Search results for: commercially live project

Authors: Jeffrey A. Humenik

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Environmental, Limited Liability Corporation (EMR) provided civil construction services to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Kansas City District, for the placement of a protective riprap blanket on the west bank of the Smoky Hill River, construction of 2 shore abutments and the construction of a 140 foot long sill wall spanning the Smoky Hill River in Salina, Kansas. The purpose of the project was to protect the riverbank from erosion and hold back water to a specified elevation, creating a pool to ensure adequate water intake for the municipal water supply. Geotextile matting and riprap were installed for streambank erosion protection. An inflatable bladder (AquaDam®) was designed to the specific river dimension and installed to divert the river and allow for dewatering during the construction of the sill walls and cofferdam. AquaDam® consists of water filled polyethylene tubes to create aqua barriers and divert water flow or prevent flooding. A challenge of the project was the fact that 100% of the sill wall was constructed within an active river channel. The threat of flooding of the work area, damage to the aqua dam by debris, and potential difficulty of water removal presented a unique set of challenges to the construction team. Upon completion of the West Sill Wall, floating debris punctured the AquaDam®. The manufacturing and delivery of a new AquaDam® would delay project completion by at least 6 weeks. To keep the project ahead of schedule, the decision was made to construct an earthen cofferdam reinforced with rip rap for the construction of the East Abutment and East Sill Wall section. During construction of the west sill wall section, a deep scour hole was encountered in the wall alignment that prevented EMR from using the natural rock formation as a concrete form for the lower section of the sill wall. A formwork system was constructed, that allowed the west sill wall section to be placed in two horizontal lifts of concrete poured on separate occasions. The first sectional lift was poured to fill in the scour hole and act as a footing for the second sectional lift. Concrete wall forms were set on the first lift and anchored to the surrounding riverbed in a manner that the second lift was poured in a similar fashion as a basement wall. EMR’s timely decision to keep the project moving toward completion in the face of changing conditions enabled project completion two (2) months ahead of schedule. The use of inflatable bladders is an effective and cost-efficient technology to divert river flow during construction. However, a secondary plan should be part of project design in the event debris transported by river punctures or damages the bladders.

Keywords: abutment, AquaDam®, riverbed, scour

Procedia PDF Downloads 155

Authors: Kanagarajah Ravishankar

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This paper describes a study performed for a project featuring an elevated steel bridge structure supported by various types of foundation systems. This project focused on rehabilitation or redesign of a portion of the bridge substructures founded on caisson foundations. The study that this paper focuses on is the evaluation of foundation and soil stiffnesses and interactions between the existing caissons and proposed foundations. The caisson foundations were founded on top of rock, where the depth to the top of rock varies from approximately 50 to 140 feet below ground surface. Based on a comprehensive investigation of the existing piers and caissons, the presence of ASR was suspected from observed whitish deposits on cracked surfaces as well as internal damages sustained through the entire depth of foundation structures. Reuse of existing piers and caissons was precluded and deemed unsuitable under the earthquake condition because of these defects on the structures. The proposed design of new foundations and substructures which was selected ultimately neglected the contribution from the existing caisson and pier columns. Due to the complicated configuration between the existing caisson and the proposed foundation system, three-dimensional finite element method (FEM) was employed to evaluate soil-structure interaction (SSI), to evaluate the effect of the existing caissons on the proposed foundations, and to compare the results with conventional group analysis. The FEM models include separate models for existing caissons, proposed foundations, and combining both.

Keywords: soil-structure interaction, foundation stiffness, finite element, seismic design

Procedia PDF Downloads 138

Authors: David Calderon Villegas, Thomas Kaltizky

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Run-of-river (RoR) hydropower projects represent a viable, clean, and cost-effective alternative to dam-based plants and provide decentralized power production. However, RoR schemes cost-effectiveness depends on the proper selection of site and design flow, which is a challenging task because it requires multivariate analysis. In this respect, this study presents the development of an investment decision support tool for assessing the optimal size of an RoR scheme considering the technical, environmental, and cost constraints. The net present value (NPV) from a project perspective is used as an objective function for supporting the investment decision. The tool has been tested by applying it to an actual RoR project recently proposed in Colombia. The obtained results show that the optimum point in financial terms does not match the flow that maximizes energy generation from exploiting the river's available flow. For the case study, the flow that maximizes energy corresponds to a value of 5.1 m3/s. In comparison, an amount of 2.1 m3/s maximizes the investors NPV. Finally, a sensitivity analysis is performed to determine the NPV as a function of the debt rate changes and the electricity prices and the CapEx. Even for the worst-case scenario, the optimal size represents a positive business case with an NPV of 2.2 USD million and an IRR 1.5 times higher than the discount rate.

Keywords: small hydropower, renewable energy, RoR schemes, optimal sizing, objective function

