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Electricity and all its forms, are an irreplaceable way of supplying with electricity to all engineering systems. One of the forms of electricity that has revolutionized the last 30 years is Solar Energy, where as such it has proven to be a cost oriented solution of producing energy. This paper examines all the steps, advantages and the most modern photovoltaic technologies. "How ready is Kosovo for solar energy p roduction?" this question that finds the answer within this paper. Part of this paper is the modeling and design of photovoltaic systems on the Innovative Campus UBT, which can be considered as a guide for solar system installers. After presenting the efficiency of the installation of photovoltaic systems on the Innovative Campus of UBT, it seems clear that the needs of state and citizen awareness at the same time on the true purpose of installing solar systems, contributing to the overall social well-being. The application of solar systems in institutions and the benefit that the application of this technology brings not only in financial aspects, as it is presented in the case of the Innovative Campus UBT study, but also the most important aspects are environmental aspect, making a drastic reduction of the emission of polluting elements in nature.

With the establishment within IFAC of the Diversity and Inclusion Working Group in TECIS in Sozopol, Bulgaria in September 2019 the issue of Diversity and Inclusion within the discipline of engineering has been strengthened with both a new platform and a voice (Doyle-Kent et al, 2019:2020). It captures the themes already live in IFAC and is a very positive and forward thinking initiative. IFAC is a worldwide organization with over 20,000 individual members. This paper shows the core values at the heart of the new Diversity and Inclusion Working Group. It is precisely because of the establishment of this group that this “Statement of Values” has emerged in order to crystalize the strongly held beliefs and values that are at the core - the group’s “raison d’être” so to speak. This statement of values has been accepted by the members of the Diversity and Inclusion Working Group. Going forward it will be proposed as a companion document to the IFAC “Code of Conduct” and it is hoped that it will be included on the IFAC website and at conferences. This paper shows the journey to date and acts as a discussion document in which inputs are sought rather like a green paper.

Pollution rates in cities, mainly produced by vehicles, continue to rise. Meanwhile, electric vehicle solutions are not available to the average, even medium/high incomes citizen of peripheral countries. In turn, a large number of vehicles are available in circulation to be recycled into hybrid or electric vehicles with a cost approx. 10 times lower than that of an electric/hybrid vehicle. A modular and comprehensive concept for cars hybridisation or electric conversion is presented, reusing existing vehicles and accessible to the wide public. From an integrated mechatronic vision the work touches on mechanical, electronic and computer (control) aspects, which with a transdisciplinary approach are complements from the side ecology and sustainable development. The design of a special in-wheel motor-generator and their dynamic control is the focus of the hard technology aspects.

Energy is a critical element in the sustainable conversation of our planet. As global demand continues to increase, renewable systems are being deployed, but renewable resources are intermittent. Research shows that by combining systems in a hybrid manner, emissions can be reduced and quality of life improved. This case study focuses on the south-east region of Ireland. Two domestic scenarios are investigated. Housing developments of 800 and 2,000 houses are studied with hybrid alternatives. HOMER is used to gather electrical generation data, carbon emissions and cost analysis. Qualitative research investigated Ireland’s energy policies, and three experts were interviewed.

It is widely accepted that every country needs to be forward thinking to remain competitive in manufacturing in the twenty first century. Some European countries have the advantage of a rich history in automation and robotics in their manufacturing industries. Looking forward, Industry 5.0 will be the next industrial revolution, and will emanate from Industry 4.0. Collaborative Robotics will play a significant role by enabling humans and robots to work together in harmony. In 2021, as part of a doctoral thesis titled “Collaborative robotics in Industry 5.0”data were gathered for a case study in the south east of Ireland by the author of this paper. The results serve to provide an interesting benchmark for collaborative robotics in Irish industry. A brief summary of some of these results is shared here as well as ta novel conceptual framework and definition of Industry 5.0.

Automation, and closely related information systems are, naturally innate, and integrated ingredients of all kinds of objects, systems, and social relations of the present day reality. This is the reason why this contribution treats the phenomena and problems of this automated/information society in a historical manner with a wider, structural framework, giving special emphasis to TECIS.

