Speakers

Good practices: New Ways of Learning

Keynote speech

Mentorship, Leadership and Entrepreneurial Mindset: A Vision for Experiential Learning in Undergraduate STEM Education at Illinois Tech

Dr. Mahesh Krishnamurthy (IIT)

Preparing students to join the workforce towards an impactful and satisfying career is a key purpose of the higher education system and a core value for any academic institution. Although the current educational framework strives to equip students with skills and competencies that are critical towards their personal and professional growth, one question is often ignored- “How can we know if the knowledge, training and experiences offered to students are bearing the desired results”? Bridging the gap between industry and academia demands a collaborative framework, which calibrates classroom instruction and technical knowledge through innovative course design and active engagement with industry professionals. This leads us to reframe the earlier question to- “How can we create a platform that allows active engagement and mentorship between industry professionals and students? How can we prepare students for the industry and train them with skills that are critical, but challenging to incorporate in a typical STEM classroom?” This keynote pursues Illinois Tech’s vision towards integrating active industry engagement and faculty support to develop critical skills towards industry-preparedness

Keywords: STEM education; Experiential learning; Industry engagement; Interprofessional projects

Dr. Mahesh Krishnamurthy received his PhD in Electrical Engineering from the University of Texas at Arlington, Texas in 2008. He is currently a Professor of Electrical Engineering and Academic Director of the Kaplan Institute of Innovation and Tech Entrepreneurship at Illinois Tech. He is also the Director of the Grainger Power Electronics and Motor Drives Laboratory. He served as a Distinguished Lecturer with the IEEE-Vehicular Technology Society from 2011-2013 and 2013-2015 and Distinguished Speaker from 2015-2018 and 2018-2021. He has co-authored over 150 scientific articles and patents, book chapters and technical reports. He has been awarded several teaching and research awards and is currently the Editor-in-chief for IEEE Transactions on Transportation Electrification and Editor for IEEE Electrification Magazin

Research-based learning as a didactical concept

Uwe Fahr and Michael Cursio (FAU)

Research-based learning has a tradition of over fifty years in Germany. Various concepts have been developed and refined in exchange with the international discussion. We will first present the theoretical foundations as we use them at the Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg. In our discussion, the distinction between the three forms of research-based learning, which can also be found in the international literature, has proved helpful. However, they can also be found in particular in the book by Gabi Reinmann and Ludwig Huber on the topic, which is essential for Germany. Following the international and german discussion, we distinguish the forms of Research-Based Learning. - learning about research - Learning for research - learning through research As a Center for Higher Education, we support all teachers at our university to develop and use Research-Based Learning in their daily teaching practice. We do this through training and general information about the concept. All the three distinguished forms are in use at the Friedrich-Alexander-University. However, many researchers are not even aware that they are using these forms. We will briefly report on this experience as well. We will use an example to show how this can be implemented.

Keywords: Teaching; Learning; Research-based learning

Cases of inquiry-based and contextualized STEM education for first-year engineering students

Gabriel Pinto (UPM)

The central idea is to show some cases carried out with first-year Industrial and Chemical Engineering students who study the subject of Chemistry, as examples of research-based learning (RBL). The aim of these kinds of experiences is that students solve, as a team (formed by groups of three persons), a series of problems and cases contextualized in their day-to-day life. To do that, they must understand a given problem, search for the underlying data set, analyse different information sources (in Spanish and English) for the data search, discriminate between the contents of the subject (and other subjects such as Physics and Mathematics) that they must apply, carry out experiments (in some cases), proceed according to an accurate data processing, make approximations, analyse the results (whose outcome is open) and propose improvements, future inquiries and applications. The goals are to facilitate the acquisition of concepts (stoichiometry, chemical reactions, conversion factors, thermodynamics...) and collaborate on the developing of competencies such as problem solving, data analysis and teamwork. The challenges are to improve students’ and teachers’ motivation, encourage critical thinking skills in students, and promote science literacy and social responsibility for the education of students as citizens. And the tool for all that is the development of STEM problems and cases by using modern teaching tools, such as problem based learning, active learning, and inquiry-based science education (IBSE). Also, these tools allow to detect and to discuss about misconceptions and alternative conceptions in students. In detail, the cases included, chosen among others, are: experimental studies of the ice melting rate in various liquids, with applications for the understanding of the thermohaline circulation in seas and the transport of microplastics in oceans; the refrigeration of the water in porous ceramic containers by evaporation, with traditional applications (Spanish botijo, Nigerian pot-in-pot...) and the influence of the climate; experimental calculations of the osmotic hydration rate of beans and other pulses at different temperatures and salts concentrations; analysis of the relationships between vehicle fuel consumption and CO2 emissions, and its importance in the determination of the carbon footprint; discussion about the thermochemistry and the design of commercially available self-heating beverage containers and possible improvements; chemical and thermodynamic fundamentals of domestic condensing boilers, very useful for the saving of natural gas and the decreasing of CO2 emissions; and critical analysis of pseudoscientific deceptive information. These examples, suitable for other studies and stages of education, show that students are more interested in the subject and they acquire skills in a more appropriate way than with the use of more traditional cases, which are of a closed nature regarding the baseline data and with unique findings. Therefore, there is a clear contribution to the education of more responsible citizens with better knowledge of some products and technologies that they use in their daily lives and their environmental impact. On the other hand, these experiences and other similar ones, have been made available for secondary teacher training courses to promote its use in pre-college educational stages (our potential future engineering students).

Keywords: Inquiry-based Learning, Contextualized Teaching, Chemistry for the Citizen, Competency-based learning

RBL for sustainability in industrial design education: Cases on of different course structures

Elif Küçüksayraç (ITU)

This presentation will examine the role of research-based learning in industrial design education focusing on the issues of sustainability, more specifically on environmental sustainability. Three cases will be presented with different structures. The first case is on the elective course on sustainable product design, the second case is the Industrial Studio Courses, and the third one is the graduate course on design for environmental sustainability. These three cases differ in the course structures, outcomes, and also levels of sustainability interventions. Research-based learning will be discussed in relation to project-based learning, which is a common learning strategy in design education.

Keywords: Product design; Sustainable design; Environmental sustainability; Project-based learnin

The use of ITU Learning Stations for RBL

Emrah Acar (ITU)

The Learning Station (LS) model of Istanbul Technical University Centre for Excellence in Education (ITU CEE) provides a considerable flexibility for learning experience designers for incorporating alternative delivery modes and recognizing multiple forms of learning. I will share examples of Learning Stations designed by undergraduate and graduate students of ITU as part of their research-based learning processes.

