1 news@sefi – 7/ 2011 – SEFI – www.sefi.be – info@sefi.be

2011 SEFI Student year

NEWS@SEFI 7/2011

The SEFI newsletter contains information about SEFI’s recent activities as well as a summary of the latest stories in higher engineering education in Europe and worldwide. News@sefi is sent for free to SEFI members. All previous issues are available on www.sefi.be “members only”. All staff and students of an institution, an association or a company member of SEFI are entitled to receive free copies of the newsletter.

So, if you know anybody interested in a free copy, please contact us.

IN THIS ISSUE: FROM SEFI:

- SEFI Annual Conference 2011—WEE Flash Week 2011

Register now if not done yet Meetings and parallel events to keep in mind SEFI Workshops IFEES Summit: no fees for SEFI Conference participants PAEE Conference: reduced fees for SEFI members

- IIDEA Workshop , Lisbon, 1st October

- Singapore Declaration: we need your feedback

- From projects:

EUGENE: 1st EE Education Research Summit Techno TN 2012: accepted by the EU for funding ECDEAST: next meeting, Sibiu, 10-12 October 2011

- Student column:

Student plans for the summer holidays

FROM MEMBERS AND PARTNERS: FROM BEST

- Europe’s future engineers are gathering in Istanbul

FROM ASEE

- Annual Conference in Vancouver: SEFI was there

- New elected ASEE president

- K-12 Workshop

FROM EUA

- Sixth European Quality Assurance Forum

- Register for the conference: The Engaged University

- Serbia and Kosovo strike degrees deal

- Reviews strengths and weaknesses of international university

rankings

FROM EDEN

- Some personal reflections from the EDEN 2011 Annual Con-

ference From CESAER

- CESAER Smart Initiative

FROM EUROPE: FROM THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION

- EU support encourages students to pursue scientific careers

- Robots bridging gap between technology and society

FROM THE UNITED KINGDOM

- A plum role, yet few have a clue what a professor is sup-

posed to do

- Cloud computing cuts research costs

FROM SPAIN

- Helping universities to face challenges of today

FROM THE NETHERLANDS

- Beyond the Network University

FROM THE REST OF THE WORLD: FROM SOUTH AFRICA

- SEESA 2011 Conference

FROM MEXICO

- Sustainable Good Practices in the University of Sonora

PUBLICATIONS FOR YOUR CALENDAR

Many thanks to all those who have contributed to this issue!

Do not forget to inform the students about the free SEFI membership in 2011!

2011 SEFI Student Year

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2011 SEFI Student year

FROM SEFI ANNUAL CONFERENCE 2011

FROM THE HEAD OFFICE

We would like to announce that Ms. Marina Sainz (E), -photo on the right

- who is an engineering student in Barcelona and an active member of BEST, has joined the team until September 3rd. Marina replaces Ms. Anna Reiners (D) -photo on the left -who has brilliantly assisted us during the last four months. Welcome Marina and thank you Anna for your fantas-tic work ! We are pleased to inform you that the SEFI Office remains open during the month of August to assist you in any question you may have.

SINGAPORE DECLARATION We would like to remind you that SEFI is one of the signatories of the Singapore declaration. This declaration was created for action on engi-neering activities, research, early and lifelong sustainable end-to-end engineering education, and public outreach. It presents the needs and responding actions that have to be undertaken by the signatory Engi-neering Education societies. We would be please to receive you opinion and comments on theses goals. The complete text of the declaration can be found under: http://singaporedeclaration.wordpress.com/singapore-declaration-text/ IIDEA WORKSHOP In the framework of the Flash Week, IIDEA will offer a workshop for 30 participants in Lisbon on 1st October 2011, on the theme: “Should we do PDL or CDIO ? YES, we should”. This workshop will be organised by SEFI President, Anette Kolmos (Aalborg University, Denmark, Unesco Chair on PBL in Engineering Edu-cation), and by Kristina Edström (Member of the AC, KTH , Sweden). A complete description of the workshop is available here: http://www.sefi.be/wp-content/uploads/PBL%20or%20CDIO%20-%20Kolmos-Edstrom_lisbon_version.pdf Please register by email before 15th September 2011, at: Communication_officer@sefi.be SEFI STUDENT Column Student plans for the summer holidays The summer season has now installed itself fully in every corner of Europe. Most of us are preparing for some days of relaxation or have already left for places that will recharge our batteries for the upcoming year. However, in most of the big cities in France there are some people that are constantly learning and working even during the summer. These people are the interns. Internships are currently mandatory for all the students in France. In order to graduate, the soon to become engineer has to take a 5 to 8 months internship in a company or in a university and prepare his Bachelor thesis (the so called “Projet de fin d’études”). The student receives double guidance: from the supervisor in the com-pany and from his professor in the university. They keep contact throughout the internship period and both evaluate the student’s work at the end of the internship assigning his grade. The government has created a set of guidelines and rights for the intern students in order to ensure a quality standard for the internships and allow the student to learn, work in real life situations and get a glimpse of the working experience in industry while receiving a salary. For sure it’s a good deal for all three stakeholders. Students can get to put in practice their theoretical skills and make up their mind regarding their careers, companies get onboard fresh minds that could eventually become future employees and the university is inserting easier its gradu-ates in the industry. In the end, the three partners become more inter-connected, giving and receiving feedback faster and easier and thus evolve together. While in other European countries such internships are not mandatory, it will be always useful for students to take advantage of the free time in the holidays and embark themselves in such adventures previewing their future careers. How are internships organized in your country? What do you and your colleagues think about it? How was your internship experience? Share your thoughts on the SEFI blog. Have an excellent summer!

