Title: Virtual and physical laboratories in mechanical engineering: Teacher’s experience
Abstract: Engineering education is about application of science and inherent to this is providing opportunities of learning through hands-on laboratory/practical based experiences. Global pandemic has forced educational institutes around the world to rapidly adapt virtual labs as replacement for the real labs. Virtual labs have been successful in meeting the needs of the time when lockdowns were norm and physical labs were almost impossible. This paper shares the experiences of mechanical engineering teachers on the design and development of virtual lab demonstration for thermo-fluid subjects. The paper also shares the teachers experiences of student’s engagement while participating in the virtual labs compared to physical labs. Lockdowns are now thing of the past and face to face teaching and physical labs are now possible. So, the paper explores the future of the virtual/physical labs as the world moves towards a new normal. The research strongly emphasizes the benefits of physical laboratories and the advantages of complementing them with the virtual activities. This study seeks to determine the effectiveness of integrating virtual labs with authentic scenario-based questions employing active learning techniques in higher engineering education. The primary objective is to enhance student engagement and facilitate the transfer of theoretical knowledge into practical skills.
Title: Digital Transformation in Education and Research using Virtual Labs: An Industry 5.0 Perspective
Abstract: Virtual labs are fast attracting interests in both educational and industrial sectors as interactive, digital simulations of activities that otherwise need to take place in physical (often costly) laboratory settings. This, in turn, is exponentially increasing knowledge-share and collaboration opportunities among students, researchers and operators, while learning basic and advanced scientific concepts through remote experimentation. Next to different web-resources, video-lectures, animated demonstrations and self-evaluation as enabling tools of virtual labs, emerging immersive technologies have started to play a leading role under XR (extended reality) platforms. Such platforms often include augmented reality (AR) as a perspective of the physical world with added computer-generated improvements, virtual reality (VR) as a dynamic, computer-generated components within a fully virtual environment, and mixed reality (MR) as a combination of the real-world and computer-generated components in an interactive representation. Next to educational institutions, numerous industrial sectors have similarly begun to adapt these digitals tools e.g. for their operators training when using complex machines, safety considerations, process quality monitoring, etc. In addition, they are thriving to develop new means for implementing other digital technologies such as AI and IoT under the so-called Industry 4.0, and thereby automate their processes and improve productivity in an unprecedented pace. However, the next vision of this industrial revolution is already upon us: Industry 5.0. The latter attempts to bring back people and their prosperity at the center of factories of the future where operators can work alongside smart machines, while being re-skilled or up-skilled. To align with this industrial revolution, it is vital to systemically develop and embed virtual labs within university curricula and research training to (a) equip the next-generation of engineers and scientists with the required experience and knowledge on enabling technologies of Industry 5.0, who will then be able to (b) deploy new interactive digital tools within the factories of the future towards highly collaborative projects. This keynote, after an introduction of virtual labs concept and its alignment with emerging Industry 5.0, will provide a perspective/examples of pertinent research and training efforts for applications ranging from mechanical engineering and machine control, to advanced manufacturing and biomedical training.
Title: Digital Learning for Land, Property and Building Management
Abstract: Rapid urbanization has resulted in unprecedented pressure on development and use of land in cities around the world, proliferating multi-story buildings as well as other urban infrastructure facilities. Consequently, urban built environments are becoming more and more complex. Current practices mainly rely on 2D analogue methods to define boundaries of land and property. These plans are recognized as posing a range of challenges in terms of communicating and managing the spatial complexity of multi-story buildings.
3D digital models can be taught by the universities and institutions as a smarter approach for capacity development. Digital learning in education is critical to build the community’s capacity to address urban challenges. 3D digital building models are considered as fundamental input to support decision making in smart cities. Digital methods of education are, and will continue to be, critically important in productive and smart management of urban land and property. This would help develop and implement appropriate strategies to support the move towards digital learning in educational programs for land, property and building management.
This digital learning is for defining a wide range of private (e.g., apartment units, car parks and storage areas) and communal (e.g., corridors, lobbies, and elevators) within complex building developments using 3D data environments. The following items will be covered in this learning:
- Understanding the spatial arrangements and boundaries of properties in buildings
- Creating land and property information in 3D digital environments,
- Visualising and finding 3D land and property information
- Visualise and interact with 3D property objects
- Find parts of each property object
- Find boundaries of each property object