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Description
The "MARINTECH" project will strengthen the partnership in the marine engineering field and interdisciplinary programs, between the Naval Academy "Mircea cel Batran" (MBNA) and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). The general objectives of the project to achieve these directions of action are:
- supporting the development of human capital (students, academic staff) in both universities with a strong interdisciplinary component on marine intelligent technologies;
- modernization of partner universities;
- ensuring a closer relationship between the educational offer and the labor market.
The courses developed in the project are multidisciplinary, jointly certified, with ECTS credits, recognized in both universities.
In order to professionally develop human capital in the field of marine intelligent technologies (academic staff, students), will be jointly organized summer schools, short-term student mobilities, and short-term staff training events, with the participation of specialists in the field.
The project will also develop a virtual platform (VTP), as an open-source and e-campus for the implementation of mutual learning activities, exchange of academic knowledge, experience, and good practices in the field of marine intelligent technologies, supporting the exchange of staff and students, enabling employers to access to project activities, thus encouraging the involvement of students in activities that allow direct contact with economic partners in solving concrete problems.
Summary of project results
The Romanian-Norwegian strategic cooperation in maritime higher education for the enhancement of human capital and knowledge base in the field of marine intelligent technologies - MARINTECH project was needed for:
•The Enhancing the quality and relevance of education and training in maritime higher education.
•Higher education student and staff learning mobility between Norway and Romania.
•Cooperation and partnerships between education and the world maritime market.
•Professional development of teachers in MBNA and NTNU.
These challenges were solved by:
-the updating of knowledge and acquiring new skills in the field of intelligent technologies for the maritime industry under the requirements of the labour market,
- the use of IT tools and innovative methods of teaching/learning/assessment in the online environment, adapted to the pandemic context. The project developed an innovative curriculum for a joint course of 3 modules on intelligent technologies applied in the maritime industry („Intelligent technologies applications in maritime industry"), adapted to the new requirements of the labour market, attributed with ECTS, and commonly recognized by both universities.
During the project there were no particular problems of management and implementation of the activities. Any inconsistencies were discussed, analysed and resolved by mutual agreement in a timely manner.
MARINTECH activities were organised and implemented according to the Project Management Plan (PMP) which includes: intellectual outputs, workshops and learning/training/education activities within the agreed timeframe. The body responsible for the overall management of the project is the Steering Committee (SC), consisting of the MBNA and NTNU team leaders and the project promoter, the SC has been vested with the authority to command and control all aspects of the project work plan, timetable, tasks and distribution of responsibilities. The PMP includes the following chapters: Schedule Management (SMP), Cost Management (CMP), Quality Management (QMP), Human Resource Management (HRMP), Communication Management (CMP), Risk Management (RMP), Dissemination and Exploitation (DEP), PMP Monitoring.
The main results of the project are:
Curriculum for the joint course ” Intelligent technologies applications in maritime industry" to be implemented by both partners in the English language; VPT (Virtual Training Platform) result is measured by indicators like the number of courses uploaded on VPT as open sources; Short-term joint staff training events: 2 x 5 academic staff; Short term students exchanges: 2 sessions 40 students; Summer schools: 2; 4 workshops organized, 2 in each partner country, with at least 20 attendees/event;
4 joint articles were submitted and published.
The implementation of this project within the two universities will increase their institutional presence and prestige in Romania, Norway, and Europe as a whole.
Regular financial reports were prepared by the project''s financial staff to ensure proper management of the project in close relation with EU procedures.
The SC designated a responsible person for each task and milestone assigned for the project.
MBNA supervised the reporting system.The partner teams had complementary character, tasks and responsibilities. The teams consisted of both experienced teachers and experts who would design and carry out the activities, as well as administrative and financial staff.
MBNA was the project promoter and the tasks were distributed equally with the partners. NTNU was the lead for O3, O5 and responsible for organising activities M1, M3, C1, C3, C5, A2 and A4. MBNA was the leader for O1, O2, O4 and responsible for organising activities for A1, A3, A5, C2, C4, C6 and M2, M4.
As the impact of the project is distributed on several dimensions, the assessment is done accordingly, as follows:
- the level of transversal skills of students in marine intelligent technologies developed through courses in the field, and through the use of digital and innovative teaching/learning techniques is measured by assessing labor market satisfaction with feedback collected from them (according to ISO 9001- 2015, and by the number of students who will access the labor market in the field of marine intelligent technologies - in progress:
- the impact on the quality of teaching resources developed within the project is measured quantitatively by the number of transfers by other universities through VPT, and qualitatively by curriculum and course evaluations developed by national quality assurance agencies or European agencies (such as EUA-European Universities Association, International Association of Maritime Universities - IAMU or European Maritime Security Agency - EMSA, on the occasion of the institutional evaluations of both partners, in progress, online thought the Projects site:
- the cooperation between MBNA and NTNU open new directions of development both in the didactic field and in research, described in quantity (no. of student mobilities, no. of joint modernized study programs, no. of common scientific articles, number of joint research projects) and qualitative indicators (diversification of the use of academic facilities and intensive exploitation);
- the development of cooperation between partners and the labor market is measured by the number of participation of companies in training events and evaluation of study programs, by the number of students who will do internships within companies, and by involving companies in actions research of partners, at our activities.
A significant number of companies or representatives of institutions and companies willing to learn about the latest developments in the field of modern training of personnel in the maritime industry and to cooperate with the two universities in the field of specialized training participated in the activities carried out within the project.
Summary of bilateral results
This project benefited from the existence of an experienced and valuable donor partner, thus:Norway is a leader in the international maritime industry. NTNU has world-leading expertise in offshore maritime operations, as well as ship control and autonomous vehicle handling capabilities. It has cutting-edge systems and operational modelling/simulation know-how of vital strategic importance to the maritime industry to further strengthen its global competitiveness. NTNU contributes to fundamental and interdisciplinary knowledge in the fields of marine hydrodynamics, hydro engineering and underwater vehicle control theory. NTNU Aalesund has a research laboratory for testing intelligent control technology for various shipboard activities. The collaboration within the MARINTECH project has led to: exchange of expertise in the fields in which the two universities excel, respectively, oceanography, underwater robotics and machine learning in the marine industry; collaboration between professors and students of the two institutions in fields new to them; joint production and publication of scientific articles etc. which have led to improved knowledge and understanding in the new fields addressed by the project, with the effect of organizing new courses in the Master of Oceanography and Hydrography of MBNA.Following the discussions between partners during the course of the project, the requirements for new collaborations, new ideas to be addressed in future programme sessions, but also directly through exchanges of teachers and students through the ERASMUS programme have been developed.