In contemporary times, the advancement of cutting-edge technology leads to a need for more people to understand complex systems and how to work with them, education is therefore required to advance along with the rise of technology. One such technology that enhances education in particular practical ways is Virtual Reality (VR) and Extended Reality (XR), offering a new angle for researchers and educators to pursue in the ultimate goal of creating new education methods that can be used to help modern day persons better interact with the technology they use in their day-to-day lives and careers.

The paper is devoted to the progress of the Romanian School of Fluid Power Systems developed by the authors in the frame of Online Engineering. The main stages of creating a modern patrimony of knowledge, hardware and software in the frame of the Doctoral School of the Power Engineering Faculty of the National Science and Technology University POLYTECHNICA Bucharest are presented. The assessment of the value of the main achievements of the former PhD students is briefly presented. The scientific and technical contributions can be identified in the industrial impact of more of 50 graduated from this valuable doctoral school.

The main purpose of the paper is the assessment of the manner of promotion the concepts and tools offered by the on-line engineering in the complex field of the power systems which use fluids under pressure. The wide interest of an efficient high education system in this field comes from the need to collect and use of wide interdisciplinary knowledges and skills, gathered by different scientific and technical field as fluid dynamics, electrical drives, sensors and transducers, analogue and digital controllers and communications.

The integration of digital laboratories into engineering education offers a transformative approach to bridging theoretical knowledge and practical application. This manuscript presents the "DigiMatLabExam" project, developed at TU Dortmund University, which incorporates ultra-concurrent remote laboratories (UCRLs) into the Fundamentals of Materials Engineering course and its corresponding e-examinations. By simulating key materials testing methods (tensile test, hardness testing and charpy impact testing) and enabling detailed microstructure analyses, the digital laboratory fosters competency-oriented learning for over 350 students annually. Initial evaluations revealed enhanced student motivation, confidence, and practical understanding of material properties. Furthermore, a structured didactic implementation ensures that students develop critical competencies during lectures and exercises to prepare for summative assessments effectively. This innovative methodology aligns educational practices with industry demands, paving the way for scalable advancements in STEM education.

Higher Education Institutions are not only digitalizing their degree programs but also aiming for a more open and inclusive Higher Education. Among these efforts to increase inclusivity lies the accessibility of degree programs, courses and the university campuses to enable students with disabilities and/or chronic illnesses (SwDI) to participate in everyday university life.

However, digitalization and accessibility are often not planned for together and accessibility gets relegated to an afterthought or quick fix applied in the end. This creates barriers for SwDI to participate as intended. This is even more apparent in STEM laboratories (conventional and digital ones) which are normally not accessible.

The project "Lab4All - Access@DigitalLabs" dedicates itself to researching and improving the accessibility of digital laboratories ranging from Desktop VR-Simulations over Ultraconcurrent Remote Laboratories to real-time Remote Laboratories. Besides legal regulations and guidelines of the WCAG, SwDIs are integrated into all processes from assessing needs, requirements, experiences and expectations to testing the accessibility of selected laboratories to evaluating the success of revising the laboratories to be more accessible.

The fast evolution of Industry 4.0 and smart factory technologies requires a shift in engineering education toward greater integration of hands-on learning with advanced industrial systems. This paper presents two educational experiments aimed at enhancing student preparedness and engagement in robotics and automation. The first investigates the effect of pre-lab virtual training using digital twin software on student efficiency during robotic programming tasks. Results show that prior virtual preparation reduces completion time and supports more effective problem-solving, although learning transfer varies among individuals. The second experiment evaluates student perceptions of the Beckhoff XPlanar platform as a teaching tool for industrial transport systems. Survey results reveal strong appreciation for the educational value of real hardware, despite challenges in programming difficulty and time constraints. The findings highlight the pedagogical benefits of combining simulation-based preparation with hands-on experience in modern robotics education.