By Andrei Bursuc

BEST / SEFI AC Member

To keep in mind and in your calendar

- Engineering Education Deans Council: kick off

27/9, 10:00-14:30 (on invitation only)

- Workshops organised by SEFI Working Groups

27/9, 10:00-13:00

- AC meeting I

27/9, 15:00-18:00—WGs Chairpersons and national correspon-

dents are invited to attend this meeting

- EJEE Editorial Committee meeting + TFs meetings

28/9, 18:00-19:30

- Panel session organised by SEFI Corporate repre

sentatives : “Corporate and Curriculum: Things

that Work”

30/9, 14:00-16:00

- 2011 General Assembly and Fellowships Ceremony

30/9, 17:30 –20:00

- Administrative Council meeting II

30/9, 20:00-20:30.

SEFI members are invited to attend the

IFEES Summit Welcome Reception imme-

diately after the General Assembly.

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FROM MEMBERS AND PARTNERS FROM BEST Europe’s future engineers are gathering in Istanbul Between 1-11th of August, Board of European Students of Technology (BEST) will gather 104 top European technical students to compete in European BEST Engineering Competition (EBEC) Final held in Istanbul Technical University (ITU). New ideas and solutions from the most creative young minds in Europe will be collected by this event. Twenty six teams each com-posed of 4 students after proving themselves at their respective 13 regional and national levels of EBEC are now gearing up to face real life engineering challenges in the categories: Team Design (practical solu-tion with a physical prototype) and Case Study (hypothetical solutions for real-life problems). The official Opening Day of EBEC on August 2st, 2011 will be attended by participants, organisers, the representatives of TÜBİTAK, ITU and top management of leading international and domestic companies co-operating with BEST. The remaining days of the event will be dedi-cated to the competition. The final decision upon the winners, proto-types gala, company presentations and an international job fair will take place during the official Closing Day on August 10th, 2011. The leading engineering school of Turkey, Istanbul Technical University (ITU), and the leading agency for management, funding and conduct of research in Turkey, Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK) expose European top students to explore new po-tentials in the field of engineering development during EBEC 2011. We are delighted to share that the President-Elect of SEFI, Wim Van Petegem, will be one of the key note speakers during the closing day and that UNEP have recently confirmed to be an IGO partner for the third year in a row and will contribute by developing a task for the competition. BEST is currently also in negotiations with UNESCO re-garding receiving a patronage for the event. The last edition of EBEC Final, which took place in Cluj-Napoca, Roma-nia (2010), gathered over a hundred students from technical universi-ties from across Europe. In total, more than 10 international partners supported the event and the participating teams came from 14 coun-tries. With 26 solutions to modern business issues presented, 20 me-dia partners, over 90 hours of live streams, the EBEC Final set a high level standard for this year. BEST is a non-political and non-profit organisation for engineering, technology and science students. By maintaining and developing its core activities, it enhances mobility of over a million students, and provides them with opportunities for professional development and career support. Find further information on BEST and the European BEST Engineering Competition at: www.best.eu.org and http://ebec.best.eu.org.

By Monica Kviljo

Former President of BEST

FROM ASEE

New ASEE President and new elected-President During the Awards banquet in Vancouver, Don P. Gid-dens was presented with the president's Gavel and inaugurated as ASEE President for 2011-2012. Dr. Gid-

dens, who will be in Lisbon next September, is Dean Emeritus of the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology. Dr. Giddens served as dean for nine years. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and has pio-neered research in biomedical engineering, especially in the areas of fluid dynamics in human arterial disease. SEFI, and its President Kolmos, takes the opportunity of this announce-ment to also cordially thank outgoing ASEE President, Prof. Renata Engel, for her excellent work and sense of cooperation. Annual Conference in Vancouver The 2011 ASEE Annual conference was held in Vancouver, BC, Canada on 26-30 June. It was without any doubt one of the most successful in ASEE’s history with over 2200 prime participants, 1725 published papers and 422 technical sessions. Dr. Karl A. Smith, Cooperative Learning Professor, Engineering Educa-tion, Purdue University and Professor of Civil Engineering, University of Minnesota was the keynote speaker at this year's Main Plenary. SEFI was represented by its President, Dr. Kolmos, who made a distin-guished plenary presentation on the current state, developments and impacts of engineering education in Europe and within our associa-tion, alongside with Masahiro Takei, from the Japanese Society of Engineering Education (JSEE) and Professor Myongsook Oh, Vice-President of the Korean Society of Engineering Education (KSEE). Vice-President Quadrado and General Secretary Côme also made a presentation about the WEE2011 and the international collaboration activities of SEFI in this context (IFEES Session), and Mr. Fouger, from Dassault System, was present as one of the main conference sponsor. On top of it scientific aspects, the conference was a fantastic opportu-nity for us to meet new colleagues and to disseminate information about our Society and about the new development in higher engineer-ing education in Europe. It was also a great occasion for us to discuss with corporate represen-tatives present in the ASEE Exhibition and to assist at the ASEE Pavilion session presented by our active corporate partners, Jim Ryan from Mathworks. Several colleagues expressed an interest in joining SEFI and we will also welcome a series of additional papers in Lisbon in the context of the special ASEE/SEFI cooperation track. In the end, the Conference was also an excellent occasion for the reinforcement of the links with ASEE colleagues, and particularly with the new ASEE Executive Director, Dr. Fortenberry and of course ASEE International Affairs Director, Hans Hoyer. Next year, the ASEE Annual Conference will be held in San Antonio Texas on mid-June. Photos of this year's conference as well as daily highlights should be posted on www.asee.org very soon.

