Professor Ramón González Carvajal and José María Peral López, Technical Director of WoodSwallow, during one of the training sessions of the IoT Chair.
The IoT Chair, promoted by the University of Seville and the technology-based company WoodSwallow, has held training sessions for students of the School of Engineering of the University of Seville. The aim of these sessions is to arouse interest in the Internet of Things and smart energy management, as well as to complement the students’ education by showing them real business cases.
Specifically, two master classes were held under the title “When to bring a product to market and at what price? Practical examples of business cases”. The training has been designed by the founder and CEO of WoodSwallow, Manuel Álvarez, and aims to introduce the main business concepts related to the launch of a product.
The classes were lectured on 17 and 25 January, respectively, in the subject IoT Devices and Embedded Systems, of the Master in Telecommunication Engineering, and in the subject Wireless Sensor Networks of the master’s degree in electronic engineering, Robotics and Automation. Professor Ramón González Carvajal is responsible for both subjects.
Business and engineering, hand by hand
During the course, the importance of engineering and business going hand in hand to ensure the success of a new product was emphasised. To illustrate this, a real business case was explained. The massive deployment of smart meters in the United Kingdom, in which WoodSwallow participates with one of its main customers in the design and development of smart meters for gas and electricity.
This is an interesting project in itself due to its volume and complexity. But, in addition, one of the most relevant particularities is that the British goverment fixed the price of the devices. This fact is a determining factor in the design and development of both the hardware and the firmware of the devices, forcing the engineers to seek creative solutions to obtain a high quality product at a reduced cost.
José Peral, Technical Director of WoodSwallow, showed the students the devices referred to in the business case. They were able to learn first-hand about the different components included in the devices and the technologies used, as well as to resolve any doubts they might have.
This activity has been carried out within the framework of the Internet of Things Chair. The Chair is currently holding an open call for the submission of Bachelor’s Thesis and Master’s Thesis related to IoT and smart energy management. Check all the information about the TFG and TFM awards, as well as the rest of the activities on the Chair’s website.