Keywords: Active learning; Research-based learning; Learning Stations

The integration of Research-Based-Learning in the German higher education system – Reflections and examples from Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU)

Kim Vanselow (FAU)

Prior to the Bologna reform of higher education, problem- and research-based learning designs were a natural part of the curricula of many degree programmes in Germany and elsewhere. However, this didactic concept was hampered by the novel workload and credit point oriented Bologna system. Meanwhile, the central role of research-based learning is undisputed and the implementation of research-based learning modules into curricula has become increasingly important. In this talk, I will illuminate the role of research-based learning in the higher education system in Germany, in particular in graduate and doctoral studies, and reveal its (potential) differences compared to other systems by exemplifying common student pathways. Furthermore, I will present examples of the implementation of research-based learning modules into the curricula of different degree programmes at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), coming from different scientific disciplines, such as engineering, sciences, humanities, economics and medicine, which may serve as idea generators for the development of research-based learning modules within EELISA.

Keywords: Role of RBL; RBL module examples; Common student pathways; Idea generator

Research Based Learning in Telecommunications

Luca Valcarenghi (SSSA)

The talk ovevrviews some examples of use cases of reseearch based learning in the communication network field. In particular, the focus will be in 5G research.

Keywords: 5G, Industry collaboration, requirements

BME RBL best practices

Máté Zöldy (BME)

BME is one of the top technical universities in the newest education rankings and provides a branch of opportunities for students to combine research and education. In the presentation, a short overview is given of the best practices.

Keywords: TDK, demonstrator, independent lab

Project IDEAL - European soft skills for PhD: enhancing transversal skills through innovative doctoral courses

Melania Burgelis (Telecom Paris) & Alexandra Belus (PSL)

IDEAL consists in designing and providing high-level doctoral training to address the challenges faced by European researchers today: being better prepared to face the growing complexity of their jobs and increasing the economic and societal impact of their work; questioning the relevance of their research activities, while renewing the attractiveness of Doctoral Education for new generations of talents. In the framework of this project, the partners work on 4 intellectuel outputs: online catalog of doctoral courses; design of courses; methodology for acquiring transversal skills; MOOC and pilot

Keywords: Doctoral training; Soft skills; Innovation

3 years of experiments of research based learning for 1st year students

Pierre-Jean Cottalorda (ENPC)

Keywords: Licence3; Research-based learning

The Worldwide observatory of shared mobility digital platforms: An innovative research and learning platform in a context of mobility transition

Virginie Boutueil (ENPC)

Mobility is undergoing significant change all around the world, as well as facing unprecedented sustainability challenges. The influence of digital technologies in the ongoing transformations in mobility behaviors, mobility services and mobility policies, has been the focus of a growing body of research. Yet, researchers are faced with the need to change some of their research tools, particularly their observation tools, to document ongoing transitions in mobility. I set up the Worldwide Observatory of Shared mobility digital Platforms (WOSP) at the City Mobility Transport Lab (LVMT) in 2018, as part of a research project for the Renault-ParisTech Institute of Sustainable Mobility (IMD), to document how mobility systems in metropolitan areas in both the Global North and the Global South, have entered an era of rapid change in the early 2010s under the influence of mobile ICTs. Mobile ICT-based shared mobility platforms have been filling some of the gaps in transport supply left by historical modes of transport (i.e., private cars, public transit and for-hire services). Shared mobility digital platforms are a subcategory of mobility applications that give individual customers direct and full access to one or several shared mobility services. Through carrying out such a worldwide census, we can document the diversity of services provided by such platforms, analyze the trends in geographic distribution and competition among platforms across the world’s metropolises, and propose a new classification of shared mobility services. The WOSP is currently used as both, a research tool in its own right and a training tool to and by research for students and young researchers. Already ten students and young researchers, at various stages in their respective training, have been trained on this tool and have in turn contributed to its development. Contributing to the development and evolution of such a tool has provided an opportunity for the apprentices to develop skills that, beyond research purposes, can help them navigate a complex, uncertain world. It has also provided them with a new conceptual framework, and fresh insights, to better grasp the changes taking place in their field of study and work.

Keywords: Mobility transition, shared mobility, scientific observation, paradigm shift, learning-by-research

Hungarian Startup University Program as a best practice in the field of student innovation

Anikó Grad-Gyenge (BME) - Vanda Orbulov (BME)

The main goal of the HSUP program is to introduce students to the world of innovation, modern entrepreneurial skills, and primarily how startups work, all through a new, common educational platform. This general target had to be adapted to the specialties of the student learning at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics. This academic year is the second one, in which we built the experiences of the first year. We are proud that our students made the best result of the HSUP course performance last year. The significance of technology and engineering in innovation is quite relevant as having powerful challenges and expectations for new, sustainable solutions from organizations, businesses, society in all the fields of our life. It is impossible to advertise, promote, and emphasize the essence of new resolutions and ideas, including evaluating their viability, the relevance of teamwork, and the customer approach. Our belief is to enhance the creation of value that can realize a profit for industry players, bringing benefits for society and the environment. Our University has almost a hundred students with profound ideas, challenges, and dreams this academic year. According to our standards, ideas should have been prioritized and provided an innovative mentoring environment for students considered the best. The accelerator program at the University provides a new aspect for students in the HSUP program to broaden their view for novel factors solutions and work as a team member with responsibilities. However, the program has been enriched with corporate challenges; our students' ideas were not established for dedicated players but covered broader possibilities in given fields. Mentoring, professional support, direct and informal contact are of crucial importance. Furthermore, the team-building of the students is a vital issue, and we support everyone to use their professional knowledge and improve their experience. We have no failures during the program, but we offer students redesign experiences and professional challenges. Our goal is for all students to realize themselves, find their positions in a team, and earn practical knowledge for their professional and personal skills during and after their education. Besides the aspects and opinions of the teacher's external and internal mentors, we believe in discovering the stakeholders' feedback so the students. Like last year, we were curious again about the initial motivations, experiences after the program, and so essential are suggestions at the beginning.

