Seminars

Code:

EM0076

Acronym:

S

Keywords
Classification	Keyword
OFICIAL	Manufacturing and Automotive Engineering

Instance: 2009/2010 - 1S

Active?	Yes
Responsible unit:	Materials and Technological Processes Group
Course/CS Responsible:	Master in Mechanical Engineering

Cycles of Study/Courses

Acronym	No. of Students	Study Plan	Curricular Years	Credits UCN	Credits ECTS	Contact hours	Total Time
MIEM	21	Syllabus since 2006/2007	5	-	6	42	160

Teaching language

Portuguese

Objectives

To promote the development of students’ competencies and skills important for the 'Renaissance Engineers of XXI Century' that have been insufficiently developed along preceding years of the course.

BACKGROUD
Quite often ex-students and employers of Mechanical Engineers formed at the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto (FEUP) are invited to give their opinion about their quality in practical professional life. Most of them consider that one of their strengths is the scientific and technical knowledge they get at FEUP. The weak point more often referred is their soft skills. Employers and ex-students of Engineering at FEUP would desire them to develop more their communication, team work, leadership and entrepreneurship skills. In some cases they refer also their reduced knowledge of legal matters, health security, sustainability and social concerns.
The accreditation of mechanical engineering courses, in several leading countries, in recent times reflect, every year more and more, the same kind of concerns.
The discipline of Seminars has been recently created exactly as part of the response to those needs and concerns.


SPECIFIC AIMS
To promote students’ soft skills, namely: communication, team work, leadership and entrepreneurship. Due to the importance of self and hetero evaluation for team work, leadership and entrepreneurship skills, and the lack of opportunities most of the students have had, up to now, to develop this skill, a special attention will be given to this.
To develop the students’ awareness of sustainability and environmental problems.
To develop students’ sensitivity to social inclusion and ‘design for al’ (aged and young, able and disabled people).
To develop students sensitivity and awareness to health and security problems, including ergonomics.
To improve their knowledge in the above referred themes.


PREVIOUS KNOWLEDGE.

Students of Seminars are in their last year of the master course and so have already acquired most of the scientific and technical knowledge considered necessary for future mechanical engineers. A very small number of them will probably participated in leadership and entrepreneurship pedagogic experiments at FEUP in students’ led projects (PESC or LIDERA projects). But most of them had not yet had any opportunity to participate in any pedagogic exercise designed to specifically develop those skills-


PERCENTUAL DISTRIBUTION

60% Soft skills development
20% Scientific component;

20% Technological component.


LEARNING OUTCOMES
Communication skills improved.
Consciousness and knowledge on how to create teams to operate successfully.
Self and hetero evaluation skills strongly developed.
Students’ leadership skills improved.
In some cases, entrepreneurship skills developed.
Students’ awareness and knowledge on sustainability and environmental problems increased.
Students’ sensitivity to social inclusion and ‘design for al’ (aged and young, able and disabled people) increased.
At the end of the Seminars, students will communicate easier and in a more clear and effective way.
They will be able to identify, evaluate and formulate complex problems, with scientific, technical and human components.
They will become able to establish the bases of practical solution of real problems, at different levels and scales.
They will know and comprehend the importance of engineering and other professions to reshape the world for the human beings.
They will become able to consider the exigencies of design for all in future projects.
They will become able to consider the demands of ambient and sustainability.
They will become able to face and address complex problems, with the cooperation of other people, probably from other professional fields.

Program

The program will be the following:

Debate with students about the characteristics of the XXI Century Renaissance Engineer and about their strenghs, weakness and needs to become future engineers.

Debate on the importance of self and hetero evaluation for successful team work.

Free constitution of teams of around 5 students each, to identify problems at world, national and local levels.

Presentation of those problems to the whole class and debate.

Debate with Professors José Borges and Teresa Galvão Dias on the ‘Managed Group Process’ (MGP) for the constitution of teams and on students’ participation in the evaluation process.

Creation of around 5 students’ teams to study and present solutions to one of the problems previously identified. Those teams will be created according to MGP rules, after students respond to a questionnaire.

Team work and its presentation, debate and evaluation by the students and by the teacher.

Most of the woks will be on ambient, sustainability, design for all and related themes.

If possible, students will visit CEIIA (Centro para a Excelência e Inovação da Indústria Automóvel), CEMUP (Centro de Materiais da Universidade do Porto), Serviço de Medicina Física e Reabilitação do Hospital Geral de S. João (presentation of prothesis, ortothesis and technical aids), FADEUP (Faculdade de Desporto da UP:- Biomechanics Laboratory) and eventually others.


Professors will be invited to do conferences and to debate with students themes as: 'Energy and Mechanical Engineering', 'Safety Systems in Cars', Aged people, problems and institutional responses.

The film 'An Inconvenient Truth', by Al Gore, on ambient problems, will be presented and commented.

Mandatory literature

Charles W. Kegley; World Politics: Trend and Transformation , Wadsworth Publishing, 2008. ISBN: 0495500194
Charles W. Kegley (Author), Gregory A. Raymond (Author); The Global Future: A Brief Introduction to World Politics , Wadsworth Publishing, 2007. ISBN: • ISBN-10: 049500748X
ENGDAHL, William; A century of war – Anglo-American Oil Politics and the new world order , Pluto Press, 2004. ISBN: ISBN: 0 7453 2309 X

Complementary Bibliography

PARRA, Francisco. I. B Tauris; Oil Politics – a modern history of petroleum, 2004. ISBN: 1 86064 977 7
John Baylis (Editor), Steve Smith (Editor), Patricia Owens (Editor; The Globalization of World Politics , Oxford University Press, USA, 2008. ISBN: 10: 0199297770
by Wayne C. McWilliams (Author), Harry Piotrowski (Author) ; The World Since 1945: A History Of International Relations , Lynne Rienner , 2005. ISBN: 10: 1588263479
John Allen; Student Atlas of World Politics , McGraw-Hill/Dushkin, 2007. ISBN: • ISBN-10: 0073379727 ou •
by Michalle E. Mor Barak; Managing Diversity: Toward a Globally Inclusive Workplace, Sage Publications, Inc, 2005. ISBN: 10: 0761927735
Rafael Kandiyoti; Pipelines: Flowing Oil and Crude Politics, I B Tauris & Co Ltd (26 Sep 2007) , 2008. ISBN: • ISBN-10: 184511390X
Huston, Ronald; Principles of Biomechanics, CRC Press, 2009. ISBN: 13: 978-0-8493-3494-8
Nahum, Alan; Melvin, John (editors); Accidental Injury; Biomecj«hanics and prevention, Springer, 2002. ISBN: 13: 978-0387-98820-7
Nahum, Alan; Melvin, John (editors); Accidental Injury; Biomechanics and prevention, Springer, 2002. ISBN: 13: 978-0387-98820-7
Peterson, Donald ; Biomechanics, 2008
Hickling, Edward J.; International handbook of road traffic accidents and psychological trauma
Sawyer, Ann; The access manual, 2004
Perkins, Bradford ; Building type basics for senior living, 2004
Stollard, Paul ; Crime prevention through housing design, 1991
Broto, Carles ; Casas para o século XXI, 2003
Jordan, Wendy A.; Universal design for the home, 2008
Brawley, Elizabeth C.; Designing for Alzheimer's disease, 1997
Leibrock, Cynthia; Design details for health, 2000
Marsden, John P.; Humanistic design of assisted living, 2005
Regnier, Victor; Design for assisted living, 2002
Crosbie, Michael J. ; Design for Aging, 2004
Jordan, Wendy A.; Universal design for the home. ISBN: 978-1-59253-381-7
Collier, Paul; The Bottom Billion: Why the Poorest Countries are Failing and What can be done About it, OUP Oxford, 2008. ISBN: 0195374630
Sachs, Jeffrey; The End of Poverty: How We Can Makeit Happen in our Lifetime, Penguin, 2005. ISBN: 0141018666
Easterly, William; The White Man's Burden: Why the West's Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done so Much III and so Little Good, OUP Oxford, 2007. ISBN: 0199226113
Calderisi, R.; The Troube with Africa: Why Foreign Aid Isn't Working, Yale University Press, 2007. ISBN: 0300125127
