Tec’s Sonora Norte campus develops project with Algerian university

Mechatronics engineering students from the Tec’s Sonora Norte campus have participated in an international project with the Ferhat Abbas University in Setif, Algeria.

The aim of this joint project was to identify an electronic system, as well as design and implement an automated control system, which was carried out via simulation.

Professor Luis Carlos Félix, who teaches the “Control System Design” subject at Tec, said that the importance of this project lies in preparing students for a world with global challenges.

“It’s valuable for our students to have academic experiences with other cultures so that they develop a global vision and become empathetic and tolerant people,” added Félix.

Control system design and implementation

The exercise consisted of forming teams of Mexican and Algerian students to solve a practical electronics problem together.

“Working with our Algerian classmates, we could provide a solution based on the knowledge we already had,” explained Ena Azcona, a mechatronics engineering student at Tec.

Student Pedro González described the practical problem they worked on: “The project dealt with the simulation of a low-pass filter with a control system. First, we modeled the filter’s operation on its own and then we designed an automatic controller.”

Low-pass filters block high-frequency signals, i.e., those that oscillate very quickly between a minimum and maximum value.

“These filters are used to reduce ‘noise’ in electrical sensors, which causes small high-frequency disturbances in the real value of a sensor’s voltage,” added Pedro.

“It’s valuable for them to have academic experiences with other cultures so that they develop a global vision.” - Luis Carlos Félix.

Developing a global vision

Ena Azcona highlighted that prior to concentrating on the practical problem, the team took a moment to get to know each other and discuss their cultures, which helped them work together.

She added that observing different customs and teaching approaches in other countries was a way of broadening her outlook and made her want to learn more about her chosen career.

Paolo Jiménez said that his favorite part when taking part in this project was realizing that:

“Even though our countries are very different, we could still connect the learning and knowledge acquired, with engineering as the link between these two cultures.”

Paolo points out that respect played an important role in teamwork, since it involved challenges such as the language and different time zones for video calls.

“We had to be willing and patient in order to overcome these barriers, using everything at our disposal, be it simplifying terms, translations into other languages, and even gestures.”

“We could connect the learning and knowledge acquired, with engineering as the link between these two cultures.” - Paolo Jiménez.

Testimonials from Ferhat Abbas teachers and students

Professor Seif E. Chouaba from Ferhat Abbas listed the benefits of collaboration between his university and Tec de Monterrey’s Sonora Norte campus:

• Firstly, it was a fruitful, enriching, and unique experience;
• Secondly, cultural exchanges for all students are far from trivial;
• This collaboration has also allowed us to further strengthen the link between our two institutions;
• Finally, working with international colleagues brings new perspectives and provides a constructive exchange of knowledge.

Khalil Ouassim, a student from the Algerian university, says it was interesting to learn about the different ways they approach problem solving and understand their perspectives on engineering and electronics.

In his opinion, the teams had great discussions and brainstorming sessions, and he learned how people from different backgrounds can work together effectively.

“I also learned more about low-pass filters, as the students had different ideas and approaches to design that I hadn’t considered before,” said Khalil Ouassim.

Cherifi Aya, a student participating in the project, added that for her, the experience of working with students from another country for the first time was wonderful.

“I saw their optimism, culture, traditions, and way of life, as well as the difference in language and teaching methods in Mexico in terms of automation, electronics, and other things,” concluded Cherifi Aya.

International project details

In this project, students from the Ferhat Abbas University in Algeria and Tec de Monterrey’s Norte Norte Campus worked together on an activity based on simulation.

Students collaborated to identify an electronic system, then designed a controller and implemented it in software that emulated a real plant.

Participation in the project was voluntary, since sessions were held outside regular class hours in order to interact in real time with students from Algeria, whose time zone is 8 hours ahead of Sonora.

“We’re living in a global world, with common global challenges that require collaboration between different organizations, regions, and cultures to achieve common goals,” concluded Luis Carlos Félix.

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