By Françoise Côme SEFI Headquarters

K-12 Workshop On Saturday, June 25th, ASEE held its 8th Annual K-12 workshop, "Collaboration Can Improve Engineering Education," with over 200 attendees from Canada and the United States. The workshop kicked off with an address from Xavier Fouger, Senior Director, Dassault Sys-temes Global Learning & PLM Academy, entitled "A Tour of Global innovation in STEM for K-12." Four main breakout sessions provided attendees their choice of 31 presentations ranging from Family Engi-neering for Elementary Age Children to Establishing Effective Partner-ships between K-12 Classrooms and Higher Education. Attendees received a Workshop Certificate of Completion. (Source:http://www.asee.org/)

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FROM EUA Sixth European Quality Assurance Forum The sixth edition of the European Quality Assurance Forum (EQAF), will take place at the University of Antwerp and Artesis University College, Belgium on 17-19 November 2011. The European Quality Assurance Forum (EQAF) provides a unique platform for the higher education and quality assurance (QA) commu-nities to monitor, shape and anticipate developments in the area. The main purpose of the event is to foster a dialogue on quality assurance that bridges national boundaries and leads to a truly European discus-sion on QA in higher education, and to create a common European understanding of QA through a dialogue among different stakeholder groups. Through a mix of plenary and parallel sessions, the 2011 Forum, enti-tled “Quality and trust: at the heart of what we do”, will combine practice-oriented discussions that will take place in the paper sessions and workshops with presentations of current policy developments in QA. Forum participants usually consider this event as an opportunity for professional development and to update their knowledge. Following the success of previous years, this sixth edition of the Euro-pean Quality Assurance Forum will aim to explore the purposes and essence of both internal and external QA, and how QA can be further developed to serve these purposes better. Importantly, we also believe this is an important opportunity for the E4 Group as organisers to reaffirm that improving the quality of provi-sion should remain the essential focus of QA, thus leading to trust-building among the stakeholders. This is why we wholeheartedly encourage rectors and vice-rectors responsible for QA, QA officers in higher education institutions, stu-dents, QA agency staff, and researchers working in higher education or the QA field to attend this Forum. The programme and background information are now available on the

EQAF website. We invite you to register as soon as possible. The

deadline for the early registration fee is 10 October 2011. After this date, late registration fees will apply. Source: EUA website (http://www.eua.be/eua-work-and-policy-area/quality-assurance/qa-forum.aspx) EUA conference: The Engaged University The conference, jointly organised by EUA, the European Access Net-work (EAN), the European University Continuing Education Network (EUCEN) and the European Association of Distance Teaching Universi-ties (EADTU), will focus on strategic institutional approaches to lifelong learning. Hosted by the University of Southampton, the conference follows up the 2008 European Universities’ Charter on Lifelong Learning. It is based on the results of the EC-funded project “Shaping Inclusive and Responsive University Strategies Project – SIRUS”, a project that brought together 29 universities from 18 European countries, over the last two years, to develop, enhance and compare institutional lifelong learning strategies. The conference will present and discuss lifelong learning as a key strategic orientation of Europe’s higher education institutions via the concept of the engaged university: a university that does not only respond to societal needs, but positions itself to build cooperation and partnerships in a proactive and agenda-setting man-ner. The conference seeks to attract all those who in are charge of strategic decision- making in higher education learning and teaching, institu-tional senior lifelong learning practitioners, policy makers, representa-tives of national and local governments, and public and private em-ployers who have an interest in promoting the lifelong learning agenda.

Please note the registration deadline is 12 August 2011. For more information about participation: http://www.eua.be/sirus-conference.aspx Serbia and Kosovo strike degrees deal The European University Association has welcomed an agreement between the governments of Serbia and Kosovo that will pave the way for the mutual recognition of degrees issued by their universities. The deal was stuck in Brussels on 2 July. A communiqué said Belgrade and Pristina would identify a "mutually agreed international body or third party academic institution" to cer-tify the degrees. The deal also involves the exchange of students, teaching and research personnel and participation in joint projects related to education. Until now, with Serbia and Kosovo both claiming jurisdiction over Kosovo government-controlled territory, Kosovo students have not had their degrees recognised in Serbia and vice-versa, including ethnic Serbs living in Kosovo, which is overwhelmingly Albanian by ethnicity. The Serbia government stressed that the agree-ment did not involve any recognition of the independence of Kosovo, although that has been challenged by Pristina. The details of the mu-tual recognition deal will be agreed at the next meeting, later this month. Lesley Wilson, Secretary General of the European Union Association (EUA), said: "We welcome this announcement as the universities con-cerned are EUA members and it marks a clear step forward in the interests of the young people in the region." She highlighted the gains for Kosovan students, whose country - still unrecognised by some EU member states, such as Spain - have been in legal limbo. "While many students in Europe now take for granted unprecedented opportunities to benefit from a genuine European educational experience, Kosovo youth has largely been isolated from these positive developments." She hoped the deal would help stu-dents from Serbia and Kosovo benefit from the harmonisation and regional recognition of European degrees under the Bologna process. Branko Kovacevic, Rector of the University of Belgrade, also welcomed the deal. "The university was, is and is going to welcome and respect all decisions and obligations that the Serbian government makes and takes. "Also the university, as institution for education and science, respects all academic rights and freedoms and therefore is ready for this kind of cooperation, not only with Pristina but with any other institution of this type in the world." Kosovan Deputy Minister of Edu-cation, Science and Technology Usmen Baldzi agreed, stressing that knowledge has no boundaries and that is pointless to create obstacles to education. "This agreement will stop the 'brain drain' and keep the young, educated people at home." After Kosovo's declaration of inde-pendence in 2008, universities and colleges in areas controlled by the Kosovo government started to issue degrees to their students with a Republic of Kosovo seal. Serbia's unwillingness to recognise Kosovo's independence was reflected in a refusal to recognise the degrees. Kosovo then refused to recognise degrees in Serbian government-controlled territory. Baroness Ashton, the European Union's high rep-resentative for foreign affairs, said the agreement did "not require either to give away anything, rather both sides gain a lot. I am looking forward to the swift implementation of these agreements". The agree-ment marks progress in relations between Serbia and Kosovo since the recent phase of their conflict erupted in 1998 with fighting between Serbian forces and Kosovo Albanian rebels. Renewed Serbian military action in 1999 forced 800,000 Kosovo Alba-nians to flee to neighbouring countries before controversial NATO air strikes pressured Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic to withdraw his forces. Tens of thousands of Serbs later fled Kosovo fearing reprisals. (Soure: http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20110708163436550)

