José Couto Marques

The use of video clips in engineering education

Nowadays science communicators have at their disposal a variety of tools to convey information. Video stands out among them as an effective means for disseminating educational content because of its unique features: it is multi-sensory, dynamic and capable of engaging the viewers attention. The use of video clips in engineering education is illustrated with applications in the area of groundwater flow.

Experimental, numerical and virtual tools in Civil Engineering

Three sets of teaching tools developed for Civil Engineering students are presented in this paper. The first is a didactic test frame for structural mechanics and its virtual replica. The second is an outfit for small scale seepage studies. The third is a set of portable devices for visual demonstration of several phenomena of interest for introductory soil mechanics classes.

Pattern Recognition of the Household Water Consumption through Signal Analysis

This paper presents the initial results of a research project that aims to develop a method for losses/leakage detection and household water consumption characterization through the detailed patterns analysis of signals generated by water meters. The Department of Civil Engineering (University of Coimbra) supports the research as part of a PhD Project. An experimental facility is used for signals acquisition and data analysis will be performed by using a pattern recognition algorithm that will identify the hydraulic devices in use. It is intended to develop and test some algorithm structures at various plumbing configuration forms to find the best one. In a second phase, a consumption analysis will be carried out using that algorithm to test its efficiency in inhabited houses. The expectation is to develop an efficient water monitoring tool that helps the users to follow-up and to control the water consumption using a computer or even a mobile device.

Experimental training in engineering

Technology based and hands-on experimental activities in engineering are currently under way in a joint venture involving Portuguese and Brazilian higher education institutions, whose goals include sharing of resources and instructor experiences in using alternative ways of implementing experimental training in engineering, as well as investigating the reaction of students with different cultural and knowledge backgrounds to the use of the hands-on and on-line experimentation modalities. The workflow of the collaboration is presented, the methodology of the research discussed and some preliminary results are shown.

Online experimentation: Experiment@Portugal 2012

Online experimentation comprises remote and virtual experimentation aided by virtual reality components, augmented reality, sensorial devices, live videos and other tools as interactive videos and serious games which promote user immersion in virtual environments recreating the real experience. Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (FCG) has recognized in online experimentation its credits with relevance in todays education as future pillars in industry, in research and in medicine either in training or in specific applications. The Portuguese consortium of online experimentation, created in 2011, is now potentiated by some additional resources of online experimentation based in new different technologies and contributing for STEM, higher education, lifelong learning and dissemination. In a continuous effort the Portuguese Consortium has been supported by Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. The present work pretends to make a follow up of these developments in the context of the Experiment@Portugal 2012 project.

U.Jr. — Mentoring in action: Junior University at U.Porto

Universidade Júnior provides 11 to 17 years old secondary school pupils with the opportunity to get in touch with university life by offering an action packed variety of learning experiences during 5 weeks in July and September. This very busy and varied offer requires careful preparation which involves mentoring activities that are developed at two levels: between faculty and the junior tutors and between these and the young pupils. They are scrutinized in this paper.

Experimental Study of Groundwater Flow

This paper describes an experimental setup for groundwater flow studies with small scale models, developed for the Soil Mechanics course offered to Civil Engineering Master students at FEUP. Relevant quantities, such as the piezometric head and total discharge, can be measured, while flow lines may be visualized. It is also possible to recreate hydraulically induced instability phenomena, namely illustrating the disastrous effects caused on an embankment dam by overtopping. The experimental studies are replicated by a finite element model and both are available for use on line during lectures.

Behind the wall: Earth pressure on retaining structures

Earth retaining walls are common civil engineering structures. What goes on behind them in terms of soil-wall interaction has a sound theoretical framework but its physical significance can be further enhanced in pedagogical terms by recourse to experimental setups and numerical simulations. This paper presents a set of numerical studies designed to raise student awareness of the factors controlling the accuracy of the numerical limit state analysis of earth retaining walls.

Visualizing the invisible foundation collapse mechanisms

Every civil engineering structure relies on the good performance of its foundation, whose function of safely transmitting load to the ground is carried out away from our eyes. With the purpose of giving visibility to this process this paper describes two IT tools and a small-scale experimental setup that have been developed as learning aids for the study of the behavior and bearing capacity of shallow foundations by Civil Engineering students.

Virtual tools for soil mechanics

This demo presents a set of virtual tools developed as learning aids for soil mechanic students in civil engineering. These tools will be used in the current semester and they are complemented by simple experimental setups aimed at fostering do-it-yourself exploratory activities. All these contents will be demonstrated during the Demo Session and are available at http://onlinelab.fe.up.pt/ on the Virtual Reality level.