1 E-mail: ioannis.michaelides@cut.ac.cy 1 Online engineering education - A new approach in using physical laboratories to enhance student learning I. M. Michaelides 1 and P. C. Eleftheriou Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering, Cyprus University of Technology, P.O. Box 50329, 3603 Limassol, Cyprus Index Terms: Remote engineering, e-learning, solar energy. This paper presents the experience from the operation of the solar energy e-learning laboratory in Cyprus and demonstrates the benefits of online engineering education in the field of solar energy. The solar energy e-learning laboratory (Solar e-lab) provides online experimentation, thus allowing students from anywhere to operate remote instruments at any time. The Solar e-lab comprises a pilot solar energy conversion plant which is equipped with all necessary instrumentation, data acquisition, and communication devices needed for remote access, control, data collection and processing. The installed hardware and software include features for controlling external devices, responding to events, processing data, creating report files, and exchanging information with other applications. The Solar e-lab has so far been accessed by users from over 400 locations from 75 countries spread all over the world and continents [1]. Furthermore, a number of colleges and Universities use the solar e-lab as part of their training programmes, like for example the Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden, the Delmenhorst College in Germany, and the Higher Technical Institute in Cyprus. There is an interactive communication between the students of the above institutions and the solar e-lab helping them to accomplish the assigned work in due time. I. Introduction As remote engineering is becoming an import element in engineering, a growing need for new educational concepts, learning media, and tools to accommodate for these new advancements in technology are in greater demand. The solar energy e-learning laboratory, presented here, was developed within the MARVEL project of the Leonardo da Vinci programme and focuses on experiential based learning arrangements allowing remote and distributed working with laboratories, workshops and real working-places to train students in remote engineering [2]. The solar energy e-learning laboratory (Solar e-lab), is been on the air for the last four years, and comprises of a pilot solar energy conversion plant which is equipped with all necessary instrumentation and control devices needed for remote access, control, data collection and processing. A major goal of the solar e-lab is the usage of real worlds in virtual learning environments in order to support work-process-oriented and distributed cooperative learning with real-life systems. Telematics, remote and mixed reality techniques are used cooperatively within a network which includes colleges, industry partners, and national bodies dealing with certification and standardisation issues. This paper presents the experience of using such technology for teaching, but also some of the learning scenarios developed as well as the forthcoming trends in the training of futures’ engineering. The solar energy e-learning laboratory and its features is then presented, followed by a presentation of a number of laboratory tasks in the field of solar energy conversion that can be remotely conducted through the Internet. II. Needs in today’s engineering education Nowadays, engineering work is undergoing significant structural changes worldwide. As online education becomes an everyday part of education, online methods in engineering education will increase the breadth and scale of engineering education, thus extending the reach of institutions and the delivery of education to