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2011 SEFI Student year

Reviews strengths and weaknesses of international university rank-ings The “Global University Rankings and their impact” has been released, it is the newest report published by the EUA which analyses the meth-odologies used in the main international university rankings. This report comes from the increasing number of international and na-tional rankings as well as due to the growing demands from their users requesting information and advice on such rankings. The report was presented in Brussels on June 17th, 2011 during the EUA Rankings Seminar (see also our former issue, a report from F. Côme). From such seminar it was grasped that t is clear that despite their shortcomings, rankings are here to stay, the EUA report notes, quoting a recent European Commission report, that they “enjoy a high level of acceptance among stakeholders and the wider public because of their simplicity and consumer type information”. The report argues that it is fundamental that universities and stake-holders be aware of the degree to which rankings are transparent of the relationship of what it is stated is actually being measured and what is in fact being measured, how the scores are calculated and, even more importantly, what they mean. Furthermore, the Report predicts an increase in the number of rankings available The report also argues that the main international university rankings provide an “oversimplified picture” of institutional mission, quality and performance, as they focus mainly on indicators related to the re-search function of universities. It also makes the case that the benefits rankings offer, be it through fostering accountability or encouraging the collection of more reliable data, are outweighed by a lack of trans-parency and by “unwanted consequences”. Such consequences in-clude a growing tendency for universities to invest in activities that will improve their position in the rankings rather than in core areas such as teaching and learning. (Source: http://www.eua.be/Newsletters/newsletter-12-2011.aspx)

FROM EDEN Some personal reflections from the EDEN 2011 Annual Conference The theme of the 2011 EDEN Annual Conference was ‘Learning and Sustainability. The New Ecosystem of Knowledge and Innovation.’ No better choice could have been made at its 20th Anniversary. It started with the first EDEN Fellows’ Day in Christchurch Cathedral. More than 20 Fellows were attending this event, and shared their opinions on past and especially future developments in the field of open, distance and/or e-learning. My own personal contributions were the following:

- The real, physical learning environment and the virtual, digital

learning environment are merging more and more together.

- We went from learning to e-learning, m-learning, learning 2.0,

… back to learning.

- Distance teaching universities embrace face-to-face, synchro-

nous learning activities, while traditional campus universities introduce more and more distance learning activities.

- (Higher) education is multi-/inter-national, -cultural, -

generational, -disciplinary,… thanks to (or despite?) new educational technologies.

As these were only ‘flash presentations’, but also good ‘food for thought’, a broader discussion will follow in other gremia. The conference itself was attended by more than 400 delegates from

40 countries. The welcome address was given by Her Excellency Mary

McAleese, President of Ireland. This was not just a formal speech, but

a heartwarming, stimulating and sometimes provoking plea for a sus-

tained contribution to a better understanding of digital innovations

and an improved exploitation of their potential to the benefit of teach-

ing and learning. Striking to me were the personal examples Her Excel-

lency was giving to motivate her sincere (not just political) concern for

a high quality education for all. The applause at the end of her speech

made it very clear, ‘we all shared a great moment of inspiration’, to

phrase the words of the Master of Ceremony. As usual, the event was rich in content, and a good opportunity to (re-)

establish collaboration with partners from around the globe. Indeed,

in particular the conference welcomed a strong delegation from the

US, in particular due to the collaboration with USDLA. It was good to

hear from our colleagues across the ocean how they tackle problems

and imagine a future for distance learning. In a special videoconfer-

ence session with representatives from the American sister organiza-

tion, it became very clear we have a large common ground and it

would be a pity if we do not join forces in one or another way. This is

so much true, not only for EDEN and USDLA, but by extension, also for

a lot more similar organizations. Definitively something SEFI should be

looking at as well.

If you are interested for more details about the conference, its high-lights, the recorded plenary sessions, or the social media contribu-tions, please visit the website: http://www.eden-online.org/2011_dublin.html

By Wim Van Petegem SEFI President-Elect

KU Leuven (Belgium)

FROM EUGENE First European Engineering Education Research Summit 28-29 October 2011, K.U. Leuven, Leuven, Belgium. Europe has a tradition of almost 50 years with educational units offer-ing faculty development and consultancy in higher education. Re-search in these institutes has been fragmented at best and most of the time the relationship with the professional field of engineering was weak. The past decade Engineering Education Research has gained international acknowledgement as an important field of applied re-search. Scientists with training in Social sciences and engineers col-laborate in understanding the principles of successful educational innovation. The impact of the emergence of this field of applied re-search will be the central theme at the Engineering Education Re-search Summit in Leuven. This summit is part of the activities for one of the activity lines in the EUGENE academic Network (European and Global Engineering Educa-tion). (Source: www.eugene.unifi.it/index.php/eugene-events)

