Proceedings of the 23rd Annual Biochemical Engineering Symposium

The 23rd Annual Biochemical Engineering Symposium was held at the University of Oklahoma on April 17, 1993. The objectives of the symposium were to provide 1) a forum for informal discussion of biochemical engineering research being carried at the participating universities and 2) an opportunity for students to present and publish their work. Thirteen papers presented at the symposium are included in the proceedings. Because final publication usually takes place in refereed journals, the articles included here are typically brief and often cover work in progress. The program of the symposium and a list of participants are included in the proceedings. ContentsA Low-Cost Bioreactor Strategy for RNA Synthesis, H. Anthony Marble, Eleni Chrisikos, and Robert H. Davis Development of a CELSS Bioreactor: Oxygen Transfer and Micromixing in Parabolic Flight, P.E. Villeneuve, K.S. Wenger, B.G. Thompson, T. Kedar, and E.H. Dunlop Scale-up of Dexter Murine Bone Marrow Cultures Utilizing a Three-Dimensional Fiberglass Support Matrix, John G. Highfill, Paul Todd, Steve Haley, and Dhinaker Kompala Modeling and Estimation of States of Recombinant Fermentations Using Nonlinear Input/Output Models, Vicotr M. Saucedo and M. Nazmul Karim Deadent Microfiltration of Bovine Serum Albumin Suspension Through Yeast Cake Layers and Assymetric Polymeric Membranes, Naveen Arora and Robert H. Davis Monitoring the Fate of Toluene and Phenol in the Rhizosphere, N. Muralidharan, Lawrence C. Davis, and Larry E. Erickson Hydrodynamic Motions Associated with Bubble Coalescence and Breakup, T.Y. Yiin, L.A. Glasgow, and L.E. Erickson Expression and Purification of a-Human Atrial Natriuretic Peptide in Escherichia coli by Fusion with L-Asparaginase, Nien-Tung Ma and Roger G. Harrison High Pressure Crystallization of Proteins, Mungara V. Saikumar, Charles E. Glatz, and Maurice A. Larson Structure/Function Relationships in the Catalytic and Starch Binding Domains of Glucoamylase, Pedro M. Coutinho, Clark Ford, Peter J. Reilly Cellular Responses of Insect Cell Spodoptera frugiperda to Environmental Stresses, Paul Yeh, Grace Y. Sun, Gary A. Weisman, Rakesh Bajpai A Novel Approach to Understanding the Antimicrobial Activity of Peptides, Naveen Pathak, Marie-Helene Janna, Gael Ruche, David McCarthy, and Roger Harrison Mass Transfer in the Bioremediation of Soils Contaminated with Trapped Non-Aqueous Phase Liquids, Xiaoqing Yang, Larry E. Jacobson, and L.T. Fan

