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Interdisciplinary Insights in Engineering Research 2026

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A special issue of Eng (ISSN 2673-4117).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2026 | Viewed by 3756

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Prof. Dr. Antonio Gil Bravo

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INAMAT²-Departamento de Ciencias, Edificio de los Acebos, Universidad Pública de Navarra, Campus de Arrosadía, 31006 Pamplona, Spain
Interests: preparation, characterization and catalytic activity of metal-supported catalysts; surface properties of solids; pollutants adsorption; environmental management; industrial waste valorization
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

As Editor-in-Chief of Eng, I am pleased to announce this Special Issue, entitled “Interdisciplinary Insights in Engineering Research 2026”. This Special Issue will bring together high-quality reviews and original papers that explore the latest developments and innovations in engineering through an interdisciplinary lens. This Special Issue will focus on ways in which different engineering disciplines can collaborate and integrate to solve complex problems and drive forward advancements in the field.

This Special Issue is a continuation of the previous successful Special Issue, "Interdisciplinary Insights in Engineering Research". You can find information and published papers for the previous Special Issue at https://www.mdpi.com/journal/eng/special_issues/J26P9N905L.

Potential topics for this Special Issue are diverse. By featuring research that spans different disciplines, we will highlight the value of interdisciplinary collaboration in engineering research.

In addition to showcasing the latest developments in these fields, we encourage submissions that explore the intersection of engineering and other disciplines, such as physics, chemistry, biology, and computer science. We are particularly interested in papers and reviews that present innovative approaches to solving complex problems, leverage cutting-edge technologies, and offer practical insights that can be applied in real-world situations.

This Special Issue will provide a comprehensive resource for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers in the field of engineering. We believe that by highlighting the latest interdisciplinary insights in engineering research, we can help to drive forward advancements in the field and inspire new generations of researchers to explore the exciting possibilities that lie ahead.

We, therefore, very much look forward to receiving your valued contributions to this Special Issue, which will provide a reference resource of essential knowledge for future researchers in this field.

Prof. Dr. Antonio Gil Bravo
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Eng is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

electrical, electronic, and information engineering
chemical and materials engineering
energy engineering
mechanical and automotive engineering
industrial and manufacturing engineering
civil and structural engineering
aerospace engineering
biomedical engineering
geotechnical engineering and engineering geology
ocean and environmental engineering

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Published Papers (8 papers)

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Research

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32 pages, 653 KB

Open AccessArticle

Synthesis of Decision Logic for Predictive Maintenance of a Marine Diesel Engine Based on Unconditional Control-Reliability Indicators

by Dmitry Tukeev, Olga Afanaseva and Aleksandr Khatrusov

Eng 2026, 7(5), 190; https://doi.org/10.3390/eng7050190 - 23 Apr 2026

Abstract

This paper proposes a formal framework for synthesizing multi-stage condition-based maintenance (CBM) decision logic for marine diesel monitoring systems. The design object is treated not as a single threshold or classifier output, but as an implementable decision logic with explicit stages of data-quality gating, thresholding, confirmation, fusion, and temporal filtering. Decision quality is evaluated using unconditional control-reliability indicators (CRIs) under a prescribed prior probability of rare abnormal events within a unified Monte Carlo verification protocol. Within a simplified Gaussian surrogate model, we compare baseline thresholding, repeated-measurement averaging, within-path confirmation, and measurement-level fusion. For the reported reference configuration, averaging five repeated measurements yields the largest reduction in the raw error criterion, “2 out of 3” confirmation provides a smaller but consistent improvement, and two-path multi-fidelity fusion is beneficial only after calibration toward the more informative path. The results show that, under rare abnormal events and limited measurement accuracy, decision quality is determined primarily by calibration of the multi-stage channel-level logic rather than by thresholding alone. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Interdisciplinary Insights in Engineering Research 2026)

19 pages, 3478 KB

Open AccessArticle

Real-Time Experimental Benchmarking of Control Strategies for a Coupled 2-DOF Helicopter

by Johny Iza, Emilio Paredes, Marco Herrera, Diego Benítez, Noel Pérez-Pérez and Oscar Camacho

