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A number of key graduate outcomes related to industry-based interventions and work-industry-related activities (WIA’s) are specified by the Swedish Higher Education Ordinance for all Engineering Degree Programmes. A paucity of research regarding student perceptions of these WIAs and their role in student’s motivation for learning motivates the current study. Understanding student perceptions of WIA is critical to ensuring the effective integration of WIAs into engineering education. This study explores the perceived motivational effects of WIAs with which students engage through the lens of self-determination theory. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with nineteen master’s students studying in two research-intensive Swedish universities. Six themes emerged from thematic analysis. The themes describe the impact WIAs can have on student motivation in terms of their perceptions of (1) relevance for the development of knowledge and skills, (2) influence on the student’s future profession identity, (3) utility for gaining industrial experience, inclusive of research experience, (4) relevance to student’s programmes of study, (5) industry marketisation agendas, and (6) alignment with industry needs over the student’s own needs. The motivating and demotivating aspects of WIA’s based on these themes are discussed to improve the collaboration between industry and academia in engineering education. QC 20220817

Background Given the disparities in gender representation, efforts are needed to make engineering education more inclusive and attractive to young people. It is important that those entering engineering education are making this decision with sufficient understanding of what it means to be an engineer. This study explored how lower secondary education students from Ireland (n = 435), Kenya (n = 436), and Sweden (n = 361) stereotyped engineers, and their interest in becoming an engineer was examined. The Draw an Engineer Test was used to achieve this, and ordinal and logistic regression analyses were conducted to compare the effects of students’ genders and country of schooling on the genders and concepts of their drawn engineers, and on their interest in becoming an engineer in the future. Results A Sankey diagram illustrated significant complexity in the interaction between conceptions of engineering work and fields of engineering. Chi-square tests of association were used to examine the association between students depicting an engineer as either the same or a different gender to themselves and their interest in becoming an engineer. The results of these and the regression analyses indicate that young people’s gender explains more variance in the gender of drawn engineers and the country they are studying in explains more variance in their conception of engineers. However, most variance was explained when both students’ gender and country of study were considered together. Further, particularly for young females, drawing a female engineer as opposed to a male engineer was positively associated with increased interest in becoming an engineer. Conclusions There is a need to develop a greater understanding of engineering in young people to ensure they have sufficient information to make decisions regarding related educational pursuits. National-level attempts are needed to present accurate depictions of engineering, and effort needs to be invested in ensuring that young females can identify as engineers. Higher educational access needs to be considered in future work examining future career interests.

There is a recognized need for research on how to teach computer programming in primary schools in Sweden grades 4–6 (10–12-year-old pupils). Studies of teaching show the importance of teachers’ knowledge of content and pedagogy and how these two parts affect each other (i.e. pedagogical content knowledge [PCK]). Most teachers in Sweden have little or no formal education in computer programming, the revised Swedish curriculum requires them to teach it. The aim of this study is to explore the pedagogical strategies teachers use when they teach computer programming. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 14 participants, comprising 12 teachers and 2 teacher trainers. The data were analysed deductively with themes from previous research. The results show that teachers use eight pedagogical strategies, including three new strategies that have been constructed inductively: do-it-yourself, gamification and progression. These eight pedagogical strategies are mostly general, and teachers may be considered regressed experts, as they lack formal training in computer programming. They facilitate learning in a general sense, but, compared to other subjects, their PCK in computer programming is problematized. In-service teacher training is needed to increase content knowledge, thus enabling to develop PCK in computer programming. It would also be fruitful to deepen our knowledge regarding pedagogical strategies in the PCK domain of computer programming.

Design is core element of general technology education internationally. While there is a degree of contention with regards to its treatment, there is general consensus that the inclusion of design in some form is important, if not characteristic, of the subject area. Acknowledging that design is important, there are many questions which need to be considered in order to guide policy and practice, such as whether a singular general design ability can be explicitly defined empirically beyond an implicit verbal definition, and whether it can be taught and assessed. In order to address these questions in a systematic fashion, a framework is needed in order to guide relevant investigations. Having such a framework would allow for theory to be generated, hypotheses to be tested, and assumptions to be challenged. In response to this apparent need, this article presents a theoretical discussion pertaining to the constructive alignment of learning to design, wherein theories of knowledge, variation theory, knowledge transfer, and assessment validity and reliability are reflected upon.

