Maria João Martins

Toward a Pan-European virtual university in electrical and information engineering

This paper presents the first steps taken by several European universities to study various features of the implementation of a virtual university in electrical and information engineering. The usefulness of static Web materials replacing printed text was studied. Simulators of complex data processing and power generating systems were created. Experiences with a remote-controlled process facility were collected. Manufacturing of integrated circuits was visualized. Web-based self-evaluation and feedback systems were implemented for student response assessment. Advanced reactions are basically positive. This work is a contribution to the four-year SOCRATES Thematic Network program of the European Union, lasting from September 1996 until October 2000.

A survey of the evolution of the Bologna Process in EIE in Europe

The EIE-surveyor project is a European thematic network funded by the European Commission for a three-year period until October 2008. Its partnership includes 110 European academic institutions, which aims at acting both as an observatory and a proposition force for the evolution in the inter-disciplinary fields of electrical and information engineering (EIE), of engineering curricula through the implementation of the Bologna process. The content of the project includes a survey and proposition of competencies, accreditation procedures, curricula contents and multinational degrees. In this paper we describe the work developed and results obtained in Task 3.1-A Survey of the Bologna Process in EIE at the Bachelor, Master and PhD level. This paper presents the main objectives of the project, the methodologies used and activities developed in the task. A comparative analysis of the obtained data will allow a clear perspective of the evolution of the implementation of the Bologna process across Europe, concerning not only the bachelor and masterpsilas degrees but also the numbers of PhDs and their interplay with industry, and mobility at all levels in Europe.

Collaborative projects involving industry and academia to enhance electrical engineering education: The perspective of three Portuguese Higher Education Institutions at the master degree level

In this paper, Electrical Engineering Education at the Master level is presented through three perspectives of collaborative projects involving industry and academia. The presented perspectives originate from three Portuguese Higher Education Institutions representing the University, Military Academy and Polytechnic School viewpoints. Throughout the presented projects, an increasing student motivation was observed, driven by the practical experience provided through the industrial sector approach. This cooperation also generates opportunities to develop new perspectives and ideas for follow-on projects as well as innovative academic publications.

Work in Progress: European Education without Borders and the Challenges for Technology as Mediator

The immediate future for European education, training and lifelong learning is intimately connected with the Bologna process. The main objectives of the Bologna process are to obtain convergence of European higher education systems, and to improve student and teaching staff mobility within Europe. Against this background, the European Association for Education in Electrical and Information Engineering takes part in several Thematic Network projects financially supported by the European Union (EU). These actions are also supported by several IEEE Education Society European Chapters. By encountering the difficulties and showing possible solutions, this currently performed work aims at providing overview of the specific orientation in the field of Electrical and Information Engineering Education in Europe. Using new technologies for new purposes is the core of its target

New results for the EIE-Surveyor project

The EIE-Surveyor ERASMUS thematic network has been launched in October 2005 for three years, the ends in 2008. The purpose of this paper is to present a state of development of the outcomes developed within the project as well as the dissemination policy. This gives an overview of the results of the project, which are available freely from the Web-site www.eie-surveyor.org.

3D virtual reality experiments to promote electrical engineering education

3D Virtual Labs are the support of learning, a tool of education in the future. Learning in a 3D environment allows greater interaction with contents in a unique way as students perceive it as being really there. Simulations are being designed, a combination of real-world environment with the information supplied by devices, where measurements can be replicated and data analyzed. This study presents a virtual scenario of a Measurements and Instrumentation laboratory.Electrical Engineering courses aim to train students to succeed in meeting the challenges within competitive and everchanging professional contexts. In order to prepare undergraduate students for ongoing success, the courses must provide effective training in the application and development of practices, typically implemented in large projects and organizations. Developing high quality engineering course units is definitely a challenging task. Courses can be provided remotely, but careful planning is required to design quality course units because problems may occur in meeting quality targets. The developments in information and communication technologies (ICT), including multimedia and internet-based education platforms, facilitate the creation of reliable solutions to these challenges. Studies show that a smart application of multimedia technologies and webbased education platforms can provide great results towards better quality of engineering courses. Many challenges on how to suitably approach the educational process have already been put forward. Higher Education institutions use multiple approaches to teaching and learning, combining a range of methods, including e-learning, videoconferencing, face-to-face teaching and hard-copy resources in course delivery. The authors present a software model for engineering, which is based mainly on the Wirefusion® software, and a virtualreality platform called VEMA. The project intends to improve the quality of teaching and learning in higher education through effective application of information technologies and the sciences of learning. 3D virtual learning environments arise as solutions to the extent that, in addition to offering features associated with communication and information sharing, they promote flexible learning spaces and moments. At the level of higher education, and in accordance with the paradigm of Bologna, virtual environments acquire special importance to allow learning beyond the classroom time and space.

Constraints and requirements in designing an e-learning environment

Nowadays, education extends beyond the field of formal education delivered in universities and colleges, and is increasingly based on new technological developments. Long Life Learning (LLL) is a fundamental tool in todays world in order to remain competitive in the market. The ease of access to the Internet and computer technologies has turned into a new field for developing applications which can be distributed worldwide in an almost instantaneous manner, but must be appropriately designed in order to achieve their goals. Quality e-Iearning courseware requires several aspects to be covered in order to achieve its purposes. These include a thorough knowledge of the content as well as methods of delivery and learning theory. These requirements were taken into account in the development of a virtual-lab environment, named VEMA, developed by one of the authors and used in the Bachelor and Masters classes.

Extending the international dimension of Life Long Learning

In this paper the contributions of the ELLEIEC project for the international dimension of Life Long Learning (LLL) are described. In the framework of the Thematic Networks Programme, tools such as Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL), the Tuning Methodology were used in the implementation of an International Curricula Network with accreditation by two European institutions at least. Benchmarks were proposed, in order to show various tools that can be used for the establishment of dual degree programmes.

Simulation of digital optical receiver with intensity modulation and direct detection

This work presents the implementation of an interactive simulator that integrates various functional blocks of an optical receiver of intensity modulation and direct detection (IM-DD), with OOK (on-off keying) digital modulation and NRZ (non-return-to-zero) pulse format. The developed software allows the isolated simulation of each block, as well as the complete simulation of the whole system. We underline the following results presented by the simulator: the eye diagram, the probability density functions of the samples, Bode diagram, bandwidth, transimpedance gain, signal-to-noise ratio, power of the different noise sources and the bit error probability of the simulated system.

Development and test of an antenna simulator for transmitter-receiver radio P/PRC525

The work reported in this paper, resulted from a joint cooperation between the Faculty of Engineering (I.S.T) of the Technical University of Lisbon, Portugal, the Portuguese Army and an private company, EID, which is active in the development of electronic devices for special applications. The rationale behind this Project is the need to implement an electronic device for the simulation of antennas used in the military tactical radios P/PRC525 [2] in different operation scenarios.