Proceedings of the 22nd Annual Biochemical Engineering Symposium

This is the twenty-second of a series of symposia devoted to talks and posters by students about their biochemical engineering research. The first, third, fifth, ninth, twelfth, sixteenth, and twenti~th were hosted by Kansas State University, the second and fourth by the University of Nebraska- Lincoln, the sixth, seventh, tenth, thirteenth, seventeenth, and twenty-second by Iowa State University, the eighth, fourteenth, and nineteenth by the University of Missouri-Columbia, the eleventh, fifteenth, and twenty-first by Colorado State University, and the eighteenth by the University of Colorado. Next year's symposium will be at the University of Oklahoma. Symposium proceedings are edited and issued by faculty of the host institution. Because final publication usually takes place in refereed journals, articles included here are brief and often cover work in progress. ContentsC. A. Baldwin, J.P. McDonald, and L. E. Erickson, Kansas State University. Effect of Hydrocarbon Phase on Kinetic and Transport Limitations for Bioremediation of Microporous Soil J. C. Wang, S. K. Banerji, and Rakesh Bajpai, University of Missouri-Columbia. Migration of PCP in Soil-Columns in Presence of a Second Organic Phase Cheng-Hsien Hsu and Roger G. Harrison, University of Oklahoma. Bacterial Leaching of Zinc and Copper from Mining Wastes James A. Searles, Paul Todd, and Dhinakar S. Kompala, University of Colorado. Suspension Culture of Chinese Hamster Ovary Cells Utilizing Inclined Sedimentation Ron Beyerinck and Eric H. Dunlop, Colorado State University. The Effect of Feed Zone Turbulence as Measured by Laser Doppler Velocimetry on Baker's Yeast Metabolism in a Chemostat Paul Li-Hong Yeh, GraceY. Sun, Gary A. Weisman, and Rakesh Bajpai, University of Missouri-Columbia. Effect of Medium Constituents upon Membrane Composition of Insect Cells R. Shane Gold, M. M. Meagher, R. Hutkins, and T. Conway, University of Nebraska-Lincoin. Ethanol Tolerance and Carbohydrate Metabolism in Lactobacilli John Sargantanis and M. N. Karim, Colorado State University. Application of Kalman Filter and Adaptive Control in Solid Substrate Fermentation D. Vrana, M. Meagher, and R. Hutkins, University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Product Recovery Optimization in the ABE Fermentation Kalyan R. Tadikonda and Robert H. Davis, University of Colorado. Cell Separations Using Targeted Monoclonal Antibodies Against Surface Proteins Meng H. Heng and Charles E. Glatz, Iowa State University. Charged Fusion for Selective Recovery of B-Galactosidase from Cell Extract Using Hollow Fiber Ion-Exchange Membrane Adsorption Hsiu-Mei Chen, Peter J. Reilly, and Clark Ford, Iowa State University. Site-Directed Mutagenesis to Enhance Thermostability of Glucoamylase from Aspergillus: A Rational Approach P. Tuitemwong, L. E. Erickson, and D. Y. C. Fung, Kansas State University. Applications of Enzymatic Hydrolysis and Fermentation on the Reduction of Flatulent Sugars in the Rapid Hydration Hydrothermal Cooked Soy Milk Sanjeev Redkar and Robert H. Davis, University of Colorado. Crossflow Microfiltration of Yeast Suspensions Linda Henk and James C. Linden, Colorado State University, and Irving C. Anderson, Iowa State University. Evaluation of Sorghum Ensilage as an Ethanol Feedstock Marc Lipovitch and James C. Linden, Colorado State University. Stability and Biomass Feedstock Pretreatability for Simultaneous Saccharification and Fermentation Ali Demirci, Anthony L. Pometto Ill, and Kenneth E. Johnson, Iowa State University. Application of Biofilm Reactors in Lactic Acid Fermentation Michael K. Dowd, Peter I. Reilly, and WalterS. Trahanovsky, Iowa State University. Low Molecular-Weight Organic Composition of Ethanol Stillage from Corn Craig E. Forney, Meng H. Heng, John R. Luther, Mark Q. Niederauer, and Charles E. Glatz, Iowa State University. Enhancement of Protein Separation Using Genetic Engineering J. F. Shimp, J. C. Tracy, E. Lee, L. C. Davis, and L. E. Erickson, Kansas State University. Modeling Contaminant Transport, Biodegradation and Uptake by Plants in the Rhizosphere Xiaoqing Yang, L. E. Erickson, and L. T. Fan, Kansas State University. Modeling of Dispersive-Convective Characteristics in Bioremediation of Contaminated Soil Jan Johansson and Rakesh Bajpai, University of Missouri-Columbia. Fouling of Membranes J. M. Wang, S. K. Banerji, and R. K. Bajpai, University of Missouri-Columbia. Migration of Sodium-Pentachorophenol (Na-PCP) in Unsaturated and Saturated Soil-Columns J. Sweeney and M. Meagher, University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The Purification of Alpha-D-Glucuronidase from Trichoderma reesei