Keywords: Innovation; Mentoring; Startup; Engineering

New Ways of Learning: A Model to Leapfrogging Student Engagement

Loredana MANASIA (UPB) - Vanda Orbulov (UPB)

The rapid shift towards a climate-neutral Europe and digital transformation is changing the way we work, learn, take part in society and lead our everyday lives. Higher education is an essential vehicle for addressing the need to mobilize efforts for quality investment in skills and to provide students with the skills they need in the future. The aim of the present research was to identify the most efficient strategies and practices related to student engagement either in partner HEIs and outside the EELISA Unfolds consortium, through which universities generate the advanced knowledge and skills that help society innovate to address its big challenges. To achieve this goal a literature review relating to student engagement in entrepreneurship and innovation and identification of the clusters of student engagement practices based on in-depth analysis of 40 practices (30 collected from the EELISA Unfolds partners and 10 collected from other European Universities outside the consortium) were performed. The results consist in a framework unfolding four clusters of practices: Cluster 1 – Ideas and opportunities-oriented practices. Cluster 2 – Resources-oriented practices. Cluster 3 – Action-oriented practices. Cluster 4 – Context-driven practices. These clusters are intentionally based on institutional experiences and on the three pillars (Places, People and Partnerships) of the ‘new culture of learning’ - places, people, and partnerships. Additionally, for student engagement to truly thrive, a leapfrogging model that comprises a range of conditions to be jointly and/or individually addressed by the members in the short and long term was proposed. These conditions vary from designing policies to developing the organisational infrastructure and upskilling the academic and non-academic staff. The model is focused on three structural directions having the potential to support the uptake of student engagement across the four clusters: (1) widen ecosystem participation; (2) enrich curriculum; (3) empower innovative teaching practices. The model can serve as an organisational framework for setting-up new support centers or updating the structure of existing similar entities within partner HEIs.

STEM Education & RBL

Success stories in STEM RBL

András VÖRÖS (BME)

In this presentation, I will show some best practices applied in RBL at the STEM education at BME. I will detail the basic ingredients of our methodology and the promising results.

Keywords: STEM; Success story; Talent

Mutually beneficial undergraduate student research activities for fundamental science

Oğuzhan Gürlü (ITU)

Students do not start the physics program of a university to keep on solving textbook problems like they have already done during K-12. But, we somehow keep demotivating them by just feeding them whatever our curricula have to offer. Most of them are here for a challenge and several of them are here to start with real research, yet we tell them to wait until they complete some more advanced classes. Consequently, they wait for more than two years for real physics to start. Clearly, the curriculum of a department is designed to give students all the required fundamentals of the field they are studying, yet without knowing why they are subject to long lecture hours complemented with extensive homework, it becomes additionally difficult for them to hold on to their motivation. Unfortunately, many professors tend to dismiss enthusiastic undergrad students those are motivated to go beyond the curriculum, telling them to first deal with the fundamental courses. Having seen the conflicting interests between eager students and busy professors, I decided to establish an active undergraduate research laboratory staring 2008. In the past 14 years more than 150 students passed by these labs. The ones who really decided to work in academia already are at some of the world renown institutes. In this presentation I will share the basic structure of the research and education program I tried to generate at the “Nanobees” in the past 14 years. I will try to exemplify how research activities boosted the success of some demotivated students and discuss the benefits of including undergrads to organisational activities as well as research. Also, I will talk about the mutually beneficial impact of helping undergrads make conference presentations after 2 or 3 years of work. Certainly, such a program with almost no support, and actually most of the time enormous criticism from colleagues is pretty difficult to run. I will share the biggest hurdles I had to face, financial and otherwise. The chance given to the undergrads as early as at their first years helps them learn the importance of continuity while working within a team focusing on real research projects. Also working in a team with limited resources teaches them the meaning of “team”. While these help them to mature and learn to appreciate what they and others do, they also learn to optimise and improve the environment for the generations beyond them. All these were observed to impact their academic success for better. Furthermore, the environment created gives them a chance for their cultural enhancement. It also has to be noted that the technology and consequently the global culture is changing as it has ways been, but technology based cultural jumps are happening every 2-3 years nowadays. Undergraduate researcher backed research helps the development of ideas much faster and helps keeping track with evolving cultural priorities that are impacting fundamental research. Moreover, high risk but high gain research activities can be initiated with the help of the flexibility of the undergraduate researchers, which in the end helps shape their own future. During the talk several success stories from Nanobees will also be shared.

Keywords: Undergraduate research; Fundamental science

Insights from a novel graduate-level planning studio design: Research- and experience-based learning

İmge Akçakaya Waite (İTÜ)

The two-semester graduate-level planning studio conducted in 2018-19 at the ITU Urban Planning Master's Program was designed to employ research-driven and experiential learning methods and principles in an inclusive environment inherent in both the studio topic, collaborative planning and governance, and the studio process. Aside from the more conventional desk criticisms and jury assessments, research-process-based methods of learning involved multiple structured site visits to Pınar Neighborhood, Sarıyer, that included frequent communication with the municipality and other relevant stakeholders; surveys and semi-structured in-depth interviews with community members; focus groups with local stakeholders; and a final feedback colloquium delivered on site by students to communicate the refined planning models to the stakeholders and fine tune their planning decisions. The studio process also involved an instructor-designed workshop on focus group study, in which students learned about the aims, design and analysis of this qualitative research method that they designed, conducted, and reported. The hands-on research-based learning methods, combined with literature research and review, were reflected on novel collaborative plans, and collaborative governance models adapted to the case project. Thus, the students aimed at planning of the neighborhood with a thorough organization of relevant stakeholders and their fair involvement in planning decisions so as to achieve successful and sustainable planning outcomes towards the betterment of the local public’s wellbeing.

Keywords: RBL; Experiential learning; Graduate education; Planning studio; Collaborative planning; ITU

Not just Frontal - The importance of a mult-faceted approach to science teaching

Franco Ligabue (SNS)

The speaker will elaborate on his experience with a multi-faceted approach to science teaching: from day-long visits to CERN experiments offered to undergraduates to hands-on masterclasses and online lectures offered to high-school students, from translating science books to organizing and participating in science-related art contests.

Keywords: Hands-on site-visits; Art & science

What factors can be considered in the design of RBL experiences?

Edmundo Tovar (UPM)

RBL is characterized by the active participation of students in the search for resources that allow them to explore challenges or relevant issues. The success of the implementation of an experience of this type in Engineering depends on many factors, some of which are specific to the study program, the institution where it is taught, or other entities that provide requirements for the experience or that provide the necessary resources. This presentation will take a tour, with examples, of some of the critical factors in achieving your goals. Although the presentation will be made from the point of view of the academic staff involved in the organization, it will not be without interest for the understanding of these initiatives by other groups such as students, or others.

