MODERN TOOLS FOR PROMOTING EDUCATION, RESEARCH AND INNOVATION IN MECHATRONICS, IN THE VIEW OF BOLOGNA PROCESS IMPLEMENTATION Assoc. Prof. Simona LACHE

MODERN TOOLS FOR PROMOTING EDUCATION, RESEARCH AND INNOVATION IN MECHATRONICS, IN THE VIEW OF BOLOGNA PROCESS IMPLEMENTATION

Assoc. Prof. Simona LACHE

Assoc. Prof. Marcela LUCA

Transilvania University of Brasov

Topics

• THE ENTREPRENEURIAL UNIVERSITY CONCEPT

• EUI-Net PROJECT - TUNING INDUSTRIAL EDUCATIONAL STRUCTURES IN EUROPE

• RESEARCH APPLICATION IN MECHATRONICS FIELD

• TRAINING SCHEMES FOR MECHATRONICS FIELD

• CONCLUSIONS

COMEFIM’8 The 8th Int. Conf. on Mechatronics and Precision Engineering, June 8-10, 2006, Cluj-Napoca

The Entrepreneurial University Concept


Higher Education Systems – present major trends:

• the mass higher education system• the public financing decline • the increase of the demographic, social and economic diversity• the request for adult education • the information technologies amazing and continuing

development• the higher education market globalization



Higher Education Systems – consequence of the major trends:

• university transformation from a traditional system to an entrepreneurial one

• ‘entrepreneurial university’ approach describes the new type of university created as a reaction to the extra-academic environment changes



Obstacles in implementing the entrepreneurial concept in universities

• the institutions are lead by academic staff selected from inside and not by specialized manager staff - which may induce a certain conservatism

• the lack of real stimulation for cooperation, the lack of cooperation abilities at individual level, since we speak about individuals with a professional life governed by competition and specialization



Transilvania University of Brasov – an entrepreneurial university

• The Department of Links between the University and the Economic, Social and Cultural Environment (www.unitbv.ro/desc) aims to be the interface between university and the extra-academic environment.

• International Projects at UTBv – related to Mechatronics– RO/2006/PL97023/PL LEONARDO DA VINCI, Training the

Students for Working in IT Intensive Technical Engineering Applications,

– 116343/CP/1/2004/1/RO/ERASMUS/TNPP, European University-Industry Network

http://www.unitbv.ro/desc


EUI-Net project - tuning industrial educational structures in Europe

The project approaches the transversal theme of the university role in a knowledge driven society, namely the University – Industry cooperation, and it aims to create a European network of universities and industrial partners in the field of education, research and services.

• At European level, the TUNING network has already produced inspiring competency profiles for topics such as: business, chemistry, educational sciences, geology, history, mathematics, and physics.

• The present research aims to expand the tuning methodology to the engineering field. The targeted respondents are graduates (group G), employers (group E), and academics (group A), who are asked to answer three types of questionnaire each: one questionnaire on generic skills in engineering (GESKE), another questionnaire on specific competences in engineering (SPECOE), and a third questionnaire on practical skills resulted from practical placement of students (PRASKE).



The research aims to:• analyze the structure of engineering education system in Europe, concerning the engineering domains

related to industry – mainly the similarities concerning the length of studies, content of curricula, the proportions of compulsory, semi-optional and elective modules.

• identify the generic and specific competences and skills required by engineering domains at European level.

• analyze the way universities prepare the graduates at the first and second cycle level for the requirements of the labour market, in terms of competences and skills tuning engineering education with professional requirements.

• identify the perspectives on ECTS in engineering education in different countries.• identify the perspectives on teaching and learning, assessment, performance and quality in different

countries.• present good practice examples for curricula development in different engineering domains.• identify points of convergence and common understanding in educational structures, contents, actual

teaching and learning in different countries in the field of engineering education. • suggest improvements for the curricula in different engineering domains.



The methodology used will be similar to the tuning methodology:

• Consultation of the academics, graduates, employers and other stakeholders concerning the general and specific competences and skills required by the engineering domains for the fist and second cycle.

• Definition of academic and professional competence profiles for engineers.

• Translation of the generic and specific competences and skills into desired learning outcomes.

• Suggestions for translation of the learning outcomes into curricular contents (knowledge, understanding and skills) and structures (modules and credits).

• Suggestions and proposals for defining approaches to teaching and learning, evaluation and quality assurance.

The population of the research consists in three target respondents: employers, graduates, and academics involved in the educational programs for engineers for each participant country.



.

Specific instruments: • Questionnaire for the generic skills (for employers, graduates, and academics) – similar to the

TUNING research.• Questionnaire for the specific competencies (for employers, graduates, and academics) – will be

elaborated in the weeks to come by the research coordinator and proposed to national teams for comments and improvement. The final version, issued from this debate will be used in the research.

