Engineering education addressing professional challenges

Engineering profession is very demanding because of the different competences young graduates need to master. The exponential growth in technology, even though very beneficial to all, tends to worsen their needs of expertise, having to endlessly update themselves. Engineering education has been addressing these issues, hoping to contribute to better teaching practices more aligned with engineering professional world. Students must develop the necessary competences from the beginning of their education and engage into actively learning the subjects. Three aspects of this problematic are presented in this special session: educational experiences, students’ learning and professional challengesThe chairs of this track session would like to thank the members of its Scientific Committee and all contributing authors for their efforts in enhancing the discussion upon this thematic. The authors would also like to acknowledge the financial support provided by the Foundation for Science and Technology Project, FCT UID/EQU/04730/2013.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Engineering Education and Technological / Professional Learning

Engineering business is a demanding and dynamic market, which universities must understand and accompany. Being aware of the market needs is a step forward in training successful professionals. The presented works contributed to enhance the present discussion addressing different topics like emergent technologies, professional, scientific and social competences or projects that allow students to perform the first contacts with the real world. The view of students, teachers and company supervisors are considered.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Biomechanical Characterization of Comfort Footwear using Gait Analysis

Comfort footwear has unique characteristics fundamental to people looking for this type of shoe, namely foot support, flexibility, stability, lightweight, cushioning, traction, etc. [1]. They are usually preferred mainly by elder, overweighed or people with feet problems [2]. It is known that the shoe can modify gait behavior [3]. The purpose of this study was to evaluate posture and gait by comparing barefoot and shoe wearing circumstances to assess the real effect of the comfort footwear under study.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Mechanical behavior of external fixator on fracture healing process

Succeeding a fracture of a long bone, there are multiple approaches to perform the bone fracture immobilization.The external fixation has traditionally been used under clinical indications, and can be a definitive optionin cases where risks of infection are high. The currently used system scannot predict or measure the complete bone consolidation[1, 2]. The purpose of the present study is to understand the phases of healing and to predict functional bone consolidation.This study was carrying out using the finite element analysis (FEA)to determine the influence of stress distribution along the tibia and the rods of the fixator.This information gathered by the present study is relevant to help medical and scientific communities to know the real fracture healing process.The authors acknowledge the support of Project NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000022 –SciTech –Science and Technology for Competitive and Sustainable Industries, cofinanced by Programa Operacional Regional do Norte (NORTE2020), through Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional (FEDER).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Influence of an innovative dental post approach in dentin mechanical behavior

The restoration of seriously damaged teeth often requires an endodontic post. A number of different materials and shapes of dental posts have been manufactured, which leads to different mechanical behaviors. The currently used post systems frequently result in failure or fracture of the tooth, due to the difference between tooth and dentin mechanical properties. Recently, a bundle of fine individual posts made of reinforced fiberglass has been developed. This new approach is not a single-post and it can be spread apart, being individually distributed in the tooth canal. With this configuration, the fine posts can adapt to suit into any root canal anatomy. Biomechanical properties similar to the dentin are being reported as an advantage for the use of this new dental post. The purpose of this study is to understand if the bundle post introduces an improvement in the results of endodontic treatment, compared with the currently used post systems. This study was carried out using the finite element method to determine the influence of stress distribution on dentin, when these two different approaches are used. The results show that stresses at the dentin changed with the dental post used. The use of bundle post appears to better accommodate the developed stress, reducing the stresses in the tooth.The authors acknowledge the support of Project NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000022 - SciTech - Science and Technology for Competitive and Sustainable Industries, cofinanced by Programa Operacional Regional do Norte (NORTE2020), through Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional (FEDER).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Study of the Risk of Ankle Injury During Impact on the Ground and Definition of Support Orthoses

This work studies the effect of different orthoses on preventing injuries in the ankle-foot joint. It was carried out using OpenSim and the available ankle-foot musculoskeletal model and AFO orthoses models. The motion situation assessed is related to placing the foot on the ground. It is also analyzed how a passive ankle-foot orthosis, muscles reflexes and muscle coactivation influence the risk of injury, namely during ankle inversion. Results indicate that muscle coactivation and the use of an AFO can reduce injury risk. Thus, an average stiffness AFO is best suited for preventing ankle injuries.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Diseño de instrumentos para la investigación sobre la implementación educativa del laboratorio remoto VISIR en Latinoamérica

