Copyright © IFAC Advances in Control Education, Istanbul, Turkey, 1997 MODERN EDUCATION IN CONTROL AND AUTOMATION FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES Georgi M.DimirovskiI, A.Talha Dinibutun 2 and Yorgo Istefanopulos 3 1 Sts. Cvril & Methodius University ofSkopje. Faculty ofEE. P.o.Bax 574, 91000 Skopje. R. of Macedonia. E-mail: dimir@cerera.etfukim.edu.mk 2 Istanbul Technical University of Istanbul. Faculty ofMechE, Gumussuyu. 80181 Istanbul, Turkey. E-mail: mkdinib@tritu.bitnet 3 Bogazici University of Istanbul. Department of EEE . Bebek. 80815 Istanbul. Turkey. E-mail: istej@boun.edu.tr. Abstract: This contribution presents a study on the development of up-to-date curri- culum and syllabus for education and training in Automatic Control, Industrial Com- puting, Robotics, and Systems Engineering which would be most appropriate for Uni- versity Faculties of Engineering in developing countries. It is a result of a comparison study of an existing longer-term experiences in curricula and syllabuses development and implementation at our universities, by taking into consideration the challenges which appear to be pertinent to contemporary and future 'technologised' societies. Copyright © 1998 IFAC Keywords: Developing countries; undergraduate studies; graduate studies; continuing education; impact of modern technologies; curriculum; syllabus. 1. INTRODUCTION The advancement of science and technology during the last two decades has brought about classes and types of controlled processes, apparatuses and machines within modern technologies (in energy and water supply, in manufacturing and processing, in communication and transportation, or in life- sustaining and working environments) and control systems which differ considerably from the ones usually envisaged at the beginning of the seventies. What were considered to be quite abstract concepts not so long time ago, e. g. event-driven dynamics, fuzzy decision and control, and alike, they are becoming more and more part of the everyday life and work. Therefore this study is placed in the pros- pect of the developmental challenges of paramount importance nowadays. Not without reason, on the other hand, the everlas- ting concern about 'Theory-Practice Gap" in Engi- neering, in general, and in Automation, Control, Industrial Computing, Robotics and Systems Engi- 183 neering, in particular, has remained open and become much sharper. It has become apparent there is a role to be played by Education and Training in resolving this problem on a longer run, and there- fore the concepts of continuing education, re-train- ing summer schools, on-cite sandwich courses, etc., including transnational programmes. The situation is even more serious in the so 'called 'peripheral", small, poor and under-developed countries which, as a rule, are mainly users of the advanced and expensive technologies. The problem does concern more so these countries which, also as a rule, do not and will not possess the potential to generate new engineering equipment and new technologies: however, they too must cope to sustain their development at a pace which is not far away from that in highly developed countries. Yet they have to buy these in return for their cheap goods and services exported, though life, economy and prog- ress in this world has become a set of global proces- ses as, no doubts, is the life on Earth itself.