Procedia PDF Downloads 132

Authors: Hesti Ghassani, Tessa Septiadi

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In the world we live on today, young generation highly influences the future of a nation. We have to concern that the condition of the country in 20 years later depending by the character of young adults these days. Therefore, it is important that we have to support and control the teenagers especially in one of developing countries in which I live in: Indonesia. Indonesia is a home to 240 million people. It diverse in languages, cultures, as well as attitudes. The differences among each individual lead us to think that there is something we have to take care of. It is necessary to pay attention to the nutrition consumed by the nation. We initiate to control the food consumed by young generation as early as a primary students. Nutrition affects the immune of the body, neuron system, and, most importantly brain. One of the nutrition that has to be fulfilled is milk. However, most of the population in Indonesia isn’t aware of the importance of consuming milk as their daily basis. We’ve formed an innovation called the Brilliant Candy which is affordable and rich in nutrition. So that is why the paper made by literature study to solve the problem with effective ways using available resources, practice and cheap. Brilliant Candy consists of Centella asiatica extract mixed with Soy milk. Centella asiatica contains of alkaloid which give the energy to brain and circulate oxygen. Based on the research of Sathya and Ganga, Centella asiatica can increase the intelligence. Indeed, Centella asiatica can relieve stress, and help us in staying focus. Soy milk is a kind of milk which come from extracted soybean. Soybean is rich in flafonoid. It has various advantages for our body. Which can also support child nutrition consumed. Soybean boosts immune system, helps digestive system, and in terms of food, soy bean exists as a source of nutrition. A method to get extraction of Centella asiatica is namely maserasi using ethanol. While making soybean milk with got the pollen of soybean. Both materials get mixed processed into hard candy with congelation of.

Keywords: Indonesia, Centella asiatica, Soy milk, alkaloid, flafonoid

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Authors: Karina Rashidovna Nabiullina

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In 2016, the ‘Beautiful Country’ innovative project was implemented in the Republic of Tatarstan (Russia). This project started at the initiative of architecture students majoring in city planning during their summer internship. As a part of the internship, the students had to study the layout and the lifestyle of Tatarstan towns. All the projects were presented to the Ministry of Construction of Tatarstan, which allowed the settlement authorities to receive the government funding for their implementation. This initiative, from the public discussion of the projects to their implementation, was welcomed by the local communities, evoked local patriotism, created new jobs as a part of the projects' implementation, and improved the architectural environment of the settlements. The projects initiated by the students became the ‘Big Projects’ for these small settlements.

Keywords: adapted graphic language, complex territorial development, identity of local resources, overcoming stagnation, participation

Procedia PDF Downloads 333

Authors: Geraldine Ambe

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Cameroon is a country in a country in Central Africa. Before the first World War, Germany colonized Cameroon, including some parts of Gabon, Chad, Nigeria, and the Central African Republic. After the war, the United Nations divided most of the colony into Britain and France. In 1960, Eastern Cameroon (‘La Republique du Cameroon’) gained its independence from France while British Southern Cameroons obtained its independence from Britain. The two entities agreed to live together as a federal state officially called the Federal Republic of Cameroon. In 1962, the name of the name of the country was changed from the Federal Republic of Cameroon to the United Republic of Cameroon, while the Prime Minister of Western Cameroon was moved to Yaounde. In 1984, President Paul Biya singlehandedly changed the name to the Republic of Cameroon, implying that Southern Cameroon is not recognized in the union again. From the words of Am Cohen, the two territories came together to form a federal government with one currency, one army, and one foreign policy like states in the United States of America. However, the name Republic of Cameroon (‘La Republique du Cameroun’) does not recognize BSC, and this is exactly what has been practiced: politics of exclusion and excessive centralization in Yaounde. In 2016, teachers and Lawyers started strikes to call the attention of the government on the inhalation of the English culture/people. They were greeted with guns, causing the radicalization of the youths. The civil society came together to form a union to address the issues facing the people, and the government took their leaders and sentenced them to live imprisonment. The consequence was a civil war with nobody to dialogue with. Out of Cameroon, more than half a million people from BSC have been taking dangerous trips through the air, land, and sea. In the jungles and the deserts, the snow of Europe, these people have been seen for the last 4 years. This paper will present some personalities, political fractions, and their stands of decentralization, federalism, and independence as the war continues. The paper will further look at the consequence of this crisis on migration in Central and Eastern Europe.

Keywords: British Southern Cameroons, decolonization, Second World War, dialogue, civil war, immigration

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Authors: Atasi Dan, Kamanio Chattopadhyay, Bikramjit Basu

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A cost-effective titanium diboride (TiB2) paint coating has been developed on stainless steel substrate using commercially available polyvinylpyrrolidone as a binder by convenient dip-coating technique. The emittance of the coating has been explored by tailoring various process parameters to obtain highest thermal radiation. The optimized coating has achieved a high thermal emittance of 0.85. In addition, the coating exhibited an excellent thermal stability while heat-treated at 500 °C in air. Along with the emittance, the structural and physical properties of the As-deposited and heat-treated coatings have been investigated systematically. The high temperature annealing has not affected the emittance, chemical composition and morphology of the coating significantly. Hence, the fabricated paint coating is expected to open up new possibilities for using it as a low-cost, thermally stable emitter in high temperature applications.

Keywords: titanium diboride, emittance, paint coating, thermal stability

Procedia PDF Downloads 286

Authors: Ahmad Rouhani

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Iran has several potentials for using renewable energies, so use them could significantly contribute to energy supply. The purpose of this paper is to identify the potential of the country and select the appropriate DG technologies with consideration the potential and primary energy resources in the regions. In this context, hybrid energy systems proportionate with the potential of different regions will be determined based on technical, economic, and environmental aspect. In the following, the proposed structure will be optimized in terms of size and cost. DG technologies used in this project include the photovoltaic system, wind turbine, diesel generator, and battery bank. The HOMER software is applied for choosing the appropriate structure and the optimization of system sizing. The results have been analyzed in terms of technical and economic. The performance and the cost of each project demonstrate the appropriate structure of hybrid energy system in that region.