Proceedings of the 24th Annual Biochemical Engineering Symposium

The 24th Biochemical Engineering Symposium was held 9-10 September 1994 at the YMCA of the Rockies conference center in Estes Park, Colorado, under the sponsorship of the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Colorado. Previous symposia in this series have been hosted by Kansas State University (1st, 3rd, 5th, 9th, 12th, 16th, 20th), University of Nebraska-Lincoln (2nd, 4th), Iowa State University (6th, 7th, 10th, 13th, 17th, 22nd), University of Missouri-Columbia (8th, 14th, 19th), Colorado State University (11th, 15th, 21st), University of Colorado (18th), and the University of Oklahoma (23rd). The next symposium is scheduled to be held at the University of Missouri-Columbia. The symposia are devoted to talks by students about their ongoing research. Because final publication usually takes place elsewhere, the papers included in the proceedings are brief, and often cover work in progress. ContentsIn-Well Aeration: An Innovative Subsurface Remediation TechnologyPrashant Gandhi, X. Yang, L.E. Erickson, and L. T. Fan; Kansas State University Expression of an Antimicrobial Peptide Analog in Eacherlchill coliChris Haught and Roger G. Harrison; University of Oklahoma Using High-frequency Backpulaing to Maximize Croasflow Filtration PerformanceSanjeev G. Redkar and Robert H. Davis; University of Colorado Low Molecular Weight Organic Compositions of Acid Waters from Vegetable Oil SoapstocksSteven L. Johansen, Arunthathi Sivasothy, Peter J. Reilly, and Earl G. Hammond; Iowa State University; Michael K. Dowd; U.S. Department of Agriculture Gas Phase Composition Effects on Suspension Cultures of Taxus cuspidata Noushin Mirjalili and James C. Linden; Colorado State University Cybernetic Modeling of Spontaneous Oscillations in Continuous Cultures of Ssccharomyces cerevisiaeKenneth D. Jones and Dhinakar S. Kompala; University of Colorado The Effect of Turbulent Shear on Calcium Mobilization in Mammalian CellsChristopher M. Cannizzaro, Pradyumna K. Namdev, and Eric H. Dunlop; Colorado State University Experimental Studies of Droplet Ejection at the Free Surface In Sparged ReactorsT. Y. Yiin, L A. Glasgow, and L. E. Erickson; Kansas State University The Role of Domain E (Starch-Binding Region) on the Activity of a Bacillus macersns Cyclodextrln GlucanotransferaseHai-yin Chang, Trang Le, and Zivko L. Nikolov; Iowa State University Use of the Rotating Wall Vessel for Study of Plant Cell Suspension CulturesXinzhi Sun and James C. Linden; Colorado State University A Novel Counter-Current Distribution Apparatus for the Study of Multi-Stage Aqueous Two-Phase Extraction of Biomolecules and Cell ParticlesMartin R. Guinn and Paul Todd; University of Colorado The Dynamics of Unhooking and Contraction of a Polyelectrolyte Chain Around an Isolated PostLin Zhang and Edith M. Sevick; University of Colorado A Laboratory Study of the Fate of Trichloroathylene and 1,1,1-Trlchloroathane In the Presence of Alfalfa PlantsMuralidharan Narayanan, Ryan M. Green, Lawrence C. Davis, and Larry E. Erickson; Kansas State University Modeling the Fate of Pyrene In the RhIzosphereS.K. Santharam, LE. Erickson, and L. T. Fan; Kansas State University Derivatization of MaltooligosaccharidesDaniela Prinz, Peter J. Reilly, and Zivko L. Nikolov; Iowa State University Probing Surfactant-Protein Binding by EPA SpectroscopyNarendra B. Bam, Yale University; Theodore W. Randolph; University of Colorado Optimization of a Stir-Cell Bioreactor for In Vitro Production of RNANeal T. Williams, Kim A. Wicklund, and Robert H. Davis; University of Colorado

Alternative Assessment in Engineering Language Education: The case of the Technical University of Madrid

This article describes a research project involving students from nine different engineering degrees at the Technical university of Madrid. The purpose of the project was to analyze the use of peer and self assessment and the students? attitudes toward alternative assessment procedures.

