Paulo Ferreira

The European Project Semester at ISEP: the challenge of educating global engineers

Current engineering education challenges require approaches that promote scientific, technical, design and complementary skills while fostering autonomy, innovation and responsibility. The European Project Semester (EPS) at Instituto Superior de Engenharia do Porto (ISEP) (EPS@ISEP) is a one semester project-based learning programme (30 European Credit Transfer Units (ECTU)) for engineering students from diverse scientific backgrounds and nationalities that intends to address these goals. The students, organised in multidisciplinary and multicultural teams, are challenged to solve real multidisciplinary problems during one semester. The EPS package, although on project development (20 ECTU), includes a series of complementary seminars aimed at fostering soft, project-related and engineering transversal skills (10 ECTU). Hence, the students enrolled in this programme improve their transversal skills and learn, together and with the team of supervisors, subjects distinct from their core training. This paper presents the structure, implementation and results of the EPS@ISEP that was created in 2011 to apply the best engineering practices and promote internationalisation and engineering education innovation at ISEP.

The EOLES project

The EOLES (Electronics and Optics e-Learning for Embedded Systems) project is a 3-year joint project involving 15 institutions, four from Europe and eleven from the North African countries of Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia, whose aim is to create a 3rd year Bachelor degree in Electronics and Optics for Embedded Systems. The project started in October 2012 and is scheduled to end in October 2015. One of the biggest challenges to a full implementation of an e-learning course in engineering is the laboratories. They are unanimously recognized as essential in any engineering course. Contrary to the majority of engineering courses that force students to attend on-site hands-on labs sometime along the course, EOLES students will be able to perform their lab duties online. Indeed, the most innovative aspect of this project is precisely the implementation of a remote laboratory that will enable students to carry out remotely the practical works associated to each technical unit within the course.

Development of biomimetic robots in the EPS engineering programme capstone project

This paper proposes the development of biologically inspired robots as the capstone project of the European Project Semester (EPS) framework. EPS is a one semester student centred international programme offered by a group of European engineering schools (EPS Providers) as part of their student exchange programme portfolio. EPS is organized around a central module (the EPS project) and a set of complementary supportive modules. Project proposals refer to open multidisciplinary real world problems. Its purpose is to expose students to problems of a greater dimension and complexity than those faced throughout the degree programme as well as to put them in contact with the so-called real world, in opposition to the academic world. Students are organized in teams, grouping individuals from diverse academic backgrounds and nationalities, and each team is fully responsible for conducting its project. EPS provides an integrated framework for undertaking capstone projects, which is focused on multicultural and multidisciplinary teamwork, communication, problem-solving, creativity, leadership, entrepreneurship, ethical reasoning and global contextual analysis. The design and development of biologically inspired robots allows the students to fulfil the previously described requirements and objectives and, as a result, we recommend the adoption of these projects within the EPS project capstone module for the benefit of engineering students.

The EOLES project remote labs across the mediterranean

This paper describes the concept, methodology and first steps of an EU supported TEMPUS project EOLES (Electronics and Optics e-Learning for Embedded Systems). Its aim is the creation of a 3rd year Bachelor degree that relies exclusively on e-learning and remote laboratories. The project involves 15 institutions from four European countries and three North African countries. The proposed course will be run from several institutions simultaneously and should be accredited as a formal specialization year in all partner institutions, awarding 60 ECTU (European Transfer Credit Units). The course will integrate a Virtual Learning Environment and a Distributed Laboratory.

Erlang Inspired Hardware

The Erlang programming language is a concurrency oriented functional language, based on the notion of independent processes and uses message passing for communication between processes. It is specially adapted to the realization of highly reliable distributed systems. In this paper it is analyzed the use of the Erlangs computational paradigm for the design and implementation of application specific heterogeneous computational systems. The main objective is to use for the low level implementation the same computational model used in high level view of the system. This will allow an easier and faster design space exploration and optimization.

Design and implementation of a biologically inspired swimming robot an EPS@ISEP 2014 spring project

The goal of this EPS@ISEP project proposed in the Spring of 2014 was to develop a flapping wing flying robot. The project was embraced by a multinational team composed of four students from different countries and fields of study. The team designed and implemented a robot inspired by a biplane design, constructed from lightweight materials and battery powered. The prototype, called MyBird, was built with a 250 € budget, reuse existing materials as well as low cost solutions. Although the teams initial idea was to build a light radio controlled robot, time limitations along with setbacks involving the required electrical components led to a light but not radio controlled prototype. The team, from the experience gathered, made a number of future improvement suggestions, namely, the addition of radio control and a camera and the adoption of articulated monoplane design instead of the current biplane design for the wings.

Smart Object for 3D Interaction

This paper reports on the creation of an interface for 3D virtual environments, computer-aided design applications or computer games. Standard computer interfaces are bound to 2D surfaces, e.g., computer mouses, keyboards, touch pads or touch screens. The Smart Object is intended to provide the user with a 3D interface by using sensors that register movement (inertial measurement unit), touch (touch screen) and voice (microphone). The design and development process as well as the tests and results are presented in this paper. The Smart Object was developed by a team of four third-year engineering students from diverse scientific backgrounds and nationalities during one semester.

e-LIVES – Extending e-Engineering Along the South and Eastern Mediterranean Basin

The number of students in the higher education system in South and Eastern Mediterranean Basin countries more than doubled in the last 15 years [1]. This positive step forward creates important difficulties for universities forced to handle overcrowded classes. In STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) related courses, one promising solution involves the development of accredited e-engineering courses, as a very convenient and efficient way of dealing with the constantly surging number of students.

E-ENGINEERING: FROM CONCEPT TO REALITY

Even before the digital era, the implementation of distance learning in higher education was a reality in many areas. Notwithstanding, the offer of distance higher education courses was not equal in all knowledge areas due to different teaching and learning requirements. The experimental work developed during the learning process in engineering areas is widely recognized as essential for engineering students. However, the remote availableness of this experimental, hands-on, works, typically done in University laboratories designed according to the different teaching subject requirements, was nonexistent. With the advent of remote laboratories, real-time remotely controlled laboratory facilities made possible by the advancements on the Internet network, this limitation disappeared. The concept of e-engineering, a merge between the e-learning concept and the remote laboratories, emerged as a solution to offer distance learning engineering courses without abdicating of the indispensable practical component of any engineering course. Two European projects – the Tempus EOLES project and the ERASMUS+ e-LIVES project – try to bridge the gap between concept and reality by first implementing an accredited higher education engineering course in Electronics and Optics e-Learning for Embedded Systems and then by producing a set of guidelines to help others to be autonomous in the creation of their own eengineering courses.

Computer Vision Algorithms Fishing Vessel Monitoring—Identification of Vessel Plate Number

In this research work we developed a set of algorithms and approaches for vessel plate number identification, to be integrated in a Vessel Monitoring System (VMS). In addition, it was developed a solution that allows the creation of a history log of port exits/entries to assist the monitoring activities. This system will be based on a database and image processing equipment for use in the port, which will allow the identification of passing vessels (through the capture and processing of profile images of the vessel in order to identify the call sign, IMO or registration).