Search results for: Software Engineering Methods

Authors: L. J. Fei, D. Sujan

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This paper presents the fundamentals of Origami engineering and its application in nowadays as well as future industry. Several main cores of mathematical approaches such as Huzita- Hatori axioms, Maekawa and Kawasaki-s theorems are introduced briefly. Meanwhile flaps and circle packing by Robert Lang is explained to make understood the underlying principles in designing crease pattern. Rigid origami and its corrugation patterns which are potentially applicable for creating transformable or temporary spaces is discussed to show the transition of origami from paper to thick material. Moreover, some innovative applications of origami such as eyeglass, origami stent and high tech origami based on mentioned theories and principles are showcased in section III; while some updated origami technology such as Vacuumatics, self-folding of polymer sheets and programmable matter folding which could greatlyenhance origami structureare demonstrated in Section IV to offer more insight in future origami.

Keywords: Origami, origami application, origami engineering, origami technology, rigid origami.

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Authors: Rado Flajs

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In the present paper the extreme shear stresses with the corresponding planes are established using the freely available computer tools like the Gnuplot, Sage, R, Python and Octave. In order to support these freely available computer tools, their strong symbolical and graphical abilities are illustrated. The nature of the stationary points obtained by the Method of Lagrangian Multipliers can be determined using freely available computer symbolical tools like Sage. The characters of the stationary points can be explained in the easiest way using freely available computer graphical tools like Gnuplot, Sage, R, Python and Octave. The presented figures improve the understanding of the problem and the obtained solutions for the majority of students of civil or mechanical engineering.

Keywords: engineering, continuum mechanics, extreme shear stresses, Gnuplot, Sage, R, Python, Octave

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Authors: K. M. Shahot. I. A. Ekhmaj

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The research study is carried out to determine the efficiency of the Biofilm sewage treatment plant which is located at the Engineering Complex-s. Wastewater analyses have been carried out at the Environmental Engineering laboratory to study the six parameters: Biochemical Oxygen Demand BOD, Chemical Oxygen Demand COD l, and Total Suspended Solids TSS, Ammoniac Nitrogen NH3-N and Phosphorous P which have been selected to determine the wastewater quality. The plant was designed to treat 750 Pe (population equivalent) at hydraulic retention time of 5 hours in the aerobic zone. The results show that Biofilm wastewater treatment plant was able to treat sewage successfully at different flow condition. The discharge has fulfilled the Malaysia Environmental of Standard A water quality. The achieved BOD removal is more than 85%, COD is more than 80%, TSS is more than 80%, NH3-N is more than 70%, and P was more than 70%. The Biofilm system provides a very efficient process for sewage treatment and it is compact in structure thus minimizes the required land area.

Keywords: Sewage, Bio film, Cosmo-Ball, Activated sludge

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Authors: Michel Soto Chalhoub

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Building code-related literature provides recommendations on normalizing approaches to the calculation of the dynamic properties of structures. Most building codes make a distinction among types of structural systems, construction material, and configuration through a numerical coefficient in the expression for the fundamental period. The period is then used in normalized response spectra to compute base shear. The typical parameter used in simplified code formulas for the fundamental period is overall building height raised to a power determined from analytical and experimental results. However, reinforced concrete buildings which constitute the majority of built space in less developed countries pose additional challenges to the ones built with homogeneous material such as steel, or with concrete under stricter quality control. In the present paper, the particularities of reinforced concrete buildings are explored and related to current methods of equivalent static analysis. A comparative study is presented between the Uniform Building Code, commonly used for buildings within and outside the USA, and data from the Middle East used to model 151 reinforced concrete buildings of varying number of bays, number of floors, overall building height, and individual story height. The fundamental period was calculated using eigenvalue matrix computation. The results were also used in a separate regression analysis where the computed period serves as dependent variable, while five building properties serve as independent variables. The statistical analysis shed light on important parameters that simplified code formulas need to account for including individual story height, overall building height, floor plan, number of bays, and concrete properties. Such inclusions are important for reinforced concrete buildings of special conditions due to the level of concrete damage, aging, or materials quality control during construction. Overall results of the present analysis show that simplified code formulas for fundamental period and base shear may be applied but they require revisions to account for multiple parameters. The conclusion above is confirmed by the analytical model where fundamental periods were computed using numerical techniques and eigenvalue solutions. This recommendation is particularly relevant to code upgrades in less developed countries where it is customary to adopt, and mildly adapt international codes. We also note the necessity of further research using empirical data from buildings in Lebanon that were subjected to severe damage due to impulse loading or accelerated aging. However, we excluded this study from the present paper and left it for future research as it has its own peculiarities and requires a different type of analysis.

Keywords: Seismic behavior, reinforced concrete, simplified code formulas, equivalent static analysis, base shear, response spectra.