A new way of teaching different subjects in a foreign language in the Building Engineering Degree at the Universidad Politécnica.

The European Union has been promoting linguistic diversity for many years as one of its main educational goals. This is an element that facilitates student mobility and student exchanges between different universities and countries and enriches the education of young undergraduates. In particular, a higher degree of competence in the English language is becoming essential for engineers, architects and researchers in general, as English has become the lingua franca that opens up horizons to internationalisation and the transfer of knowledge in today’s world. Many experts point to the Integrated Approach to Contents and Foreign Languages System as being an option that has certain benefits over the traditional method of teaching a second language that is exclusively based on specific subjects. This system advocates teaching the different subjects in the syllabus in a language other than one’s mother tongue, without prioritising knowledge of the language over the subject. This was the idea that in the 2009/10 academic year gave rise to the Second Language Integration Programme (SLI Programme) at the Escuela Arquitectura Técnica in the Universidad Politécnica Madrid (EUATM-UPM), just at the beginning of the tuition of the new Building Engineering Degree, which had been adapted to the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) model. This programme is an interdisciplinary initiative for the set of subjects taught during the semester and is coordinated through the Assistant Director Office for Educational Innovation. The SLI Programme has a dual goal; to familiarise students with the specific English terminology of the subject being taught, and at the same time improve their communication skills in English. A total of thirty lecturers are taking part in the teaching of eleven first year subjects and twelve in the second year, with around 120 students who have voluntarily enrolled in a special group in each semester. During the 2010/2011 academic year the degree of acceptance and the results of the SLI Programme have been monitored. Tools have been designed to aid interdisciplinary coordination and to analyse satisfaction, such as coordination records and surveys. The results currently available refer to the first and second year and are divided into specific aspects of the different subjects involved and into general aspects of the ongoing experience.

Multidisciplinary Learning, Another way of Teaching Maths in Engineering

Multidisciplinary training is widely appreciated in industry and business, and nevertheless usually is not addressed in the early stages of most undergraduate programs. We outline here a multidisciplinary course for undergraduates studying engineering in which mathematics would be the common language, the transverse tool. The goal is motivating students to learn more mathematics and as a result, improve the quality of engineering education. The course would be structured around projects in four branches in engineering: mechanical, electrical, civil and bio-tech. The projects would be chosen among a wide variety of topics in engineering practice selected with the guidance of professional engineers. In these projects mathematics should interact with at least two other basic areas of knowledge in engineering: chemistry, computers science, economics, design or physics.

From Secondary School To University: Attracting Young Students Towards A Career In Nuclear

From its creation, Spanish Young Generation in Nuclear (Jóvenes Nucleares, JJNN), a non-profit organization that depends on the Spanish Nuclear Society (SNE), has as an important scope to help spread knowledge about nuclear energy, not only pointing out its advantages and its role in our society, but also trying to correct some of the ideas that are due to the biased information and to the lack of knowledge. To try to have success in that goal, some high school lectures were taught and it has been organized regularly a Basic Course on Nuclear Science and Technology

Motivating Young Students to Start a Career in Nuclear: The Basic Course of Science and Nuclear Technology, An Educational Activity of Spanish Young Generation in Nuclear (JÓVENES NUCLEARES)

