Convergence is an opportunity to determine the possibility to train students in social skills, assuming that our universities provide valuable training in specific technical and professional skills. This study presents the strategy followed in the Mines and Energy Engineering School of the Polytechnic University of Madrid (UPM from its name in Spanish) to enhance social learning through a program based on the assembly of training practices on Mentoring, Service Learning and social consciousness (Ethics and values in engineering). In this article we discuss about social motivation through social collaboration with qualified entities in the Spanish social landscape such as Tomillo Foundation, Congregation Mary Immaculate as well as looking to a future collaboration with the Ana Bella Foundation.

Nowadays, indoor air quality monitoring has become an issue of great importance, especially in industrial spaces and laboratories where materials are handled that may release particles into the air that are harmful to health. This study focuses on the monitoring of air quality and particle concentration using low-cost sensors (LCSs). To carry out this work, particulate matter (PM) monitoring sensors were used, in controlled conditions, specifically focusing on particle classifications with PM2.5 and PM10 diameters: the Nova SDS011, the Sensirion SEN54, the DFRobot SEN0460, and the Sensirion SPS30, for which an adapted environmental chamber was built, and gaged using the Temtop M2000 2nd as a reference sensor (SRef). The main objective was to preliminarily assess the performance of the sensors, to select the most suitable ones for future research and their possible use in different work environments. The monitoring of PM2.5 and PM10 particles is essential to ensure the health of workers and avoid possible illnesses. This study is based on the comparison of the selected LCS with the SRef and the results of the comparison based on statistics. The results showed variations in the precision and accuracy of the LCS as opposed to the SRef. Additionally, it was found that the Sensirion SEN54 was the most suitable and valuable tool to be used to maintain a safe working environment and would contribute significantly to the protection of the workers’ health.

This study presents the metrological validation of encapsulated DS18B20 digital temperature sensors. Eight units were tested, and seven were analysed (sensor 8 was excluded owing to a systematic failure). The evaluation was performed using a standard comparison calibration, where T_ref was defined as the mean of two calibrated Pt-100 probes in a Julabo DYNEO DD 601F thermostatic bath, following the TH-001 procedure of the Spanish Centre of Metrology (CEM). Four validation tests were performed: Test 1 (E1, 20 to 75 °C), Test 2 (E2, 20 to 72 °C), and with an extended range, Test 3 (E3, −12 to 86 °C) and Test 4 (E4, −12 to 86 °C; repetition to assess reproducibility relative to E3), with 10 steady-state readings per setpoint. Erroneous readings were defined and removed (probe 3, Test 4), and set points without valid readings from probe 4 above 68 °C were excluded. Without data processing, the errors were consistent with the manufacturer’s stated ±0.5 °C, despite an inter-probe bias. Several correction models were evaluated (offset, affine linear, polynomial, and segmented); the probe-specific affine linear model provided the best overall compromise, reducing MAE (Mean Absolute Error) to 0.046 to 0.130 °C and RMSE (Root Mean Square Error) to 0.057 to 0.169 °C. The process uncertainty is dominated by the traceability of the Pt-100 probes and the effective nonuniformity of the isothermal volume, which limits the achievable accuracy. The results support the use of individually calibrated DS18B20 sensors for continuous monitoring, provided that the effective operating range is maintained.

Integrative Learning toward Social Responsibility in Teaching Engineering: 10.4018/978-1-5225-0024-7.ch011: Technical University of Madrid, within the Spanish context, has profited of the introduction of a System of Internal Quality Assurance to build a road on the

The Technical University of Madrid, within the Spanish context, has profited from the introduction of a System of Internal Quality Assurance to build a road on the grounds of previous work on the culture of ethics in engineering. This way may drive the students training to incorporate in their curricula, leadership instruments that can be used for the recognition and acquisition of social responsibility. The road is paved with various educational elements, either mandatory, such as the “Mentoring Project” (peer support program), or optional, such as “Monitoring” (peer academic support program), “Ethics and Values in Engineering” (with social entrepreneurship projects) and “Service-Learning” (methodology that combines learning objectives with community service). This strategy, combined with the convergence of the European Higher Education Area, allows selecting those students who are able to integrate in their professional assets the idea and commitment of making the human development more sustainable, since the named experiences work towards the Sustainable Development Goals.