Keywords: feasibility, hybrid energy system, Iran, renewable energy

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Authors: Mercedes Del Rio Merino, Jaime Santacruz Astorqui, Paola Villoria Saez, Carmen Viñas Arrebola

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The lack of treatment of the waste from construction and demolition waste (CDW) is a problem that must be solved immediately. It is estimated that in the world not to use CDW generates an increase in the use of new materials close to 20% of the total value of the materials used. The problem is even greater in case these wastes are considered hazardous because the final deposition of them may also generate significant contamination. Therefore, the possibility of including CDW in the manufacturing of building materials, represents an interesting alternative to ensure their use and to reduce their possible risk. In this context and in the last years, many researches are being carried out in order to analyze the viability of using CDW as a substitute for the traditional raw material of high environmental impact. Even though it is true, much remains to be done, because these works generally characterize materials but not specific applications that allow the agents of the construction to have the guarantees required by the projects. Therefore, it is necessary the involvement of all the actors included in the life cycle of these new construction materials, and also to promote its use for, for example, definition of standards, tax advantages or market intervention is necessary. This paper presents the main findings reached in "Waste to resources (W2R)" project since it began in October 2014. The main goal of the project is to develop new materials, elements and construction systems, manufactured from CDW, to be used in improving the energy efficiency of buildings. Other objectives of the project are: to quantify the CDW generated in the energy rehabilitation works, specifically wastes from the building envelope; and to study the traceability of CDW generated and promote CDW reuse and recycle in order to get close to the life cycle of buildings, generating zero waste and reducing the ecological footprint of the construction sector. This paper determines the most important aspects to consider during the design of new constructive solutions, which improve the energy efficiency of buildings and what materials made with CDW would be the most suitable for that. Also, a survey to select best practices for reducing "close to zero waste" in refurbishment was done. Finally, several pilot rehabilitation works conform the parameters analyzed in the project were selected, in order to apply the results and thus compare the theoretical with reality. Acknowledgements: This research was supported by the Spanish State Secretariat for Research, Development and Innovation of the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness under "Waste 2 Resources" Project (BIA2013-43061-R).

Keywords: building waste, construction and demolition waste, recycling, resources

Procedia PDF Downloads 250

Authors: Low Khee Wai

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Lossing of opportunity by Malaysian Oil and Gas Services Equipment (OGSE) companies can be a major issue in developing and sustain Malaysia’s own Oil & Gas Industry. Despite the rapid growth of Oil & Gas industry in Malaysia for the past 40 years, Malaysia still not developing sufficient OGSE companies in order to support its own Oil & Gas Industry. In examining the scenario, this study aims to identify the factors causing the under-developing of OGSE companies in Malaysia. Conceptual Review method were used to analyse the factors that cause the under-development of Malaysia OGSE. The 4 factors identified were Time, Cost, Human Resource and Stakeholder Management. This survey explained the phenomena and the challenge of the industry and translated into the factors that cause the under-developing of OGSE companies in Malaysia. Finally, it should bring awareness to the government, authorities, and stakeholder in order to improve the ecology of Oil & Gas Industry in Malaysia.

Keywords: oil & gas in Malaysia, Malaysia local oil & gas services equipment (OGSE), oil & gas project management, project performance

Procedia PDF Downloads 132

Authors: M. Zaïgouche, A. Kouvahe, F. Stefanelli

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IMPERTIO is a high technology based project aiming at offering efficient assistance help in communication for persons affected by Cerebral Palsy. The systems currently available are hardly used by these patients who are not satisfied by ergonomics and response time. The project rests upon the concept that, opposite to usual master-slave communication giving power to the entity with larger range of possibilities, providing conversely the mastery to the entity with smaller range of possibilities will allow a better understanding ground for both parties. Entirely customizable, the application developed from this idea gives full freedom to the user. Through pictograms (one button linked to a word or a sentence) and adapted keyboard, noticeable improvements are brought to the response time and ease to use ergonomics.

Keywords: cerebral palsy, master-slave relation, communication interface, virtual keyboard, word construction algorithm

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Authors: Laura Simmer, Maria Kalt, Oliver Schauer

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Freight transport is growing fast, but many vehicles are empty or just partially loaded. The vision and concepts of the Physical Internet (PI) proposes to eliminate these inefficiencies. Aiming for a radical sustainability improvement, the PI – inspired by the Digital Internet – is a hyperconnected global logistic system, enabling seamless asset sharing and flow consolidation. The implementation of a PI in its full expression will be a huge challenge: the industry needs innovation and implementation support including change management approaches, awareness creation and good practices diffusion, legislative actions to remove antitrust and international commerce barriers, standardization and public incentives policies. In order to take a step closer to this future the project ‘Atropine - Fast Track to the Physical Internet’ funded under the Strategic Economic and Research Program ‘Innovative Upper Austria 2020’ was set up. The two-year research project unites several research partners in this field, but also industrial partners and logistics service providers. With Atropine, the consortium wants to actively shape the mobility landscape in Upper Austria and make an innovative contribution to an energy-efficient, environmentally sound and sustainable development in the transport area. This paper should, on the one hand, clarify the questions what the project Atropine is about and, on the other hand, how a proof of concept will be reached. Awareness building plays an important role in the project as the PI requires a reorganization of the supply chain and the design of completely new forms of inter-company co-operation. New business models have to be developed and should be verified by simulation. After the simulation process one of these business models will be chosen and tested in real life with the partner companies. The developed results - simulation model and demonstrator - are used to determine how the concept of the PI can be applied in Upper Austria. Atropine shall pave the way for a full-scale development of the PI vision in the next few decades and provide the basis for pushing the industry toward a new level of co-operation with more shared resources and increased standardization.