Keywords: RBL; Engineering education; Educational resources

CRESCDI - a modern CRIS for open science inclusiveness

Andrei Crividenco (UPB)

CRESCDI RESEARCH PORTAL (“Supporting capacity building research institutions of the Polytechnic University of Bucharest”) describes a series of contributions to the creation of an indexing platform for scientific research. Every year, scientists are confronted with a slew of procedures for disseminating scientific findings. The information discovered is structured differently for a researcher, and it may be inconsistent or complementary. Concurrently, professors' knowledge of the University's scientific output is not widely disseminated. As a result of creating a centralized data warehouse containing linked data about the researchers' activities, time will be saved because various reports at both the institutional and individual levels will be generated (annual self-assessment sheets, design of the project file). The platform aggregates and manages data on researchers' scientific activity from external sources such as Google Scholar, Web of Science, and others (information related to research and user data). The user interface allows researchers to interact with the platform by allowing them to enter and validate data as well as access to advanced views. A comparative evaluation of the results is also carried out, with the components being tested by University professors and students involved in the project.

Keywords: Data; Researchers; Reporting

Experimental projects: training through research, for research

Emmanuel Fort (PSL)

During the 90s, Yves Couder and colleagues introduced a new experimental course for the undergraduate level. During this course, students in groups of two or three, must build a new experiment from scratch. The course is based on a few simple but central principles. The course is independent of any theoretical course. Each experiment is performed only once. This implies that each group of students has a different project and that all the projects must be renewed each year. The supervising professors have not performed the experiments before and there is no specific supervisor for a given project. This approach has proven extremely fruitful for the students who had the opportunity to discover the scientific approach to question the world and often ended up considering their project as their masterpiece. This experimental course has also triggered new discoveries in research and several experiments have been transferred to the research lab. These experimental courses have been continued with success for more than 30 years now and has been introduced in 2014 at ESPCI Paris (PSL University) in the engineer training program and soon became central in the student program. In my presentation, I will present and discuss this original teaching module, its philosophy, its outcomes and the advantages it brings to scientific training.

Keywords: Experimental project; Team work; Undergraduate; Physics tournament

Information literacy applications in the university library: ITU Mustafa İnan Library Case

Fatma Yavuz & Güncel Gürsel Artıktay (ITU)

Information literacy is the ability to find, access, evaluate, use and communicate information in different formats. Information literacy is based on certain standards. These standards are; Know, Access, Evaluate, Use, and Ethical/Legal. As a researcher candidate, an individual who has had higher education should have learned these during his education and should ensure their sustainability by applying what he has learned within the scope of lifelong learning in his professional life. University libraries are the place where students will start quality scientific research. It is important for faculties to cooperate with university libraries in order to guide students in the research process. Mustafa Inan Library instructor librarians at ITU aim to equip students with these skills in line with the Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education. Thus, an information literate university student knows what information he/she needs within the scope of research-based learning, determines the research method he/she needs, and learns to use this in accordance with scientific ethical rules. The aim of library education is to introduce students to different types of resources, from the possibilities that have increased with technological developments, taking into account the department and education level of the students, and to explain how to use these resources and how to do research with them. The level of need is determined by pre-testing the students participating in the training on Kahoot, and the benefit of the information literacy training is measured with the post-test.

Keywords: Higher education; Information literature; Research; Scientific research; RBL

One day as a researcher

Simona Gallerani (SNS)

What does it mean being a researcher? How does a researcher spend his/her working day? What are the difficulties, challenges, successes in the life of a researcher? The initiative "One day as a researcher" has the goal of providing young students with the answers to these questions. I will present the details of the project as developed at the SNS and discuss possible applications to the EELISA network.

Keywords: Research; Dissemination; Teaching

Good practices - External Collaboration for RBL

External collaboration for Research Based Learning

Ana Goicolea (UPM)

The goal of my presentation is to share with the rest of Universities the successful experience of Industry Chairs at the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, seeking to increase the involvement of the industrial sector in promoting research based learning.

Keywords: External Collaboration;Research-based Learning; Industry Chairs

Evaluation of Research Based Learning and Modern Teaching

Sevinç Asilhan Sırdaş (ITU)

Research processes involve many difficulties and uncertainties in terms of both accessing the necessary resources for the study and using the resources reached. In this respect, presentations on topics such as "Research Process Management", "Information Literacy", "Use of Resources", "Legal and Ethical Issues" were made by Mustafa Inan Library within the scope of the "Scientific research, ethics and seminar" course, which is held online and jointly by ITU Graduate School for students in all fields. Within these presentations, students were informed about information search techniques, types of information sources, use of catalogs and databases, and legal and ethical issues related to the use of these resources. While this practical and necessary information for the research enables the student to have a clearer idea about the researched subject, it also made the research process easier technically. Providing such information continuously and consistently will make it more attractive for students to conduct research in the academy, and will also contribute to the solution of possible method problems.

Keywords: Research based learning; Traditional teaching; Modern teaching/21. Century teaching

Blending research in the development of projects within the Decision Support Systems course

Mariana Lonela Mocanu (UPB)

The paper presents the experience gained in teaching specialty disciplines in master's programs that include research elements. First, the framework structure of the master's research programs at UPB is presented. The research activity is included as a distinct, mandatory discipline in the curriculum and is carried out during 4 semesters, being completed with the master's thesis. The research activity is also included in some disciplines of the master's programs. The paper presents the example of the Decision Support Systems discipline taught in semester 3 within the e-Government master program. The course includes the development of a a project in teams of 3-5 students. In order to carry out the project, the students must conduct also an independent research activity.. The project is based on the life cycle of the information systems, Agile methods being adopted. Students carry out different roles during the roll out of the project. In addition to the specialized topics presented in the course, students must understand the processes in the field of the application. Usually, the projects have an interdisciplinary character, which imposes on the students a stage of self-learning based both on the bibliography recommended by the professor and on sources identified by the students. It also aims to increase the level of responsibility and initiative of students. Projects start by identifying a real problem with an impact at the level of a community or society as a whole for which an IT-based decision support system is proposed. The market analysis must cover technical aspects, specific to the development of information systems as well as aspects related to adequacy to market requirements, ethics and economic efficiency. An important aspect is the evaluation of the results that take place during the validation phase of the system. The evaluation also includes a component in which students evaluate each other, individually and as a team, being put in a position to compare their own results with those of other colleagues or teams. On the occasion of the presentation of the projects, a competition is organized between all the participating teams. The teams with the best results are encouraged to participate in the Student Scientific Communications Session, organized annually.

Keywords: Research in master studies; Soft skills

Organizing a hackathon alongside a computer science course

Axel Parmentier (ENPC)

Since 2018, we have been organizing a hackathon alongside the operations research course at Ecole des Ponts. An industrial partner sponsors the event, and provides a real life problem with the corresponding data. The competition itself lasts one afternoon, and is open to students from other universities. The subject of the Hackathon then becomes the subject of the course project, and the students have two months to work on it. Participants of the hackathon, students, teachers, industrial partners, and recruiters seem to be very satisfied with the experience. The talk will provide feedbacks on our experience with hackathons.

