RESUMO
STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) professions play a crucial role in transforming 21st-century society, as they contribute to developing new technologies that support the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Aligning engineering education with sustainable development requires raising awareness among students, fostering commitment among future generations of engineers, and promoting technical vocations. In this paper, an educational experience designed with these objectives is presented, in which more than 130 students from five undergraduate degrees in engineering and architecture at the Higher Polytechnic School of Zamora (HPSZ) of the University of Salamanca actively participated. To carry out the project, an online course was designed to train all participating students on general aspects of the 2030 Agenda, and research works were proposed in the ten involved degree subjects. The assessment of students' prior knowledge and learning regarding the 2030 Agenda was conducted through an objective multiple-choice pre-test and post-test. Additionally, their satisfaction with this educational experience was assessed through a questionnaire. The results revealed a considerable improvement in the students' knowledge of the general contents of sustainable development, especially after participating in classroom debate sessions. The initial objective test showed a low average score, indicating the lack of knowledge about the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs among engineering students. However, the final objective test revealed a significant improvement of 3 points out of 10. Regarding the research works, out of a total of 91 students, 53 papers addressing complex issues related to sustainable development and current engineering solutions were presented. This approach facilitated collaborative learning and the celebration of World Engineering Day at the HPSZ. The results of the satisfaction survey demonstrated that the experience was positive for both students and faculty Furthermore, its media impact was essential for increasing engineering vocations' visibility and social recognition.
RESUMO
Copper slag is a waste obtained from copper production and it has a limited use, being mainly accumulated in landfills on a massive scale. This material presents a high hardness and it has hydrophobic properties, so it can be used as aggregate replacement in the production of asphalt mixtures. However, each size of copper slag behaves differently when used in asphalt mixes, especially under changing conditions of moisture or temperature. Precisely these climatic factors directly affect the service life of asphalt pavements. In this research, semi-dense graded asphalt mixtures were produced with copper slag as replacement of aggregates, varying the particle sizes used in the range from 2.5 to 0.08 mm to determine the size of copper slag with the best performance. Indirect tensile strength tests were used to analyze samples subjected to different moisture and temperature conditions and ageing degrees. The results show that copper slag can be used as aggregate replacement in asphalt mixes when the proper size is selected. The strength of the asphalt mixture increased as the size of the copper slag increased, especially under variable moisture and ageing conditions. Superior behaviour compared to a reference mixture was obtained when replacing the size of aggregate No. 8 with copper slag, increasing its indirect tensile strength and retained strength, reducing its stiffness under all the ageing periods, and being equally effective at the different temperatures, which results in mixtures with improved durability and delayed cracking. Furthermore, it would help to reduce between 15 and 20% of the virgin aggregate needed to produce asphalt mixes and it would also allow reducing the accumulated volume of this waste, decreasing the environmental impact of both industries.