Keywords: Atropine, inter-company co-operation, Physical Internet, shared resources, sustainable logistics

Procedia PDF Downloads 223

Authors: Anshika Kankane, Dongshik Kang

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Marine debris has a significant influence on coastal environments, damaging biodiversity, and causing loss and damage to marine and ocean sector. A functional cost-effective and automatic approach has been used to look up at this problem. Computer vision combined with a deep learning-based model is being proposed to identify and categorize marine debris of seven kinds on different beach locations of Japan. This research compares state-of-the-art deep learning models with a suggested model architecture that is utilized as a feature extractor for debris categorization. The model is being proposed to detect seven categories of litter using a manually constructed debris dataset, with the help of Mask R-CNN for instance segmentation and a shape matching network called HOGShape, which can then be cleaned on time by clean-up organizations using warning notifications of the system. The manually constructed dataset for this system is created by annotating the images taken by fixed KaKaXi camera using CVAT annotation tool with seven kinds of category labels. A pre-trained HOG feature extractor on LIBSVM is being used along with multiple templates matching on HOG maps of images and HOG maps of templates to improve the predicted masked images obtained via Mask R-CNN training. This system intends to timely alert the cleanup organizations with the warning notifications using live recorded beach debris data. The suggested network results in the improvement of misclassified debris masks of debris objects with different illuminations, shapes, viewpoints and litter with occlusions which have vague visibility.

Keywords: computer vision, debris, deep learning, fixed live camera images, histogram of gradients feature extractor, instance segmentation, manually annotated dataset, multiple template matching

Procedia PDF Downloads 107

Authors: Yu Qin, Wanjiaman Li

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The widespread use of mobile electronic devices increases the complexities of mobile security. This thesis aims to provide a secure communication environment for smartphone users. Some research proves that the one-time pad is one of the securest encryption methods, and that the key distribution problem can be solved by using the QKD (quantum key distribution). The objective of this project is to design an Android APP (application) to exchange several random keys between mobile phones. Inspired by QKD, the developed APP uses the quick response (QR) code as a carrier to dispatch large amounts of one-time keys. After evaluating the performance of APP, it allows the mobile phone to capture and decode 1800 bytes of random data in 600ms. The continuous scanning mode of APP is designed to improve the overall transmission performance and user experience, and the maximum transmission rate of this mode is around 2200 bytes/s. The omnidirectional readability and error correction capability of QR code gives it a better real-life application, and the features of adequate storage capacity and quick response optimize overall transmission efficiency. The security of this APP is guaranteed since QR code is exchanged face-to-face, eliminating the risk of being eavesdropped. Also, the id of QR code is the only message that would be transmitted through the whole communication. The experimental results show this project can achieve superior transmission performance, and the correlation between the transmission rate of the system and several parameters, such as the QR code size, has been analyzed. In addition, some existing technologies and the main findings in the context of the project are summarized and critically compared in detail.

Keywords: one-time pad, QKD (quantum key distribution), QR code, application

Procedia PDF Downloads 146

Authors: Asil Zureigat, Ayat Odat

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Analyzing the old and bringing in the new is an ever ongoing process in driving innovations in architecture. This paper looks at the excessive use of stone in apartment buildings in Amman and speculates on the existing possibilities of changing the cladding material. By looking at architectural exceptions present in Amman the paper seeks to make the exception, the rule by adding new materials to the architectural library of Amman and in turn, project a series of possible new identities to the existing stone scape. Through distributing a survey, conducting a photographic study on exceptional buildings and shedding light on the historical narrative of stone, the paper highlights the ways in which new finishing materials such as plaster, paint and stone variations could be introduced in an attempt to project a new architectural identity to Amman.

Keywords: architectural city identity, cladding materials, façade architecture, image of the city

Procedia PDF Downloads 225

Authors: Jeisson A. Estrella, Laura C. Herrera, Cristian A. Arenas

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The Colombian electricity sector has been transforming through the insertion of new energy sources to generate electricity, one of them being solar energy, which is being promoted by companies interested in photovoltaic technology. The study of this technology is important for electricity generation in general and for the planning of the sector from the perspective of energy complementarity. Precisely in this last approach is where the project is located; we are interested in answering the concerns about the reliability of the electrical system when climatic phenomena such as El Niño occur or in defining whether it is viable to replace or expand thermoelectric plants. Reliability of the electrical system when climatic phenomena such as El Niño occur, or to define whether it is viable to replace or expand thermoelectric plants with renewable electricity generation systems. In this regard, some difficulties related to the basic information on renewable energy sources from measured data must first be solved, as these come from automatic weather stations. Basic information on renewable energy sources from measured data, since these come from automatic weather stations administered by the Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology and Environmental Studies (IDEAM) and, in the range of study (2005-2019), have significant amounts of missing data. For this reason, the overall objective of the project is to complete the global solar irradiance datasets to obtain time series to develop energy complementarity analyses in a subsequent project. Global solar irradiance data sets to obtain time series that will allow the elaboration of energy complementarity analyses in the following project. The filling of the databases will be done through numerical and statistical methods, which are basic techniques for undergraduate students in technical areas who are starting out as researchers technical areas who are starting out as researchers.

