajo la orientación de la profesora. Nuestro análisis tiene como base el estudio de la transcripción de las intervenciones de los estudiantes en el momento de socializar sus hipótesis con sus compañeros.In this assignment we present the analysis of a group discussion involving second grade students, concerning the reel simple machine. This exercise has been based on a part of the story from the book «So Simple, So Useful» (Barbosa Lima, 1997), which was read by the group, guided by their teacher. Our analysis is based on a study of the transcription of students' participations as they shared their perceptions with classmates

Effect of particle size distribution and dynamics on the performance of two-dimensional packing

AbstractExtensive computer simulation is used to revisit and to generalize two classical problems: (i) the random car-parking dynamics of A. Rényi and (ii) the irreversible random sequential adsorption (RSA) of parallel squares of same size on a planar substrate of area L2. In this paper, differently from the classical RSA, the squares obey the size distribution n(a)=n(1)a−τ, where a=1,2,3,… is the area of the squares. Using this scaling distribution and three classes of packing dynamics we study the final packing fraction of particles, ⊖(τ,L), and in particular its thermodynamic limit L→∞. We show that the efficiency to attain a high/low packing density of particles on the substrate is strongly dependent on the value of the exponent τ and on the characteristics of the dynamics

Construct validation of the portuguese version of the restraint scale

The main purpose of this study was to adapt the Restraint Scale (RS) to Portuguese and examine its psychometric properties, specifically its construct validity. Method: In this study, 238 normal-weight adults (82% women; Mean age = 36.6, SD = 15.0) participated in an online survey containing measures of Restraint Scale, Three Factor Eating Questionnaire, Dutch Eating Behaviour Questionnaire, and Body Dissatisfaction and Drive for Thinness scales. Results: Exploratory factor analyses corroborated the two-factors structure found in previous studies, in particular when three items without clear factorial assignment and low correlation were excluded. A final two-factors version of the RS containing seven items presented a very good fit to the measurement model and good internal consistency. Confirmatory factor analysis of the 7-items RS in relation to a three-factor model of overeating, dieting and body dissatisfaction measures revealed that the RS was the only restraint measure loading in all three factors. Conclusion: This suggests that the 7-items Portuguese version of the RS has good psychometric properties and unique features that lend it appropriate to identify and study unsuccessful chronic dieters.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio