Master Of Engineering Degree Research Articles

English-Medium Master's Degree Programs at a Saudi University: Attitudes, Experiences, and Obstacles

English-medium instruction has become a prevalent strategy for increasing the internationalization opportunities of Saudi universities and the international employability of their graduates. The findings of an interview (12 professors and 30 students) and an observation of three established Science, Social Science, and Engineering master's degree programs at a major Saudi university in Riyadh are presented in this article. In order to facilitate the implementation of English-taught master's degree programs, the purpose of this study was to identify the perspectives, experiences, and obstacles of higher education stakeholders regarding English-medium instruction. Findings showed that English-medium instruction is generally preferred by both professors and students. Although the need for support measures was not as high as expected, certain challenges remain, which can be addressed through focused initiatives. Notable issues include stakeholder unhappiness, a high workload for students, varying degrees of prior knowledge among students. The research highlights how crucial it is to include English for Specific Purposes (ESP) instruction in the curriculum and recommends adding more tools and resources to support teacher development. These measures could involve voluntary participation and incentive programs.

Instrumentation for measurement: A case study on conceptual versus problem-solving knowledge

The problem under analysis looks at the overall comparison of about 1300 students’ performance considering separately their conceptual and problem-solving knowledge over 7 academic years of the course of Instrumentation for Measurement within the Mechanical Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto . This course gives the relevant background for later content courses on Automation, Control, Mechatronics, Smart Factories, etc., in that Mechanical Engineering master's degree. It is important to note that such content deals with basic concepts in different science and technology topics, incorporating today's cyber systems and the Internet of Things (IoT). This content includes fundamental principles spanning traditional topics as physics, statistics, mechanical, dynamics, design, and electrical, foundational, technical, and technological knowledge, and informatics. Together, they permit access to very small changes in physical quantities making possible their measurement, interpreting them, and providing data in the cloud. Also, aspects related to a variety of specific prepared questions to motivate students to improve and enhance their comprehension instead of a pure sequence of memorization activities for a perfect “how-to-respond” are explained. The work describes details on the instructional course design, and the actions used to improve the difference in both performances, from the point of view of pedagogical strategies and their sequence of results. The main outcomes of the analysis performed on data from those 7-course editions indicate large differences between the scores of conceptual (/theoretical) and problem-solving components; steady improvement in student performance in conceptual knowledge over the years; stable performance concerning the problem-solving component; clear disruption in conceptual performance in the academic year disturbed by the pandemic situation, followed by great recovery in the following academic year. The results are discussed in the framework of the regulations and conditions in which the instruction takes place and the pedagogical strategies employed to balance conceptual and problem-solving knowledge. Finally, some suggestions are put forward to investigate further possible reasons behind the large gap in theoretical and problem-solving results. The authors hope to contribute with some helpful discussion and outcomes and to foster later feedback from the community.

EasyComVi: A Tool for the Interactive Learning of Computer Vision in Distance Education

This article presents the EasyComVi Tool, an interactive application developed to facilitate the study of Computer Vision for students enrolled in an Engineering Master degree with a Distance Learning methodology. The main objective of this tool is to enable students in subjects related to Computer Vision with a distance learning methodology, to acquire a better understanding of different concepts about the subject studied in a theoretical way, through its interactive visual illustration, in an autonomous way. This tool offers the students the possibility to visualize the results of applying different image processing operations to various example images selecting the value of a set of input parameters. The usefulness and applicability of the tool has been evaluated by means of a questionnaire disseminated among the students of a subject on Computer Vision in a Master's degree in Industrial Engineering. This paper presents the preliminary results obtained in the study carried out, which are very promising and encourage further research in this work.

The 4th Southeast Asian Conference on Geophysics (SEACG) 2022: Great Challenges and Opportunities of Geophysics Today and Future

The Southeast Asian Conference on Geophysics (SEACG) is a biannual event held by the Geophysical Engineering Department, Faculty of Mining and Petroleum Engineering, Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB), Indonesia. The SEACG has been successfully conducted since 2016, and several selected papers have been published in the IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science. The first (2016) and second (2018) conferences were held offline in Bali, Indonesia, while the third conference (2020) was held virtually due to the Covid19 pandemic. Along with the end of the Covid19 pandemic, the current event (2022) is being run as a hybrid conference (physical and virtual), live from Bandung, Indonesia.The conference theme of the SEACG 2022 is “Great Challenges and Opportunities of Geophysics Today and Future.” The program lasts two days, from August 9, 2022, to August 10, 2022, and is sponsored by the Institute of Research and Community Services, ITB. There are 11 invited international speakers (30-minute duration) and 88 contributed speakers (20 min duration) who presented their ideas. With five panel rooms, 35 contributed speakers delivered offline presentations and 53 virtually via Zoom. The speakers, both invited and contributed, presented and introduced new geophysical insights and techniques.The panel discussion featured intriguing topics and invited speakers from various institutions, such as Institut Teknologi Bandung – Indonesia (Dr.rer.nat. R. Mohammad Rachmat Sule, Dr. Tedi Yudistira, Prof. Sri Widiyantoro, Prof. Wahyu Srigutomo, and Prof. Wawan Gunawan Abdul Kadir), CSIRO – Australia (Dr. Erdinc Saygin), Australian National University – Australia (Prof. Phil Cummins), University of Tokyo – Japan (Prof. Takeshi Tsuji), JGI, Inc. – Japan (Moeto Fujisawa, M.Sc.), Ocean University of China – China (Dr. Zhijun Du), and Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris – France (Dr. Jean-Philippe Metaxian). The event was opened by Dr. Fatkhan (the Head of the Geophysical Engineering Master and Doctorate Degree Program, ITB) and closed by Dr. Warsa (the Head of the Geophysical Engineering Bachelor Degree Program, ITB).The SEACG 2022 provided a platform for academics, professionals, and students to discuss and promote scientific results related to recent advancements in geophysical methods and related sciences. The conference covered various session topics, such as Fault and Deformation Study, Passive Seismic, Environmental Geophysics, Geophysical Approaches in Hydrocarbon, Geophysical Approaches in Geothermal, Advance Geophysics, Vulcanology, Tomography, Seismic Hazards, Geomagnetic, and Seismology.We would thank the organization’s team members, the reviewers, and the faculty staff. They have worked very hard to make this event possible. We wish all attendees of SEACG 2022 have an exciting experience and enjoy the moment in this scientific forum.List of Organizing Committee, Documentation are available in this pdf.

The tutor team construction in the "honeycomb model" of professional degrees training for postgraduate

This paper analyzes the current situation of professional degree graduate education in China, summarizes the main problems existing in the construction of tutor team at the present stage, and constructs the "honeycomb model" of civil engineering master's degree graduate training. The "honeycomb model" replaces the double mentors with the mentor team, and takes the cultivation of practical innovation ability as the goal. Demand-oriented, it establishes substantive connections between the multiple agents represented by the mentor team members. In addition, the "honeycomb model" promotes the mutual promotion and integration of multiple entities through cost-effectiveness, and realizes the sustainable development of multiple entities through win-win cooperation. Finally, the model relies on the project matrix operation mode to promote the construction of tutor team and realize the unification of academic and professional graduate training.

About The Author

About The Author

The application of spreadsheets for teaching hydrological modeling and climate change impacts on streamflow

AbstractHydrology teaching currently relies upon educators' background, requiring a change in training future professionals to manage water resources to address climate change, among other issues. In the teaching experience described in this paper, traditional lectures in a postgraduate civil engineering master's degree were replaced by the development and assessment of a lumped hydrological model implemented into an Excel spreadsheet. Although the primary activity evaluated the long‐term impacts of climate change on streamflow in a watershed, the students were required to address several specific issues such as calibration and validation processes, goodness‐of‐fit metrics, uncertainties of parameters, and sensitivity analysis. The learning experience's efficacy was assessed by conducting two surveys comparing the participants' knowledge before and after the exercise. The results revealed that 92.3% of the students considered that their hydrological skills had improved significantly following the exercise. Furthermore, the acquisition of hydrological modeling concepts was satisfactorily appreciated by all the participants, 97.6% of whom considered it useful or highly useful. Using a spreadsheet as a complementary tool in hydrology teaching increases student participation and motivation provided it is a contemporary and appealing issue, and the teacher clearly defines, monitors, and follows up on the class objectives.

Exploration on Training Mode of Professional Master Degree in Architecture and Civil Engineering

At present, many colleges and universities adopt the operation model of jointly training master's degree in architecture and civil engineering with enterprises. The usual enterprises and institutions are social production or service departments, which are different from ordinary colleges and universities. They have no experience in cultivating students, and colleges and universities emphasize teaching and scientific research. Being unfamiliar with the production practices and social services of enterprises and public institutions has led to a poor joint training path. This paper discusses the training model for postgraduates majoring in architecture and civil engineering, and proposes the establishment of a joint training base between universities and enterprises, the “dual tutor” system between universities and enterprises, and the establishment of research projects for students by the university-enterprise cooperation. In the assessment system, a three-point evaluation system of "credits-thesis-external tutors" is adopted. This study will provide a reference for improving the quality of professional master's training.

International Student Mobility: An Empirical Study Based on FEUP Mechanical Engineering Data

Students are formal learners seeking documented and recognized tertiary education. Student mobility in higher education can be inward (into a country) or outward (out of a country). Both types of mobility are educational processes offering different experiences and resulting in different outcomes. At least half of MIEM (Integrated Mechanical Engineering master degree of the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto, Porto, Portugal) students are driven to seek different institutions and different societies outside their known environment. During the academic year 2019/20 one hundred and forty MIEM students were engaged on exchange mobility projects distributed among inward Portuguese universities and a large number of outward European and non-European programs. This report focuses on MIEM student exchange aiming to share collected data based on numbers and experiences. A developed questionnaire addressing exchange mobility benefits on student educational progression as well as on the foreseen future career was handled to all 2019/20 mobility students and the collected data are reported here. Results of the survey show that 90% of the responding students consider that the engaged exchange program will turn into a positive influence on their career and a short 10% did not appreciate the mobility experience.

Feedback on use of inspection reports of industrial establishments as teaching aids for process safety in the French chemical engineering curriculum

Numerous teaching aids are available for process safety education. In this article, the contents of the public and mandatory inspection reports of industrial installations classified for environmental protection are used as teaching aids. The contribution of these documents has been experimented, in addition to the teaching of process safety, within the framework of a Master degree in chemical engineering from the University of Lorraine at the “National Higher School of Chemical Industries” (ENSIC) of Nancy (France). The recommended content of a “Regional Direction for the Environment, Planning and Housing” (DREAL) inspection report is first recalled. The protocol for the use of Seveso sheets, inspection reports and letters of notification by students is then described. The pedagogical interaction between the basic knowledge of process safety previously acquired and the elements extracted from the inspection reports is discussed and illustrated by a few examples.

Cover Story: Matters of Perspective: Appreciating Diversity and Promoting Inclusion in Health Technology Professions.

Cover Story: Matters of Perspective: Appreciating Diversity and Promoting Inclusion in Health Technology Professions.

Investigation of the effectiveness of online learning tools for energy performance certificates preparation

From 2013, it is compulsory to provide an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) for anyone who puts a property either for sell or for hire in Spain. Since such EPCs are to be issued by qualified specialists, learning about them has become vital for engineering and architecture students. The aim of this work is to determine whether such knowledge can be acquired by the employment of online tools.To do so, it was set a survey sample consisting of students enrolled in University of Oviedo Mining Engineering Master Degree, during 2017–2018 and 2018–2019 academic years, and also of 2018–2019 Mining Technologies Engineering undergraduates. They were all provided with different EPC online course materials whose effectiveness was evaluated later on, by the filling out of a tailored form.The survey results revealed that most of the questioned students recognized the value of online learning, but merely with a subordinate role. Only 4.9% of them would gladly renounce to on-site lectures and just 12.20% would accept more than 50% of online training in any course they were to follow. Anyway, such results were not particularly surprising, since they were obtained from people who had chosen to study at an on-site university.

Teaching geographical databases at the engineering master level: learner-centred approach vs. teacher-centred approach

ABSTRACTThis paper reports numbers about the author’s experience, spanning over 13 academic years, of teaching an introductory course about geographical databases to students of the Master degree in Information Engineering at L’Aquila University (Italy). The first eight editions of the course were delivered according to the teacher-centred approach, while the successive five editions have been delivered according to the student-centred approach. The large student engagement which characterised the last five editions of the course was vital in enhancing the student experience and encouraging deeper learning. Two preconditions that explain the results achieved in terms of classroom attendance and students’ performance.

Regeneration Through Hidden Historical Landscape of Lecco. Urban Course Design Process

The article focus on the role of Historical Urban Heritage in Urban Design through the presentation of the integrated learning path developed for Urban Design and Urban Design Studio classes of Lecco Campus of Politecnico of Milan (school of Architecture Urban Planning Construction Engineering, master degree in Building and Architectural Engineering - BAE and Architectural-Engineering– EDA). The first part of paper presents the general learning process characterizing Urban Design course and the methodological process for the Urban Master Plan development in the studio modules. The second part presents the LeccoLAB didactical path developed in the Lecco Campus focusing on the urban design issues and presenting selected results and design proposals developed by students focusing on the Lecco Historical Urban Heritage issues. During the Academic Year 2016/2017 students’ work teams (27) applied the concepts, methods and techniques presented in Urban Design course to the Lecco waterfront urban systems developing proposal for Urban Master Plan aiming the regeneration of urban complex systems through principles of Nature Based Solutions and Urban Resilience.

The Course System Construction Based on Training of Innovation Capability for Graduate Student of Engineering Master Degree

The Course System Construction Based on Training of Innovation Capability for Graduate Student of Engineering Master Degree

Script of Healthcare Technology: Do Designs of Robotic Beds Exclude or Include Users?

April 01 2015 Script of Healthcare Technology: Do Designs of Robotic Beds Exclude or Include Users? Søsser Brodersen, Søsser Brodersen Søsser Brodersen is assistant professor at Department of Development and Planning, Aalborg University Copenhagen. She has a Master degree and PhD in Engineering. Her research focus is on the socio-material approach to design and innovation. Her main research areas are user-participation, participatory design and user-driven innovation with special focus on healthcare technologies, marginalized people and multicultural design challenges. Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar Meiken Hansen, Meiken Hansen Meiken Hansen has a Master of Science Engineering in the field Design and Innovation. Her master thesis was focused on user oriented product development. She is currently a PhD student, studying smart-grid innovation, intelligent homes and consumer practices. Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar Hanne Lindegaard Hanne Lindegaard Hanne Lindegaard is an Ethnologist with a PhD in Engineering. She is associate professor in User Oriented Design at the Department of Development and Planning, Aalborg University Copenhagen. Her main focus is on combining ethnographic field study methodology with engineering design approaches. Her research areas are a sociotechnical approach to design and innovation, User Oriented Design, Field observations, Co-creation, healthcare technology and intercultural design challenges. Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar Author and Article Information Søsser Brodersen Søsser Brodersen is assistant professor at Department of Development and Planning, Aalborg University Copenhagen. She has a Master degree and PhD in Engineering. Her research focus is on the socio-material approach to design and innovation. Her main research areas are user-participation, participatory design and user-driven innovation with special focus on healthcare technologies, marginalized people and multicultural design challenges. Meiken Hansen Meiken Hansen has a Master of Science Engineering in the field Design and Innovation. Her master thesis was focused on user oriented product development. She is currently a PhD student, studying smart-grid innovation, intelligent homes and consumer practices. Hanne Lindegaard Hanne Lindegaard is an Ethnologist with a PhD in Engineering. She is associate professor in User Oriented Design at the Department of Development and Planning, Aalborg University Copenhagen. Her main focus is on combining ethnographic field study methodology with engineering design approaches. Her research areas are a sociotechnical approach to design and innovation, User Oriented Design, Field observations, Co-creation, healthcare technology and intercultural design challenges. Online Issn: 1531-4790 Print Issn: 0747-9360 © 2015 Massachusetts Institute of Technology2015 Design Issues (2015) 31 (2): 16–28. https://doi.org/10.1162/DESI_a_00319 Cite Icon Cite Permissions Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Search Site Citation Søsser Brodersen, Meiken Hansen, Hanne Lindegaard; Script of Healthcare Technology: Do Designs of Robotic Beds Exclude or Include Users?. Design Issues 2015; 31 (2): 16–28. doi: https://doi.org/10.1162/DESI_a_00319 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentAll JournalsDesign Issues Search Advanced Search This content is only available as a PDF. © 2015 Massachusetts Institute of Technology2015 Article PDF first page preview Close Modal You do not currently have access to this content.