Keywords: time series, global solar irradiance, imputed data, energy complementarity

Procedia PDF Downloads 71

Authors: Yannick Verbelen, Tim Dekegel, Ann Peeters, Klara Stinders, Niek Blondeel, Sam De Winne, An Braeken, Abdellah Touhafi

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Matching an embedded electronic application with a cantilever vibration energy harvester remains a difficult endeavour due to the large number of factors influencing the output power. In the presented work, complementary balanced energy harvester parametrization is used as a methodology for simplification of harvester integration in electronic applications. This is achieved by a dual approach consisting of an adaptation of the general parametrization methodology in conjunction with a straight forward harvester benchmarking strategy. For this purpose, the design and implementation of a suitable user friendly cantilever energy harvester benchmarking platform is discussed. Its effectiveness is demonstrated by applying the methodology to a commercially available Mide V21BL vibration energy harvester, with excitation amplitude and frequency as variables.

Keywords: vibration energy harvesting, piezoelectrics, harvester parametrization, complementary balanced energy harvesting

Procedia PDF Downloads 357

Authors: Ravindra Mallya, B. Satish Shenoy, B. Raghuvir Pai

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The study deals with the challenges in developing a test rig to test the performance of water lubricated journal bearing. The test rig is designed to simulate the working conditions of the bearing in order to understand their performance before they are put in operation. The bearing that is studied is the commercially available water lubricated bearing which has a rubber liner bonded with a rigid metal shell. The lubricant enters the bearing axially through a pressurized inlet tank and exits to an outlet tank which is at sufficiently low pressure. The load on the bearing is applied through the dead weight system which acts both in upward and downward direction so that net load acts on the bearing. The issues in feeding the lubricant into the bearing from the inlet side and preventing the leakage of the lubricant is discussed. The application of the load on the test bearing while maintaining the bearing afloat is also discussed.

Keywords: axial groove, hydrodynamic pressure, journal bearing, test rig, water lubrication

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Authors: Loretta Ichim, Dan Popescu, Grigore Stamatescu

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The paper reports the collaboration between a top university from Romania and three companies for the implementation of a research project in a multidisciplinary domain, focusing on the impact and benefits both for the education and industry. The joint activities were developed under the Space Technology and Advanced Research Program (STAR), funded by the Romanian Space Agency (ROSA) for a university-industry partnership. The context was defined by linking the European Space Agency optional programs, with the development and promotion national research, with the educational and industrial capabilities in the aeronautics, security and related areas by increasing the collaboration between academic and industrial entities as well as by realizing high-level scientific production. The project name is Multisensory Robotic System for Aerial Monitoring of Critical Infrastructure Systems (MUROS), which was carried 2013-2016. The project included the University POLITEHNICA of Bucharest (coordinator) and three companies, which manufacture and market unmanned aerial systems. The project had as main objective the development of an integrated system for combined ground wireless sensor networks and UAV monitoring in various application scenarios for critical infrastructure surveillance. This included specific activities related to fundamental and applied research, technology transfer, prototype implementation and result dissemination. The core area of the contributions laid in distributed data processing and communication mechanisms, advanced image processing and embedded system development. Special focus is given by the paper to analyzing the impact the project implementation in the educational process, directly or indirectly, through the faculty members (professors and students) involved in the research team. Three main directions are discussed: a) enabling students to carry out internships at the partner companies, b) handling advanced topics and industry requirements at the master's level, c) experiments and concept validation for doctoral thesis. The impact of the research work (as the educational component) developed by the faculty members on the increasing performances of the companies’ products is highlighted. The collaboration between university and companies was well balanced both for contributions and results. The paper also presents the outcomes of the project which reveals the efficient collaboration between high education and industry: master thesis, doctoral thesis, conference papers, journal papers, technical documentation for technology transfer, prototype, and patent. The experience can provide useful practices of blending research and education within an academia-industry cooperation framework while the lessons learned represent a starting point in debating the new role of advanced research and development performing companies in association with higher education. This partnership, promoted at UE level, has a broad impact beyond the constrained scope of a single project and can develop into long-lasting collaboration while benefiting all stakeholders: students, universities and the surrounding knowledge-based economic and industrial ecosystem. Due to the exchange of experiences between the university (UPB) and the manufacturing company (AFT Design), a new project, SIMUL, under the Bridge Grant Program (Romanian executive agency UEFISCDI) was started (2016 – 2017). This project will continue the educational research for innovation on master and doctoral studies in MUROS thematic (collaborative multi-UAV application for flood detection).

Keywords: education process, multisensory robotic system, research and innovation project, technology transfer, university-industry partnership

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Authors: Zohra Aziz Ali Manjiyani, Renju Thomas Jacob, Keerthan Kumar

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This project develops a hand movement monitoring system, which feeds the data into the computer and gives the 3D image rotation according to the direction of the tilt and hence monitoring the movement of the hand in context to its tilt. Advancement of MEMS Technology has enabled us to get very small and low-cost accelerometer ICs which is based on capacitive principle. Accelerometer based Tilt sensor ADXL335 is used in this paper, based on MEMS technology and the project emphasis on the development of the MEMS-based accelerometer to measure the tilt, interfacing the hardware with the LabVIEW and showing the 3D rotation to the user, which is in his understandable form and tilt data can be saved in the computer. It provides an experience of working on emerging technologies like MEMS and design software like LabVIEW.