FROM CESAER CESAER Smart Initiative On 27 June 2011, in Brussels, the President of CESAER, Karin Markides, assisted by the three Task Force Leaders, presented an intermediary report with the results of the CESAER SMART Initiative to the European Commission. These results were requested by the Commission before the end of June so that relevant points could still be taken on board for the forthcoming Communication on the Modernisation Agenda of Universities. CASAER members from all across were present to partici-

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2011 SEFI Student year

pate to this event. The CESAER SMART Initiative (CSI) aims at identifying, developing and spreading good practices on some of the key issues of the moderniza-tion agenda for research oriented universities of technology. The fol-lowing strategic topics for this modernisation were presented by each Task Force Leaders:

- Research strategy and management

Jörgen Sjoberg, Chalmers University of Technology (SE)

- Financial sustainability of university research

J.J. (Hans) de Boer, Delft University of Technology

- Making the knowledge triangle a reality

Markku Markkula, Aalto University (FI) Each Task Force based its results on workshops, surveys and case stud-ies from within the CESAER network. Good balance between autonomy and public interest, reflexion of the competitive funding of universities, university-business cooperation, global against local strategy... those are some of the themes tackled during the presentation and discussed in the following round table. The concluding remarks were offered by Dr. Anneli Pauli, Deputy Direc-

tor-General Innovation and ERA, reinforcing the eagerness of the Com-

mission to foster Research in the frame of EU 2020.

By Jacques Schibler

SEFI Headquarters.

More information on: www.cesaer.org/en/projects/

FROM EUROPE

FROM THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION

EU support encourages students to pursue scientific careers Europe will need at least 1 million new research jobs in the near future to meet its ambitions of being one of the most innovative regions of the planet. Therefore, young women and men wanting to become researchers are desperately needed. The European Commission en-courages and fosters an understanding of science among young Euro-peans, and in turn helps them follow related careers. Both the ERA-NET scheme and the Article 185 Initiative are helping drive this objec-tive. Young scientists in Europe, including among others Finns, Hungarians, Irishmen and Irishwomen, and Israelis, are benefitting extensively from the ERA-NET scheme and the Article 185 Initiative, highlighting the transnational and cross-border flavour of European research. A case in point is the ERA-NET PATHOGENOMICS, and a Hungarian re-searcher who, along with his team, was recently selected on the last joint transnational call of PATHOGENOMICS. PRIOMEDCHILD is also working on other key research areas tackling myriad issues including cancer, neurobiology, neonatology, rare disor-ders and drug development. For instance, within the PRIOMEDCHILD project is the ESNEE ('European study of neonatal exposure to excipi-ents') initiative, which is investigating potentially toxic substances. Researchers from France, Estonia and the United Kingdom are part-ners. Says Dr Mark Turner of the University of Liverpool, the coordinator of ESNEE: 'The advantage of this European approach is that we can make the most of variations between the different countries. That is the opportunity PRIOMEDCHILD has given us. Once we know more about exposure, we can look for effects and make evidence-based judge-ments. And again, the various networks across Europe make it easy to

share our expertise with all our colleagues, thereby improving health-care for babies in many countries.' The ERA-NET scheme is instrumental in building the cooperation and coordination of research activities carried out at regional or national levels in EU Member States and Associated Countries, and in the mu-tual opening of national and regional research programmes. Its signifi-cant support of the European Research Area (ERA) is leading to better coherence and coordination of research programmes in the region. The Article 185 Initiative supports the EU in participating in the joint implementation of research and development in national pro-grammes. (Source: http://ec.europa.eu/research/headlines/news/article_11_07_15_en.html) Robots bridging gap between technology and society Improving our knowledge about face perception could give research-ers the help they need to develop the next generation of life-changing software and robots. Driving this effort are scientists from Queen Mary, University of London, as well as from University College London and Oxford University in the United Kingdom, who are examining whether robots and computers have the capacity to do the same thing. The research is an outcome of the LIREC ('Living with robots and interactive companions') project, which is backed with EUR 8.2 million under the 'Information and communication technologies' (ICT) Theme of the EU's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7). The researchers presented their work at the annual Royal Society's Summer Science Exhibition in London from 5 to 10 July. When you interact with other people, your brain processes a number of small and subtle cues about faces. At the exhibition, visitors saw how the human brain understands faces, including how motions are transferred from one person's face to another, and what their faces look like when they switch gender. The visitors also saw sophisticated computer vision systems capable of recognising facial expressions. 'We will be showing some of the latest research from the EU-funded LIREC project, which aims to create socially aware companion robots and graphical characters,' said Professor Peter McOwan from the School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science at Queen Mary, University of London before the exhibition. 'There will be the opportunity for those attending to see if our computer vision system can detect their smiles, watch the most recent videos of our robots in action and talk to us about the project.' Being able to break up the movement of faces, specifically into basic facial actions, and under-standing how actions are different between people will enable com-puter scientists to analyse facial movement and develop realistic mo-tion into avatars. In doing so, people will be more accepting of avatars as channels of communication. Said Professor McOwan: 'Robots are going to increasingly form part of our daily lives — for instance robotic aids used in hospitals or much later down the road sophisticated ma-chines that we will have working in our homes. Our research aims to develop software, based on biology, that will allow robots to interact with humans in the most natural way possible — understanding the things we take for granted like personal space or reacting to an overt emotion such as happiness.' Commenting on the research and work involved, Professor Alan Johns-ton from the Psychology and Language Sciences Division at University College London said: 'A picture of a face is just a frozen sample drawn from a highly dynamic sequence of movements. Facial motion transfer onto other faces or average avatars provides an extremely important tool for studying dynamic face perception in humans as it allows ex-perimenters to study facial motion in isolation from the form of the face.' For her part, co-researcher Cecilia Heyes from All Souls College at University of Oxford noted that this type of technology can lead to the creation of great spin-offs. 'We're using it to find out how people imi-tate facial expressions, which is very important for rapport and coop-eration, and why people are better at recognising their own facial

