This document presents the educational experience and the results obtained in teaching during the courses of Investment Projects and Project Engineering to the last semester students of Chemical Engineering. The merger between the courses is discussed, focusing students on obtaining the necessary resources to develop their proposal, working on skills mentioned in the analyzes for 21st century engineers. In this project formulation experience, an attempt has been made to provide students with challenges similar to the work of a consultant and those that would be presented to them at the beginning of their professional practice.
Entrepreneurs and executives or officials are involved in project formulation stages and, in particular, in their evaluation, considering the project itself as a set of student characteristics that would lead to better performance in related jobs. with their areas.
There are observations of six years of application of this methodology, the scheme is described, and results that are considered indicative of an improvement in the profile of these students to facilitate obtaining employment or generating it.
Key words: project management higher education, chemical engineering, engineering education, bonding.
Introduction.
The landscape for the engineering student raises fewer jobs per large or corporate firm, fewer government positions, more opportunities in small companies that are in productive chains, and the need to accept change as the constant of professional employment.
In higher education, great weight had been given to imparting knowledge, which led to a high content load in the subjects; Several limitations of this model have become evident, particularly when analyzing the performance and career of the graduate in the labor field.
In the higher education models that are being adopted for the beginning of the 21st century, they have among their considerations that the characteristics of the graduates respond better to the needs of the employer and society, among these characteristics, the graduate is asked to know the subject and Know how to apply it and keep yourself updated, be more active in generating solutions and alternatives both individually and in groups. There is also talk of working on generating attitudes and emphasizing values. To achieve this, there are new profiles for teachers, early interaction with the activities of the profession, follow-up activities and changes in the administration of higher education.
The models that support these changes are being worked on, their adoption and the recording of experiences.
In this document, the experience of working with students is analyzed, giving particular weight to the development of skills required in the professional field of work, in the critical thinking of the student, and in the incorporation of the graduate and experienced professional to make it work. As an advisor and above all, join the group that evaluates both the progress of the project and a group of student characteristics.
Background
Quality models for higher education, particularly in the training of engineers, recommended developing the following characteristics in chemical engineers (Romero, 1995): creatives, entrepreneurs, use of modern tools, technical capacity, and able to relate to other professionals, develop their ability to solve technical problems without losing sight of the social and ecological impact. Usually, these objectives are not achieved just by giving scientific, technical and economic courses.
Johnson, as referred to by Alonso et al (1998: 31) says that among the skills to develop successfully in companies and industries are: learning to learn, listening, oral and written communication, understanding what is read, adaptability based in creative thinking and problem solving, personnel management, group work effectiveness characterized by interpersonal, negotiation skills; organizational effectiveness and leadership.
Brockert and Braun referred to by Alonso et al (1998: 35) present a hierarchy of skills necessary for a rapidly changing world of work:
- communication skills, most important to the demands of the world of work, mathematical skills teamwork ability to solve problems ability to manage technology social, economic and industrial understanding dignity and personal integrity creative design ability to react appropriately to changes in foreign language proficiency.
Even within the previous model of higher education, it was considered that the preparation for the field of work could be increased, of the student about to graduate, and the subjects and contents of the tenth semester of the career of industrial chemical engineer were considered, observing that two Subjects: Formulation and evaluation of projects and Project Engineering required preparing a project as final work and that there was the possibility to explore and develop new ideas from the business or research environment and that the development of a broad project carried out by teams would allow develop critical thinking and a mix of managerial skills, teamwork, ability to solve problems and mixes of problems, techniques and entrepreneurial behavior,and even pro-business that can turn them into those new cells that help rejuvenate the business fabric of Mexico. The integration of the aforementioned courses was carried out through an agreement between the professors of the subjects, who were interested in integrating more complex terminal projects and that more of these responded to the needs of the industry, while improving the preparation of the graduated.
Among the activities to stimulate the personal performance of the students, it was considered that during the semester, two or three times they would present the development of their projects before panels of evaluators made up of academics and professionals active in companies or government who, on the project, would evaluate the degree of innovation, size and complexity, as well as presentation and consistency, including inquiring about information sources and decision-making methods. On the characteristics of the students, the ability shown to present ideas, convince the audience (sell the idea), answer questions, handle rejections, is valued.All of these respond to the communicative competences and also the use of the discernment that provides the mezcal of creativity and critical thinking to select the topics of importance to present, and demonstrate in the exhibition and in the responses that knowledge was integrated generating proposals from these and the appropriate ones were selected through selection processes. The first two evaluation sessions (there are three sessions) include feedback on the above characteristics and on the spinning of ideas, management of the resources for the exhibition (sequence, font size and amount of text, colors, graphics, etc.) and on personal presentation, excessive pauses or hesitation, use of language, and position and gestures as exhibitors., in the first session the teachers of the subjects participate,In the following one, external professionals are present, as in the last one.