Keywords: MEMS accelerometer, tilt sensor ADXL335, LabVIEW simulation, 3D animation

Procedia PDF Downloads 516

Authors: Ana Hol

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We live in a constantly changing environment where technology has become an integral component of our day to day life. We rely heavily on mobile devices, we search for data via web, we utilise smart home sensors to create the most suited ambiences and we utilise applications to shop, research, communicate and share data. Heavy reliance on technology therefore is creating new connections between STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) fields which in turn rises a question of what the STEM education of the future should be like? This study was based on the reviews of the six Australian Information Systems students who undertook an international study tour to India where they were given an opportunity to network, communicate and meet local students, staff and business representatives and from them learn about the local business implementations, local customs and regulations. Research identifies that if we are to continue to implement and utilise electronic devices on the global scale, such as for example implement smart cars that can smoothly cross borders, we will need the workforce that will have the knowledge about the cars themselves, their parts, roads and transport networks, road rules, road sensors, road monitoring technologies, graphical user interfaces, movement detection systems as well as day to day operations, legal rules and regulations of each region and country, insurance policies, policing and processes so that the wide array of sensors can be controlled across country’s borders. In conclusion, it can be noted that allowing students to learn about the local conditions, roads, operations, business processes, customs and values in different countries is giving students a cutting edge advantage as such knowledge cannot be transferred via electronic sources alone. However once understanding of each problem or project is established, multidisciplinary innovative STEM projects can be smoothly conducted.

Keywords: STEM, curiosity, innovation, advancements

Procedia PDF Downloads 199

Authors: Young Yoon, Jinsoo Kim

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The adoption of information and communication technologies (ICT) in all industry is growing under industry 4.0. Many oil companies also are increasingly adopting ICT to improve the efficiency of existing operations, take more accurate and quicker decision making and reduce entire cost by optimization. It is true that ICT is playing an important role in the process of unconventional oil and gas development and companies must take advantage of ICT to gain competitive advantage. In this study, real option approach has been applied to Unconventional gas R&D project to evaluate ICT of them. Many unconventional gas reserves such as shale gas and coal-bed methane(CBM) has developed due to technological improvement and high energy price. There are many uncertainties in unconventional development on the three stage(Exploration, Development, Production). The traditional quantitative benefits-cost method, such as net present value(NPV) is not sufficient for capturing ICT value. We attempted to evaluate the ICT valuation by applying the compound option model; the model is applied to real CBM project case, showing how it consider uncertainties. Variables are treated as uncertain and a Monte Carlo simulation is performed to consider variables effect. Acknowledgement—This work was supported by the Energy Efficiency & Resources Core Technology Program of the Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning (KETEP) granted financial resource from the Ministry of Trade, Industry & Energy, Republic of Korea (No. 20152510101880) and by the National Research Foundation of Korea Grant funded by the Korean Government (NRF-205S1A3A2046684).

Keywords: information and communication technologies, R&D, real option, unconventional gas

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Authors: Lauren B. Birney

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This project focuses upon the expansion of the existing "Curriculum and Community Enterprise for the Restoration of New York Harbor in New York City Public Schools" NSF EHR DRL 1440869, NSF EHR DRL 1839656 and NSF EHR DRL 1759006. This project is recognized locally as “Curriculum and Community Enterprise for Restoration Science,” or CCERS. CCERS is a comprehensive model of ecological restoration-based STEM education for urban public-school students. Following an accelerated rollout, CCERS is now being implemented in 120+ Title 1 funded NYC Department of Education middle schools, led by two cohorts of 250 teachers, serving more than 11,000 students in total. Initial results and baseline data suggest that the CCERS model, with the Billion Oyster Project (BOP) as its local restoration ecology-based STEM curriculum, is having profound impacts on students, teachers, school leaders, and the broader community of CCERS participants and stakeholders. Students and teachers report being receptive to the CCERS model and deeply engaged in the initial phase of curriculum development, citizen science data collection, and student-centered, problem-based STEM learning. The BOP CCERS Digital Platform will serve as the central technology hub for all research, data, data analysis, resources, materials and student data to promote global interactions between communities, Research conducted included qualitative and quantitative data analysis. We continue to work internally on making edits and changes to accommodate a dynamic society. The STEM Collaboratory NYC® at Pace University New York City continues to act as the prime institution for the BOP CCERS project since the project’s inception in 2014. The project continues to strive to provide opportunities in STEM for underrepresented and underserved populations in New York City. The replicable model serves as an opportunity for other entities to create this type of collaboration within their own communities and ignite a community to come together and address the notable issue. Providing opportunities for young students to engage in community initiatives allows for a more cohesive set of stakeholders, ability for young people to network and provide additional resources for those students in need of additional support, resources and structure. The project has planted more than 47 million oysters across 12 acres and 15 reef sites, with the help of more than 8,000 students and 10,000 volunteers. Additional enhancements and features on the BOP CCERS Digital Platform will continue over the next three years through funding provided by the National Science Foundation, NSF DRL EHR 1759006/1839656 Principal Investigator Dr. Lauren Birney, Professor Pace University. Early results from the data indicate that the new version of the Platform is creating traction both nationally and internationally among community stakeholders and constituents. This project continues to focus on new collaborative partners that will support underrepresented students in STEM Education. The advanced Digital Platform will allow for us connect with other countries and networks on a larger Global scale.

