Results of the international educational project Tempus DESIRE

At the end of March 2017, the implementation of the international educational project TEMPUS 544091-TEMPUS-1-2013-1-BE-TEMPUS-JPCR [DESIRE] «Development of courses on embedded systems using innovative approaches for the integration of education, science and production in Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia». All information about the project is available on the ZNTU website in the section DESIRE.

On February 21-22, 2017, representatives of partner universities in Belgium, Germany, Slovakia, Ukraine, Georgia, and Armenia gathered for the final meeting at Thomas More University College Mechelen-Antwerp, Belgium.

Professor of the Department of Software Tools Halyna Tabunshchik and Associate Professor of the Department of Software Tools Anzhelika Parkhomenko reported on the main achievements of ZNTU during the three years of project implementation (December 2013-February 2017).

The following were involved in the implementation of the project at ZNTU:

• three faculties (Computer Sciences and Technologies, Radio Electronics and Telecommunications, Engineering and Physics);
• three departments (software, radio engineering and telecommunications, information technologies of electronic means);
• five specialties (Information design technologies, System software, Artificial intelligence systems, Radio engineering, Radio electronic devices and means);
• fourteen teachers (S.B. Belikov, G.V. Tabunshchik, A.V. Parkhomenko, S.M. Serdyuk, S.V. Morshchavka, A.V. Parkhomenko, O. Farafonov, M.O. Polyakov, M. Mishchenko, T.I. Kaplienko, O.M. Gladkova, N.O. Myronova, Zh.K. Kaminska, O. Petrova)

As a result of the project, 19 disciplines were developed or modified. 10 disciplines and 203 students were involved in the pilot study in the spring semester of 2016, 12 disciplines and 352 students in the fall semester of 2016.

The subject of the students’ coursework and diploma work completed during the reporting period was also related to the subject of the project (FPV Auto Project, Smart Campus, ISRT Remote lab, SMART LIFE, FC Buggy, Remote lab RELDES, Remote lab IoT & Smart House, 3D printing technologies).

In addition, students implemented various research projects, which were reported on at conferences ZNTU Science Week-2016 (April 2016), Modern problems and achievements in the field of radio engineering, telecommunications and information technologies (September, 2016).

Thanks to the project, the first startups appeared at ZNTU – SMART LIFE with the support of the companies Brig Retail (Kyiv) and Vanderslab (Zaporizhzhia), as well as Smart Campus, with the support of Thomas More Mechelen-Antwerp. Our own remote laboratories were developed and implemented in the educational process – Remote lab RELDES, Remote lab IoT & Smart House, ISRT Remote lab.

Representatives of European universities visited ZNTU several times with lectures and master classes (October 2015, November 2016). ZNTU teachers held master classes for colleagues at Kyiv University named after Borys Grinchenko, as well as at universities Georgia and Armenia.

Teachers exchanged useful information about new practically-oriented approaches in education during trainings and summer schools in University of Constantine the Philosopher (Nitra, Slovakia), at Technical University of Ilmenau (Ilmenau, Germany), at Thomas More Mechelen-Antwerp (Campus de Nayers, Belgium)

The companies FABBERS, Kyiv and PTC, Boston, USA also joined the organization and holding of free trainings for the consortium’s teachers.

The main result of the implementation of the project was the new the most modern laboratory of Embedded Systems and Remote Engineering, opened at ZNTU with the support of rector Serhiy Borisovich Belikov. Thanks to the project, the first interactive complex appeared in ZNTU, which is actively used in the educational process today. In general, new equipment worth 25,000 euros was purchased with the project funds.

As part of the project, webinars for ZNTU teachers were organized, as well as training on using the distance learning system (DSL) based on LMS Moodle. Materials from new disciplines are available to students in SDN.

During the project, numerous meetings were organized with future students, school teachers and representatives of other universities. The new laboratory was also presented to foreign guests during their visit to celebrate the anniversary of ZNTU in November 2015.

Students demonstrated new equipment and their own developments, created within the framework of the project, at the Open Days of ZNTU, at exhibitions STEM Education of the Zaporizhzhia Region, Education-2016 in Cossack palace. For several years in a row (2015-2016), the development of teachers as part of the project was recognized at the National Exhibition Competition «Outstanding Scientific and Practical Achievements in Education», Kyiv.

In September 2016, the special section «Embedded systems and the Internet of Things» was organized as part of the international NTC «Modern problems and achievements in the field of radio engineering, telecommunications and information technologies».

The participation of ZNTU teachers in the international symposium at the University of Constantine the Philosopher in Nitra, Slovakia was a useful experience.

During the project, meetings were organized with representatives of companies from the Zaporizhzhia region and cooperation agreements were signed (Vanderslab, AKTIV, Noosphere Ventures, Livestream LLC).

In order to disseminate information about the results of the project, informative bulletin (pdf, 758 KB) and flyer.

According to the project plan, three training manuals were developed, numerous articles were published in magazines abroad and in Ukraine, including in co-authorship with European partners.

In order to assess the quality of the new courses, questionnaires were developed for interviewing students participating in the pilot study. 70 students of all study courses evaluated the work of teachers and proposed measures to improve educational materials.

Currently, four graduate students of the Department of Software are conducting research on the subject of the project, and graduate student Olha Gladkova is working on her dissertation at Thomas More Mechelen-Antwerp together with European colleagues.

New disciplines created during the project were presented during the training for teachers «English as the medium of instruction», held by the British Council in Ukraine (Kyiv, February 9-13, 2017).

To date, some issues regarding the purchase of additional equipment for laboratory work on robotics and the preparation of the final report for the European Commission are still being resolved.

Participation of ZNTU in the DESIRE project contributed to the emergence of new modern disciplines in the curricula, the development of technical teaching aids, as well as the improvement of the qualifications of teachers.