Keywords: Hackathon; Computer Science; Course project; Operations Research

Innovation as Learning Experience

Andrei PÂRVAN (UPB)

The key role universities play in preparing students for a labour market is increasingly geared towards the transition to society 5.0. The knowledge society experiences the evolution towards a learning society in which co-participation in learning, collaborative knowledge management and information dissemination are essential vectors of success. In this global landscape of competitiveness and change, higher education needs relevance, attractiveness and accessibility. The purpose of this study is to provide an in-depth perspective on the missions and roles of universities in socio-economic ecosystems, with an emphasis on two essential directions: pedagogical innovation and the relationship with socio-economic partners. Specifically, the research presents the results of a mixed research, which investigated the views of employers and higher education teaching professionals on the two directions of interest mentioned above. 198 academics (40% of them with duties in students’ professional practicum) and 543 employers (most of them in charge with research and development in their organisations) were surveyed. A self-administered questionnaire focused (i) the set of competences contributing to the employability of higher education graduates, (ii) the partnership between higher education institutions and employers (respectively types of collaborative activities) and (iii) ameliorative interventions designed to increase the graduates’ employability. Qualitative data were collected through the (individual, dyad or group) interview method, used as the main tool for collecting information, but also through focus groups with the two categories of subjects. The research findings unveil the relevance of designing meaningful learning experiences, international mobility and collaboration with socio-economic partners, and higher education offer innovation. The educational innovation itself consists in specific interventions specifically the study discusses, built on four major pillars: (a) a framework of knowledge, skills, and attitudes, (b) curricular flexibility, (c) continuous training and relearning, and (d) strong strategic institutional commitments.

Keywords: Pedagogical innovation; Curricular flexibility; Higher education

Academic and industrial partners : a common desire to collaborate

Paul Rambach (ENPC)

Given the observation of a true desire of collaboration between industrial and academic partners, how to ensure a successful joint venture? In our perspective, the key ingredient is to correctly align the needs of the industrial partner with the abilities of the students. In this talk, we will discuss the tools we set up to achieve this goal.

Keywords: Student projects; Industrial partners; Collaboration

When Science and Education benefit from Open Data

Ciprian Dobre (UPB)

Science and education are at an inflection point. In his book “21 Lessons for the 21st Century” scholar Yuval Noah Harari outlines how schools continue to focus on traditional academic skills, rather than on skills such as critical thinking and adaptability, which will be more important for success in the future. Today education focuses on memorization and standardization, but the future should mix a blend of intelligence, emotional intelligence, and resilience. A new hybrid model of education emerges nowadays, with significant benefits. First, there is evidence that online learning can be effective, as research shows that, on average, students retain 25-60% more material when learning online compared to only 8-10% in a classroom. In online students can learn at their own pace, going back and re-reading, skipping, or accelerating through concepts as they choose. Second, in higher education and research, the topics of open science and research data management have gained momentum. Research data is an essential part of creating scientific knowledge, in addition to theory, methods, and analysis. The acquisition of knowledge is the fruit of learning about these four components, and the connection between them. In this view, students are expected to benefit from it if research data is incorporated in the process of acquiring knowledge. Teachers see the benefit of actively involving students into the research process, and often include field work in the study program. Real data collection can be time consuming and otherwise impractical. With the increasing availability of open data, teachers can carry out research-based learning activities using real data, without having to leave the classroom. Using open data in teaching also helps make scientific organisations more transparent. It further provides evidence that public money is well spent and that scientific knowledge is put to use for the society. Open data also opens up opportunities for teaching researchers to connect and share experiences, data and activities. Usually, collection of research data happens in the field or in a lab. The big challenge? Navigating oceans of information. An unprecedented number of experiments are being explored today in many science domains. Innovations, while incredibly exciting, have also exposed a fundamental weakness in laboratory operations: the collective inability to harness the power of the oceans of data we generate. So, we need an end-to-end data strategy and then execute against it: connecting data from disparate sources like labs, collaborators, and the real world to generate insights. According to the EC Vision, the EU's digital decade evolves digitalization with a clear focus on data, technology, and infrastructure. To be a leader in this new data-driven world, universities must fundamentally transform how they create, manage, and effectively use all the data that is generated in labs across their ecosystem, from internal labs to the many partners with whom they collaborate, to expose truly data-driven “digitally transformed labs”. Technologies such as extended reality, artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML) and Internet of Things (IoT) are mature and affordable enough today to enable real transformation of the lab.

Keywords: Open Data, Education of the Future, Digital Science, Research Data Management

Another Brick in the Wall: Theory or Practice? Classical Archaeology, field activity and on-site teaching

Gianfranco Adornato (SNS)

This paper focuses on a balanced approach to the archaeological discipline (field archaeology and art history) built on the direct experience of the students with objects, monuments, methodology, and field activity. Despite the recent distinction between these two main aspects (archaeology vs art history), in my perspective it seems more appropriate and stimulating to combine them through and thanks to specific on-site teaching. On-site activities allow students to learn in a different perspective: the materials from an excavation, for instance, are generally fragmented and a reconstruction of its biography (from the workshop to the function in various contexts to its final life) has to be detected. At the same time, objects on display in a museum are not discussed during classes: in front of a statue, an inscription, a monument, the student is requested to present and define its cultural, socio-historical, chronological, and art-historical frame. Combining these perspectives and these two moments (classes and on-site teaching) will allow students be more conscious of the multifaceted discipline and build another brick in the wall of their scientific growth.