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2011 SEFI Student year

movements than those of their friends — even though they see their friends faces much more often than their own.' (Source: http://ec.europa.eu/research/headlines/news/article_11_07_19_en.html)

FROM UK A plum role, yet few have a clue what a professor is suppose to do. The role of the professor has changed from that of the traditional all-rounder engaged in teaching, research and management to a more specialised position in which many are expected to provide forms of "intellectual leadership" for which they are not trained. Speaking last week at a seminar organised by the Society for Research into Higher Education, Steve Rayner, professor of education at Oxford Brookes University, described moving from a job as a head teacher into higher education. He soon began to hear about "the professori-ate, a shadowy group who meet from time to time and wield untold power. But I never really discovered where they were and what they did. "Even when I was promoted and started to think, 'Now I'm a profes-sor, what am I supposed to do?' I could find few answers." While many aspects of professors' lives, not to mention salary scales, remain mysterious, Professor Rayner said that a particularly notable gap was "the subject of the professor as leader". This argument was developed by Bruce Macfarlane, associate profes-sor for higher education at the University of Hong Kong. The title of "professor", he argued, was seen "not just as a career grade but as requiring a leadership role. Yet far more has been written about leadership for deans, heads of department and vice-chancellors than for professors. "While it is clear that becoming a professor re-quires a strong record as a researcher, it is far less obvious what being a professor involves. Professor Macfarlane said that the role of the classic, all-round professor who combines teaching and research with service as head of department, is being "unbundled". Instead, the new "default model" is "the research professor" with limited teaching and administrative responsibilities. There is also evidence of the growth of the "star professor", who is often headhunted by ambitious institutions internationally; the "part-time practice professor" in fields such as medicine, architecture and business; and the "managerial professor", who is no longer research-active and acts mainly as a "senior academic leader". From another point of view, said Professor Macfarlane, promotion to a professorship marks a transition from individual achievement to a more social role. Early career academics require the freedom to act as advocates or critics of "ideas, concepts, theories and paradigms". Professors are more constrained by the need to "give something back", whether as mentors, enablers, ambassadors for their institu-tions or guardians of academic standards. They also need to move beyond mere knowledge production to intellectual leadership, he suggested. While some will focus on their duty to society by becoming "academic citizens" or public intellectuals, keen to promote wider understanding of their subject, others cross disciplinary frontiers and forge new con-nections as "boundary transgressors". It is the variety of possible paths for today's professors that make the job so challenging, Professor Macfarlane suggested. He argued that courses specifically designed to "induct professors" could be useful in making clear the expectations of the role, but warned that it was also vital to "resist pressures that define the role too narrowly". (Source: http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode=416808&c=1)

Cloud computing cuts research costs The launch of a shared research cloud platform via a high-performance computing resource last week will enable British universities to access more real-time processing than they could afford to individually. International solutions provider Logicalis UK unveiled the platform which is directly connected to the JANET university network. Tom Kelly, the company's managing director, said the new system would release more money for academic research, making universities more competitive in the world marketplace. The service is built on an IBM POWER7 platform and enables communities of researchers to pool their funding to buy a shared slice of high-performance computer processing. The cloud will then allocate the processing pool in real-time, with each institution able to use 100% of the pool if available. Kelly said the design of the POWER7 platform meant that even during busy periods, shared users would have "a high probability" of gaining access to nearly all available shared resources, dramatically cutting the costs of accessing massive processing capability when owning and operating their own environments. "University budgets are under severe pressure and for those where research is a primary source of income, balancing the need for high performance computing power with diminishing budgets puts their global competitive edge at stake," he said. "Sharing a large slice of high performance computing, across a network they trust, offers a major opportunity for academics running research projects to access the computing resources they need at a fraction of the cost of building it themselves." JANET Chief Executive Tim Marshal said British research was a key driver in the knowledge economy. When funding was constrained, finding new models to exploit opportunities such as high performance computing was critical. (Source: http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20110715165122501)

FROM SPAIN

Helping universities to face challenges of today AIMHE-OECD experts meeting was hosted by The Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (Open University of Catalonia, UOC). The project focused on the topic Quality Teaching in Higher Education. The analysis that came out of the meeting suggests that institutions should strengthen their support to help teachers accomplish their educational mission. The Project Quality Teaching in Higher Education is an OECD/IMHE initiative that helps universities face the challenges of today's society, including their emerging role as key elements in economic growth and innovation in their respective countries Making significant improvements to the quality of higher education involves teachers being able to achieve their educational mission, in addition to enhancing their technical and subject matter knowledge. These are the views of a group of experts from the OECD’s Programme on Institutional Management in Higher Education (IMHE) who met for two days in Barcelona to discuss the final conclusions of The Quality Teaching in Higher Education project. Accordingly, there is a need for institutions to support teachers’ mis-sion by providing the necessary professional development and an effective learning environment. Furthermore, it was stated that in order to be a successful higher education it is fundamental to develop a student-centered education, engage students as active collaborators in the educational process and treat them equally within the institu-tion.

