Challenges of Digital Transition in Engineering Careers: Solution Based on Standardized Renewable Source-based Remote Laboratories

Abstract

Nowadays, society faces two crucial challenges: digital transition and energy transition. In this sense, educative innovation plays a key role in this challenging scenario, and more particularly engineering careers, where laboratory practices are as important as theoretical classes. This article presents a standardized platform made of five remote laboratories-based training modules. Five European universities from five different countries (Austria, Ireland, Italy, Norway, and Spain) participate in the project. Each university is responsible for developing each remote laboratory, under the guidance provided by the responsible entity (the University of Huelva, Spain). For this purpose, the University of Huelva has implemented a remote laboratory based on a supercapacitor power bank. The rest of the universities have selected other renewable sources and have replicated the information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure. The result is a European network materialized on a homogenized platform where teachers and students can find all the resources (lecture notes and laboratory practices) to train and to be trained in renewable energy matter remotely.