Guest editorial cultural issues and it management: past and present

Re-engineering Engineering Education in Europe

This paper presents techniques for testing fractional horsepower (FHP) induction and brushless dc motors. The procedures for segregation of losses in these motors are presented. The issues encountered in testing FHP motors are discussed, and guidelines are provided to avert the issues. This paper also provides insights into understanding the test procedures outlined in the IEEE 114 Standard.

An Overview of Efficiency and Loss Characterization of Fractional Horsepower Motors

In response to the environmental impact of climate change, greenhouse gas emission (GHG) reductions has become a common global goal. This has led to policies and measures to meet GHG reduction targets at country levels without much success. Therefore, the assessment of the effects of energy is important for the promotion of public policies at local levels that can lead to actions on GHG reductions. LED street lighting is more expensive than traditional luminaries and its use remains limited. This study analyzes the technical, economic, environmental and social impacts of LED street lighting in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico and proposes changes of the street lighting municipal regulation to promote and ensure the adoption of this technology. The results of the study show that by upgrading the street lighting to LED a 64% of energy savings is achieved, which represents an environmental impact on GHG emissions avoided to the atmosphere of 33,192 tons of equivalent carbon dioxide (tCO2e) per year. We propose that the monetary savings achieved using LED street lightning be used to improve the quality of life for population groups in areas of the city that are most at risk.

LED street lighting as a strategy for climate change mitigation at local government level

YouTube has become the standard social network for the dissemination of university multimedia content, but the impact of academic online videos has been scarcely researched. This study covers this gap and provides a new dimension to evaluate university performance. Data and statistics of 416 YouTube accounts and ca. 190,000 online videos of world class universities are gathered. The H-index is adapted to quantify the online video impact, universities are ranked accordingly and the correlates of impact are analyzed. The H-based ranking of online video impact is closely related to standard rankings of world class universities, with a stronger relation than that with other online video related metrics. Research productivity and online video orientation of a university are robustly related to online video impact, whereas teaching, university size and geographical location are not.

Online video impact of world class universities

Today Europe has some 4000 institutes of higher education in 45 countries; 35% provide graduates in engineering. All institutes contribute to the creation of a knowledge-based society which is rooted in higher education, innovation and research. Europe's added value would be based on the new knowledge generated within the European Research Area. The ideal mechanism for knowledge creation and transfer is when the best universities will become the gold standard i.e. the excellence. Thus priority will be given to academic and research standards and the Bologna process assists in the implementation of this trend. University of Miskolc and its relevant Departments are striving for excellence by four new Research Centers in Engineering. They improve both academic and research standards and in such a way contribute to knowledge society.

http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/iel5/6410224/6418280/06418300.pdf

Improvement of academic and research standards of higher engineering education in light of Bologna process

From the medieval age university quality has been widely known by writings of students, great names of professors and communiques of politicians at universities. But since the last quarter of the twentieth century three most influential and widely observed international university rankings qualify and update world's universities annually. The paper presents all three ranking systems in a new structure, their methodology emphasizing performance indicators and aligns top-100 universities. Deviation of university ranks from the reference is also discussed. Regarding the home countries of universities the US is dominant, the UK is the second and then Switzerland, Canada, Australia and Germany follow. In consequence of comparison the today's ranking systems are to be somewhat mono-dimensional since focused primarily on research and do not fully cover teaching and learning quality of knowledge-transfer. Intensive work is therefore in progress to develop a new European university ranking system.

World university rankings qualify teaching and primarily research

In 2005 electricity generation from renewable energy sources in Hungary was 1721.7 gigawatthour (GWh) which was 4.5% of the total consumption while in the previous year this ratio was only 2.3% i.e. 884 GWh. By the end of 2005 Hungary exceeded the envisaged 3.6%, which will be increased to 7% by 2010. The authors were active members of individual, industry-academia projects in the clean power field and present the challenges existing in today's Hungary.

Clean Power Challenges and Pilot Projects in Hungary

The world wide web became a vital element of all human activities by now. The rapid growth of fast and reliable communication networks provides an easy exchange of information and commands between computers connected to sites of wide area networks such as the internet. Engineers/students form far away workstations can operate through the internet with various remote equipment, since integrated web-learning and web-research environment become more and more accepted. Engineering is transformed into a constructive joint effort within the framework of simulation and exploration. Engineers share information at a rapid pace, with the collective aim of increasing product, process and service quality and reducing development time and costs. The internet-based, virtual or tele-laboratory permits experimentation independently of distance, in a way similar to what occurs in conventional laboratories. With the latest technology available, it reaches the same objectives as for a hands-on or conventional research or university laboratory, and even more efficiently in most cases. The application properties now range right up to the internet-controlled visualization of processes far away from the platforms. University of Miskolc Department contributed to the solution of these challenges by a new smart measuring instrument which performs on-line diagnostics of electrical motors developed particularly for design and production divisions of domestic labor-saving devices, and by an internet-based virtual laboratory serving the Ethernet network-based industrial measurement systems to all users through an “open for all” web site by Fieldpoint and General Purpose Interface Bus (GPIB) modules.

http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/iel7/6468782/6490559/06490675.pdf

Internet at the service of electrical machinery and drives

The Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering of University of Miskolc has been involved in six European Union Tempus projects since 1991, with the objectives of upgrading academics, modernizing laboratories and introducing new curricula, courses and up-to-date teaching methods in order to approach EU university standards. Microelectronics, electrical drives in automation, mechatronics, energy engineering, PhD engineering programmes in English and telecommunications were focused by the projects. One hundred and thirty-two Miskolc students prepared their diploma theses at EU universities and academics could spend 1100 weeks within the mobility scheme at EU universities. To enlarge the European dimension and prepare academic staff, students and engineers working in industry, two Jean Monnet projects for European integration studies were also awarded.

L. Szentirmai

Papers

Improvement of academic and research standards of higher engineering education in light of Bologna process

World university rankings qualify teaching and primarily research

Clean Power Challenges and Pilot Projects in Hungary

Internet at the service of electrical machinery and drives

Development of professional culture for academic staff and students by European projects