El presente trabajo tiene como objetivo general describir los instrumentos de investigación diseñados para el seguimiento de la implementación de los Módulos Educativos sobre teoría y práctica de circuitos eléctricos y electrónicos con el apoyo del laboratorio remoto VISIR (Virtual Instrument Systems in Reality) en instituciones de educación superior de Brasil y Argentina en el marco del proyecto VISIR+. Los objetivos particulares son: describir las dimensiones técnicas y pedagógicas que se desprenden de los propósitos del Proyecto VISIR y definir cómo se operacionalizan en el diseño de los instrumentos para la recolección de datos destinados a los profesores y alumnos que participan en la implementación de los módulos. La investigación educativa ofrece herramientas que se fundamentan en posturas epistemológicas diversas y que pueden reconocerse en las decisiones que se toman al elaborar un diseño de investigación. A través de esta presentación, se espera contribuir a acercar ámbitos habitualmente disociados tales como la docencia, la ciencia y la tecnología, la innovación educativa y la investigación en la educación para la ingeniería.N/

Projeto VISIR+ Contextualização da Matemática em Engenharia

O objetivo a longo prazo da educação em engenharia é formar profissionais capazes de dar resposta aos problemas e necessidades da sociedade. Nesta formação, a componente prática não pode ser descurada e nas últimas décadas a utilização de laboratórios remotos e de simulações tem-se generalizado, sendo um complemento ou alternativa aos laboratórios tradicionais. Este trabalho, no âmbito do Projeto VISIR+, apresenta os primeiros resultados de uma implementação didática levada a um cabo numa disciplina de matemática numa universidade brasileira. Nesta implementação foram usados em simultâneo o laboratório remoto VISIR (Virtual Instrument Systems in Reality), simulação e cálculo em cerca de 20% do conteúdo da disciplina. Os resultados obtidos, apontam que o uso de vários recursos pode de facto contribuir para um melhor desempenho dos estudantes, impulsionando o desenvolvimento de competências.N/

PILAR: a Federation of VISIR Remote Laboratory Systems for Educational Open Activities

Social demands have promoted an educational approach based on an “anywhere and anytime” premise. Remote laboratories have emerged as the answer to the demands of technical educational areas for adapting themselves to this scenario. The result has not only benefit distance learning students but has provided new learning scenarios both for teachers and students as well as allowing a flexible approach to experimental topics. However, as any other solution for providing practical scenarios (hands-on labs, virtual labs or simulators), remote labs face several constraints inherited from the subsystems of its deployment hardware (real instruments, equipment and scenario) and software (analog/digital conversions, communications, workbenches, etc.). This paper describes the Erasmus+ project Platform Integration of Laboratories based on the Architecture of visiR (PILAR) which deals with several units of the federation installed in different educational institutions and devoted to analog electronics and electrical circuits. Based on the limitations of remote labs, the need for the federation will be justified and its benefits will be described by taking advantage of its strengths. The challenges that have come up during the different stages and the different approaches to design are also going to be described and analyzedinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

PILAR: Plataforma de federación de laboratorios remotos VISIR de electrónica analógica

Resumen—Los laboratorios remotos son ya una herramienta de enseñanza/aprendizaje en diferentes campos de la ingeniería y de la ciencia. El laboratorio remoto VISIR es un ejemplo paradigmático de esta nueva metodología en el campo de la electrónica analógica ya que el alumno puede montar y medir circuitos reales de un modo satisfactorio. En la actualidad en Europa hay cinco instancias desplegadas y activas de VISIR y en Sudamérica hay 5 más, cada una de ellas ofrece distintos circuitos eléctricos y electrónicos de manera que el usuario debe saber dónde está desplegado el circuito que él quiere montar y desplegar para poder acceder a él, lo que es una clara limitación. La solución al problema pasa por federar dicho grupo de laboratorios remotosinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio