Innovation and Creativity for
Complex Engineering Systems –
Experiences of an Intensive Program
Tatjana Welzer,
University of Maribor, Faculty of Electrical Engineering
and Computer Science, Maribor, Slovenia
João M.Fernandes,
Universidade do Minho, Braga, Portugal
PRAXIS 2014, Genova, September 25-26, 2014
Contents





Introduction
Innovations in Practical Education
Innovation and Creativity for Complex Engineering
Systems
Experiences
Conclusion
Introduction – Education - Teaching
Transmition of accumulated knowledge, skills
and values from generation to generation
 Teaching is the process in which students and
teachers are involved
 Teaching processes has changed significantly

 Technology
 Mobility
 Practical
Education
Introduction – Education - Employability
Having knowledge and skills to fulfil employers
needs and expectations
 Employability is the process in which graduates
and employers are involved
 Employability processes has changed
significantly

Introduction – Education - Internship
University: Interesting internship with added
value for students.
 Industry: Real help from students, fresh ideas
and solutions.
 Students: Good and interesting internships in
which they would fill like equivalent partner
and be rewarded for their work.

Innovations in Practical Education

Innovations in Practical Education

Applied research
 Practical courses, seminars, project groups
 Involvement in real projects (DEMOLA, The creative way
to practical knowledge
 Students projects (Imagine Cup, World Design Festival)
 Diploma work
 Student
motivation
 Practical
experiences
 Useful examples and work
 Employability
Inovations in Practical Education

Inovations in Practical Education
 Scientific
Research
 Formal
research projects
 Involvement in real projects
 Students competitions and projects (Imagine Cup)
 Master and Ph.D. thesis (research and application)
 Students
motivation
 References,
recognition of work for studying purposes
 Some financial benefits
 Employability
Inovations in Practical Education

Innovations in Practical Education

Students claims
“Labour class”
 Not enough interesting
 Loosing of interest and motivation

 Teachers
contentment
 Enthusiastic
 Disappointed
ICCES

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
Erasmus IP – ICCES – Innovation and Creativity for
Complex Engineering Systems, 2012-2014
http://icces.di.uminho.pt/
Coordination University do Minho, Braga
 Consortium – Universities





Universidade do Minho, Portugal
Universidade de Vigo, Spain
Aarhus Universitet, Denmark
Newcastle University, United Kingdom
Universiteit Twente, The Netherlands
ICCES

Erasmus IP – ICCES – Innovation and Creativity for
Complex Engineering Systems, 2012-2014
 Consortium





– Universities
Univerza v Mariboru, Slovenia
TUCS, Finland
VŠB - TU Ostrava, Czech Republic
Technische Universität Wien, Austria
Universität Paderborn, Germany
 Consortium
 Efacec
– Companies
- 2012
 Bosch – 2013, 2014
ICCES

Erasmus IP – ICCES – Innovation and Creativity for
Complex Engineering Systems, 2012-2014
 Main
objectives:
 Ph.D.
students in engineering and technology
 International multi-disciplinary Ph.D. student teams
 Problems of high complexity in an innovative and researchoriented perspective within industrial contexts
 Preparing Ph.D. graduates for awareness of the industrial
realities
ICCES

Erasmus IP – ICCES – Inovation and Creativity for
Complex Engineering Systems, 2012-2014
 Learning
 Work
outcomes
within multidisciplinary teams, to promote creativity
and innovation;
 Adopt techniques like abstraction, modelling and simulation,
to manage complexity;
 Prepare applied research plans, to support a policy for
patents and industrial property and to sustain industry
development.
ICCES

Erasmus IP – ICCES – Innovation and Creativity for
Complex Engineering Systems, 2012-2014
 Deliverables
 Applied
of each edition of ICCES
research plans, written by the students, for the
considered engineering problems;
 Position papers, written by the students, to explain their
research plans to the scientific community;
 Simulations and presentations, by the students, about their
research plans;
 Cross Cultural Communication Experiences.
Experiencies


Ph.D. graduates taking the ICCES Programme will be
much better prepared for the challenges that they will
face if they are hired in the future by an industrial
company
The industrial participants will be better prepared to
realize how Ph.D. graduates can be integrated in their
system development process, mainly in the innovative
and creativity tasks that may benefit from their
research skills.
Experiencies


The academic partners will be able to gain experience
from the real needs of the industry so that their
doctoral programmes can incorporate the development
of industry-relevant skills.
This experience will allow the production of
publications that may influence the way European
universities may deal with the employment of their
Ph.D. students and, consequently, the sustainable
development of the European economy.
Experiencies

As a student at the ICCES Erasmus IP 2012, I gained
new knowledge on the fields that were not that familiar
to me before. We have worked in groups where I got
to know different approaches that other team members
used for research as well as I have gained experience
on how to work with the industrial partner and cope
with problems proposed. The whole project was a
wonderful experience and I would recommend it to all
students (Lili Nemec Zlatolas, University of Maribor)
Experiencies

The ICCES 2013 program at Bosch in the lovely city of
Braga was a great and unforgettable experience. Not
only did we get to work on real industrial problems
that Bosch is currently facing, we also had a lot of fun
doing that. I think that in the end many of us gained a
lot perspective on how to use our knowledge in the
‘real world’ and also gained many friends for life from
all over the world.. (Bojan Butolen, University of
Maribor
Experiencies

The ICCES 2014 was interested in many ways. Not that
we just worked on real problems Bosch provided us,
but we were treat as equal to other employees. Main
director was very pleased with our solutions and he
expressed high gratitude for our work. As a member of
ICCES 2013 I had a chance to see our last year
solutions in practice as well, what makes the whole
experience in new perspective. Last but not least
meeting new people and become friends with them is
priceless and worth all hard work. (Jaka Polutnik,
University of Maribor)
Conclusion

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Education - teaching and practical education – Project
Work and Internship should be tightly connected and
integrated into each other
Interest of all parties, different possibilities, tools,
platforms
Impacts on labour market and society
New project, ideas and opportunities without limits
 New
technologies, Virtual environment
 Mobility, Living Labs
 Students with disabilities