manaOptimizing risk to information to protect the enterprise as well as to satisfy government and industry mandates is a core function of most information security departments. Risk management is the discipline that is focused on assessing, mitigating, monitoring and optimizing risks to information. Risk assessments and analyses are critical…

The Academic Pathways of People Learning Engineering Survey (APPLES2) was administered in Spring 2008 to undergraduate engineering students at 21 American universities. Students took the 10-minute online survey that asked mainly multiple choice questions related to their undergraduate engineering experience. A final optional open-ended question…

Individuals, institutions, and society are affected by whether or not students persist in college; therefore, persistence and retention on college campuses is an important topic for higher education systems. However, little research has been done on program retention. Since engineering as a profession is expected to increase, it is imperative to…

Both the concept of sustainable development and the nature of education for sustainable development (ESD) are highly contested. ESD can be construed as a part of sustainable development policy as governments attempt to bridge the "value-action gap" between what we know we should be doing (e.g. to combat climate change) and what we…

Nanoscale science and engineering are disciplines that examine the unique behaviors and properties of materials that emerge at the size range of 1 to 100 nanometers (a billionth of a meter). Nanobiotechnology is a sub-discipline of nanoscience that has arisen more recently. Nanobiotechnology is already impacting the fields of healthcare and…

As in many other fields of science and technology, college students in computer engineering do not come into full contact with the key ideas and challenges of their chosen discipline until the third year of their studies. This situation poses a problem in terms of keeping the students motivated as they labor through their foundational, basic…

Embedded systems have been applied widely, not only to consumer products and industrial machines, but also to new applications such as ubiquitous or sensor networking. The increasing role of software (SW) in embedded system development has caused a great demand for embedded SW engineers, and university education for embedded SW engineering has…

This paper presents experiences and results from a project task in power electronics for students at Chalmers University of Technology, Goteborg, Sweden, based on a flyback test board. The board is used in the course Power Electronic Devices and Applications. In the project task, the students design snubber circuits, improve the control of the…

Polymer matrix composites (PMC), often referred to as fiber reinforced plastics (FRP), consist of fiber reinforcement (E-glass, S2-glass, aramid, carbon, or natural fibers) and polymer matrix/resin (polyester, vinyl ester, polyurethane, phenolic, and epoxies). Eglass/ polyester and E-glass/vinyl ester composites are extensively used in the marine,…

The current paper describes an empirical study with the aim of producing insights about how students experience programming and software engineering. The research aims to investigate the students' world, and hence, we have chosen a phenomenographic approach. Our questions focus on the students' experiences of concepts related to a realistic…

"Gender-into-teaching" is the first Austrian project to develop strategies on how to implement gender topics at a technical university. This project can really be qualified as a model for other universities and as unique in Austria. Up to now, there are many more males in higher-level positions in the university hierarchies. The--very…

Due to demographic changes, globalisation and increased migration processes, institutions of higher education are, in particular, assigned new responsibilities. The fight for the most qualified people demands new strategies and concepts. Technical universities that are traditionally male dominated and where women and minorities are…

In this paper, we discuss our approach in teaching the final-year course Process Systems Engineering. Students are given ownership of the course by transferring to them the responsibility of learning. A project-based group environment stimulates learning while solving a real engineering problem. We discuss postgraduate student involvement and how…

The umbrella of Australian research higher degree (RHD) offerings has broadened from the traditional MPhil/PhD programmes to include a range of professional masters and doctoral degrees. This article reports on the experiences of three PhD students, engaged in an informally managed industry partnered research programme, described in this article…

The future globally competitive work environment will likely be one dominated by a need to redefine what makes engineering and technology workers successful. Traditionally, success has been defined as having "intelligent" graduates who have completed a rigorous college course that stresses problem solving and mastery of huge amounts of technical…