Keywords: STEM education, environmental restoration science, technology, citizen science

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Authors: Julien G. Chenet, Mario A. Hernandez, U. Leonardo Rodriguez

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The tropical areas are places where there is scarcity of access to potable water and where renewable energies need further development. They also display high undernourishment levels, even though they are one of the resources-richest areas in the world. In these areas, it is common to count on great extension of soils, high solar radiation and raw water from rain, groundwater, surface water or even saltwater. Even though resources are available, access to them is limited, and the low-density habitat makes central solutions expensive and investments not worthy. In response to this lack of investment, rural inhabitants use fossil fuels and timber as an energy source and import agrochemical for soils fertilization, which increase GHG emissions. The OASIS project brings an answer to this situation. It supplies renewable energy, potable water and organic food. The first step is the determination of the needs of the communities in terms of energy, water quantity and quality, food requirements and soil characteristics. Second step is the determination of the available resources, such as solar energy, raw water and organic residues on site. The pilot OASIS project is located in the Vichada department, Colombia, and ensures the sustainable use of natural resources to meet the community needs. The department has roughly 70% of indigenous people. They live in a very scattered landscape, with no access to clean water and energy. They use polluted surface water for direct consumption and diesel for energy purposes. OASIS pilot will ensure basic needs for a 400-students education center. In this case, OASIS will provide 20 kW of solar energy potential and 40 liters per student per day. Water will be treated form groundwater, with two qualities. A conventional one with chlorine, and as the indigenous people are not used to chlorine for direct consumption, second train is with reverse osmosis to bring conservable safe water without taste. OASIS offers a solution to supply basic needs, shifting from fossil fuels, timber, to a no-GHG-emission solution. This solution is part of the mitigation strategy against Climate Change for the communities in low-density areas of the tropics. OASIS is a learning center to teach how to convert natural resources into utilizable ones. It is also a meeting point for the community with high pedagogic impact that promotes the efficient and sustainable use of resources. OASIS system is adaptable to any tropical area and competes technically and economically with any conventional solution, that needs transport of energy, treated water and food. It is a fully automatic, replicable and sustainable solution to sort out the issue of access to basic needs in rural areas. OASIS is also a solution to undernourishment, ensuring a responsible use of resources, to prevent long-term pollution of soils and groundwater. It promotes the closure of the nutrient cycle, and the optimal use of the land whilst ensuring food security in depressed low-density regions of the tropics. OASIS is under optimization to Vichada conditions, and will be available to any other tropical area in the following months.

Keywords: climate change adaptation and mitigation, rural development, sustainable access to clean and renewable resources, social inclusion

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Authors: Abdulla Almulla, Wafaa Mahdi

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Building materials can make a significant contribution to the level of natural radioactivity in closed dwelling areas. Therefore, developing an expert system for monitoring the activity concentrations (ACs) of naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORMs) existing in building materials is useful for limiting the population’s exposure to gamma radiation emitted from those materials. The present work not only is aimed at examining the indoor radon concentration emitted by the building materials that are originated from various countries but are commercially available in Kuwait, but also is aimed at developing an expert system for monitoring the radiation emitted from these materials and classifying it as normal (acceptable) or dangerous (unacceptable). This system makes it possible to always monitor any radiological risks to human health. When detecting high doses of radiation, the system gives warning messages.

Keywords: building materials, NORMs, HNBRA, radionuclides, activity concentrations, expert systems

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Authors: Tom O'Mahony

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This article considers the design of a student-centered learning environment in engineering education. The learning environment integrates a number of components, including project-based learning, collaborative learning, two-stage assignments, active learning lectures, and a flipped-classroom. Together these elements place the individual learner and their learning at the center of the environment by focusing on understanding, enhancing relevance, applying learning, obtaining rich feedback, making choices, and taking responsibility. The evolution of this environment from 2014 to the present day is outlined. The impact of this environment on learners and their learning is evaluated via student questionnaires that consist of both open and closed-ended questions. The closed questions indicate that students found the learning environment to be really interesting and enjoyable (rated as 4.7 on a 5 point scale) and encouraged students to adopt a deep approach towards studying the course materials (rated as 4.0 on a 5 point scale). A content analysis of the open-ended questions provides evidence that the project, active learning lectures, and flipped classroom all contribute to the success of this environment. Furthermore, this analysis indicates that the two-stage assessment process, in which feedback is provided between a draft and final assignment, is the key component and the dominant theme. A limitation of the study is the small class size (less than 20 learners per year), but, to some degree, this is compensated for by the longitudinal nature of the study.

Keywords: deep approaches, formative assessment, project-based learning, student-centered learning

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Authors: Thandokazi Nyangiwe, Christopher Amoah, Charles P. Mukumba

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The South African construction sector is threatened by emerging black business forums called construction mafias. The emergence of the construction mafia has culminated in the disruptions and abandonment of construction sites resulting in the loss of jobs for construction workers. The paper examines the origin of construction mafias and their impact on the construction sector, including the potential ways to cope with their operations. A qualitative research approach was adopted for this study using open-ended interview questions to gather information from 30 key construction industry stakeholders, including contractors, subcontractors, consultants, and the construction project communities. Content and thematic analysis were used to analyse the data collected. The findings suggest that most participants do not fully understand the existence and operations of construction mafias in the construction industry. Construction mafias claim to be part of the local business forums. They disrupt construction projects and demand a certain amount, usually 30% of the construction value. Construction mafias frequently resort to intimidation and violence if their demands are unmet. Their operations have resulted in delayed completion of construction projects, abandonment of projects, and loss of income for the contractor and jobs for the construction workers. The interviews were limited to construction stakeholders. Because of the nature of the mafias’ operations, they could not be accessed for interviews for fear of being identified because of the connotation attached to their role as construction mafias. Construction project owners face disruptions of projects resulting in loss of equipment, materials, and income. Therefore, there is a need to sensitise the construction stakeholders in the construction industry regarding the existence and operations of the construction mafia and the implications on construction project performance and delivery. The findings will give insight into the operations of the construction mafias in the South African construction industry, which has caused disruptions in construction project sites. Stakeholders must find solutions to address the construction mafias’ disruptive actions on construction projects. The study presents an initial inquiry that will come up with how to manage and cope with the growing operations of construction mafias in the South African construction industry.

