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This article aims to identify the challenges and opportunities in cross-program problem-based learning (PBL) in higher education, based on an Industry 4.0 case with undergraduate and graduate students studying for engineering degrees. The method for this research comprised a cross-program course structured to bring together undergraduate and graduate students using a PBL approach. Five Industry 4.0-related projects were developed in collaboration with four multinational companies. The authors present the results of the projects and feedback from students, professors and industry partners. The results and feedback led to empirical findings on the challenges and opportunities of cross-program PBL in higher education. The findings contribute to the design and implementation of teaching and learning practices and educational policies at undergraduate and graduate levels. In the approach adopted, the undergraduate students acquired hands-on experience while the graduate students had the opportunity to supervise applied research and practice. The study highlights practices that can help to better prepare future industry professionals.

Purpose: Some universities have a commitment to both academic education and sustainable development, and the sustainable development goals can support several sustainable actions that universities may take as principles and attitudes. From this perspective, the purpose of this study is to present environmentally sustainable practices at a federal university in Brazil and to analyze and discuss the potential environmental impacts associated with an environmentally sustainable practice implemented using life cycle assessment (LCA) and its benefits for the university's decision-makers. Design/methodology/approach: To accomplish that, the study combines a description of environmentally sustainable practices at the 13 campuses of the Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná (UTFPR) in terms of education, water and electricity consumption, waste management and emissions. As a result of this analysis, one campus identified that a high volume of disposable plastic cups were being disposed of, for which the use of reusable plastic cups was introduced. In addition, an LCA study (ISO 14040:2006 and 14044:2006) quantified the benefits of the introduction of said reusable plastic cups. Findings: The results show that the university is working on environmentally sustainable initiatives and policies to become greener. At the same time, using a systematic LCA made it possible to measure that replacing disposable plastic cups for reusable ones reduced waste generation but increased water consumption on the campus. Faced with this, a sensitization was carried out to reduce water consumption. Finally, the current study provides lessons on the environmental performance to universities interested in sustainable practices, fostering perspectives for a better world. The findings of this study encourage organizations to accomplish environmental actions toward greener universities. The study shows that institutions need to be reflective and analytical about how even "greening" measures have impacts, which can be mitigated if necessary. Practical implications: The sustainable practical implications were reported, and an LCA was conducted to assess potential environmental impacts of reusable plastic cups. It was identified that raw material production is the phase that generates most environmental impacts during the life cycle of the product, along with the consumer use phase, due to the quantity of water used to wash the reusable cups. In addition, the practical contributions of this study are to provide insights to institutions that aim to use environmental actions, i.e. suggestions of sustainable paths toward a greener university. Originality/value: This is one of the first studies to investigate and discuss sustainable practices at UTFPR/Brazil. The study assessed one of the practices using a scientific technique (LCA) to assess the impacts of reusable plastic cups distributed to the students of one of the 13 campuses. Although there are other studies on LCA in the literature, the value of this study lies in expanding what has already been experienced/found on the use of LCA to assess environmental practices in university campuses.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to report on a life cycle assessment (LCA)-based ecodesign teaching practice via university-industry collaboration in an industrial engineering undergraduate course. Design/methodology/approach: A new course was designed and taught in the Industrial Engineering undergraduate course of a Federal University in Brazil. The course comprised explanatory lectures and a practical project developed in a partnership between the university and an industry partner where students had to develop Ecodesign proposals based on LCA to improve the environmental profile of both solid and reticulated paint brushes. To that end, students used the LCA software tool Umberto NXT v.7.1.13 (educational version), where they modeled the life cycle of four plastic brushes and assessed it using the impact categories of climate change and resource consumption, and the Ecoinvent v.3.3 database. After course completion, students, professors and industry collaborators were asked to provide feedback on the project performance and expectations. Findings: The course design used was welcomed by both students and the industry partner. Students found the novel approach intriguing and useful to their future careers. The results also exceeded the industry partner's expectations, as students formulated valuable insights. Professors observed that learning was made easier, as content was put into practice and internalized more easily and solidly. The approach was found to be a win-win-win. Practical implications: Students acquired a fair share of knowledge on sustainability issues and potential existing trade-offs, which is valuable to industrial practices. The industry noticed the valuable contributions that academia can provide. The university profited from providing students with a real case challenging traditional teaching methods. Originality/value: To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is one of the first case studies to show how LCA and ecodesign teaching practice can support sustainability learning in an industrial engineering undergraduate course.