When the experience began, the students took a professional internship program, where they participated in an organization's activity and at the end of the semester they gave proof of having carried them out; only in some subjects were they asked for terminal projects and basically in the last semester they had integrating projects, the practicing professionals eventually acted as advisors to a team and in many occasions only for specific topics. This situation has been changing as research subjects, course projects in others, were incorporated in the last four years, and researchers and teachers from other institutions have been included in the final evaluation.
State data
The State of Yucatan has more than 3,000 food industry firms and 1,000 other manufacturers, around 130 export maquiladoras, mainly of clothing and accessories, more than 97% of the companies are small or medium. Honey, vegetables, fish and shellfish, henequen fiber, production and traces of pigs, poultry and cattle, and orange juice are important agribusinesses that export around 50% of their production. Other important industrial sectors are: hospitality and tourism, commerce and services such as health, education and finance. In recent years, the infrastructure to support industrial development has been improved.
There are engineering programs in technological institutes, in two two private universities and one autonomous, chemical engineering is only taught at the Technological Institute of Merida and at the Autonomous University of Yucatan.
The case
The Faculty of Chemical Engineering is located in Mérida, Yucatán in the heart of the industrial city, the chemical engineering program has more than three decades and has obtained a presence in the region both for its graduates and for its activities of extension and dissemination of knowledge in particular among industrial companies and for their presence in national and international associations. In the same faculty there is a degree in Industrial Chemistry, a specialization program in Technology Administration, a diploma in Intellectual Property and a Master in Food Science and Technology that belongs to the CONACyT standard of excellence. Research is conducted in the areas of chemical engineering food and technology management.
The interaction of companies and students has been promoted through various programs among these:
- Internships in the industry in the eighties Work experience (working part-time in a local company) in the nineties.
These efforts are considered successful and were well received by company managers.
More recent have been the activities for the creation or development of entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship in students through the "Young Entrepreneurs" program.
The generation of the first research experiences were formally given by including the subject “Technological research, where the student works by carrying out a part of an applied research project.
This subject and the practices carried out include a set of activities considered as developers of critical thinking; In the case of the entrepreneurial program, the student begins in the industrial business and work experience, with the advantage of having entrepreneurs and executives as tutors, the entrepreneurial experience is only taken by some students.
In 1995 the professors of the subjects Project Formulation and Evaluation (author of this document) and Project Engineering analyzed the possibility of uniting both courses and in particular unifying the final work so that the students presented a single project analyzed in greater depth. To achieve this, some topics of both subjects were modified and the order of their presentation included topics such as strategic planning, intellectual property, patents and licensing, innovation, product development, life cycle, technology transfer, more packages and software for the design of processes and equipment, and certain optimization methodologies.
To start, it was necessary to search for business ideas that had an industrial aspect, and sufficient complexity to cover the requirements of both subjects. Not being purely service or commercial projects acceptable.
It is convenient to incorporate a reference to the curriculum of both professors, since one of them has been a professional since the beginning of the eighties, he worked twelve years in the industrial environment of the region, obtaining experience in design, construction, start-up of food plants, and industry. chemical and pharmaceutical, another part of your experience is in industrial maintenance, afterwards you studied investment projects and technology management, and obtained more experience in business plans working with consultants and with the business incubator that existed in the region, He has participated in state and national planning processes. The second professor graduated at the beginning of the nineties, he joined his faculty almost immediately, where he was in charge of the computing area,He increased his professional experience by developing projects for local consultants, later studied Master of Chemical Engineering, and to date he has been teaching project engineering and other chemical engineering subjects for more than five years. Thus, there was a complement of approaches: technical and administrative, experience-postgraduate education, contacts with experienced professionals-closer contact with undergraduate students.contacts with experienced professionals-closer relationship with undergraduate students.contacts with experienced professionals-closer relationship with undergraduate students.
The procedure was announced to the tenth semester students in 1996, they were asked to form teams of two to four members preferably, and that the projects would be developed in a similar way to those of an office or a project department in a company; Furthermore, the presence of local executives and consultants was expected, both to give conferences on specific topics, and to evaluate the projects in the intermediate presentations and the final presentation.
It was considered pertinent to teach the basic subjects of both courses and especially to give integration methods of knowledge acquired during the degree. The students would carry out the field work in addition to the conceptualization of the project and its integration in a document. For this they would be advised from time to time.
It was thought that the above described would develop their skills for planning, assigning work, teamwork, negotiation, personal and team decision-making, contributing to entrepreneurial behavior.
In 1996, business ideas from consulting firms were presented to students and students decided to develop four of these, only one team preferred to discuss their own idea. It is worth mentioning that the professors keep in contact with business engineers, consulting firms and executives from companies and business chambers, which made it easier to interest these people in this initiative.
The following table presents a summary of the analyzed project ideas, and which were from the same students.
Table 1. Preliminary projects developed between 1996 and 2001.
| Year | characteristics | Observations |
| nineteen ninety six | Agribusiness - 2
Processing-2 Manufacturing-1 |
Four seek solutions for local companies
An initiative of the students The project for a new presentation of salt in cans was developed by the company. |
| 1997 | Food -5
Manufacturing-2 Processing-1 |
Five are looking for solutions for companies, the passion fruit concentrate that was the base for the plant installation stands out; and an integrated croaker mariculture project (Regional IMEF Financial Research Award).
One project explored the technical economic viability of research results for a protein concentrate (presented at the IMIQ-Oaxaca 1998 National Meeting). Two are ideas from the same students |
| 1998 | Food- 4
Manufacturing-1 Effluent control 1 |
Four are looking for solutions for companies, among them a meat canning plant, manufacture of plastic accessories (electrical installations), and one on the treatment of effluents from nixtamalization, were used to support investment decisions.
The analysis of the industrialization of the pitahaya, and the production of fine hams (deli) were the students' idea, with the second the students generated a micro-industry that operated for two years. An aquaculture related project is submitted to a thesis and receives a national award (IMIQ) |
| 1999 | Processing-2
Food and drinks- 3 |
Two sought solutions for a company and a government program in support of poorly developed population sectors (collaboration with the Merida city council)
Three were ideas from students, industrialists expressed interest in a means of fermentation, and the production of liquor from the henequen, businessmen contacted the students about the product and technology for dehydrated habanero pepper. |
| 2000 | Food and beverages 3
Manufacturing - 2 Chemical Products- 2 |
Three projects were born of interest of the students, with expectations of carrying them out in the future
Four responded to the needs of local companies, particularly where one of the students provides their services. One of these projects that led to a thesis, won the award for the best thesis from our Faculty. |
| 2001 | Food, fishing –1
Agricultural-industrial 2 Manufacturing - 2 |
Two projects responded to observed business opportunities from companies, which seek to validate them.
Two projects are due to opportunities detected by students, and which can be proposed to local companies. A project stems from an interest in exploring the technical-economic feasibility of a research project (aquaculture). |
In recent years, some of the projects have become theses and degree works, thus a project on aquaculture and processing won the "Alberto Urbina del Raso" award in 2001, this same project and another on a plant to obtain means fermentation have obtained the award for the best thesis from our Faculty of Chemical Engineering.
Two other projects related to agribusiness and carried out in conjunction with the entrepreneurial program were commercially implemented and the students hired to carry them out, and in another they started the company themselves. Several of these projects have been successfully presented at national student and professional conferences.
Starting in 1998, there is a first presentation to the teachers of the two subjects, where a first feedback is given to the student based on their presentation that includes up to the market study and their progress on the technical study of their project, the panel The evaluation panel is made up of three to four academics, at least one business executive, including consultants and a CANACINTRA-local representative with experience in business plans. This panel evaluates the second and third presentations. Teachers have had the perception that in each of the presentations the number of recommendations on work is reduced, and in particular those that give guidelines that can lead to the development of skills.
There is a measurement of the results of the evaluation panel in the second and third presentation of the group of projects in 2001, where an average score of 89 versus 87.9 was obtained as a rating assigned jointly to the presentation items, it communicates the idea convincingly, organize the presentation; and the means of 87.92 and 87 points respectively for handling the questions and supporting the answers. The high score indicates that students reach a good level in professional skills, particularly communication skills, to support their arguments in critical thinking.
Observations
The analysis of ideas emanating from the students had a period where it increased, the generation of 2001 had a preference for exploring company proposals and research results with the potential to transfer. In the last three generations, student interest has been expressed in the protection of intellectual property, particularly those who developed their ideas.
After six years of this initiative, teachers have observed that during the course skills for teamwork, decision making, information search and self-learning are increased, that a team broke up and did not finish their project in ordinary time. and another team met expectations in the presentation, but the document was incomplete.