Understanding the factors that impact learners with respect to their academic achievement is critical for enhancing educational provision, and the nature of these factors can vary widely. They could be, for example, cognitive, conative, physiological, or physical. With increased understanding of such factor's teachers can better meet learner needs. Investigations into individual differences are not uncommon within technology education, for example much work has been conducted in the area of attitudes towards technology. However, research into individual cognitive differences is an emerging space. In light of the overwhelming evidence illustrating that spatial ability, commonly described as the ability to generate and manipulate abstract visual images, is positively associated with STEM educational performance and retention, understanding the role of spatial ability in technology education is important. Acknowledging the potential implications of such insight but recognising the lack of contextual evidence, this chapter describes the results of a series of studies conducted with the aim of supporting the development of theory and suggesting recommendations for practice with respect to spatial ability within technology education. A literature review of the extant literature on spatial ability was conducted, and four quantitative studies examined the theorised positionality of spatial ability within technology education, and its relationship with authentic problem solving and other cognitive factors. yes

Teachers' teaching practice plays a key role in the learning process of pupils, and for teaching to be successful, teachers must have knowledge in many different fields. This obviously also applies ...

Males are generally overrepresented in higher education engineering. However, the magnitude of this variance differs between countries and engineering fields. Evidence associated with the field-specific ability beliefs hypothesis suggests that perceptions of intelligence held by actors within engineering affects the engagement of underrepresented groups. This study examined perceptions of an intelligent engineer held by undergraduate and postgraduate engineering students in Ireland and Sweden, countries selected based on their levels of female representation in engineering education. It was hypothesised that there would be a significant difference in perceptions between countries. A survey methodology was employed in which a random sample of Irish and Swedish university students completed two surveys. The first asked respondents to list characteristics of an intelligent engineer, and the second asked for ratings of importance for each unique characteristic. The results indicate that an intelligent engineer was perceived to be described by seven factors; practical problem solving, conscientiousness, drive, discipline knowledge, reasoning, negative attributes, and inquisitiveness when the data was analysed collectively, but only the five factors of practical problem solving, conscientiousness, drive, discipline knowledge and negative attributes were theoretically interpretable when the data from each country was analysed independently. A gender × country interaction effect was observed for each of these five factors. The results suggest that the factors which denote intelligence in engineering between Irish and Swedish males and females are similar, but differences exist in terms of how important these factors are in terms group level definitions. Future work should consider the self-concepts held by underrepresented groups with respect to engineering relative to the factors observed in this study.

In this Research Full Paper we contribute to the research on constructions of technology education. Why are women and minority groups often under-represented in student cohorts in STEM programmes? Many studies have addressed this question, and much is known about the impact of representations of technology studies on the choices and motivations of these demographic groups in many countries. Many of the recent studies published in the English language address the North American education system. This paper investigates if perpetuation of gender norms might be evident in recruitment materials for Swedish upper secondary education. This research question is addressed through an analysis of how upper secondary education schools use images in presenting their university preparatory programs to prospective students. Swedish post-compulsory school education comprises a number of specialised upper secondary school programmes in Technology, Natural science, Social science and Economy. A significant display area of the web content regarding these programmes is pictorial information. In this study Technology Education is viewed as a societal construction and images representing the technology program are here used as a way of discovering both perceptions about them, and underlying themes that the choice of images might communicate. Three themes, Environment, Pedagogical approach and Human presence, emerge and serve as a foundation from which similarities and differences in the visual messages associated with these programs are investigated. Our major finding is that images used in association with Technology Education portray a paucity of social relations and a dominant culture of working/studying alone. These findings are of concern, as this type of profile has been shown to reduce motivation of women and minority groups to pursue such a career.