The main objective of this course, conducted by Jóvenes Nucleares (Spanish Young Generation in Nuclear, JJNN), a non-profit organization that depends on the Spanish Nuclear Society (SNE) is to pass on basic knowledge about Science and Nuclear Technology to the general public, mostly students and introduce them to its most relevant points. The purposes of this course are to provide general information, to answer the most common questions about Nuclear Energy and to motivate the young students to start a career in nuclear. Therefore, it is directed mainly to high school and university students, but also to general people that wants to learn about the key issues of such an important matter in our society. Anybody could attend the course, as no specific scientific education is required. The course is done at least once a year, during the Annual Meeting of the Spanish Nuclear Society, which takes place in a different Spanish city each time. The course is done also to whichever university or institution that asks for it to JJNN, with the only limit of the presenter´s availability. The course is divided into the following chapters: Physical nuclear and radiation principles, Nuclear power plants, Nuclear safety, Nuclear fuel, Radioactive waste, Decommission of nuclear facilities, Future nuclear power plants, Other uses of nuclear technology, Nuclear energy, climate change and sustainable development. The course is divided into 15 minutes lessons on the above topics, imparted by young professionals, experts in the field that belongs either to the Spanish Young Generation in Nuclear, either to companies and institutions related with nuclear energy. At the end of the course, a 200 pages book with the contents of the course is handed to every member of the audience. This book is also distributed in other course editions at high schools and universities in order to promote the scientific dissemination of the Nuclear Technology. As an extra motivation, JJNN delivers a course certificate to the assistants. At the end of the last edition course, in Santiago de Compostela, the assistants were asked to provide a feedback about it. Some really interesting lessons were learned, that will be very useful to improve next editions of the course. As a general conclusion of the courses it can be said that many of the students that have assisted to the course have increased their motivation in the nuclear field, and hopefully it will help the young talents to choose the nuclear field to develop their careers

Introducing Nuclear Energy to High-School Students: The Spanish Young Generation in Nuclear (Jóvenes Nucleares) Lectures

One of the main goals of Spanish Young Generation (JJNN) is to spread knowledge about nuclear energy, not only pointing out its advantages and its role in our society, but also trying to correct some of the ideas that are due to the biased information and to the lack of knowledge. With this goal in mind, lectures were given in several high schools, aimed at students ranging from 14 to 18 years old. This paper explains the experience accumulated during those talks and the conclusions that can be drawn, so as to better focus the communication about nuclear energy, especially the one aimed at a young public. In order to evaluate the degree of knowledge and information on a specific topic of a given group of individuals, statistical methods must be used. At the beginning of each lecture (and sometimes at the end, in order to evaluate the impact of the talk) the students were submitted to a short survey conducted by Spanish Young Generation. It consisted in eight questions, dealing with the relation between the main environmental issues (global warming, acid rain, radioactive waste…) and nuclear energy. The answers can be surprising, especially for professionals of the nuclear field who, since they are so familiar with this topic, often forget that this is just the case of a minority of people. A better knowledge of the degree of information of a given group enables to focus and personalize the communication. Another communication tool is the direct contact with students: it starts with their questions, which can then lead to a small debate. If the surveys inform about the topics they are unaware of, the direct exchange with them enables to find the most effective way to provide them the information. Of course, it depends a lot on the public attending the talk (age, background…) and on the debate following the talk: a good communication, adapted to the public, is necessary. Therefore, the outcome of the performed exercise is that Spanish teenagers have still a lack of knowledge about nuclear energy. We can learn that items that are evident for nuclear young professionals are unknown for high school teenagers

Assessment of work performed by paired students: a pedagogical experience

“Teamwork” is one of the abilities most valued by employers. In [16] we describe the process of adapting to the ECTS methodologies (for ongoing assessment), a course in computer programming for students in a technical degree (Marine Engineering, UPM) not specifically dedicated to computing. As a further step in this process we have emphasized cooperative learning. For this, the students were paired and the work of each pair was evaluated via surprise tests taken and graded jointly, and constituting a substantial part of the final grade. Here we document this experience, discussing methodological aspects, describing indicators for measuring the impact of these methodologies on the educational experience, and reporting on the students’ opinion of it.

