The development of higher education worldwide must be integrated in the context of sustainable development in order to ensure environmental sustainability, social sustainability, and economic sustainability. Knowing that the digitalization process within higher education institutions is continuously expanding, while the digital tools and online learning environments enhance accessibility, flexibility, and efficiency, the purpose of the present paper is to highlight how the use of e-Learning platforms can help sustainable education development from the point of view of students from two universities: a university from Romania and a university from the USA. In order to reach this objective, a quantitative research method was used, aiming to identify the students’ opinion on a series of facilities offered by e-Learning platforms that serve as the learning process. Data processing and analysis were conducted by means of specific tests supplied by the SPSS software. The obtained results showed that Moodle users spend approximately 26% more time on the platform than Blackboard users, with a small effect size (d = 0.284), while non-engineering students spend approximately 45% more time on the e-learning platform than engineering students, also with a small effect size (d = 0.458). The evaluation of the efficacy of different educational resources varies based on the e-learning platform used, with a large effect size found for editable files (d = 1.017) and PPT or similar formats (d = 1.2). Also, the efficacy of various applications on the e-learning platform varies by platform type, with a large effect size observed for two-way student–teacher communication (d = 0.819), self-assessment grid tests with immediate feedback (d = 1.072), synchronous online meetings with teachers (d = 1.117), and access to information from previous years (d = 0.89). We conclude that institutions should prioritize platform adaptability and student engagement strategies when implementing e-learning solutions for sustainable development.

Industry 4.0 cannot be understood without sustainable development, being an essential condition for ensuring market success, economic growth, and minimal environmental impact. Considering the increase in interest for applying Industry 4.0 principles by industrial companies, the aim of this paper is to find the degree and benefits of implementing the new technologies by manufacturing engineering companies from Romania. The research methodology proposes testing the opinion of top managers regarding certain Industry 4.0 issues. Data processing and analysis was conducted by means of SPSS software. The obtained results revealed that industrial companies from Romania show quite a high interest in developing all the processes from a company regarding the entire process flow, from client order to product delivery. Moreover, small and micro companies that participated in this study have recorded notable scores in respect to implementing the principles of Industry 4.0, considering their flexibility and the communication among employees, which is more efficient than in case of large and medium companies. We concluded that this study facilitates an understanding of the degree of implementing Industry 4.0 principles by Romanian manufacturing companies that stands at the base of sustainable development of businesses.

Manufacturing process optimization is an ever-actual goal. Within this goal, machining parameters optimization is a very important task. Machining parameters strongly influence the manufacturing costs, process productivity and piece quality. Literature presents a series of optimization methods. The results supplied by these methods are comparable and it is difficult to establish which method is the best. For machining parameters optimization, this paper proposes a novel, simple and efficient method, without additional costs related to new software packages. This approach is based on linear mathematical programming. The optimization mathematical models are, however, nonlinear. Therefore, mathematical model linearization is required. The major and difficult problem is the linearization of the objective function. This represents the key element of the proposed optimization method. In this respect, the paper proposes an original mathematical procedure for calculating the part of the objective function that refers to the analytical integration of the tool life into the model. This calculus procedure was transposed into an original software tool. For demonstrating the validity of the method, a comparison is presented among the results obtained by certain optimization techniques. It results that the proposed method is simple and as good as those presented by the literature.

The present paper continues the authors’ research in machining process optimization, including the direction of machining parameters optimization. The paper develops an innovative method, via surface integrity, for determining the technological route and the related depths of cut, with respect to machining front faces of cast iron parts. For correctly establishing the depths of the cut, the errors that appear within surface and subsurface layers during the casting process, as well as during machining, must be gradually eliminated. These errors make it necessary to consider the concept of surface integrity. This paper presents the modality of integrating the components of surface integrity into the depth of cut. For the practical use of this method, a new software tool based on a series of mathematical models and a small database was conceived. A case study illustrates how the method is applied and the software tool used to solve a specific application in the case of a belt pulley.