In this study, we critically examine how students enrolled in a combined engineering and teacher education program given at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden, understand the concept of sustainable development (SD) and the professional responsibilities of engineers versus teachers in contributing to this goal. A questionnaire was used to collect and analyze data based on five research questions: (1) How do students conceptualize the notion of SD? (2) What aspects of SD are students interested in? (3) Are there any gender differences in what aspects of SD students are interested in? (4) How do students perceive the roles and responsibilities of engineers versus teachers in contributing to SD? and (5) How confident are students in their abilities to address SD issues vocationally? The data indicated a conventional view of SD among the students; a clear interest in sustainability issues, especially for ecologically linked questions; a tendency to ascribe significant but differentiated responsibilities to engineers/teachers; and a low degree of confidence in their own ability to adequately address SD issues vocationally. The data also indicated differences between male and female students when looking at interest in different aspects of SD. Overall, female students were found to be slightly more interested in SD than the male students. This gender difference is larger in relation to social aspects than ecological or economic aspects. It is suggested that future sustainable development education needs a shift of focus from what separates female and male students to what unites them. The observed “confidence gap” that exists between stated degree of interest in, and perceived importance of, sustainability issues, suggests the potential for significant improvement of the design of the Master of Science in Engineering and in Education program (CL-program).

The philosophy and epistemology of technology education are relatively unique as the subject largely focusses on acquiring task specific relevant knowledge rather than having an explicit epistemological discipline boundary. Additionally, there is a paucity of intelligence research in technology education. To support research on learning in technology education, this paper describes two studies which aimed to identify cognitive factors which are components of fluid intelligence. The results identify that a synthesis of visualization, short-term memory span and inductive reasoning can account for approximately 28% to 43% of the variance in fluid intelligence. A theoretical rationale for the importance of these factors in technology education is provided with a discussion for their future consideration in cognitive interventions.

This full research paper aims to investigate the nature of industry-related activities engineering students encounter at a Swedish university, as well as the impact these activities have on their motivation to study engineering. Over the last decade, many studies have been conducted concerning university-industry engagement which chart the landscape of activities, educational approaches, and challenges that students face when involved in industry-related activities. Despite the existing close collaboration between Swedish engineering universities and industry, it seems that not only the feedback from the industry to universities is missing, but also students’ perceptions of their industry experience and their needs are not taken adequately into consideration by the other two actors. As a consequence, there is a gap among the above three actors preventing the advancement of engineering education in terms of industrial interventions. Furthermore, there is a lack of research about students’ perceptions of university-industry engagement activities. This study adopts a qualitative and exploratory research perspective, intending to gain a deep understanding of students’ perceptions of industry-related activities which were integrated into their education. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine master’s students studying on five-year long engineering programmes in a large research-intensive Swedish university. An inductive thematic analysis was employed, and social cognitive theory was considered as an interpretive tool through which to explore student motivation. The interviews indicated that the students participated actively in various industry-related activities, such as guest lectures, field-trips, internships, summer schools, and masters’ theses in collaboration with industry partners which give context to the findings which highlight how industry-related activities can either positively or negatively affect students’ motivation for studying and learning in engineering education.

In this paper a framework of key competencies for sustainability defined by UNESCO is used to evaluate the relevance of the CDIO Syllabus for promoting engineering education for sustainable development. The evaluation is performed in two steps. First, topics, terms and concepts in the CDIO Syllabus that corresponds to the different UNESCO key competencies are identified. The second step is a qualitative discussion where areas of strong mapping are highlighted and aspects that could be better visualized or strengthened in, or added to, the Syllabus are identified. Differences in definitions of various concepts between the CDIO Syllabus and the UNESCO key competencies and the overall relation between the two frameworks are discussed. It is concluded that the CDIO Syllabus is rather well aligned with the UNESCO framework, however several opportunities (not to say needs) for strengthening the Syllabus in relation to the key competencies are identified. The UNESCO key competencies are found to be useful instruments for scrutinizing and updating the CDIO Syllabus. Other opportunities for knowledge and methods transfer between the Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) domain and the Engineering Education domain are identified. The paper is proposed to be used as basis for updating the CDIO Syllabus into a version 3.0 for maintaining its relevance in a changing world. Part of proceedings ISBN 978-877507459-4QC 20190909