Eng 2026, 7(4), 170; https://doi.org/10.3390/eng7040170 - 7 Apr 2026

Viewed by 303

Abstract

This paper presents a real-time experimental comparison of four control strategies—PID, Fractional-Order PID (FOPID), Fuzzy PID/PD, and Model-Free Control (MFC)—applied to trajectory tracking of a coupled 2-DOF Quanser Aero 2 helicopter. A linear MIMO model is identified to support controller design, and all approaches are evaluated under three operating conditions: coupled dynamics, static decoupling, and dynamic decoupling. Experimental performance is assessed using Integral Square Error, control effort, overshoot, and settling time metrics implemented on the QUARC real-time platform. The results show that interaction mitigation affects control performance. Static decoupling improves tracking accuracy, while dynamic decoupling reduces cross-coupling effects at the expense of increased noise sensitivity. Among the evaluated controllers, the Fuzzy PID/PD strategy achieves the best overall balance between tracking performance and control effort, whereas Model-Free Control provides smoother actuator behavior. The study offers practical experimental guidelines for selecting control strategies in coupled UAV systems. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Interdisciplinary Insights in Engineering Research 2026)

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48 pages, 14922 KB

Open AccessArticle

A Deterministic Calibration Strategy for MOHID-Land Based on Soil Parameter Uncertainty

by Dhiego da Silva Sales, Jader Lugon Junior, David de Andrade Costa, Mariana Dias Villas-Boas, Ramiro Joaquim Neves and Antônio José da Silva Neto

Eng 2026, 7(4), 155; https://doi.org/10.3390/eng7040155 - 31 Mar 2026

Viewed by 316

Abstract

This study investigates the influence of parametric uncertainty in the van Genuchten–Mualem (VGM) model on hydrological simulations and proposes a deterministic, soil-focused calibration strategy within the MOHID-Land model. The approach was applied to the Pedro do Rio watershed to quantify the impact of VGM parameters, typically estimated via pedotransfer functions, on streamflow performance and to reduce uncertainty through targeted calibration. A one-at-a-time sensitivity analysis using the 95% Prediction Uncertainty (95PPU) metric identified the saturated water content (θ_s) and pore-size distribution (n) as the most influential parameters. Calibration scenarios adjusting these parameters, especially Scenario S45 (+30% θ_s, +20% n), significantly improved model performance, increasing the Nash–Sutcliffe Efficiency (NSE) from 0.20 to 0.66 on a daily scale and to 0.80 on a monthly scale during the validation period. Subsequent hydrodynamic refinements raised the daily NSE to 0.72, while monthly performance remained unchanged. The results underscore that soil parameter uncertainty plays a central role in long-term water balance representation, while hydrodynamic parameters primarily influence short-term dynamics in steep, responsive basins. Overall, the proposed strategy provides a computationally efficient alternative to fully automatic calibration methods, delivering robust performance while maintaining physical consistency, particularly in data-scarce environments. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Interdisciplinary Insights in Engineering Research 2026)

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17 pages, 8997 KB

Open AccessArticle

Experimental and Numerical Impact Assessment of a Heavy-Duty Truck Cab Reconstructed from 3D Scanning According to the Swedish VVFS 2003:29 Procedure

by Ana-Maria Dumitrache, Ionut-Alin Dumitrache, Daniel Iozsa and Alexandra Molea

Eng 2026, 7(3), 137; https://doi.org/10.3390/eng7030137 - 17 Mar 2026

Viewed by 334

Abstract

Ensuring the crashworthiness of heavy-duty truck cabs is essential for reducing occupant fatalities and improving passive safety in commercial vehicles. Regulatory frameworks such as UNECE Regulation No. 29 (R29) define structural integrity requirements through full-scale destructive impact tests, which are costly and limit iterative design. In this study, an integrated experimental–numerical methodology is presented for the impact assessment of a real Iveco Eurocargo 120E18 truck cab reconstructed using high-resolution 3D scanning. The scanned geometry was used to generate a dimensionally accurate CAD model of the load-bearing cab structure, which was analysed using explicit finite element simulations in ANSYS Academic Mechanical and CFD Teaching package under impact conditions compliant with UNECE R29 and implemented according to the Swedish regulation VVFS 2003:29. In parallel, a full-scale physical pendulum impact test was performed on the same cab using a cylindrical impactor with a diameter of 580 mm, a length of 1800 mm, and a mass of approximately 1000 kg, impacting the upper region of the A-pillar. The experimental setup was instrumented using high-speed optical measurements and an accelerometer to capture impact kinematics and structural response. The numerical predictions showed good agreement with experimental results in terms of acceleration–time histories, absorbed energy evolution, and structural deformation, with differences generally below 6%. Critical regions susceptible to local buckling and plastic collapse were consistently identified in both approaches, while preservation of the driver survival space was confirmed. The results demonstrate that scan-based finite element models, when properly calibrated and validated, can reliably reproduce certification-level impact behaviour. The proposed workflow provides a robust and cost-effective framework for regulatory pre-validation, structural optimisation, and digitalisation of crashworthiness assessment for heavy-duty truck cabs. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Interdisciplinary Insights in Engineering Research 2026)