Good practices - External Collaboration for RBL (industry perspective)

When Business Collaborates with University in Co- Creation: LetsInnomind A Challenged-Based Learning Program

Zeynep Erden Bayazıt (ITU) - Mehmet Demiray (Organik Kimya)

With the backdrop of the open innovation paradigm having been diffused, university business collaboration in the form of co-creation has started to take more attention as science-based co-creation has been shown to generate both social and economic value (De Silva et.al, 2021). This can be viewed as part of the extended model of the Triple Helix Model (Etzkowitz and Leydesdorff, 2000) to the quadruple helix (Carayannis and Campbell, 2012) which added civic society to the government-industry-university turning the attention more to generating social value. As UBC activities receiving more attention, they are also becoming more diversified in forms. One such form is the collaboration possibilities in education. Challenge based learning is defined as using scientific knowledge in addressing real problems in collaboration with actors of society (Leijon et.al., 2021). It is parallel to problem-based learning, or inquiry-based learning, transforming the passive learning experience into active learning. Stemming from medicine education, it has been largely used in engineering education. In addition to these two fields CBL has also found place in entrepreneurship education, business education (Leijon et.al, 2021). Entrepreneurship trainings are mostly done as project-based learning where participants work on a project in a particular set time frame. Hence, the approach is usually learning by doing and the focus is student centered learning. Students are independent and through the work, they develop their entrepreneurial skill sets such as problem-solving, critical thinking. In this paper, LetsInnomind challenge-based learning on sustainability will be used as a case for showing a successful university-business collaboration activity. The aim of the program was dual. On the part of the university organization, the aim was to strengthen the entrepreneurial skills, whereas as for the business partner the aim was to build relations with the new generations as well as understand the upcoming talent. While it is hard to measure the actual intentions, the smooth working relationship and the dialogues suggested that both organizations were altruistic during the process. The program will be analyzed by looking at the process in different phases. These phases are: 1) Decision of Collaboration 2) Inputs to Collaboration by the Actors 3) Management of the Collaboration. By looking at how the university and the firm acted in these phases, the paper aims to deconstruct the processes, trying to understand the drivers as well as challenges of such cooperation.

Keywords: Challenge based learning; University business collaboration; Co-creation; Education; Sustainability

ASELSAN Academy, A Graduate Education Program Fostering University-Industry Collaboration

Ayşe Aybike Şeker - Aselsan Academy, Academic Relations Department

In high-technology companies, a large proportion of employees are enrolled in graduate programs while working and they spend significant amount of time and effort on courses and research. High benefits can be obtained by engaging their education with the technologies they work on, which not only increases their competence in their professional career, but may also create useful technological outputs for their companies. ASELSAN has been implementing a novel model on graduate education since 2017, with the aim of aligning the graduate research of the employees with their projects in the company, and supporting them through various mechanisms for successful engagement. The courses are given in ASELSAN campus and all the laboratories and facilities of the company are available for the ongoing research. In this program, the students academically focus on their projects in the company and gain purposive insight, which maximizes the success rate and the impact of their education. As a more robust outcome, the program enables sustainable university-industry collaboration and supports co-creation. In addition to numerous scientific publications, many patent applications have been filed as the outputs of the theses.

Keywords: University-industry collaboration; Open innovation; Co-creation

Arcelik “Design Academy, Garage, Tech-Pro Academy, Atöyle 4.0”; New Game - New Rules for Corporates

Kadir Ceran (PhD)

R&D&I structures have evolved from closed hierarchical structures to open, eco-system connected, co-creation-focused; competence-based digital nomad tribes globally. VUCA world which has been accelerated with pandemic requirements leads to a new interaction between education, research, and innovation. Corporation need with startups, academy and even competitors has been evolved. Entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship programs have a major role than ever. Hybrid learning, online and offline circles are becoming a complimentary method beside conventional in-class training. Knowledge and network collaboration management need a pioneering approach as enablers become one of the major differentiators for competence to deliver convenient products in a faster cycle time in line with defined targets. Today’s customer’s demands for a digitally connected life urge new products more than home appliance products to complex smart home solutions portfolio. Arcelik has deployed new generation concepts to fulfill these requirements; Arcelik Garage (open innovation hub), Arcelik Design Academy (tailer made competence development), Arcelik Atölye 4.0 (digital transformation) and Arcelik Tech-Pro Academy (collaboration with Koç University) among other successful initiatives. Arcelik developed a global R&D network with academic advisors; a top patent applicant and one of the highest European Horizon R&D&I funds beneficiary company nationwide in 2019, 2020 and 2021 respectively. The World Economic Forum (WEF) has welcomed 2 Arçelik's plant into its “Global Lighthouse Network,” which recognizes leaders in utilizing Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies.

Keywords: Open innovation; Corporate Academy; Co-creation; Industry collaboration models, Education, Connectivity

Ravago Academy Hands-on Learning

Tugba Basargan Özsağıroğlu - Ravago - R&D Specialist

Don’t try to be the best, try work with the best” (Raf Van Gorp – Founder of Ravago).
As our target to work with the best, Ravago attaches importance to the development of its current and potential colleagues. To reach the well-educated people and to tailor their solid technical knowledge with real practical problems, Ravago creates not only internship opportunities but also University-Industry collaborations via graduate/undergraduate thesis. R&D Center in Turkey is the core for all research and research-based learning activities. It is like a second school for undergraduates/graduates while learning researching to find a solution for an industrial problem. By this way, Ravago finds an opportunity to enhance their research activities and meet with its future employee.

Experience sharing by EELISA Students

Judith Wahl (FAU)- Bendegúz Papp (BME)- The EELISA student council & local EELISA student

Keywords: EELISA students; Student involvement in EELISA

The EELISA student council was founded in 2021 and serves as a connection of the EELISA students and the EELISA governance (executive board, governing board, scientific board). It is important to have students represented in these boards so that the students of all EELISA universities can shape the future of the alliance and bring in their wishes and visions for the alliance. Apart from representing the 180,000 EELISA students, the student council wants to foster student communities and local student groups. FAU has founded a local EELISA student group that promotes the offers of the alliance for students and engages in EELISA events.

Eylül Berke Özgen (ITU) - An Experience Based on Innovation and Leadership

Keywords: EELISA; FAU; Innovation; Leadership

European Engineering Learning Innovation and Science Alliance (EELISA) is an alliance which aims to focusing on engineering, evolving interdisciplinary engineering learning possibilities, encouraging the knowledge, and making impact on society. This study presents the unique learning experience of one of the “EELISA students” from Istanbul Technical University (ITU) who has attended the course of “Innovation and Leadership” at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU). During the course, one of the real-life problems was taken and by having the vision of innovation, a solution created by the effort of an international, remote working team. The functionality and advantageousness of EELISA Courses are also investigated.

Good practices on RBL - Student Project Teams

Boosting Relationships between Academia and Industry - BRAIn

Theodora Pietreanu (UPB) - Applied Didactics in Engineering and Management

Societal and economic development depends on educational institutions to play a pivotal role in preparing the future workforce for promoting and fostering innovation at the workplace. Given this new and impactful mission of universities, innovation and creativity are fundamental to all academic disciplines and nonformal educational activities being a key element of the curriculum design process. BRAIn Project is an initiative of University POLITEHNICA of Bucharest, Instituto Superior Técnico and KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm for developing the innovation skills of students in Engineering. The project is kindly supported by the T.I.M.E. Association. The main goal is to promote business principles and the value of innovative thinking and self-efficiency among the participating students through coaching by industry partners. The BRAIn project focuses on bridging the competencies gap between university education outcomes and the demands of industry. The project is committed to the development of the innovation skills for undergraduate students in Engineering fields. The participants to the project are introduced to design thinking (DT), as a methodology to boost innovation, and project-based learning (PBL) where the focus is on the application of project management principles in an authentic learning environment. In addition to this, we invite industry partners to assign coaches who offer technical support and provide insight on projects that the participants would embark on. In order to support extensive learning, the project blends face-to-face instruction and training with online learning.