This full research paper approaches the teaching of STEM from a new multi-disciplinary perspective. While the importance of the STEM agenda is not in dispute, the plurality in treatment of STEM as individual subjects or disciplinary areas of study potentially limits the evolution of a new conception of STEM education. In this paper, determinist disciplined learning is challenged through the advocacy of a learning science agenda, which we argue from the perspective of modern teacher education.Unintentionally, our educational systems and structures can create a silo-effect, sometimes impeding the development of multi and trans-disciplinary competencies. This paper advances an argument for a conception of teacher education that supports the development of the holistic STEM teacher. Our conception of the holistic STEM educator revolves around central themes focused on building, manipulating and synthesising STEM specific attitudes, skills and knowledge. The proximal and distal effects are also considered in subsequent discussion.This paper does not propose a generalist teacher, as the significance of content knowledge as a critical component of teacher efficacy is not contested. On the contrary, it considers an unbounded and applied perspective to the treatment of STEM with implications for an enhanced comprehension of abstracted knowledge and support for a more robust construction of meaning. The vision of a STEM teacher is articulated with respect to position, treatment and competencies intending to qualify and sustain the STEM agenda through pragmatic action.

Sweden and Tanzania have collaborated since 1976 in research projects. A PhD sandwich program was established in the 90's in the field of electrical engineering between UDSM (University of Dar es Salam), Tanzania and KTH (Royal Institute of Technology), Sweden. This collaboration has opened up for shared trust, idea exchange and the emergence of the challenge driven education approach. Challenge driven education brings in socio-technical challenges to engineering education, or rather, brings out students and academic faculty, to real life challenges outside academy. The research of the first years' experience reveals factors like high motivation among students, faculty and stakeholders in society. New ways of teaching and learning have evolved, and clear contrasts with traditional education have been found.

In Sweden, there have been multiple large scale interventions to support compulsory school teachers generally and within specific subjects. Due to the costs associated with such interventions it is critical that interim evaluation measures exist which can indicate potential success. Additionally, evaluation measures which can measure the actual impact of interventions relative to their intended aim are also needed as validation tools. The Swedish regional ‘Tekniklyftet’ or ‘Boost of Technology’ project which ran from 2011 to 2013 is presented here as a case study exploring evaluation measures for educational interventions in technology education. Three different evaluation approaches were used as measures of the intended outcomes of the intervention. These included (1) analysing the preconditions which exist in schools for teachers of Technology, (2) analysing the use of local long term technology education planning documents (school work plans) developed during the intervention, and (3) analysing the potential change over time in student performance in Technology based on national grades at the end of compulsory school. The findings gained from each approach indicate that the Boost of Technology project was a success. However, there were shortcomings associated with each approach. They are therefore discussed in the Swedish context with the intention to support future international stakeholders in the evaluation of interventions aspiring to develop technology education. yes

Since first conceived, the concept of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) hasattracted much attention. Despite being lauded by educationalists as the unique knowledgebase of teachers, research on the concept over the past 30 years has yet to result in a universallyaccepted definition being presented. Much of the contentions surrounding the lack ofan agreed upon conception appear to have stemmed from difficulties in understanding therelationship between PCK, other areas of teacher knowledge, teacher beliefs, and enactedpractice. This paper considers the application of PCK frameworks to design and technology(D&T) education, through an analysis of the nature of the discipline from an ontologicaland epistemological perspective and contemporary perspectives on the construct of PCK.It is theorised that the volition afforded to teachers in D&T through weakly framed subjectboundaries negates the effective application of PCK frameworks, as teachers’ beliefs have agreater impact on enacted practices. In an attempt to better understanding enacted practicein D&T education, the paper proposes a methodological framework centred on the interactionsbetween teachers’ beliefs and knowledge in the discipline, through synthesising theconcept of amplifiers and filters of practice with the nature of D&T education. The proposedframework outlines the need to recognise individual teachers’ conception of capabilityas a critical influence on enacted practice. QC 20180611