The increase in the analysis of own ideas is considered to reflect an interest in innovation and an entrepreneurial attitude.
The relationship with practicing professionals helps students about to graduate to learn what expectations employers may have, and obtain recommendations on what they should improve, both in the project they present and in their professional skills, and in some cases observations and feedback on your ability to form a visibly organized presentation team.
It has been observed that several of the successful projects have been carried out in conjunction with activities of the entrepreneur program, usually these students, since the first presentation, show better skills.
Only one assessment instrument is used in the last two stages of presentation and the current one provides an integrated skill score.
In the first generations the perception of improvement in skills was greater, however at that time, it was not considered to retain the ratings of the first instruments that only gave one or two very general ratings.
In recent years, information has been obtained from other authors, thus Morel et al (1998) mention that the preparation of suitable engineers for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) requires transforming the expected roles of engineers, since SMEs require They double competences, that is, a temporary competition that allows them to manage immediate issues without losing sight of long-term ones, to manage and develop the components of an industrial system, developing competitiveness in manufacturing and business.
Alonso et al (1998) presents the proposal for the training of chemical engineers and where some of the topics of interest have been presented above.
Masu (1999), who is a professor at the Faculty of Engineering at Durban University, South Africa, mentions the skills that his graduates must have: adapting to and participating in change, solving problems in different situations, critical thinking and creativity, using a holistic or systems approach, collaborate in a team, identify your own strengths and weaknesses and commit to continual learning and use it as a tool to address problems; At the same time, employers demand that graduates know how to communicate (verbal and written), analysis and search for solutions, use of information technologies, self-confidence and adaptability.
Rugarcía (2001) gives greater weight to the development of critical thinking of the student, and reminds us that to improve thinking skills, one must work in the search for knowledge or value and in the application of knowledge: learning, researching, experimenting, solving, deciding, reflecting. She has also commented that taking advantage of research for the generation of skills, as long as they do not become mechanically following methodological steps recommended by the teacher, or copying sections of books and magazines.
Palomo (2001) talks about the engineer and his professional skills in the company, where upon joining the job the following are valued: his orientation to the job, the skills (abilities and aptitudes that the position requires) and the knowledge; skills are acquired through training and perfected with practice, knowledge is acquired through the equation and modified with experience, and the set of skills and knowledge make up the content that the worker brings to the job; Also, given the speed of change in the globalized economy, progress must be made towards three key dimensions in the future engineer: cognitive capacity, technological capacity and capacity to document,and how the engineer must learn technology-related management (technological competence) to have the knowledge and skills to understand, make use of, and make decisions about technology.
These recent writings and studies provide guidelines that in the experience presented, activities were initiated within a correct path, while it is necessary to better delineate the model and put in place the procedures for its continuous improvement.
Conclusions
An increase in activities related to professional work skills is obtained, such as teamwork, use of new tools, improving capacities for problem solving and decision-making (critical thinking), which in the case of the last generations progress is made in the progression of the learning curve, and a level (to be quantified) of tacit knowledge of the professional field can also be achieved through team sessions with professional advisers.
An advance in the learning curve of students who have gone through the entrepreneurial program before would explain the perception that they have already developed some of the skills. It can also explain the perception of greater advances in skills, for the first generations where this approach was applied, compared to the most recent ones, who have had to present their ideas and progress of work, more often due to the subjects and the approach. of the new curricula of the career.
The work of various authors related to education in engineering schools largely confirms the importance of working to develop professional skills in students, and that these are strongly demanded by employers in industrial sectors.
This initiative contributes significantly to the university-business relationship, generating confidence in the preparation and training actions of new professionals.
The studies and analyzes developed by the students are a good opportunity to explore the economic potential of the results of research projects, in addition to exploring the business opportunities of companies.
The opportunity is offered to the students to increase their professional skills, particularly in those that traditionally the engineering students had serious deficiencies and that according to recent studies are considered more desirable in an engineer starting in the workplace.
Consideration should be given to reducing the evaluations to two in order to contrast the evaluation grades with the single intervention of the panel, or at least apply the same instruments from the first presentation of progress, to improve the observation of differences in skills during the course.
The instrument should be improved, to request evaluations on the specific skills that are sought to be reinforced, this may lead to the need to carry out training for the evaluation panel. Previous experiences indicate that the participation of professionals from industry or government can be inhibited, therefore a balance should be sought between the detail of the evaluation and maintaining the participation of professionals in the professional practice, particularly those who for Your position affects hiring decisions and the career of other professionals.
Bibliography
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