2SPACE: Students involved in the space industry

Ștefania-Maria (UPB) - Business Engineering and Management

STUDENTS2SPACE is a NGO that aims to provide support and guidance for students passionate about the space industry, especially rocketry. The main activity takes place inside the Research Center CAMPUS within University POLITEHNICA of Bucharest, Romania. The team has grown both numerically and in terms of domains. Half the students involved in this project come from the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering, but the team also includes students from fields such as Automatic Control and Computer Science Engineering, Electronics, Telecommunications and Information Technology, as well as students with experience in graphics and management, providing both technical and business insights needed for the rocket development and services, so it has a multi-cultural and cross-border background, contributing to engineering with innovative methods. Having a research-based learning approach, the team is working on all the rocket systems: structure, communication, and control, as they manufacture their own electronics and telemetry. The students are constantly seeking improvements; therefore, they constantly experiment to make rockets from various types of composite materials. Until now, 2SPACE has successfully launched a test rocket from a special area situated in Buzău. To benefit the most of this experience, a start-up was founded. 2SPACE aims to offer an alternative fast and affordable transportation for nanosatellites. There are a lot of challenges in this business area, as it is a blue ocean strategy in Romania, especially. It is very important that every person in any field has a tangent with what his colleagues in other departments work, so that everyone can have the same experience and can broaden their vision of the project from other points of view. This initiative is one of a kind in the national aerospace domain, as Romania did not invest much in students’ aerospace projects and associations before.

Autobee Learning and Working Process

İrem Onuş (ITU) - Astronautical Engineering

Autobee is an unmanned autonomous systems team established at Istanbul Technical University, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering. After its establishment in 2016, it participated in the IGVC (Intelligent Ground Vehicle Competition) organized by Oklahoma University in the United States as its first work. We are currently working on autonomous vehicles in air, land, and water. Our team consists of 5 departments, including aerodynamic, mechanical, electronic, software and organization. There are 5 competitions that we are actively preparing for. These are IGVC, Roboik and Teknofest in 3categories unmanned aerial vehicles (2 different subcategories) and Agricultural unmanned land vehicles. Apart from these, we are working on the autonomousization of VTOL and unmanned land vehicles for military observation. During the project process, we first examine the vehicles that were built similar to the ones we plan to build and the research about them. Then, we determine the features that our vehicle should have on the data we obtained from these examinations, create a design, transfer this design to the computer environment and analyze it. In line with these analyzes, we see our mistakes and focus on them. After completing these stages, we select the appropriate materials and start production. After production, we perform test drives. In the light of the outputs, we have obtained in these tests, we fix the problems, if any, and make our vehicle most suitable for the competition. These studies enable us to consolidate our knowledge in the lessons, learn more in detail and transfer our theoretical knowledge into practice. Apart from these studies, we provide training on the programs we use for our young friends. As Autobee, one of the most important goals we see is to train successful engineer candidates who have an idea about areas other than their own specialization, can work interdisciplinary, can design by considering production possibilities in their work, and can learn from their mistakes.

ECRIDA: 3D Printing by Curing Resin In-orbit using UV Digital Light Processing Apparatus

Constantin Romică Stoica (UPB) - Faculty of Industrial Design and Robotics / Strength of Materials Department

ECRIDA is a student project participating in the REXUS/BEXUS campaign that develops a UV resin 3D printer device capable of working in the low-gravity environment offered by the REXUS rocket flight to study the influence of gravity on the mechanical and physical properties of photocurable polymers. REXUS/BEXUS is a campaign organized by a bilateral Agency Agreement between the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) and the Swedish National Space Agency (SNSA) in cooperation with European Space Agency (ESA). It gives students that are studying in ESA member states the opportunity to carry out scientific experiments on-board sounding rockets in parabolic flights and high-altitude balloons. Thus, the team members are engaged in designing a UV digital light processing apparatus with the aid of modern engineering tools like CAD, CAM and FEM. The 3D printer had to fit in the 300x350mm rocket module, resist of 20g launch acceleration and 6g RMS accelerations on 3 axes during the flight. The body of the experiment is machined from aluminium 7075T6 and is hermetically sealed to be able the function in near perfect vacuum, at an altitude of 90 kilometres (the apogee of the parabolic flight). The main objective of the ECRIDA experiment is to describe the impact of low gravity on the UV resin 3D printing process by comparing samples printed on Earth with samples printed in space. Due to the requirements of the host vehicle and driven by the novel design of the device, a thorough design, testing and validation campaign must be planned and completed to qualify the device for flight and maximise the success of the scientific objectives. The result of the team, at the current state of development, is a 3D printer capable to manufacture tensile samples on- board of the REXUS launcher. The experiment is different from commercial devices, on the optics side, because it uses a light mask instead of an LCD screen and the printer can print objects in the shape of the mask. The project can be further improved with the addition on an LCD screen, but careful qualification must be done to ensure the functionality after the launch loads and vibrations during flight. The practical aspect of the project is the incipient study of on- orbit manufacturing, an emerging domain with benefits in the space debris mitigation, habitat creation on other planets and new ways to send spacecrafts or supplies into orbit. The originality of the project consists in the development of a resin 3D printer capable to resist the launch loads with the ability to print in milligravity.

UPB Drive: Formula Student Team

Mihai-Liviu Băiașu (UPB) - Faculty of Industrial Engineering and Robotics

UPB Drive is a NGO that aims to provide support and guidance for students passionate about the engineering, especially motorsport. The main activity takes place inside the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Mechatronics, within University POLITEHNICA of Bucharest, Romania. UPB Drive doesn’t just mean theory end engineering, it means a lot of dedication and teamwork. We strive to learn from one another and collaborate, so that the new team members can quickly get up to speed and have a basis on which to develop the project even further. The team consists of students from different faculties, such as Robotics, Mechanics and Mechatronics, Automatics, Telecommunications Robotics, Aerospace Engineering, Engineering in Foreign Languages and more. The project is open to any student who wants to apply what they have learned, having departments such as powertrain, aerodynamics, chassis, electronics, marketing and fundraising. We challenge students with drive, passion for engineering and motorsport to put the theory they learn in college to good use, in a hands-on project. A place where every student of the Politehnica University of Bucharest can learn, think freely, design and finally implement solutions in the area of motorsport engineering. The competition is similar to the format of Formula 1, since each competitors’ car must adhere to the same rules and regulations, imposed by the governing body. Therefore, the car must be redesigned and rebuilt annually.