This study explores possible differences in the views on assessment between two groups of teachers teaching technology in compulsory school: (1) teachers with subject-specific teacher training in technology education; and (2) teachers without such training. This topic is of particular interest because of the recent changes in the regulations that govern compulsory schools in Sweden, such that only certified teachers now will be permitted to teach and assign grades, despite the clear lack of certified teachers in technology education. The study is situated in two fields of interest—technology education and assessment. Both topics are highly relevant, especially in combination, because previous research on teachers’ assessment practices in technology is rare. In this study, the goal is to contribute to deepening the understanding of how subject-specific teacher training affects teachers’ ability to assess students’ knowledge while maintaining alignment with stated regulations. The results show significant difference between these two groups’ use of curriculum documents as the basis of their teaching and their self-efficacy in assessing student’s knowledge in technology. The results suggest interesting possibilities for curriculum alignment and indicate that the opportunities for student learning increase according to whether teachers are specifically trained in the subject.

Probably we would not know about pre-university (or K-12, in USA terms) engineering education if there had not been the discussion about STEM education. STEM is the acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. The term started its existence as a rather political term in the mid-2000s.

This laboratory experiment introduces rocket science from a chemistry perspective. The focus is set on chemical propulsion, including its environmental impact and future development. By combining lecture-based teaching with practical, theoretical, and computational exercises, the students get to evaluate different propellant alternatives. To complete the task, they need to use several important curricular concepts, such as the breaking and formation of bonds, redox reactions, and thermodynamics. They also apply basic computational electronic structure calculations to investigate the energetic content of hitherto nonexisting alternatives. Finally, actual chemical rocket propulsion is demonstrated through the assembly and testing of a model rocket motor, employing a commercially available kit. The full experiment was developed for upper-level high school classes and is completed in a 3-h lab period. The experiment, or parts of it, has also been successfully used both in undergraduate programs and continuing education for teachers.

A treatment plant using conventional biological treatment combined with hydroponics and microalgae is constructed in a greenhouse in the area of Stockholm, Sweden. The treatment plant is built for research purposes and presently treats 0.559 m3 of domestic wastewater from the surrounding area per day. The system uses anoxic pre-denitrification followed by aerobic tanks for nitrification and plant growth. A microalgal step further reduces phosphorus, and a final sand filter polishes the water. During a three week period in July 2002 the treatment capacity of this system was evaluated with respect to removal of organic matter, phosphorus and nitrogen. 90% COD removal was obtained early in the system. Nitrification and denitrification was well established with total nitrogen reduction of 72%. Phosphorus was removed by 47% in the process. However, higher phosphorus removal values are expected as the microalgal step will be further developed. The results show that acceptable treatment can be achieved using this kind of system. Further optimisation of the system will lead to clean water as well as valuable plants to be harvested from the nutrient rich wastewater.

In order to identify potential microorganisms with high denitrifying capacity from tannery wastewaters, 1000 pure cultures of bacterial isolates from Modjo Tannery Pilot and Ethio-tannery wastewater treatment plants (WWTP), in Ethiopia, were investigated. Twenty-eight isolates were selected as efficient denitrifiers. These were Gram-negative rods, oxidase and catalase positive denitrifying organisms. The 28 denitrifying strains were further classified according to their biochemical fingerprints into three different phylogenetic groups (BPT1, BPT2 and BPT3) and seven singles. Isolates B79T, B11, B12, B15, B28 and B38 belonging to the BPT3 cluster were found to be the most efficient denitrifying bacteria. All phenotypic studies, including cellular fatty acid profiles, showed that the 6 BPT3 isolates were closely related to each other. The 16S rRNA partial sequence analysis of type strain B79T(CCUG 45880) indicated a sequence similarity of 99% to Brachymonas denitrificans JCM9216 (D14320) in the β-subdivision of proteobacteria. Further studies of the effects of chromium III and sulphide on the six Brachymonas denitrificans strains indicated that denitrification by the isolates were inhibited 50% at concentrations of 54 and 96 mg/l, respectively. The efficient isolates characterized in this study are of great value because of their excellent denitrifying properties and relatively high tolerance to the concentrations of toxic compounds (70 mg chromium/l and 160 mg sulphide/l) prevailing in tannery wastewaters.