Ridell, Roger C.; Does Foreign Aid Really Work?, OUP Oxford, 2008. ISBN: 0199544468
Chang, Ha-Joon; Bad Samaritans: The Guilty Secrets of Rich Nations and the Threat to Global Prosperity, Random House Business Books, 2008. ISBN: 1905211376
Falola, Toyin; Genova, Ann; The Politics of the Global Oil Industry: An Introduction, Greenwood Press, 2005. ISBN: 0275984001
Norman, James R.; Oil Card: Global Economic Warfare in the 21st Century, Trine Day, 2008. ISBN: 097779539X
Soares de Oliveira, Ricardo M.; Oil and Politics in the Gulf of Guinea, C. Hurst & Co, 2007. ISBN: 1850658587
Shaxson, Nicholas; Poisoned Wells: The Dirty Politics of African oil, Palgrave Macmillan, 2007. ISBN: 1403971943
Smith, Daniel Jordan; A Culture of Corruption Everyday Deception and Popular Discontent in Nigeria, Princeton University Press, 2008. ISBN: 0691136475
Falola, Toyin; Heaton, Mattew M.; A History of Nigeria, Cambridge University Press, 2008. ISBN: 052168157X
Forsyth, Frederick; Biafra Story, Pen & Sword Military, 2007. ISBN: 1844155234
Rowell, Andrew; Marriot, James; Stockman, Lorne; The Next Gulf: London, Washington and Oil Conflict in Nigeria, Robinson Publishing, 2005. ISBN: 1845292596
Okonta, Ike; Douglas, Oronto; Monbiot, George; Where Vultures Feast: Shell, Human Rights and Oil, Verso Books, 2003. ISBN: 1859844731
Meredith, Martin; The State of Africa: A History of Fifty Years of Independence, Free Press, 2006. ISBN: 0743232224
Shelley, Toby; Oil: Politics, Poverty and the Planet (Global Issues), Zed Books Ltd, 2005. ISBN: 1842775219
Klare, Michael T.; Resource Wars, Palgrave Macmillan, 2002. ISBN: 0805055762
Klare, Michael; Blood and Oil: The Dangers and Consequences of America's Growing Petroleum Dependency, Penguin, 2005. ISBN: 0141020032
Roberts, Paul; The End of Oil: The Dangers and Consequences of America's Growing Petroleum Dependency, Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, 2005. ISBN: 0747570817
Heinberg, Richard; Party's Over: Oil, War and the Fate of Industrial Societies, Clairview Books, 2ª edition, 2007. ISBN: 1905570007
Heinberg, Richard; Powerdown: Options and Actions for a Post-carbon Society, Clairview Books, 2nd edition, 2007. ISBN: 1905570104
Hopkins, Rob; The Transition Handbook: From Oil Dependency to Local Resilience, Green Books, 1st edition, 2008. ISBN: 1900322188
Deffeyes, Kenneth; Beyond Oil: The View from Hubbert's Peak, Hill & Wang, 2006. ISBN: 080902957X
Simmons, Matthew R.; Twilight in the Desert: The Coming Saudi Oil Shock and the World Economy, John Wiley & Sons, 2006. ISBN: 0471790184
Boyle, Godfrey; Renewable Energy, OUP Oxford, 2nd edition, 2004. ISBN: 0199261784

Teaching methods and learning activities

Team works, analyse and debate on problems at any scale, visits, conferences by specialized people. Presentation and debate of works with the participation of all the students in order to develop their skills.
Participation of students in evaluation process.

Evaluation Type

Distributed evaluation without final exam

Assessment Components

Description	Type	Time (hours)	Weight (%)	End date
Attendance (estimated)	Participação presencial	42,00
	Trabalho escrito	60,00
	Total:	-	0,00

Amount of time allocated to each course unit

Description	Type	Time (hours)	End date
	Estudo autónomo	60
	Total:	60,00

Eligibility for exams

According to the rules of the faculty.

Calculation formula of final grade

Based in the two team works their presentation and discussion around it.

Examinations or Special Assignments

To be defined in each case, if necessary.

Special assessment (TE, DA, ...)

According to Faculty rules.

Classification improvement

Through the improvement of the team works and a second presentation.