Integrated learning of computer applications for production engineering

A high productivity rate in Engineering is related to an efficient management of the flow of the large quantities of information and associated decision making activities that are consubstantial to the Engineering processes both in design and production contexts. Dealing with such problems from an integrated point of view and mimicking real scenarios is not given much attention in Engineering degrees. In the context of Engineering Education, there are a number of courses designed for developing specific competencies, as required by the academic curricula, but not that many in which integration competencies are the main target. In this paper, a course devoted to that aim is discussed. The course is taught in a Marine Engineering degree but the philosophy could be used in any Engineering field. All the lessons are given in a computer room in which every student can use each all the treated software applications. The first part of the course is dedicated to Project Management: the students acquire skills in defining, using Ms-PROJECT, the work breakdown structure (WBS), and the organization breakdown structure (OBS) in Engineering projects, through a series of examples of increasing complexity, ending up with the case of vessel construction. The second part of the course is dedicated to the use of a database manager, Ms-ACCESS, for managing production related information. A series of increasing complexity examples is treated ending up with the management of the pipe database of a real vessel. This database consists of a few thousand of pipes, for which a production timing frame is defined, which connects this part of the course with the first one. Finally, the third part of the course is devoted to the work with FORAN, an Engineering Production package of widespread use in the shipbuilding industry. With this package, the frames and plates where all the outfitting will be carried out are defined through cooperative work by the studens, working simultaneously in the same 3D model. In the paper, specific details about the learning process are given. Surveys have been posed to the students in order to get feed-back from their experience as well as to assess their satisfaction with the learning process. Results from these surveys are discussed in the paper

Migration to an a on-line laboatory in mechanical engineering. The case of a cam-follower design practice.

The European Higher Education Area (EHEA) has leaded to a change in the way the subjects are taught. One of the more important aspects of the EHEA is to support the autonomous study of the students. Taking into account this new approach, the virtual laboratory of the subject Mechanisms of the Aeronautical studies at the Technical University of Madrid is being migrated to an on-line scheme. This virtual laboratory consist on two practices: the design of cam-follower mechanisms and the design of trains of gears. Both practices are software applications that, in the current situation, need to be installed on each computer and the students carry out the practice at the computer classroom of the school under the supervision of a teacher. During this year the design of cam-follower mechanisms practice has been moved to a web application using Java and the Google Development Toolkit. In this practice the students has to design and study the running of a cam to perform a specific displacement diagram with a selected follower taking into account that the mechanism must be able to work properly at high speed regime. The practice has maintained its objectives in the new platform but to take advantage of the new methodology and try to avoid the inconveniences that the previous version had shown. Once the new practice has been ready, a pilot study has been carried out to compare both approaches: on-line and in-lab. This paper shows the adaptation of the cam and follower practice to an on-line methodology. Both practices are described and the changes that has been done to the initial one are shown. They are compared and the weak and strong points of each one are analyzed. Finally we explain the pilot study carried out, the students impression and the results obtained.

Migration to an a on.line laboratory in mechanical engineering. The case of a cam follower design practice.

The European Higher Education Area (EHEA) has leaded to a change in the way the subjects are taught. One of the more important aspects of the EHEA is to support the autonomous study of the students. Taking into account this new approach, the virtual laboratory of the subject Mechanisms of the Aeronautical studies at the Technical University of Madrid is being migrated to an on-line scheme. This virtual laboratory consist on two practices: the design of cam-follower mechanisms and the design of trains of gears. Both practices are software applications that, in the current situation, need to be installed on each computer and the students carry out the practice at the computer classroom of the school under the supervision of a teacher. During this year the design of cam-follower mechanisms practice has been moved to a web application using Java and the Google Development Toolkit. In this practice the students has to design and study the running of a cam to perform a specific displacement diagram with a selected follower taking into account that the mechanism must be able to work properly at high speed regime. The practice has maintained its objectives in the new platform but to take advantage of the new methodology and try to avoid the inconveniences that the previous version had shown. Once the new practice has been ready, a pilot study has been carried out to compare both approaches: on-line and in-lab. This paper shows the adaptation of the cam and follower practice to an on-line methodology. Both practices are described and the changes that has been done to the initial one are shown. They are compared and the weak and strong points of each one are analyzed. Finally we explain the pilot study carried out, the students impression and the results obtained.