The treatment efficiencies of constructed wetlands containing Cyperus papyrus L. (papyrus) and Miscanthidium violaceum (K. Schum.) Robyns (synonymous with Miscanthus violaceum (K. Schum) Pilg.) were investigated in a tropical climate (Kampala, Uganda). Papyrus showed higher ammonium-nitrogen and total reactive phosphorus (TRP) removal (75.3% and 83.2%) than Miscanthidium (61.5% and 48.4%) and unplanted controls (27.9% ammonium-nitrogen). No TRP removal was detected in control effluent. Nutrients (N and P) were significantly higher (p0.015) in papyrus than Miscanthidium plant tissues. Plant uptake and storage was the major factor responsible for N and P removal in treatment line 2 (papyrus) where it contributed 69.5% N and 88.8% P of the total N and P removed. It however accounted for only 15.8% N and 30.7% P of the total N and P removed by treatment line 3 (Miscanthidium violaceum). In addition, papyrus exhibited a significantly larger (p=0.000) number of adventitious roots than Miscanthidium. Nitrifying bacteria attached to papyrus (2.15 x 10(6)+/-1.53 x 10(5) MPN/g DW) and Miscanthidium roots (1.30 x 10(4)+/-8.83 x 10(2) MPN/g DW) and the corresponding nitrification activities were consistent with this finding. Epiphytic nitrifiers appeared more important for total nitrification than those in peat or suspended in water. Papyrus root structures provided more microbial attachment sites, sufficient wastewater residence time, trapping and settlement of suspended particles, surface area for pollutant adsorption, uptake, assimilation in plant tissues and oxygen for organic and inorganic matter oxidation in the rhizosphere, accounting for its high treatment efficiency.

Three pure culture assays for measurements of inhibition of the nitrogen removal process were tested and compared. The methods were performed using pure cultures of bacteria responsible for three reactions; ammonia oxidation, nitrite oxidation and nitrite reduction. The inhibition caused by 48 samples of industrial wastewater was determined and the results for the three inhibition assays were compared. The correlation coefficients were calculated to be between 0.63 and 0.73. The inhibition of the pure culture methods was also compared with results from another investigation, where the inhibition by the same wastewaters was determined by a screening method based on activated sludge. The best correlation was found with the ammonia oxidation assay. The heavy metal content was statistically analysed for relationships with inhibition using a linear model with stepwise linear regression. Although zinc was a significant inhibitor for all three methods, these responded differently in the second step, which indicate that the bacteria are not inhibited according to the same pattern. The relevance of the three pure culture assays as an inhibition test is discussed and the conclusion can be drawn that they are all needed to give a complete inhibition picture of wastewaters.

Laboratory experiments have been conducted to characterize the sensitivity of a pure-cultured denitrifying bacterium from wastewater sludge, selected by virtue of its exhibiting promising qualities as a biomarker, to wastewater process variables and potential toxic inhibition by a heavy metal, cadmium. A pure culture method offers the possibility of development of a standardized toxicity test with reproducible results that are not site specific, and enables close examination of one specific reaction without interference from other organisms in the system. Denitrification by the selected bacterium, measured in terms of nitrite reduction, is rapid, reproducible, and conforms to a linear time-concentration profile, provided a select range of process conditions is employed. The denitrification rate is a maximum at about 30°C and in a pH range of 7.5 to 8.0. The rate per unit wet mass of cells is constant for varying cell concentrations and given conditions of pH and temperature. A noncompetitive inhibition model provided a good description of the relationship between denitrification rate and the concentration of a heavy metal, cadmium. The model constant, Ki, the concentration resulting in 50% inhibition, is 12 mg/l for cadmium for the test conditions used and represents a means for assessing the relative toxicity of inhibitors. The reproducibility of the test cases studied and straightforward analysis render the bacterium and test procedures promising for development of a rapid toxicity test for wastewater in a denitrifying environment. Ongoing studies are directed toward evaluating the extent to which the test organism represents the response of a denitrifying sludge population to potentially toxic compounds.

