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This paper presents the important elements of compiling a student portfolio. In the field of engineering, there is often a wide gap between students’ technical knowledge and their ability to communicate concepts to a broad audience. As a result, many new engineers enter careers without the necessary skills to clearly discuss their work with colleagues from different departments, peers from different organizations, and the wider public. Some engineering education programs are attempting to incorporate more emphasis on writing and communication into their course curricula, but there are still few opportunities for building and testing students’ skills in this area. This paper presents the purpose of a powerful portfolio in terms of what it can offer students, their educators, and their future employers. It also makes an argument for strong communication as a necessary skill in the engineering classroom, in R&D settings within a company, and across different departments and industries. It also offers some suggested guidelines for the process of compiling a portfolio, based on data and documents compiled from both educational institutes and engineering organizations. The intent of this work is to offer students and educators a brief overview of the portfolio process, with emphasis on organizing the components of such a collection so that a potential employer or peer would find them intuitive and easy to understand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the procedure followed by Computer Engineering and Software Engineering programs at Atilim University, Ankara, Turkey, which led to the granting of five years of accreditation by MUDEK, the local accreditation body authorized by The European Network for Accreditation of Engineering Education (ENAEE) to award the EUR-ACE label, and a full member signatory of Washington Accord of International Engineering Alliance (IEA). It explains the organizational structure established for preparation, determination and measurement of the educational objectives, program outcomes, course outcomes, and the continuous improvement cycle carried out during the preparation period. The aim of the paper is to share methods and experiences which may be beneficial for the other programs that are intended for accreditation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a radar laboratory course and an educational radar kit developed for the course. This course aims to provide hands-on experience on pulse-Doppler radar (PDR) signal processing algorithms using modern methods and tools. Experiments and project-based learning (PBL) is introduced to the pedagogical methodology of this course. The course is constructed by considering various backgrounds and levels of the students. The student learning consists of three elements: theoretical knowledge, experiments, and proposal writing on their own research topic. The objective of convergence education is reflected on how the students are provided the opportunity to apply their knowledge and expertise in radar system obtained through this course to their own research areas. For an efficient application of the PBL, a suitable educational kit is designed and implemented. The kit is developed as an open software and hardware platform for facilitating the experimental studies of modern radar technologies for students. The kit, a low-cost multifunctional shortrange PDR, is a relatively simple platform for beginners. The suggested hardware design is based on a single-chip softwaredefined radio (SDR) with an inexpensive system-on-chip (SoC). As the experimental prototype is based on commercially available evaluation modules, it is easy to assemble and use, and no special skills or equipment are required. The proposed system enables students to study modern signal processing techniques. The applied pedagogical methodology, course description, experimental kit, projects descriptions, and assessments are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The accreditation systems of engineering education programs governed by the Washington Accord have evolved in order to respond to modern technological and scientific development. The principal purpose of the paper is to indicate that the process re-engineering model commonly employed in business environments can also be used in an educational system. In particular, the paper describes the process of re-engineering used for the transformation of the BEng (Mech) program in order to align it with the accreditation requirements. The study adopts a Business Re-engineering Process (BRP) in which engineering education is considered as a process. A modified McKinsey's re-engineering model was chosen as a tool to re-engineer the educational system. The model involves five broad phases, namely, identification, review & analysis, re-design, test & implementation and continuous improvement. The paper concentrates on the first two phases. The existing curriculum is mapped according to the graduate attributes, competency profiles and the Exit Level Outcomes of the Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA). From the list of identified deficiencies it can be concluded that the major shortcoming of the program is not its content but its delivery. It is recommended that innovative flexible delivery methods should be used as teaching styles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bioengineering/Biomedical engineering education has evolved since the late 1950s and is progressing in leading academic institutions around the world. Today, bioengineering/biomedical engineering is considered to be one of the most reputable fields within the global arena, and will probably be the primer for any future breakthroughs in medicine and biology. This paper is intended to provide a detailed study of career development in Bioengineering/Biomedical Engineering, together with a set of strategies and recommendations to be pursued by individuals and/or entities seeking to plan and design careers and/or curricula in this field. The paper aims to address the international student who is considering bioengineering/biomedical engineering as a career, with an underlying emphasis on students from developing and transitional countries where career guidance is lacking. The paper is also addressed to academic institutions of higher education, ministries of higher education, and other governmental agencies, mainly within such countries, who intend to launch or reform their bioengineering/biomedical engineering curricula. A comprehensive undergraduate curriculum that has been recently implemented at the American University of Science and Technology, Beirut, Lebanon, is presented here as a prototype of a modern well-developed curriculum in Biomedical Engineering. This program is considered to be one of the regional premier curricula in Bioengineering/Biomedical Engineering. The paper also provides a thorough review of the literature followed by a comprehensive definition of the field and its subdivisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides a short description of thirteen computer network simulators that are mainly used for educational purposes. Criteria for the evaluation and comparison of the simulators were presented. The criteria are applied in order to compare the simulators being described. This comparative analysis is useful when selecting a suitable simulator for teaching a specific computer networks course. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Building Information Modeling (BIM) is changing the way projects are constructed. This emerging practice requires new mind-sets and technological know-how in order to achieve significant improvements in building efficiency. Universities must focus on the strategy of using BIM as an innovative technology to allow the acquisition of new skills by students and prepare them for their future activity in a more competitive world. Based on this perspective, the text presents some educational measures on offer at the Technical University of Lisbon. It focuses on the importance of teaching BIM: the involvement of students in research projects, PhD theses and MSc dissertations, and the dissemination of BIM through professional short courses and workshops addressed to the AEC community outside the school. Some of these have already been carried out in the school; others are presently being proposed or currently in progress. It is clear from this paper that school is an important driver for the growth of BIM knowledge and practice through the preparation of new and existing professionals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents results from a 3-year National Science Foundation: Advanced Technology Education (NSF: ATE) funded initiative to enhance curriculum and student learning via integration of Virtual Reality (VR) technology-based simulators. An Aircraft Maintenance Technology (AMT) curriculum is the backbone of training and educating maintenance technicians for the aviation industry to function in safe operating conditions. As a part of this research effort, the ViSIns Laboratory (Virtual Simulated Inspection Laboratory) was established at Greenville Technical College, South Carolina, USA; to reduce the gap between high-end technology requirement in the hangar (work environment) and the classroom. Using Bloom's Taxonomy in the cognitive domain, learning objectives of six course modules were refined to create more meaningful student outcomes and mapped to reflect expected student proficiency and goals. The pedagogical material development was extended to integrate two Non-Destructive Inspection (NDI) simulators (borescope and eddy current) in classroom activities and learning as interactive 3D knowledge objects. We present results on student learning using the VR augmentation on different sub-domains of cognition. Our results indicate that VR simulators are effective 3D learning objects which can be used for enhancing deliverables of the AMT education. This study further contributes to engineering education, aircraft maintenance technology education improvement and the use of VR-based simulators in technology driven training environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper compares performance and creativity of design projects before (pre) and after (post) students apply creativity methods taught to them in an experimental course. Design projects are evaluated by numeric performance scores and qualitative Creative Product Semantic Scale (CPSS) scores. A preliminary pre-post analysis of design projects indicates that the creativity of the projects improves after applying creativity methods; however, a more creative project does not necessarily improve performances after applying creativity methods. CPSS 'resolution' scores and 'elaboration and synthesis' scores are good measures of project performance; however, CPSS 'novelty' scores do not have significant associations with performance scores. Projects with simpler designs perform better, which is suggested by a significant negative association between part counts and performance scores. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we present our experience of designing a course shared between the European Erasmus Mandus Master's Degree in Computer Vision and Robotics (VIBOT), and the local Master's Degree in Industrial Computer Science and Automation, both of which are official qualifications at our university. The main aim of the course is to integrate a number of different subjects, such as computer vision, computer programming, perception systems, databases and computer engineering, by using an open research platform called PASCAL We aim to demonstrate the effectiveness of such a practical course that integrates technology and research into educational methods. We describe this integration, by presenting and evaluating the methods used and identifying the links between research and teaching techniques. As a practical approach, the majority of educational activities are developed in our university labs, where we work with students from all five continents, mixing national and foreign students into different workgroups. The students are greatly motivated by working in such an environment and on this research platform, which permits them to consolidate their existing knowledge and extend their curricula. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many researchers agree that 'today's engineer must design under--and so understand at a deep Level--constraints that include global, cultural, and business contexts'. In an increasingly global economy, the demand for engineers and technical personnel is increasing in every country. Developing countries which have few internal design traditions are struggling to find a place in the ever growing, ever increasing competitive global marketplace. Even developed countries like the United States are finding increasing challenges to their technological dominance. The ability to design and manufacture timely, needed, and inexpensive products for a large variety of consumers is becoming the great differentiator in controlling the global marketplace. Better design anti engineering curriculum is needed in developing countries to improve their ability to compete in a global marketplace and find ways to open their own untapped and waiting markets. The objective of this paper is to provide an overview of our approach to develop more flexible design structures and processes that could be adaptable to environments where there is a limited design tradition. It is anticipated that through the use of appropriate processes, designers in developing countries will be able to effectively learn to design products that have value both inside and outside of their community. We also anticipate that these flexible design structures and processes can be integrated into a formal design curriculum customized to meet specific needs. There are six major topics that are relevant to our research. They are design curriculum outcomes, design processes, design curriculum, learning activities and tools, appropriate assessment techniques, and research in developing countries. Our paradigm is based on the premise that project-based learning is one of the most appropriate and effective means of teaching engineering design principles to students. Furthermore, the authors feel that it is crucial to involve industry with academia. Industry involvement in engineering education improves the relevance of education, better prepares students for employment, provides industry with a better qualified workforce, and creates synergy between industry and academia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agricultural engineering is the only traditional engineering discipline in which biological and living, systems have always played a major role. The emerging field of biological engineering, therefore, finds a natural home in agricultural engineering departments, many of which have recently changed their names to reflect their inherent and growing emphasis on biology. These departments are restructuring, or expanding to integrate focused biological engineering programs into their educational infrastructure. The goal is to create a new community of engineers who are savvy in the biological sciences and can engineer living systems. This paper discusses the challenges specific to building biological engineering programs in a historically agricultural engineering department at the undergraduate level and suggests a framework for meeting these challenges. The student perspective is emphasized and the author draws on personal experience as both a former student and a current faculty member in biological engineering. The recent efforts within Purdue University's department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering are used as an example and a backdrop for discussion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]