Postgraduate and Industrial Training in Sustainable Technology

European Commission
Asia Link Programme
Project Reference Number
Asia Link/ASIE/2005/109-629

 

Postgraduate and Industrial Training in  Sustainable Technology

Role of Partners

University of Portsmouth (UCP), United Kingdom

• Applicant and overall management of the project
• Lead institution for the preparation of the content of Unit 3 (Environmental Management System)
• Contributor to problem solving activity, 'Cleaner Production' in Unit 2 (Life Cycle Analysis)
• Lead institution for project reporting and evaluation
• Contribution to problem solving activity, 'Biomass Combustion' in Unit 1 (Energy Engineering)

De La Salle University – Manila (DLSU-M)

• Management of Centre for Sustainable Development at DLSU
• Lead institution for the preparation, delivery and dissemination of three open learning units in the Philippines
• Lead institution for the preparation of the content of Unit 2
• Assembly of industrial database
• Contributor to problem solving activity, 'Renewable Energy' in Unit 1
• Contributor to problem solving activity, 'Contaminated Land' for Unit 3
• Manager of e-platform

Royal Institute of Technology - Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan (KTH), Sweden

• Lead institution for training and advisory service for the preparation of open learning units
• Networking and publicity of the units

Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM)

• Lead institution for preparation of the content of open learning Unit 1
• Contributor to problem solving activity, 'Economics of Waste Management' for Unit 2
• Institution for the dissemination of the project in Malaysia

Xavier University (XU), Cagayan De Oro

• Lead institution for comparative studies in Educational Quality and testing of open learning units in industry and university
• Contributor to problem solving activity, 'Agro-Waste Management' for Unit 3

Brief Description of Learning Units

The structure and the delivery of the units will contain a number of innovations.  These will rely on the interactive and well tried CompEdu open learning platform compiled by Professor Fransson at KTH.  Training will be supplied at KTH to facilitate the assembly of open learning units by staff at DLSU.  This will include software training for the virtual laboratory.  The units themselves will comprise three learning strands; firstly, core material, secondly, problem solving and thirdly, comparative studies.  Each unit will be led by a centre of expertise in a partner university but contributions will be made by other partners in the areas of problem solving and comparative studies.  The latter will require students to investigate the application of sustainable technologies to a particular problem in Europe and Asia.  Postgraduate research students will take part in mobility to other partner universities to action this innovation.  The intention is to establish common quality assurance standards, unit credit ratings and syllabuses leading to international and local recognition at MSc, Diploma and Certificate levels. The major learning elements are as follows:

Unit 1: Energy Engineering
This is based on the commitment of all partner countries to comply with their Kyoto Protocol obligations to reduce reliance on fossil fuels and to rapidly introduce renewable energy technologies. The production of biofuels in Malaysia and the Philippines is having a significant impact on improving employment. Also, micro-hydro projects are providing important health and economic benefits to villagers living in locations remote from power lines.

Unit 2: Cleaner Technology and Life Cycle Analysis
Cleaner Technologies and Life Cycle Analysis are concerned with the conservation of resources, particularly materials used in manufacturing industry and transport fuels, and life cycle methods which can be employed to analyse clean technologies. This has been a strong area of collaboration between UOP and DLSU for some ten years. 

Unit 3: Environmental Management Systems

Environmental Management Systems is recognized as an essential tool in the assessment of sustainable technologies. Many companies in partner countries are seeking training for accreditation according to ISO 14001. The willingness of stakeholders to invest in companies is increasingly becoming dependent upon such actions. It is known that an increasingly significant proportion of international stock market transactions are being driven by the green stakeholder.

 

Project Partners

University of Portsmouth England, UK	De La Salle University Manila	Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden	Universiti Teknologi Malaysia	Xavier University Cagayan de Oro