The objective of this study was to set-up a pilot plant and to evaluate its effectiveness for biological nitrogen and organic matter removal from tannery wastewater in Ethiopia. A pilot wastewater treatment plant consisting of a predenitrification-nitrification process was constructed and operated for 6 months. This was fed with a raw tannery wastewater obtained from the Modjo Tannery located 70 km south of the capital, Addis Ababa. Up to 98% total nitrogen and chemical oxygen demand, and 95% ammonium nitrogen removal efficiencies were achieved in the system. The average effluent ammonium nitrogen ranged from 8.4 mg l(-1) to 86.0 mg l(-1), whereas the average effluent for nitrate nitrogen ranged from 2.9 mg l(-1) to 4.4 mg l(-1). The average values of denitrification and nitrification rates determined by nitrate and ammonium uptake rates (NUR and AUR) were 8.0 mg NO3-N [g volatile suspended solids (VSS)](-1) h(-1) and 5.4 mg NH4-N (g VSS)(-1) h(-1), respectively, demonstrating that the treatment processes of the pilot plant were effective. Further studies of the effect of chromium III on AUR showed 50% inhibition at a concentration of 85 mg l(-1), indicating that this metal was not causing process inhibition during performance operations. Thus, the predenitrification-nitrification process was found to be efficient for simultaneous removal of nitrogen and organic substrates from tannery wastewaters.

The change from brominated flame retardants to nonhalogenated alternatives has started in the electronics industry. Information about toxicological aspects concerning the involved chemicals is however limited. This study shows that one nonhalogenated alternative has lower toxicity than the brominated flame retardant TBBPA, when tested for inhibition of denitrification. The other nonhalogenated alternative showed higher toxicity, but was more soluble in water than the brominated flame retardant TBBPA, indicating less risk for bioaccumulation. Denitrification is a bacterial process that is of great importance in soil and water environments.

Women are significantly underrepresented in engineering and engineering related disciplines. One area where this is clearly illustrated is in the percentage of females enrolled in higher education engineering courses. The 2016 data on enrolment by field from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) shows that the maximum percentage of female enrolment in “engineering and engineering trades” education at Bachelors, Masters, and Doctoral level in OECD countries is 28.33% in Sweden. As this form of education is likely to lead to a career in an engineering related field, there is a clear need to understand the factors which influence female students' decisions to enroll in higher education engineering courses. There are many influences on students' choices to pursue specific career paths. For example, how students conceive a particular discipline or career will influence this decision, as what they believe it to involve will likely affect their interest in engaging with it. In engineering, students often have misconceptions regarding what it means to be an engineer and the Draw-an-Engineer Test (DAET) has frequently been used to investigate these misconceptions. Studies using DAET have found that young students typically conceive engineers to be male, with the majority of male students typically representing engineers as male, but, with female students drawing more frequent but still relatively small proportions of female engineers. However, at least with the original “Draw a” instrument, the Draw-a-Scientist Test (DAST), children's drawings of scientists have been found to be becoming more gender diverse over time. In this study, the DAET is used in a comparative study between Sweden and Ireland. These countries were selected as according to the 2016 OECD data on higher education enrolment, Sweden has the highest representation of female engagement with engineering in higher level education (28.33%), while Ireland has one of the lowest (14.13%). The study cohort (ntotal = 513; nIreland = 302; nSweden = 211) in the context of both countries includes students who are approximately 15 years old. This age is of cultural significance in both countries as students are at a juncture in second level education where they must make a choice on what they will study at upper secondary level, which will consequently have an impact on their decision on what to study should they choose to progress to higher level education. Results are presented in relation to participants engineering stereotypes in terms of gender and the nature of engineering activities, and also in terms of their level of interest in engineering. Importantly, the results indicate that in order to understanding engineering stereotypes and young people's interest in becoming an engineer, the complex relationship between a student's gender, cultural context, and conception of engineering must be considered. QC 20200624