Computer‐based simulation development of a design course project in electrical engineering

ABSTRACTComputer‐based simulation (CBS) is a powerful tool in engineering education. In the article, the findings of a study designed to evaluate the impact of CBS for the development of a design course project (DCP) in the framework of the Electrical Applications course taught at electrical engineering master degree are presented. The study is based on an experimental approach to evaluate the impact of CBS on student results during the first year. Then, during three subsequent years, surveys were collected to analyze students’ perception of the impact that CBS had on the student's learning efficacy and level of motivation during the development of the DCP. The main finding of this work is that students who used CBS as an additional tool during the development of the DCP achieved significantly higher results than their colleagues who did not use it. Analysis of the surveys indicates that students perceived an impact of CBS on their learning efficacy and level of motivation near the high levels of the scoring system used. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Comput Appl Eng Educ 23:587–595, 2015; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/cae; DOI 10.1002/cae.21629

A didactic project for landscape heritage mapping in post-disaster management

In recent years natural- and human-induced hazards have turned into disasters with rising frequency and intensity. These disasters pose threats to prominent cultural and natural heritage sites of the world and therefore require the intervention of skilled technicians and staff with specific scientific and cultural training. It is necessary to contribute toward reducing slow as well as catastrophic risks in the short and long terms through the training of staff for intervention aimed at emergency management and mitigation of the impact and development of solutions with the collaboration of professionals working in this area. This paper presents a project realized by a multidisciplinary team of engineers, architect, hydrologists, and geologists, carried out through the cooperation between Politecnico di Torino and the Information Technology for Humanitarian Assistance, Cooperation and Action Association (ITHACA). The main goal was to provide a first training in geospatial data acquisition and processing for students attending the bachelor and master degree in architecture and engineering in order to start up a team of “volunteer mappers.” Indeed, the project is aimed at documenting the environmental and built heritage subject to disaster; the purpose is to improve the capabilities of the actors involved in the activities connected in geospatial data collection, integration, and sharing using modern geomatic methodology and techniques (terrestrial and aerial LiDAR, close-range and aerial photogrammetry, topographic and Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) instruments, etc.). All the acquired data and processing results have been implemented in a WebGIS platform to share information with local authorities and organizations, such as Protezione Civile (Italian Civil Protection). The proposed area for testing the training activities is the village of Vernazza inside the Cinque Terre National Park in Liguria (Italy). The park is registered on the World Heritage list since 1997. The area was affected by an important flood on 25 October 2011.

Low-Cost Spectrograph Based on a WebCam: A Student Project

This work describes the implementation of a low-cost spectrometer produced with common objects and proposed as a pedagogical students' project. This task aims to introduce the theme of image detection and to stimulate the students to develop skills in the field of optics and photonics. The performance of the developed spectrometer was tested in the characterisation of several sources such as light emitting diodes (LEDs) operating in the visible spectral range and the results were compared with those obtained with a commercial spectrometer. Foreseeing a possible application, the spectrometer was used to calculate the emission ( x,y) colour coordinates following the Commission Internationale d'Eclairage (CIE) definition of the LEDs. The calculated ( x,y) colour coordinates using the built spectrometer compare well with those calculated using the emission data measured using a commercial spectrometer, pointing out that the proposed methodology provides good resolution and precision in the calculation of the CIE colour coordinates. This project was offered with success in 2010 to students from the Optoelectronics unit of the Physics Engineering Masters degree at Aveiro University, Portugal.

Recent Educational Experiences in Electric Machine Maintenance Teaching

Maintenance of electric machines and installations is a particularly important area; eventual faults in these devices may lead to significant losses in terms of time and money. The investment and concern in developing proper maintenance protocols have been gradually increasing over recent decades. As a consequence, there is a need to instruct future engineers in the electric machines and installations maintenance area. The subject "Maintenance of Electric Machines and Installations" has been designed under this idea. It is taught within an official master degree in Maintenance Engineering. This work describes the educational experiences reached during the initial years of the teaching of the subject. Aspects such as student profiles, subject approaches, design of the syllabus, methodology and structure of the laboratory sessions are remarked in the work. In addition, the paper discusses other educational strategies which are being introduced to increase the interest in the subject, such as integration of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), promotion of the collaborative work, inclusion of the possibility of remote learning or development of new assessment systems.