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Abstract

The concept of a culture of technology efficiency is considered in the context of a plan designed to prepare engineers who teach technicians. The conditions essential to the development of such a culture have been established and tested in terms of goals, cognitive tools and operational factors, and these are discussed and analysed in this paper. These factors were applied to a joint programme undertaken in Mexico by the Department of Education of the National Commission for Energy Efficiency and the General Direction of Technological and Industrial Education under the Ministry of Education. After describing this programme and assessing the results, the author concludes with more general remarks concerning the planning, development and evaluation of educational projects in the context of technology efficiency.

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References

According to data taken from the illustration published on page 57 of the September1990 Special Issue of Scientific American, ‘Energy for Planet Earth’, for some representative countries the annual consumption of energy per habitant during 1988, measured in beps (barrels of oil equivalent), was estimated as follows: Canada and the USA: 40; England and Japan: 20; Mexico and Brazil: 8; Nigeria and India: 2.

For background information, see, for instance, a Note published in this journal reporting on the educational programme of the National Commission for Energy Efficiency (Comisión Nacional para el Ahorro de Energía — CONAE): Barojas

, ‘An education programme in energy efficiency in Mexico’, Industry and Higher Education, Vol 7, No 2, June 1993, pp 119–120.

Barojas

, in collaboration with Armenta

E.E.

Cadenas

C.L.L.

, Eficiencia tecnológica y educación (Technology Efficiency and Education), SEP— SEIT, México, 1998; Barojas

, in collaboration with F. Cárdenas B., R. Chablé O. and J. Villa M., Eficiencia tecnológica e industria (Technology Efficiency and Industry), SEP— SEIT, México, 1998.

Takeda

‘A new paradigm of science policy and technology management for the coming century’, in Maruyama

Watanabe

, eds, Physics and Industry (Proceedings, IUPAP, Nara Japan, 1993), Lecture Notes in Physics 435, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 1994, pp 61–70.

Aubrecht

Energy, Merrill Publishing Company, Columbus, OH, 1989; Deleague

J.P.

Souchon

, Energy: An Interdisciplinary Theme for Environmental Education, UNESCO—UNEP International Environment Education Programme, Environmental Education Series, No 11, Unesco, Paris, 1986; and Hansen

S. J.

, Performance Contracting for Energy and Environmental Systems, Fairmont, Liburn, 1993.

Feynman

R.P.

Leighton

R.B.

Sands

, The Feynman Lectures of Physics, Vol I, Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA, 1963.

The certificate consisted of two modules with a total of 160 teaching hours. The first module was on basics and comprised the following subjects, all of them considered in the context of energy efficiency: Educational Context; Management of Natural Resources in Medium-Size Enterprises; Cost Reduction and Natural Resources Savings, Productivity and Quality of the Environment; Mathematics; Physics; and Chemistry. The second module was on electromechanical applications: Energy Management; Energy Diagnosis; Electricity and Magnetism; Electric Engines; Illumination Systems; and Electrical Installations.

See Ref 3.

García

, From Planning to Evaluation: A Systems Approach to Sustainable Development Projects, Separata de la Sección de Metodología y Teoría de la Ciencia (Publication of the Section on Methodology and Theory of Science) CINVESTAV, México, 1996.

10.

Ibid.

11.

Ibid.

12.

‘Higher Education in the XXI Century: Vision and Action’, UNESCO World Conference on Higher Education, Paris, October 1998.

Technology Efficiency Education

Abstract

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