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The project has been implemented in two phases. In the first, which was completed in 2009, it was achieved a general overview of the institutional initiatives and policies that improve the quality of higher education. Some 50 initiatives from 29 institutions around the world were analyzed during this phase. Three main lessons were revealed in this initial phase: 1) institutional commitment is crucial for improving quality; 2) synergies have to be established between technology, hu-man resources, learning media and student support policies; and 3) an innovative and ground-breaking assessment system is a key element”. “We are now nearing completion of the second phase, the aim of which was to explore in detail certain specific experiences,” said Fab-rice Hénard, the OECD-IMHE analyst in charge of reviewing the project and one of the experts attending the Barcelona meeting. During this second phase of the project, the UOC underwent an in-depth analysis. Over the course of three days, a team of experts, one of whom was Fabrice Hénard, visited the UOC to examine its ability to improve, reward and assess the quality of the teaching that it pro-vides. “The analysis showed the UOC is an innovative, progressive, responsive and in general, focused institution in terms of what it seeks, who it serves, and what it stands for” said Fabrice Hénard. The Quality Teaching in Higher Education project will propose recom-mendations to governments, agencies that measure quality in educa-tion, students, lecturers and the general public. The conclusions will be presented at a meeting this December in Mexicali, Mexico. (Source: http://www.guni-rmies.net/news/detail.php?id=1756)

FROM THE NETHERLANDS

Beyond the Network University In this article Amanda Schimunek of the University of Kassel presents a discussion regarding the so called “network university” by putting forward the results of two studies undertaken one by the University of Twente, Netherlands and the other by the Carlos III University of Ma-dr id and the Univers ity of Granada, Spain. The purpose and function of a university may seem rather obvious upon initial consideration. A university educates students. But, in-creasingly, that simple fact is far from the whole truth. Although some traditionalists still view student education as the primary responsibility of the university, pressure from both inside and outside is leading higher education institutions to engage in a growing number of activi-ties that might seem incongruent with this responsibility. University cooperation with local, regional, national, and sometimes interna-tional government and industry could make cries for relevance and accountability just as dangerous and unpredictable as shouting “Fire!” in a crowded movie theater. But, if society at large continues to change, expand, and place increasing demands on institutions of higher education, then universities may have no choice but to change in order to survive, despite the inevitable criticism that always accom-panies change. Exactly how universities will adapt to shifting dynamics is impossible to predict; some universities may begin to self-steer and develop strategies tailored to their individual needs. Others may face tighter control from the state or fall somewhere in between the two extremes. In any case, it is arguably clear that universities will have to devise plans to keep their heads above water in the flood of forces pushing and pulling in all directions. There is no universal formula for what works and what doesn’t, but there are a lot of interesting ideas. The network university is an emerging concept that attempts to repre-sent the increasing number of universities with public and private cooperative agreements as a concrete model. Within the model, an individual university is visualized as part of a large “spider web” with

overlapping and complex connections to government and industry as well as public, private, non-profit, and community organizations. The challenge of defining and mapping the network university is that rela-tionships and connections change over time and can appear, strengthen, weaken, or dissolve entirely. A team of researchers in Madrid, Spain have mapped the development and evolution of net-work university connections over two separate three-year periods (1995 to 1999 and 2000 to 2003). They are among the first to attempt such an ambitious and thorough study of the network university and the research has led to some interesting conclusions about co-authorship, co-ownership, and innovative ways of disseminating newly published information. Conclusions like these, of course, have both positive and negative potential impacts on the relationship of the university to society, especially how the purpose and function of a university is perceived and interpreted. For more detailed information: www.guni-rmies.net/news/detail.php?id=1749

FROM THE REST OF THE WORLD FROM SOUTH AFRICA SEESA 2011 Conference The newly founded Society for Engineering Education of South Africa, partner of SEFI in the context of IFEES, will be launched at its first biennial conference from 10 - 12 August 2011. SEESA will aim to bring together people in South Africa and beyond who have an interest in engineering education, with the intention of fostering innovation and excellence in this field. The biennial conference, held at STIAS @ the Wallenberg Centre, Stellenbosch University, will be the primary SEESA forum for sharing, networking and disseminating information. The response to present at this event was overwhelming and will ensure a very full programme. More information on SEESA website: http://www.seesa.co.za/

FROM MEXICO Sustainable Good Practices in the University of Sonora In this article, Velázquez et al. describe the means through which a sustainable education has been nourished by the University of Sonora in Mexico with the inclusion of good practices in education, research, outreach and partnership. Sustainability represents an opportunity for higher education institu-tions to improve and strengthen relations with its external community for mutual benefit. Around the world, sustainability practices in higher education institutions have flourished as a way to foster at least one dimension of the triple bottom line of sustainable development. One of the most successful efforts in Latin America to transform a higher education institution into a more sustainable organization has come from the University of Sonora in Mexico (Velazquez, 2006). This university is an internationally recognized organization that has built its sustainability reputation by conducting sustainability practices since 1992 in order to form critical and creative engineers that help society make the transition to a sustainable lifestyle.

