Melany M. Ciampi

Technological development, sustainability: Discussions about international aspects of engineering education

Engineers are among the main agents of promotion of development in the world and the formation of a new kind of engineer is the priority to face the future economical and political market. Nations are recognizing the importance of engineers once they are the ones that make possible the world goes round. Engineering Schools worldwide have implemented more flexible programs, more investments in labs and equipments, promoted more exchanges programs and so on. It is the education evolution in order to adequate the formation of engineers of the 21st. Century. This work discusses an important issue as the engineer formation under the perspective of the international academic midst. COPEC — Council of Researches in Education and Sciences has a history of action in engineering education, conceiving and implementing projects with success. However, more and more it is necessary the permanent attention to the changes in world scenario concerning the political, economical and social aspects of the country and the globe. This awareness helps to develop and implement new programs in order to form the engineer for tomorrow. Although it is not an easy task it is the way to assure the future of engineering as well as the development of science and technology.

Environmental Engineering Program Preparing Engineers to Tackle New Challenges

The Engineering Education Research Team of COPEC - Science and Education Research Council has designed and is implementing a program for an engineering school which main goal is to offer a PhD program of high quality in order to fulfill the work market demand for a high qualified environmental engineer. It is an interdisciplinary environmental engineering program that intends to offer students an exciting opportunity to focus their technical capabilities on evolving science that affects human quality of life in a global scale and can simultaneously help preserve and restore areas in which they work. Following the world trend educational model of theory and practice, student projects provide unique, hands-on opportunities to explore the multifaceted considerations surrounding environmental engineering problems on local and global levels, and to improve living conditions in the subject areas. It has a curriculum that addresses the time-crunch problem by integrating professional practices into the technical curriculum.

Social-technological issues: Sustainable Engineering practice

The French School of Engineering implemented under Napoleon governance formed the “Mr. Engineer” that prepared leaders with high profile of technical knowledge. Even after the globalization phenomenon, with all the discussions about introducing humanistic courses in engineering programs, the results are humble. There is still a difficulty for engineers to address technology to solve social issues rather than to apply technology regardless social needs. The other point is that the design of a project now for the “informed society” has to take into account the social impacts as well as the environmental. So the question is the engineering school preparing the future engineer to perform in the new challenging social environment? If it is possible to suggest some actions the key is to prepare the future engineers to learn how to work close to the communities and the governments, addressing the outcomes of the projects to solve sociotechnological problems.

Frontiers of engineering: Opportunity and challenges

Western world is presently immersed in a spiral of challenging economical environment where globalization allied with technological achievements are shaping completely new work relations as well as personal. The era after the Bologna Process in Europe is now about to graduate a global engineer, and not only the European engineer. Motivated teachers inspire students to pursue the success in the profession. The teacher is a key element in the formation of any professional. The quality of an engineering program depends not only on good labs, libraries and etc but also the teachers qualification as educators too and not only as engineers. No matter the field of expertise civil, electronic, chemical, environmental it is more and more evident the importance of engineering sciences applications in the global world. This paper has the objective to discuss and propose issues for reflections on the formation of engineering teachers in present challenging academic community.

Enhancement of engineering education in a country: Some considerations

With roots in Portugal, the engineering education in Brazil has a long history of success. The formation of engineers follows the old French formation model and the engineers formed both the engineer of conception and the engineer of application has been successful. Although there are many critics regarding the model it has showed to be still efficient and appropriate once it gives to the recent formed engineer not only a diploma, but also the professional qualification. This work has as objective to show and to discuss about the most important points of the engineering education in Brazil: the beginning, the development, its current state, the impact of the globalization and the perspectives for the future.

Manufacturing engineering graduation program for 21st. Century

This work constitutes of a brief presentation about the manufacturing graduation program that attends the new demands of a challenging global world. It is about the COPEC Institute of Education and Research New Graduation Program: The Manufacturing Engineering (ME) Program. It has been specially designed in order to fulfill the lack of formation of dedicated professionals to work hard with the goal of promoting the development of Manufacturing (and Management) researches. The main objective of this program is to empower manufacturing engineers to operate at a higher level of efficiency and effectiveness. Manufacturing is still a big employer and it tends to be a very visible one in many places.

Engineering Education and Global Economy in Five Centuries of a Nation

The starting point of this paper is the discussion of present status of engineering education in the Country. It is the result of a research made by a group of researchers of COPEC - Council of Researches in Education and Sciences, which has been looking for new strategies of action for the next five years. The goal is to provide new programs and projects in Engineering and Technology for applications that encounter the real necessities of society. For that, it was necessary to get an integrated vision of the several variables of its historical process like social, political, cultural, scientific and others. Sustainable development with social promotion of individuals and society has been the constant search of scientists, educators and some politicians of this Nation called Brazil

Implementation of an engineering educator graduation program for the formation of new skilled engineering teachers

COPEC — Council of Researches in Education and Sciences education team has designed a new program in graduation level: the Professional Engineering Education. The goal is to improve the formation of the engineering educator providing them with all the competencies needed to teach at the state of the art with the best available teaching technologies. The PEE Program offers two graduate degrees: the Master of Science and the Doctor of Philosophy. It is a very dynamic and rich program, developed in modules, following the trend of global formation of professionals, mainly to attend the need of a prepared engineering educator to act in the several different cultural environments, which mobility has imposed as a fact of life for researchers and teachers at graduation level. Not to mention the necessary new competencies of educators such as: evaluation management; development competencies; communication skills; teamwork; ethics and intercultural competencies. So this program has been designed to fulfill this lack of engineering educators.

Engineering 2020: Preparing for future

Taking into account the new era in engineering education the Engineering Education Research Team of COPEC - Science and Education Research Council has designed a program for an engineering school which main goal is to prepare engineers for the future work market, the engineer for future. The program has been designed in details in according to the present labor market for engineers, with its particular characteristics and with a need of engineers that is growing. The success of the program depends on the ability to inspire the students showing engineering as an exciting career, a personal upward path, and a way to affect local social and economic well-being. The implementation of the program is for 2012. The goal of this work is to show the engineering program developed with the objective to train engineers to enter and remain in the future labor market.

Human side of engineering: Dealing with complex and ethical challenges

The globalization phenomenon that started in the second half of the 20th Century has instigated in scientists, educators and some politicians worldwide the search for sustainable development with social promotion of individuals and society. It is one of the key elements for the surviving of human kind on earth. It is not only a matter of environmental issues that need to be solved but also the social aspects of the mutant world that contemporary society is living in the 21st. Century. It is the application of science to help society to reach the goal of achieving the same level of development as the technological. Sustainability has become an important aspect for any project development. Engineering is the key factor that drives the development of present society and so it can add to the discussions of social goals no matter the community. Many educational institutions are addressing this new demand for the formation of engineers and developing programs that include sociology and practical experiences in loco. The results are very humble however this can not discourage the initiatives. It is important to keep searching for ways to enhance social awareness in the students of engineering programs.