This paper presents three tools developed within the framework of the project EDINSOST2-SDG, aimed at embedding and assessing the Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in Engineering curricula. ESD is promoted through the introduction into engineering curricula of learning outcomes related to sustainability and, specifically, to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). The first tool, the “Engineering Sustainability Map”, contains ESD-related learning outcomes that any engineering student should have acquired upon completion of their studies. These learning outcomes are described according to four sustainability competencies: (1) Critical contextualization of knowledge, (2) Sustainable use of resources, (3) Participation in community processes, and (4) Application of ethical principles. The second tool, the “Sustainability Presence Map” of a degree, shows the percentage of the presence in the curriculum of each sustainability competency. The calculation of the presence of each competency is based on the effective integration of the related learning outcomes into a specific curriculum. Respective data are provided by teachers responsible for the coordination of the different subjects of the degree, collected by means of a questionnaire. The third tool presented is a questionnaire aimed at measuring the level of ESD that students perceive they have acquired through each competency. The comparison of data resulting from the Sustainability Presence Map with the data from the student questionnaire is the first step that allows the effectiveness of embedding ESD in a degree to be determined, a proper learning assessment will confirm such effectiveness. The three tools presented in this work have undergone a validation process and are currently being used in a set of engineering degrees related to the EDINSOST2-SDG project. The results of the application of these tools are part of the future research work of the authors.

A new compact low voltage four quadrant current mode CMOS multiplier is presented. Post layout simulation in a CMOS 0.5 µm technology shows a linearity error lower than 0.9% for signal swings up to ±50 µA. The circuit operates at a supply of ±1.5 V, has a static power dissipation of 0.6 mW and a 1 dB bandwidth of 33 MHz.

It is vital that subjects such as the circular economy, sustainable design, green computing or environmental engineering be included in the engineering curriculum. Education for sustainable development will enable engineers to develop sustainable products and provide sustainable services, thereby leading to a beneficial result for society and making an indispensable contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals achievement. As the last stage for students in academia, Degree Theses (Bachelor’s and Master’s) provide a good tool for reviewing the sustainability competencies developed during the degree, as well as being an opportunity for applying these competencies in a holistic way. In their Degree Theses, students should be able to demonstrate that they are aware of the need to introduce and assess sustainability in their future engineering projects. This paper presents a guide aimed at helping engineering students to design and develop sustainable projects, and analyzes the first results of its use in two schools of the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya—BarcelonaTech. The proposal is based on a tool referred to as “the Sustainability Matrix”, in which cells contain questions that engineering students should take into account when undertaking their Degree Theses. The questions are related to the project development, the project exploitation and the possible risks involved, three aspects in accordance with the sustainability dimensions (economic, environmental and social). The Sustainability Matrix helps students to develop sustainable projects when they graduate, and teachers to assess how sustainability is incorporated across the curriculum in the subjects they teach and in the students’ Degree Theses.

This paper features a methodology for embedding and assessing a competency in an academic curriculum using competency maps. This methodology enables embedding and assessment of any competency in any curriculum, regardless of the educational level, as long as the competency is correctly described by means of a competency map. As an example of the application of this methodology, a proposal for embedding and assessing sustainability in engineering degrees is presented. A competency map embodies the set of learning outcomes of the competency that students should have acquired upon completion of their studies. This information allows the designers of the curriculum to determine the learning outcomes that should be developed in the degree and to distribute them appropriately among the subjects. The presence map can be constructed from the competency map. It contains information regarding the extent to which each learning outcome of the competency map is being developed in the degree. This paper proposes the construction of a presence map in two steps: (1) perform a survey and (2) conduct a semi-structured interview with professors. The interview, which is conducted by one or several experts in the competency, allows the different criteria used by the professors when filling out the questionnaire to be unified, whereas the presence map shows whether a particular competency is correctly embedded in the curriculum and the aspects that could be improved. Finally, to validate that the students are achieving the learning outcomes of the competency map, we propose a survey to measure the students’ perception about their own learning in the competency. These results can be compared with the presence map to help determine whether, from the students’ point of view, the expected learning outcomes are being achieved in the corresponding subjects. The aim of this process is to provide the information necessary to indicate any changes in the curriculum that may improve the embedding of the competency.

This letter shows how a temperature sensor and a simple dc voltage multimeter can be used as instruments to determine the central frequency and 3 dB bandwidth of a 60 GHz linear power amplifier (PA). Compared to previous works, the dc temperature monitoring now proposed requires a much simpler and convenient measurement set-up. In this example, the temperature sensor is embedded in the same silicon die as the PA. Being placed in empty layout spaces next to it, it is proposed as a built-in test circuit.