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A more sustainable university is a higher education institution, as a whole or as a part, that addresses, involves and promotes, on a re-gional or a global level, the elimination and/or minimization of envi-ronmental, economic, societal, and negative health effects in the use of their resources in order to fulfill its main functions of teaching, research, outreach & partnership and stewardship, among others, as a way to help society shift to a more sustainable way of living (Velazquez, 2002). Sustainable practices are encompassed by four integrated targets: teaching, research, outreach and partnership and greening of the campus. Each of them are described below. Education: These practices are divided into formal and informal edu-cation; informal education was the first try to promote sustainability in 1992; conferences, workshops, and cultural activities have been con-tinuing ever since to increase sustainability awareness among univer-sity community members (Velazquez, 1999). In 1994, the Industrial Engineering Department became the first to offer a mandatory course in Sustainable Development in a Mexican engineering curriculum. This was offered in the bachelor degree and then the formal education structure evolved to cover graduate pro-grams such as certificate, master and doctoral degree. Research: These practices offer new direction for reducing environ-mental and occupational risks in Mexican organizations by proposing new production and service systems. Researchers are grouped into an academic body called “sustainable engineering” aimed at increasing knowledge in this field. Researchers usually perform applied science to solve practical problems in the region, however basic research is also conducted in order to expand knowledge on how to be more sustain-able . They maintain three research lines; the first is aimed at encour-aging cleaner production and pollution prevention practices in organi-zations; the second deals with environmental management systems, and finally the third one is devoted to increasing sustainability in edu-cational institutions. These research lines include a great variety of topics, such as cleaner production, pollution prevention and global climate, reducing toxin use and industrial ecology and design for envi-ronment, among others. Outreach and partnership: One of the main concerns of the academic body has been working with organizations and communities to en-hance sustainable practices on several levels. In organizations, these efforts are aimed at promoting production and service systems that protect the environment and labor and strengthen economic growth through more efficient production. In communities, efforts are aimed at enhancing the quality of life of their members (Velazquez, 2000). Although services are usually offered free of charge, the benefits are mutual because students have the opportunity to practice what they have learned in class by seeking solutions to unsustainable patterns of production. The Sustainability Management System (SMS) leads the greening of campus practices at the University of Sonora. The SMS was certified in July 2008 under the international standard ISO 14001: 2004 (University de Sonora, 2008). With this, the University of Sonora be-came one of the few higher education institutions in the world with this certification, and the first one in Latin America.

(Source: http://www.guni-rmies.net/news/detail.php?id=1750 )

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EIT Annual report 2010 published

2010 was the KICs' kick-off year: the EIT's three Knowledge and Innovation Communities (Climate-KIC, EIT ICT Labs and KIC InnoEnergy) took shape as organisations led by an independent management team and each defined their legal structure.In parallel, the EIT Headquarters were set up and developed in Budapest, the location chosen as the seat of the EIT by the European Council.The first activities of the EIT and its KICs, notably in the fields of higher education and entrepreneurship development were also started in 2010. Download the report here.

In August

In September

FOR YOUR CALENDAR

1-11 August 2011, Istanbul, Turkey European BEST Engineering Competition (EBEC)

21-26 August 2011, Ulster, Ireland Engineering Sustainability for a Global Economy For more information :http://icee2011.ulster.ac.uk

PUBLICATIONS

3-5 August 2011, Medellín, Colombia LACCEI 2011— 9th Latin American and Caribbean Consortium of Engineering and Technology For more information: http://www.laccei2011medellin.org/english/Paginas/presentation.aspx

29-31 August and 1-2 September 2011, Lausanne and Zürich, Switzerland Two workshops on “Threat Management and Workplace Violence Risks” For more information: · the detailed program for Lausanne, http://securite.epfl.ch/op/edit/conference · the detailed program for Zurich, http://www.sicherheit.ethz.ch/news/index_EN

31 August-1 September, Southampton, UK The Engaged University. For more details: http://www.eua.be/sirus-conference.aspx

3 September 2011, HQ Brussels, Belgium SEFI Bureau Meeting

4-9 September 2011, Geneva, Switzerland World Engineers’ Convention 2011 “Engineers Power the World - Facing the Global Energy Challenge.” The International Conference Center Geneva (CICG), Geneva, Switzerland

More information on the convention: http://www.wec2011.org/

8 September 2011, Brussels, Belgium Final conference of the ECCE project: “Engineering observatory on Com-petence based Curricula for job Enhancement”. The event is organised by SEFI. More information: communication_officer@sefi.be

9 September 2011 Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan. JSEE 59th Annual Conference and Exposition Conference theme: Engineering Education to Pioneer the Near Future Call for papers details here: Call for Papers

12 - 17 September 2011, Sevastopol, Ukraine XVIII International Science and Engineering Conference MACHINE-BUILDING AND TECHNOSPHERE OF THE XXI CENTURY To get more details: Information Sheet Conference

9-12 August 2011, Mérida, México, IIDEA Workshop: “ Curriculum Innovation Workshop: Bridging the Gap Between How We Teach and the Practice of Engineering” For further details: www.iideainstitute.org

15-16 September 2011, Kocaeli University, Izmit, Turkey 12th International Workshop on Research and Education in Mechatronics REM 2011 For more information visit: http://mekatronik.kocaeli.edu.tr/rem2011/

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22-23 September 2011, Estoril, Portugal 2nd IIDEA Workshop session organised for the Tomsk Polytechnic Univer-sity. For further details: www.iideainstitute.org

27 September 2011, Lisbon, Portugal Workshop of SEFI WG EER

1st World Engineering Education Flash Week Organised by ISEFI and anchored by SEFI

Lisbon, Portugal www.wee2011.com

27-30 September: SEFI ANNUAL CONFERENCE 2011

1 October: IIDEA Workshop at WEE 2011

1-2 October: IFEES Summit 2011

1-2 October: PAEE 2011 Symposium 3-4 October: ASIBEI ANNUAL CONFERENCE 2011

30 September 2011, Lisbon, Portugal. IACEE Executive Committee Meeting

21-23 September 2011, Piešt’any, Slovakia IGIP Regional Conference in conjunction with ICL2011 (14th International Conference for Interactive Computer aided Learning) For further details: www.igip.org

21-23 September 2011, Mannheim, Germany SEFI - PTEE 2011 7th INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON PHYSICS TEACHING IN ENGINEER-ING EDUCATION Physics for Engineers – Soft Skill or Core Competency? For more information visit: http://ptee2011.eu/

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We hope that you enjoyed this issue of News@SEFI.

The next issue will be published at the end of August 2011

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