In the processing of buckwheat to produce flour, wastes account for approximately 20% of the whole grain. This article points out the potential routes for value recovery of the waste obtained in the processing of buckwheat during the production of flour, thus fomenting a circular bioeconomy. To that end, the following steps were taken: (a) characterizing the processing of buckwheat for flour production and the wastes generated; (b) listing existing actions for different uses of the wastes obtained in the processing of buckwheat; (c) categorizing the uses of buckwheat wastes according to the existing literature; and (d) classifying the potential uses of the wastes obtained in the processing of buckwheat within the categories identified. Buckwheat wastes can be used to produce goods in the sectors of fertilizers; food; chemical; pharmaceutical; fabrics, yarns, and threads; cements and asbestos; hygiene and personal products; and other products. Food (human and animal) products presented the greatest market attractiveness, followed by pharmaceutical products. However, potential for innovation considering the sectors' revenue point out that food and chemical products are the most promising. This study provides guidance on how to use innovation to guide opportunities for a more circular bioeconomy toward both environmental and economic benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to present how data mining (DM) and machine learning (ML) contribute to the product development process (PDP). The Methodi Ordinatio methodology was used to identify important articles for this study, and VOSviewer software was applied to generate visual maps. A systematic review was conducted on the Web of Science, Scopus and Science Direct databases. Forty-six articles were designated for analysis in order to evaluate the most commonly used DM and ML techniques to support the PDP, as well as to demonstrate which specific phases are most often applied. In addition, the main limitations of the analyzed techniques were identified. The results show that the association rule technique was the most commonly used, followed by text mining, and the most used phases were planning and design. In this context, this study intends to stimulate companies to use computational techniques, more precisely DM and ML, to assist in the generation of knowledge and become a strategic factor in the PDP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pig waste can be used to generate energy through biogas and has been gaining importance for being a renewable energy source. The resulting biogas can be used in many forms, such as to produce electricity and supply local networks using microgrids. This helps bring greater stability and energy security to local electricity supply networks. Under this light, this article aims to (i) report on socio-environmental impacts, (ii) present lessons learned (from a circular economy and territorial intelligence perspective), and (iii) point out future business opportunities of value recovery from waste in rural properties. To that end, a case study was carried out in a rural property in Paraná, Brazil. The authors conducted local visits and surveys, and consulted documents provided by the property owners about projects making use of biogas produced from pig waste and used to generate electricity. Different partnerships between the property and public and private bodies enable business opportunities arising from projects that range from the commercialization of carbon credits, decentralized energy generation, to sale of energy to the State's energy provider and establishing Microgrids. From those projects, direct and indirect environmental and social benefits are primarily related to the replacement of non-renewable energy with renewable energy from waste, and impacts avoided from the inadequate handling of pig waste. The results show that it is possible to explore the energy potential of rural properties, based on livestock waste, by developing partnerships with public and private actors, producing energy from biogas, from circular economy and territorial intelligence perspectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, electric vehicles have gained enormous popularity due to their performance and efficiency. The investment in developing this new technology is justified by the increased awareness of the environmental impacts caused by combustion vehicles, such as greenhouse gas emissions, which have contributed to global warming and the depletion of oil reserves that are not renewable energy sources. Lithium-ion batteries are the most promising for electric vehicle (EV) applications. They have been widely used for their advantages, such as high energy density, many cycles, and low self-discharge. This work extensively investigates the main methods of estimating the state of charge (SoC) obtained through a literature review. A total of 109 relevant articles were found using the prism method. Some basic concepts of the state of health (SoH); a battery management system (BMS); and some models that can perform SoC estimation are presented. Challenges encountered in this task are discussed, such as the nonlinear characteristics of lithium-ion batteries that must be considered in the algorithms applied to the BMS. Thus, the set of concepts examined in this review supports the need to evolve the devices and develop new methods for estimating the SoC, which is increasingly more accurate and faster. This review shows that these tools tend to be continuously more dependent on artificial intelligence methods, especially hybrid algorithms, which require less training time and low computational cost, delivering real-time information to embedded systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]