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31 pages, 2159 KB

Open AccessArticle

Performance Evaluation of the Plant Growth Optimization Algorithm for Constrained Nonlinear Optimization

by Hugo Martínez Ángeles, Cesar Augusto Navarro Rubio, José Gabriel Ríos Moreno, Roberto Valentín Carrillo-Serrano, Saúl Obregón-Biosca, Sergio Miguel Delfín-Prieto and Mario Trejo Perea

Eng 2026, 7(3), 132; https://doi.org/10.3390/eng7030132 - 13 Mar 2026

Viewed by 374

Abstract

Constrained nonlinear optimization plays a fundamental role in engineering design due to the presence of irregular feasible regions and interacting nonlinear restrictions. This study evaluates the performance of the Plant Growth Optimization (PGO) algorithm in a constrained nonlinear benchmark problem. The algorithm was implemented in MATLAB^® and assessed using a fixed external penalty formulation for constraint handling. Performance was analyzed through convergence dynamics, constraint evolution, dispersion across 20 independent runs, and computational efficiency. A comparative study was conducted against Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO), Genetic Algorithms (GA), and Differential Evolution (DE) under identical experimental conditions. Results show that PGO achieves stable convergence within 87 generations, consistently attaining a feasible solution near the constraint boundary with low dispersion across runs. Statistical validation using the Friedman test (

χ^{2} = 32.45

p < 0.001

) confirmed significant performance differences among algorithms, while post-hoc Wilcoxon tests indicated comparable performance between PGO and DE and significant differences relative to PSO and GA. These findings demonstrate that PGO provides a balanced compromise between robustness, convergence stability, and computational efficiency, supporting its suitability for constrained nonlinear engineering optimization tasks. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Interdisciplinary Insights in Engineering Research 2026)

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36 pages, 2736 KB

Open AccessArticle

An Engineering Methodology for Solar Thermal System Design in Buildings Aligned with the ISO 50001 Planning Framework

by Luis Angel Iturralde Carrera, Laercio Antonio Alfaro Mass, Leonel Díaz-Tato, Hugo Martínez Ángeles, Gendry Alfonso-Francia, Francisco Antonio Castillo Velasquez and Juvenal Rodríguez-Reséndiz

Eng 2026, 7(2), 90; https://doi.org/10.3390/eng7020090 - 15 Feb 2026

Viewed by 596

Abstract

This study presents an integrated engineering methodology aligned with the planning phase of the ISO 50001:2018 (Energy Management Systems—Requirements with Guidance for Use. International Organization for Standardization (ISO): Geneva, Switzerland, 2018) energy management standard for the design, sizing, and assessment of a solar thermal system applied to domestic hot water production in a medium-scale hotel building. The proposed framework focuses on the energy review stage of ISO 50001, incorporating site-specific climatic assessment, spatial layout optimization, structural feasibility analysis, and energy performance evaluation to support informed technology selection and system viability. Thermal performance is assessed using real operational data from the case study, complemented by a data-driven multivariable regression-based energy performance indicator (EnPI) that relates electricity consumption to cooling degree days and room occupancy. This regression model, developed in accordance with ISO 50001 recommendations, enables transparent monitoring of energy performance under real operating conditions without relying on black-box predictive techniques. Material selection criteria for absorber plates, heat-transfer components, transparent covers, and insulation layers are discussed to support both initial efficiency and performance stability under site-specific climatic conditions. In addition, an indicative and qualitative analysis of material-dependent performance evolution is introduced to support comparative decision-making, without implying quantitative lifetime prediction. Structural feasibility of the collector support system is examined through finite-element simulations under combined gravitational and wind loads, providing illustrative verification of stress distribution under representative operating conditions. The installed system delivers an annual thermal energy contribution of 8468 kWh, resulting in an estimated reduction of 7.79 t of CO₂ emissions per year. Economic indicators suggest a short payback period and a favorable internal rate of return, which should be interpreted as order-of-magnitude estimates within the planning scope of the methodology. Overall, the proposed methodology provides a replicable and multidisciplinary planning-phase framework aligned with ISO 50001 for the design and assessment of solar thermal systems in medium-scale buildings under real operating conditions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Interdisciplinary Insights in Engineering Research 2026)

