Strengthening Capacity of Higher Engineering Education for Sustainable Buildings (HEESeB)
Project leader overall project: Tshewang Lhendup, Royal University of Bhutan
Project leader University of Innsbruck: Wolfgang Streicher
Project staff: Martin Hauer Anton Kraler (AB Holzbau, UIBK), Suzanne Kapelari (Dean of the Faculty of Teacher Education)
Project partners:
- Jigme Namgyel Engineering College, Royal University of Bhutan
- University of Innsbruck
Funding body: Agency for Education and Internationalisation (OeAD)
Funding programme: Austrian Partnership Programme in Higher Education and Research for Development (APPEAR, https://appear.at/en/)
Total funding: 269,082 euros (UIBK: 122,463 euros)
Duration: 01.01.2024 until 31.12.2027
Funding organisation: Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG)
Project website: https://heeseb.com
Summary
The project pursues five objectives (i) development of a new academic programme in Timber Construction for Energy Efficient Buildings leading to the award of a "Certificate in Timber Construction for Energy Efficient Buildings" including the associated laboratory; (ii) development of two new courses at JNEC: Gender, Equity and Diversity in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM); Building Modelling and Simulation; and HVAC; (iii) Improvement of JNEC's teaching and research capacity; (iv) Improvement of teaching support services at JNEC; (v) Internationalisation of UIBK. Through the above objectives and planned activities, this project will achieve APPEAR's overall goal of "strengthening the scientific foundations and institutional capacities in higher education, research and management in the partner countries through academic partnerships with Austrian universities and Master and PhD scholarships".
In the long term, the project will benefit hundreds of students who will complete a Bachelor's or Diploma programme at JNEC. In addition, this project will also benefit hundreds of working engineers, including some laboratory technicians, through participation in refresher courses. Three short-term training programmes will also be conducted: (i) 10 days Training of Trainers (ToT) on Timber Construction at UBIK, (ii) 8 days ToT on Building Simulation and HVAC at JNEC, and (iii) a 5-day ToT on Gender, Equity and Diversity in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) at JNEC. Subsequently, these trainings will improve the teaching capacity of at least 50 teachers who will pass on the acquired knowledge and skills to JNEC students. This project therefore has multiple benefits. As JNEC is mandated by the government to provide engineering education to students and refresher courses to working engineers and technicians, this project will be sustainable beyond the project period.
This project also aims to provide students with better education and international experience through thesis/term abroad for two students from UIBK at JNEC and vice versa. In addition, four short-term teaching assignments from the UIBK to the JNEC and two from the JNEC to the UIBK are planned. Both the new students and faculty will bring an international perspective to UIBK and help students prepare for a globalised work environment. Both genders are well represented among the project members: 33% female and 67% male teachers from different regions in eastern and western Bhutan as well as from Europe.
Tasks in the project
Preparation and provision of course material, implementation of ToT courses, introduction to simulation software in the areas of energy-efficient buildings, timber construction, gender equality).
