The Faculty of Mechanical, Industrial and Maritime Engineering (FIMIM) of the Ovidius University of Constanta (UOC) implements virtual reality technology in the educational process, offering students of the Road Vehicles and Industrial Energy programs the opportunity to carry out innovative laboratory activities in the course “Construction and calculation of internal combustion engines”. Through the use of virtual reality, they can explore the details of engine components, gaining a better understanding of the disassembly and assembly processes.
This initiative is carried out within the Project “Upgrading academic skills and innovative caPacities through virTuAlly Enclusive hybRid Studios” (UPTAKERS), funded by the European Commission, through the Agency for Education and Culture.
Similar activities are taking place during this period at La Sapienza University in Rome and at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia in Barcelona, with the aim of organizing a training session for teachers from universities in Jordan, Egypt and Tunisia, beneficiaries of the project.
During these courses, which will take place at the Ovidius University of Constanta, between 23rd and 25th of April 2025, the requirements for equipping the Virtual Reality and Extended Reality laboratories, necessary to carry out teaching activities in fields such as: mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, civil engineering, architecture and medicine, will be evaluated.
“It is a paradigm shift, both for the act of teaching and in terms of the learning process that can be compared, in terms of magnitude, with what the Gutenberg revolution represented, respectively, the evolutions that were achieved by the introduction of printed books. Currently, principles and methods are established for integrating these technologies into the teaching process, but a huge amount of work is needed to generate virtual environments, models and algorithms for these applications”, says Prof. Dr. Eng. Eden Mamut, director of the UPTAKERS project.
The project “Upgrading academic skills and innovative caPacities through virTuAlly Enclusive hybRid Studioss” (UPTAKERS) grant contract no. 101179167/2024, has a total budget of 800,000 euros and is implemented over a period of three years, within a consortium that includes: Ovidius University of Constanta (coordinator), “La Sapienza” University of Rome (Italy) and Polytechnic University of Catalonia in Barcelona (Spain).
The beneficiary universities within the project are: Arab Academy of Sciences, Technology and Maritime Transport, Egypt, University of the Future of Egypt, University of Monastir, Tunisia, University of Sousse, Tunisia, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Al-Balqa University of Applied Sciences, Jordan and “El Khawaizmi” Computing Center, Tunisia.
Communication and Press Relations Office of the Ovidius University of Constanta.
Constanta, 3.04.2025