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29 pages, 1013 KB

Open AccessArticle

Technical, Economic, and Environmental Assessment of Hybrid Solar Photovoltaic–Thermal Systems in Hospitals: A Comprehensive Climate Change Mitigation Strategy

by Yoisdel Castillo Alvarez, Yasser Magariño Abrahans, Reinier Jiménez Borges, Luis Angel Iturralde Carrera, Berlan Rodríguez Pérez, Miguel Ángel Cruz-Pérez and Juvenal Rodríguez-Reséndiz

Eng 2026, 7(2), 85; https://doi.org/10.3390/eng7020085 - 13 Feb 2026

Viewed by 850

Abstract

The high dependence on fossil fuels for energy supply in hospitals compromises their operational sustainability, increases costs, and contributes significantly to polluting emissions. This study evaluates the technical, economic, and environmental feasibility of integrating photovoltaic and solar thermal systems in a hospital located in a tropical Caribbean environment, characterized by continuous operation and high energy demand. The methodology combines advanced simulation using PVsyst for the photovoltaic subsystem and the f-chart method for the solar thermal system, using real data on electricity and domestic hot water demand. The proposed system achieves an installed photovoltaic power of close to 390 kWp, with an annual production of around 0.7 GWh and an average performance ratio of 0.80, demonstrating high technical performance. The solar thermal subsystem covers approximately two-thirds of the annual domestic hot water demand, supported by thermal storage suitable for hospital operation. From an economic standpoint, the total estimated investment is recovered in less than 10 years, with a positive net present value, confirming the system’s profitability over its useful life. In environmental terms, hybrid integration avoids more than 400 t of CO₂ per year, contributing significantly to the decarbonization of the health sector and the strengthening of energy security. The results obtained demonstrate that photovoltaic–thermal integration in tropical hospitals is technically and economically viable and constitutes a replicable solution for regions with high solar radiation and energy vulnerability. This research provides a comprehensive and reproducible methodological framework that can support sustainable energy planning and the design of public policies aimed at low-emission healthcare infrastructure. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Interdisciplinary Insights in Engineering Research 2026)

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Review

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23 pages, 2584 KB

Open AccessReview

Promising Use of Proteins of Rainbow Trout Byproducts for Obtaining Multifunctional Bioactive Peptides: Processing Perspective

by Daniel Farfán Flores, Paula Andrea Santana Sepúlveda, Claudio Andrés Álvarez Álvarez, Oscar Arce Cervantes, Silvia Armenta Jaime and Luis Guillermo González Olivares

Eng 2026, 7(4), 164; https://doi.org/10.3390/eng7040164 - 1 Apr 2026

Viewed by 347

Abstract

Rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) is one of the most widely farmed and consumed aquaculture species worldwide. Processing generates large amounts of by-products, including heads, frames, skin, and viscera, which are often discarded. However, these by-products are a valuable source of high-quality protein that can be converted into bioactive peptides through controlled hydrolysis. Numerous studies have shown that trout-derived peptides exhibit a wide range of functional properties, including antioxidant, antihypertensive, antimicrobial, and anti-inflammatory activities. From this perspective, the article provides a critical, up-to-date review of recent advances in the valorization of proteins from rainbow trout by-products, with an emphasis on the most efficient processing methods (including enzymatic, chemical, and microbial hydrolysis) and their potential applications in the food and nutraceutical industries. In addition, downstream processes such as ultrafiltration and chromatographic separation are discussed in the context of peptide purification and recovery. Finally, a systematized industrial process for the integral utilization of these by-products is proposed. Therefore, the objective of this review is to analyze and synthesize the available scientific evidence on the production, functionality, and applications of bioactive peptides derived from rainbow trout by-products, highlighting key process parameters such as enzyme type, pH, temperature, and degree of hydrolysis and their influence on peptide size (typically <5 kDa), yield, and bioactivity, and to propose a viable industrial process for their sustainable valorization. Despite these advances, challenges related to process standardization, cost efficiency, and industrial scalability remain. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Interdisciplinary Insights in Engineering Research 2026)

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