Study Programmes 2016-2017
INGE0012-1  
Scientific research in engineering and its impact on innovation
Duration :
30h Th, 30h Pr
Number of credits :
Master in biomedical engineering (120 ECTS)5
Master in chemical and materials engineering (120 ECTS)5
Master in electrical engineering (120 ECTS)5
Master in computer science and engineering (120 ECTS)5
Master in computer science (120 ECTS)5
Master in geology and mining engineering (120 ECTS)5
Master in physical engineering (120 ECTS)5
Lecturer :
Rodolphe Sepulchre
Language(s) of instruction :
English language
Organisation and examination :
Teaching in the second semester
Units courses prerequisite and corequisite :
Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program
Learning unit contents :
The objective of the course is to study the mechanisms of innovation and research in engineering through case studies of major inventions or breakthroughs in the 20th century. 
  The topic of the course in 2016-2017 will be Cybernetics. 
"Cybernetics - the science of communication and control as it applies to machines and to humans - originates from efforts during World War II to build automatic antiaircraft systems. Following the war, this science extended beyond military needs to examine all systems that rely on information and feedback, from the level of the cell to that of society. ("The Cybernetics moment, or why we call our age the information age", R. Kline, 2015).
 
The term Cybernetics was coined by N, Wiener in his influential monograph " Cybernetics: Or Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine" published in 1948.
Learning outcomes of the learning unit :
Students will learn how to trace the history and the subsequent impact on innovation of an important scientific paper, as a way to understand the specificity of scientific esearch in engineering.
Prerequisite knowledge and skills :
Planned learning activities and teaching methods :
The course will take the form of a seminar with active participation of the students throughout the semester.
 
It will be divided into four phases.
 
Phase 1 (week 1-2): Introduction and paper reading. Introduction to the three subthemes and papers by external speakers. Allocation of subthemes to the students.
 
 Phase 2 (week 3-7): Individual research. Each student will choose one of the three papers, and research the history and impact on innovation of that particular paper. An individual written report will be submitted in week 7, supported by two scientific papers, one related to the history, the other one related to the impact, of the selected foundation paper.
 
Phase 3 (week 8) : all students participate in a week seminar where individual reports are discussed. The objective of the seminar will be to integrate the individual contributions towards the preparation of a collective report.
 
Phase 4 (week 9-13): students work by groups to organize the seminar material into an integrated blog presentation of the history and impact on innovation of cybernetics.
Mode of delivery (face-to-face ; distance-learning) :
Second semester.
 
Recommended or required readings :
The course will be organized around three major scientific contributions that were published around that time and eventually shaped three distinct but interconnected disciplines:
Neural networks and machine learning :  
McCulloch, Warren; Walter Pitts (1943). "A Logical Calculus of Ideas Immanent in Nervous Activity". Bulletin of Mathematical Biophysics 5(4): 115-133.
Information theory:
 
Shannon, C.E. (1948), "A Mathematical Theory of Communication", Bell System Technical Journal, 27, pp. 379-423 & 623-656, July & October, 1948.
Artificial intelligence: 
Turing, Alan (October 1950), "Computing Machinery and Intelligence", Mind LIX (236): 433-460,doi:10.1093/mind/LIX.236.433, ISSN 0026-4423, retrieved 2008-08-18
In addition, the two following books are recommended as main sources for the personal research of the student:
Cybernetics: Or Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine" Norbert Wiener,  1961 (second edition).
The Cybernetics moment, or why we call our age the information age", R. Kline, 2015.
 
 
Assessment methods and criteria :
Each student is evaluated individually on the following criteria:
  • Individual research and individual written report. 
  • Individual contribution on the final blog group report.
  • Active participation throughout the different phases of the course.
Work placement(s) :
Organizational remarks :
Contacts :
Rodolphe Sepulchre
r.sepulchre@ulg.ac.be