News in engineering education in Spain effective from 2010 in presence of external changes and mixed crisis, looking mostly to agro and civil engineers.

The engineering careers models were diverse in Europe, and are adopting now in Spain the Bolonia process for European Universities. Separated from older Universities, that are in part technically active, Civil Engineering (Caminos, Canales y Puertos) started at end of 18th century in Spain adopting the French models of Upper Schools for state civil servants with exam at entry. After 1800 intense wars, to conserve forest regions Ingenieros de Montes appeared as Upper School, and in 1855 also the Ingenieros Agrónomos to push up related techniques and practices. Other Engineers appeared as Upper Schools but more towards private factories. These ES got all adapted Lower Schools of Ingeniero Tecnico. Recently both grew much in number and evolved, linked also to recognized Professions. Spanish society, into European Community, evolved across year 2000, in part highly well, but with severe discordances, that caused severe youth unemployment with 2008-2011 crisis. With Bolonia process high formal changes step in from 2010-11, accepted with intense adaptation. The Lower Schools are changing towards the Upper Schools, and both that have shifted since 2010-11 various 4-years careers (Grado), some included into the precedent Professions, and diverse Masters. Acceptation of them to get students has started relatively well, and will evolve, and acceptation of new grades for employment in Spain, Europe or outside will be essential. Each Grado has now quite rigid curricula and programs, MOODLE was introduced to connect pupils, some specific uses of Personal Computers are taught in each subject. Escuela de Agronomos centre, reorganized with its old name in its precedent buildings at entrance of Campus Moncloa, offers Grados of Agronomic Engineering and Science for various public and private activities for agriculture, Alimentary Engineering for alimentary activities and control, Agro-Environmental Engineering more related to environment activities, and in part Biotechnology also in laboratories in Campus Monte-Gancedo for Biotechnology of Plants and Computational Biotechnology. Curricula include Basics, Engineering, Practices, Visits, English, ?project of end of career?, Stays. Some masters will conduce to specific professional diploma, list includes now Agro-Engineering, Agro-Forestal Biotechnology, Agro and Natural Resources Economy, Complex Physical Systems, Gardening and Landscaping, Rural Genie, Phytogenetic Resources, Plant Genetic Resources, Environmental Technology for Sustainable Agriculture, Technology for Human Development and Cooperation.

Competence assessment of final year projects for undergraduate telecommunication students

The value of project-based learning has lead to the inclusion of project development activities in engineering courses, being the Final Year Project (FYP) the most remarkable one. Several approaches have been proposed for assessing and grading FYPs but, among them, rubrics are becoming a standard for such type of assessment. However, due to the different characteristics and orientations of the projects (some are more practically oriented, some more theoretically), and the high amount of different competences to be evaluated (knowledge, working capability, communication skills, etc.), the definition of one unique rubric suitable for the evaluation of all FYPs presented in different degree programs, is a big challenge. In a former work, the educational outcomes expected from the FYP were defined and resulted in a proposal for their assessment. Afterwards, the proposal has been tested during one year within an educational innovation-project at the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid which involved the follow-up of 8 undergraduate telecommunication students elaborating their FYPs. In this publication, our experience will be described, based on the emerging work taking place through the formalisation of the process which consisted in the following steps: i) establishment of a schedule for the whole process (publication of FYPs topics, selection of applying students and their enrolment, assignation of a jury to each FYP, elaboration and follow-up of FYPs, final report submission, oral presentation, etc.); ii) design of rubrics for each of three assessment parts: working process, final report and oral presentation; and iii) follow-up and evaluation of the involved FYPs. Finally, problems that appeared during this experience (e.g. administrative aspects, criticisms and suggestions from the students, tutors and juries involved) are discussed and some modifications in the assessment system will be proposed in order to solve or minimize these problems.