Research Based Learning In Pars Rocket Team

Elif Gökbulak - Mathematical Engineering

Research based learning is one of the methods we use when we encounter a problem during the studies of our team. When we encounter a problem, we first determine our approach by brainstorming. In this brainstorming, we come up with many different ideas and determine the path we will follow while doing our research. The ways we generally follow are literature review, determining how we can apply the found information to our own system, and testing them in field research. What the literature review has given us is to see how others have tried to solve the problem we are dealing with on this topic, and which ways have been more effective. In this way, we have a good point to start our research and we add our own ideas on top of the information we have gained and start trying them out. First, we design in engineering applications such as Matlab, OpenRocket, Ansys. The data we get from the programs doesn't exactly match the real world, but they greatly reduce the range for us to try. We bring our system to the optimum point with iteration. These processes actually become the foundations of engineering, and thanks to these project teams, we learn how to adapt the information we learned at school to the real world and learn the working principle before entering business life.

UNITOPIA

Sunda Ün (ITU) - Management Engineering

Team ITUTOPIA's project, UNITOPIA, emerged with the idea of creating a virtual campus platform and a common sharing network in order to improve the campus experiences of students who have been away from their universities and friends during the Covid-19 pandemic. The explosions in metaverse and blockchain technologies during the postpandemic period showed us how inclined our project is to these areas, and we have updated our work accordingly. Even if life will return to normal when the pandemic is over, UNITOPIA will continue to be an agile and up-to-date project as we will base our project on the popular technologies of our time such as metaverse and blockchain. Our demo, which we created using the Unity game engine, is now ready for use as a desktop and mobile application. The demo connected to the Photon Engine server can serve up to 20 users at the moment. In-app graphics were designed using the pixel drawing method over the Piskel application, and Unitopia's interfaces were kept simple. In this way, it is aimed that the application will work in an optimized way on all technological products. In our project, the graphics will be inspired by the real campuses of universities and a realistic experience will be offered to the students. Being a multi-user and real-time application, it is aimed to provide a real experience to the users. In addition, it is aimed to increase the functionality of the project with the integration of the application into the blockchain system, while it is planned to increase its popularity by incorporating into the metaverse universe. Since we started our project about 1.5 years ago at the beginning of our university lives, we have progressed by learning many things from scratch, from software to marketing, and we have come a long way until today. At the point we have reached today, we are still very excited about our project and learning new things. Finally, as Metaverse and blockchain technologies are arising technologies of our time, as a team, it provides ITUTOPIA an extra advantage in its research-based learning journey.

RoboCup – Learning through robotics-based soccer

Paul Bergmann (FAU)

Learning is often best achieved by solving practical problems. At the RoboCup, students from all over the world come together to work on various challenges related to robotics, e.g. kinematics, and artificial intelligence. The RoboCup is composed of different leagues, with the prime focus being on robotic soccer. One of these leagues, the Small Size League (SSL), features small, relatively fast cylindrical robots with team sizes of eleven. This leads to dynamic games with a focus on inter-robot interaction and larger scale team strategies. Because of the given constraints of the Small Size League, problems such as multiagent coordination and efficient path planning in adversarial domains are in the spotlight. In this talk, a short introduction to the RoboCup and a more in-depth view into the Small Size League will be presented. Furthermore, the merits of the competition for the purposes of learning will be given.

Keywords: Artificial intelligence; Electrical engineering; Mechanical engineering; RoboCup; Robotics; Small Size League; Software engineering

Drone project - Highly Efficient eVTOL Drones by Evolonic

Adrian Sauer (FAU)

Evolonic is an interdisciplinary student team developing battery electric vertical take-off and landing aircrafts “eVTOLs”. The team consists of about 30 students from various fields of studies, such as Mechatronics, Artificial Intelligence, Business Administration and Nano Technology. With the aircraft “Night Fury”, Evolonic reached 1st place in the international model-design and flight contest “New Flying Competition 2020” in Hamburg. The highly efficient fully electric drone fulfills delivery missions with a minimal amount of energy and combines the flexibility of a multirotor system with the cruise endurance of a typical aircraft. Currently the Team develops a new autonomous drone for the upcoming competition, taking place in Hamburg at the end of September 2022. Besides the typical delivery mission, the focus off the contest is a search and identify mission. For that reason, the team develops and integrates new sensor technologies in combination with modern computer vision algorithms and artificial intelligence.

Keywords: Artificial Intelligence; Aviation; Battery electric; eVTOL; Drones; UAV

Kasva HidroMobile Car Team

Ahmet Faruk Keşli (ITU) - Electrical Engineering

As KASVA HidroMobile, we did not limit our vision to only revealing our vehicle. We also aimed to prepare our friends for business life. As KASVA HidroMobile, we are a team that is not only result-oriented, but also gives importance to the process. When it comes to our work, we tried to create a product from scratch, mostly domestic production. In my opinion, the best feeling a person can taste in his life is to create a product from scratch as a result of his work. Although we encountered obstacles on this path from time to time, we always knew how to overcome them as a team, at least we set this as our goal. We are a younger and immature team compared to other ITU teams. However, this has never discouraged us, on the contrary, we are a visionary, innovative team that aims to go further and bring new information to our home every day. From time to time, we got into a deadlock in technical matters, but thanks to ITU teachers and team spirit, we were able to get out of this. We could not achieve the success we aimed as a team in the past years, but this made us more ambitious than intimidated. In order to promote our vehicle, our power source ceased to be just an electric battery, as it was in previous years, and we integrated the hydrogen tank technology, which took our vehicle to the next level. In this way, we became the pioneer of hydromobile technology, which we think will become widespread in the future, at ITU. As KASVA HidroMobile, we produced our vehicle in our first years, entered the race and won the title of finalist even if it was impossible. However, this year, we aim to achieve what we targeted and failed to achieve in previous years. There is a really ambitious and determined team this year. In a world where electric vehicles will become widespread in the future, everyone who wants to take part in the vehicle industry should invest in this technology and give it the value it deserves. Even this symposium that is taking place here shows that the people here are devoted to this work. People who care about this job and want to change the world are here. Let's continue to work for a greener, greener, cleaner future.