Keywords: black business forums, construction mafia, emergence, implication

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Authors: Amirhossein Karamoozian, Desheng Wu, Behzad Abbasnejad

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Building information modelling (BIM) is a new technology to enhance the efficiency of project management in the construction industry. In addition to the potential benefits of this useful technology, there are various risks and obstacles to applying it in construction projects. In this study, a decision making approach is presented for risk assessment in BIM adoption in construction projects. Various risk factors of exerting BIM during different phases of the project lifecycle are identified with the help of Delphi method, experts’ opinions and related literature. Afterward, Shannon’s entropy and Fuzzy TOPSIS (Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Situation) are applied to derive priorities of the identified risk factors. Results indicated that lack of knowledge between professional engineers about workflows in BIM and conflict of opinions between different stakeholders are the risk factors with the highest priority.

Keywords: risk, BIM, fuzzy TOPSIS, construction projects

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Authors: Kunyaporn Pipithsangchan, Alongkorn Korntong, Assanee Songserm, Phatchara Piriyavinit, Saowanee Dechakampoo

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The Kingdom of Thailand is one of the South East Asian countries. From its area of 514,000 square kilometers (51 million ha), at least 18,000 plant species (8% of the world total) have been estimated to be found in the country. As a result, the conservation of plant genetic diversity, particularly food crops, is becoming important and is an assurance for the national food security. Department of Agriculture Genebank or DOA Genebank, Thailand is responsible for the conservation of plant germplasm by participating and accomplishing several collaborative projects both at national and international levels. Integrated Management System of Plant Genetic Resources or IMPGR is one of the most outstandingly successful cooperation. It is a multilateral project under the Asian Food and Agriculture Cooperation Initiative (AFACI) supported by the Rural Development Administration (RDA) of South Korea. The member countries under the project consist of 11 nations namely Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos PDR, Mongolia, Nepal, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam and South Korea. The project enabled the members to jointly address the global issues in plant genetic resource (PGR) conservation and strengthen their network in this aspect. The 1st phase of IMPGR project, entitled 'Collection, Conservation, Regeneration and Characterization of Cucurbitaceae and Solanaceae 2012-2014', comprises three main objectives that are: 1) To improve management in storage facilities, collection, and regeneration, 2) To improve linkage between Genebank and material sources (for regeneration), and 3) To improve linkage between Genebank and other field crop or/and horticultural research centers. The project was done for three years from 2012 to 2014. The activities of the project can be described as following details: In the 1st year, there were 9 target provinces for completing plant genetic resource survey and collection. 108 accessions of PGR were collected. In the 2nd year, PGR were continuously surveyed and collected from 9 provinces. The total number of collection was 140 accessions. In addition, the process of regeneration of 237 accessions collected from 1st and 2nd year was started at several sites namely Biotechnology Research and Development Office, Sukothai Horticultural Research Center, Tak Research, and Development Center and Nakhon Ratchasima Research and Development Center. In the 3rd year, besides survey and collection of 115 accessions from 9 target provinces, PGR characterization and evaluation were done for 206 accessions. Moreover, safety duplication of 253 PGR at the World Seed Vault, RDA, was also done according to Standard Agreement on Germplasm Safety Duplication between Department of Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, the Kingdom of Thailand and the National Agrobiodiversity Center, Rural Development Administration of the Republic of Korea. The success of the 1st phase project led to the second phase which entitled 'Collection and Characterization for Effective Conservation of Local Capsicum spp., Solanum spp. and Lycopersicon spp. in Thailand 2015-2017'.

Keywords: characterization, conservation, DOA genebank, plant genetic resources

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Authors: Karen Jacob

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Over the last decades, there has been a rise in the use of CLIL (content and language integrated learning) methodology as a way of reinforcing FL (foreign language) acquisition. CLIL techniques have also been transferred to the formal instruction-based FL classroom where through content-based lessons and project work it can very often say that teachers are ‘clilling’ in the FL classroom. When it comes to motivating students to acquire an FL, we have to take into account that English is not your run-of-the-mill FL: English is an international language (EIL). Consequently, this means that EFL students should be able to use English as an international medium of communication. This leads to the assumption that along with FL competence, speakers of EIL will need to become competent international citizens with knowledge of other societies, both contextually and geographically, and be flexible, open-minded, respectful and sensitive towards other world groups. Rather than ‘intercultural’ competence we should be referring to ‘transcultural’ competence. This paper reports the implementation of a content- and task-based approach to EFL teaching which was applied to two groups of 15 year-olds from two schools on the Spanish island of Mallorca during the school year 2015-2016. Students worked on three units of work that aimed at ‘internationalising’ the classroom by introducing topics that would encourage them to become transculturally aware of the world in which they live. In this paper we discuss the feedback given by the teachers and students on various aspects of the approach in order to answer the following research questions: 1) To what extent were the students motivated by the content and activities of the classes?; 2) Did this motivation have a positive effect on the students’ overall results for the subject; 3) Did the participants show any signs of becoming transculturally aware. Preliminary results from qualitative data show that the students enjoyed the move away from the more traditional EFL content and, as a result, they became more competent in speaking and writing. Students also appeared to become more knowledgeable and respectful towards the ‘other’. The EFL approach described in this paper takes a more qualitative approach to research by describing what is really going on in the EFL classroom and makes a conscious effort to provide real examples of not only the acquisition of linguistic competence but also the acquisition of other important communication skills that are of utmost importance in today's international arena.

Keywords: CLIL, content- and task-based learning, internationalisation, transcultural competence

Procedia PDF Downloads 241