VIRTUAL PRACTICAL TRAINING IN ENGINEERING FIELDS Paper presented at EDEN International Conference, 10-13 June 2014, Zagreb, Croatia, http://www.eden-online.org/2014_zagreb.html The paper presents the evaluation of the project Simulated enterprise for work techniques in technology companies has been done both from the point of view of students and of the companies.

1. VIRTUAL PRACTICAL TRAINING IN
ENGINEERING FIELDS
Proiect cofinanţat din Fondul Social European prin Programul Operaţional Dezvoltarea Resurselor
Umane 2007-2013, Investeşte în Oameni!
Dr.ing. Diana Andone
Prof.dr.ing. Radu Vasiu
S.l.dr.ing. Mihai Onita
Politehnica University of Timisoara

2. Politehnica
University of
Timisoara
• 132 co-operation
agreements with
regional and
national industry
• Silicon Valley of
CEE
2

3. Practical placement
3 weeks / each year of study during the
summer in companies in the subject area
3
Little time for actual work
No real benefit in the first 2 years
Top students get full benefits

4. Virtual mobility or virtual placement
virtual components facilitated through an ICT
supported learning environment, where the
three key stakeholders (students, universities
and enterprises) interact with one another
independent of time and space
4

5. Projects
5

6. IS project
Simulated enterprise for technical work in
technology companies
European Social Fund project implemented
by the Ministry of Education
Politehnica University of Bucharest,
Politehnica University of Timisoara,
Constantin Brancusi University of Targu-Jiu,
conducted between 2011 and 2013
6

7. Involvement
2 areas:
Computer Science and Information
Technologies
Electronics and Telecommunications
7
elearning.upt.ro

8. Environment
IS
online
environment
(KMS,
communica3on,
project
themes,
common
work
area,
evalua3on)
Student
University
tutor
company
8
7
months
1
face-­‐to-­‐
face/
month
Online
communica3on
Group
work
evalua3on
Prac3cal
placement
2
weeks
2
ECTS
90
hours

9. Timeline
Groups of 25 students –
December 2012– July 2013
Companies and themes presentation – January
2013
Online choice of the projects subjects by students
– February 2013
Virtual practical training - Online project work
February – June 2013
Evaluation - July 2013
Practical placement in companies – July 2013
9

10. Students
10/11
221 students in second year of studies
1000 students from all universities

11. Companies
OCE-­‐CANON
Timisoara
S.C.
CONTINENTAL
AUTOMOTIVE
ROMANIA
HELLA
Romania
FLEXTRONICS
ROMANIA
ETA2U
Las3ng
Systems
Expert
Consul3ng
Design
MMD
11

12. Companies’ tutors
12

13. Activities
• Practical activities of virtual project
management;
• Software virtualization solutions;
• Simulation of the technological flow
specific to the IT companies / telecom;
• Teamwork activities;
• Professional communication specific to
engineering field (communication
techniques, professional interaction).
13

14. Companies presentations
• 8 participating companies
14

15. Direct connection company- student
• Real study cases
• Company visits
• constant contact
15

16. face- to-face
16

17. Student’s project evaluation
17

18. Practical placement in companies
18

19. Practical visit to other companies from
Timisoara, Bucharest, Targu Jiu
19

20. Project Evaluation from students’
perspective
• IS has the advantage that it freed student summer holidays;
• Students’ contact with people from companies created a clearer picture
of how to work in a company;
• The suggested topics were related to real problems treated by
employees of the company, so the information the students received
came on the shortest path and it was very clear;
• Issues and documentation were clear and seriously presented,
according to the standards of a company;
• All these issues have been a challenge for students and forced them to
take the activity seriously;
• There have been students who have signed employment contracts for
short and medium term with certain companies.

21. Students’ questionnaire
Technical
abilities
development
Organisational
abilities
development
Study case
work and
experience

22. Project evaluation from companies
perspective
• opportunity to present the company to large
groups of students;
• Strengthened cooperation with Politehnica
University of Timisoara;
• Students’ problems became known and after
the professional and organizational evaluation
it was possible to find the right students to
employ.
22

23. Tutors’ questionnaire
23
4
2
3
3
longer
PP
period
students'
ac3vity
on
projects
constant
online
contact
face-­‐face
mee3ngs
Human
resources
use
Hardware
resources
use
Software
resources
use
Did you used less resources then in normal PP?

24. Focus group
24

25. Testimonials
25

26. 26
• Continuing development of student-university-
company relationships
• Major, multinational companies involved
• New skills and abilities for students
• Training the tutors
• Team work
• New development opportunities for students
• Employment opportunities
• Blended learning – virtual practical training
Conclusions

27. Project info
http://www.intreprindere-simulata.ro/
http://elearning.upt.ro/proiecte/ro/is-/127
27

28. CONTACT
Dr.eng. Diana Andone
Director
e-Learning Center
Tel: +40.256403300,
Email:
diana.andone@upt.ro
Web
Elearning.upt.ro
UPT – CeL Campus Virtual www.cv.upt.ro
@diando70
h_p://www.slideshare.net/diando70/