• Questionnaire on practical skills resulted from practical placement of students.• Inventory grid for the analysis of the engineering educational structures, length of studies in

different countries, learning outcomes, work load.

Procedure: each partner's contribution to the field research is to:• distribute the two types of questionnaires to the target respondents – employers, graduates, and

academics;• collect and transmit the data to the research coordinator;• fill in the inventory grid and make comments on the main aspects at each country level


Research Application in the Mechatronics Field

MECHATRONICS - one of the engineering fields of great interest both for European companies and for those developing in Romania nowadays.

During the last time a lot of job offers have been available but not always the graduates meet the company requirements.

The permanent dialog established by the Transilvania University of Brasov and its industrial partners revealed concrete issues related to the training of students in mechatronics.

The Mechatronics specialization aims to give an interdisciplinary training of the future specialists regarding the principles and means for integrating mechanical engineering with electronics and intelligent control, at the level of mechatronics products design, manufacturing and utilization.

Starting from this idea, the generic and specific competences in the mechatronics field have been shaped, based on tuning methodology.



Starting from the specific competences identified for the engineering field and narrowing the research for the domain of mechatronics, it has been stated the graduates of this specialization should be able to conceive, design, use, monitor, maintain and fault tracing of mechatronic products and systems. The entire university curricula should, therefore, be conceived around these competences. The main means to achieve this are related to:

– Knowledge of computer aided engineering (i.e. 2D-AutoCAD, 3D-CATIA, FEM codes);– Knowledge of CNC and robots programming;– Knowledge of hardware and software design for microcontrollers command solutions;– Knowledge of programming languages widely use in R&D (i.e. C++, Matlab, Labview);

For a more systematized approach, the above mentioned competences may be materialized in six profiles, established based on the product life cycle. They also represent domains in which mechatronics engineers are required.



Table 1. Profiles and application fields in mechatronics profession

No. crt.

Application field

Engineering Profile

1 Research -Development of mathematical and physical principles, models and methods;-Design and testing of new products by improving the performances of the existing ones or by improving the methods used for products achievement.

2 Design -Design, calculus and building of new systems, apparatus and devices, within the research laboratories and/or design departments;-Development of microcontrollers and microcomputers software for intelligent components and systems; development of software for assisting activities in different application areas.

3 Manufacturing -Manufacturing preparation process;-Manufacturing process;-Quality control.

4 Sales -Sales of mechatronic products;-Customer counseling with respect to mechatronic products.

5 Exploitation -Putting into service of mechatronic systems;-Maintaining into operation of mechatronic systems

6 Monitoring -Safety engineers for mechatronic systems operation.


Training schemes in Mechatronics Field

• Involvement of the companies in the university curricula;• Student work on corporate problems for their theses and

dissertations, in companies such as: – Ina Schaeffler – LMS– Dacia-Renault Group– Continental

Cooperative education programs, internship and job placement for students and recent graduates

Master courses oriented on the company needs


Training schemes in Mechatronics Field

Leonardo da Vinci student mobilities – knowledge transfer at European level.

RO/2006/PL97023/PL LEONARDO DA VINCI, Training the Students for Working in IT Intensive Technical Engineering Applications,


Conclusions

The entrepreneurial university – an important concept that has to be implemented in the higher education system of the 21st century

Transilvania University of Brasov - an entrepreneurial university

EUI-Net project – for identification of generic and specific competences in the engineering field

Case study for the mechatronics field

Application of modern training schemes for students in the mechatronics field

Acknowledgement

• The authors are grateful to the EUI-Net team that contributed to the development of the questionnaires for defining and updating generic and specific competences relevant to the industrial sector, as well as generic and specific competences for the practical stages of the students as part of the curriculum.


Invitation

The research team is grateful for your contribution in this challenging attempt!

The two questionnaires that you are invited to complete could be included into the research database only if you answered all items.

YOUR ANSWERS WILL BE KEPT CONFIDENTIALLY!

THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME AND EFFORT!


http://www.eui-net.org/questionn/

Contact persons:Simona LACHE, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ing., Transilvania University of Brasov, Dept. of Precision Mechanics and Mechatronics, 500036 Brasov, B-dul Eroilor 29, e-mail: [email protected], tel. +40 268 413921.

Marcela LUCA, Assoc. Prof. Dr., Transilvania University of Brasov, Dept. of Psychology, 500036 Brasov, B-dul Eroilor 29, e-mail: [email protected], tel. +40 268 470 190.



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MODERN TOOLS FOR PROMOTING EDUCATION, RESEARCH AND INNOVATION IN MECHATRONICS, IN THE VIEW OF BOLOGNA PROCESS IMPLEMENTATION Assoc. Prof. Simona LACHE