There has been considerable focus on building inclusion and diversity into engineering careers and education, especially in developed countries, but despite this, the percentages for minorities remain unchanged over decades. The multi-cultural interaction of TECIS was a springboard for the launch of a working group to investigate the reasons for this lack of improvement. The genesis of this working group occurred in Sozopol, Bulgaria at the TECIS 2019 conference where twenty-three researchers from over ten countries came together to discuss the lack of women and other marginalized groups in engineering. The objective of this paper is threefold, to outline the future direction of the inclusion and diversity working group in TECIS, to support and foster greater knowledge of gender diversity in engineering education and to outline future research activities that could make a substantial contribution to our understanding of diversity issues in engineering in addition to making best practice recommendations that can be used in the engineering industry. The scope of this paper is limited to women in engineering. Future work will look at other inclusion and diversity issues in STEM.

To describe the results obtained in a neonatal screening program after its implementation and to assess the clinical and molecular profiles of confirmed and suspicious congenital adrenal hyperplasia cases.

In industry, an increased need for further education past the traditional apprenticeship is recognised. There is a known issue with aging maintenance workforce and loss of tacit knowledge through retirement. This paper investigates the skills and knowledge required for the modern maintenance workplace and how this might be implemented in a technician population. Potential educational and pedagogical solutions are offered in this paper, as well as a practical example. Finally, a specific course of learning is suggested.

Modern maintenance is continually concerned with the issue of cost. Equally, there is a need to capture tacit information from an aging workforce. The computerised maintenance management system (CMMS) is an essential part of both these aims, but can it be considered a cost-oriented measure in its own right? This paper examines the role of a CMMS in cost-oriented maintenance as both a decision-making tool and data repository, in the context of an Irish medical device production facility.

In Ireland 2019 there is an obvious lack of female engineers in the workplace. This paper investigates the reasons why this is so and if gender diversity is needed in engineering? A qualitative and quantitative study was carried out and the results discussed. Comparison with international data is made and an analysis of the reasons behind the low figures is offered. Finally, potential solutions to attracting and keeping females engaged in engineering are proposed.

The aim of this research was to improve the quality of life of a wheelchair bound client living with muscular dystrophy by enabling her to perform tasks which most people take for granted, such as drinking independently. Due to the client’s limited movement of her arms and neck, she was unable to lift a cup to her own mouth. To aid her in this endeavor, three different low-cost mechanical assistive concepts were created. These were presented to the client and the most suitable option was chosen to develop. Work then began on a functional prototype which was manufactured for under the 200 euro.

The article describes different approaches for connecting the teen sized humanoid robot Archie with IoT devices. Main goal of the project is to develop a cost oriented autonomous humanoid robot to assist humans in daily life tasks, thus Archie robot’s natural habitat will be our homes and workplaces. Methods for ROS integration of remote internet enabled sensors, actuators and other devices are described. Test with real life use cases are performed. MQTT M2M protocol have been used for connecting to internet enabled IoT devices. Smart home hubs, which connect either locally or to the cloud, IoT devices, that use the Zigbee or Z-Wave and other protocols, rather than only Wi-Fi connected devices, are disused. Finally, we have successfully implemented and tested 3 different approaches for connecting Archie robot to IoT devices, which gives the robot the ability to interact with the environment by receiving data and the ability to control the thousands of IoT devices available on the market.

Ticks are blood-feeding ectoparasites that devastate cattle farming and are an omnipresent nuisance to pets and humans, posing a threat of pathogen transmission. Laboratory experimental models can be instrumental in the search for molecular targets of novel acaricides or vaccines. Mainly, though, the experimental models represent invaluable tools for broadening our basic understanding of key processes of tick blood-feeding physiology and vector competence. In order to understand the function of a single component within the full complexity of a feeding tick, genetic or biochemical interventions are used for systemic phenotypisation. In this work, we summarise current experimental modalities that represent powerful approaches for determining biological functions of tick molecular components.