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Authors: Jochen Nelles, Susanne Kohns, Julia Spies, Friederike Schmitz-Buhl, Roland Thietje, Christopher Brandl, Alexander Mertens, Christopher M. Schlick

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Industrial robots as part of highly automated manufacturing are recently developed to cooperative (light-weight) robots. This offers the opportunity of using them as assistance robots and to improve the participation in professional life of disabled or handicapped people such as tetraplegics. Robots under development are located within a cooperation area together with the working person at the same workplace. This cooperation area is an area where the robot and the working person can perform tasks at the same time. Thus, working people and robots are operating in the immediate proximity. Considering the physical restrictions and the limited mobility of tetraplegics, a hands-free robot control could be an appropriate approach for a cooperative assistance robot. To meet these requirements, the research project MeRoSy (human-robot synergy) develops methods for cooperative assistance robots based on the measurement of head movements of the working person. One research objective is to improve the participation in professional life of people with disabilities and, in particular, mobility impaired persons (e.g. wheelchair users or tetraplegics), whose participation in a self-determined working life is denied. This raises the research question, how a human-robot cooperation workplace can be designed for hands-free robot control. Here, the example of a library scenario is demonstrated. In this paper, an empirical study that focuses on the impact of head movement related stress is presented. 12 test subjects with tetraplegia participated in the study. Tetraplegia also known as quadriplegia is the worst type of spinal cord injury. In the experiment, three various basic head movements were examined. Data of the head posture were collected by a motion capture system; muscle activity was measured via surface electromyography and the subjective mental stress was assessed via a mental effort questionnaire. The muscle activity was measured for the sternocleidomastoid (SCM), the upper trapezius (UT) or trapezius pars descendens, and the splenius capitis (SPL) muscle. For this purpose, six non-invasive surface electromyography sensors were mounted on the head and neck area. An analysis of variance shows differentiated muscular strains depending on the type of head movement. Systematically investigating the influence of different basic head movements on the resulting strain is an important issue to relate the research results to other scenarios. At the end of this paper, a conclusion will be drawn and an outlook of future work will be presented.

Keywords: Assistance robot, human-robot-interaction, motion capture, stress-strain-concept, surface electromyography, tetraplegia.

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Authors: László L. Lippai

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In addition to the fact that mental health bears great significance to a particular individual, it can also be regarded as an organizational, community and societal resource. Within the Szeged Health Promotion Research Group, we conducted mental health surveys on two levels: The inhabitants of a medium-sized Hungarian town and students of a Hungarian university with a relatively big headcount were requested to participate in surveys whose goals were to define local government priorities and organization-level health promotion programmes, respectively. To facilitate professional decision-making, we defined three, pragmatically relevant, groups of the target population: the mentally healthy, the vulnerable and the endangered. In order to determine which group a person actually belongs to, we designed a simple and quick measurement tool, which could even be utilised as a smoothing method, the Mental State Questionnaire validity of the above three categories was verified by analysis of variance against psychological quality of life variables. We demonstrate the pragmatic significance of our method via the analyses of the scores of our two mental health surveys. On town level, during our representative survey in Hódmezővásárhely (N=1839), we found that 38.7% of the participants was mentally healthy, 35.3% was vulnerable, while 16.3% was considered as endangered. We were able to identify groups that were in a dramatic state in terms of mental health. For example, such a group consisted of men aged 45 to 64 with only primary education qualification and the ratios of the mentally healthy, vulnerable and endangered were 4.5, 45.5 and 50%, respectively. It was also astonishing to see to what a little extent qualification prevailed as a protective factor in the case of women. Based on our data, the female group aged 18 to 44 with primary education—of whom 20.3% was mentally healthy, 42.4% vulnerable and 37.3% was endangered—as well as the female group aged 45 to 64 with university or college degree—of whom 25% was mentally healthy, 51.3 vulnerable and 23.8% endangered—are to be handled as priority intervention target groups in a similarly difficult position. On organizational level, our survey involving the students of the University of Szeged, N=1565, provided data to prepare a strategy of mental health promotion for a university with a headcount exceeding 20,000. When developing an organizational strategy, it was important to gather information to estimate the proportions of target groups in which mental health promotion methods; for example, life management skills development, detection, psychological consultancy, psychotherapy, would be applied. Our scores show that 46.8% of the student participants were mentally healthy, 42.1% were vulnerable and 11.1% were endangered. These data convey relevant information as to the allocation of organizational resources within a university with a considerable headcount. In conclusion, The Mental State Questionnaire, as a valid smoothing method, is adequate to describe a community in a plain and informative way in the terms of mental health. The application of the method can promote the preparation, design and implementation of mental health promotion interventions. 

Keywords: Health promotion, mental health promotion, mental state questionnaire, psychological well-being.

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Authors: M. Aminu Sanda

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This paper examines challenges to the implementation and internalization of benchmarked management practices by research organizations in developing economies as transformative tools towards commercialization. The purpose is to understand the contributing influence of internal organizational factors from both situational and historical perspectives towards the practice implementation constraints, and also to provide theoretical understanding on how systemic formations and transformations in the organizations’ activities influenced the level to which their desired needs are attained. The results showed that the variability in the outcomes of the organizations’ transformation processes was indicative of their (in)ability to deal with the impacts of cumulated tensions in the systemic interfaces of their organizational activity systems. It is concluded that the functionalities of the systemic interfaces influence the functionality of the organizational activity system.

Keywords: Organizational activity system, practice implementation, systemic formations, systemic transformations, management re-engineering, R&D firms.

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Authors: A. Bouabid, B. Bielenberg, S. Ainane, N. Pasha

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In this paper, a team of faculty members of the Petroleum Institute in Abu Dhabi, UAE representing six different courses across General Engineering (ENGR), Communication (COMM), and Design (STPS) worked together to establish a clear developmental progression of learning outcomes and performance indicators for targeted knowledge, areas of competency, and skills for the first three semesters of the Bachelor of Sciences in Engineering curriculum. The sequences of courses studied in this project were ENGR/COMM, COMM/STPS, and ENGR/STPS. For each course’s nine areas of knowledge, competency, and skills, the research team reviewed the existing learning outcomes and related performance indicators with a focus on identifying linkages across disciplines as well as within the courses of a discipline. The team reviewed existing performance indicators for developmental progression from semester to semester for same discipline related courses (vertical alignment) and for different discipline courses within the same semester (horizontal alignment). The results of this work have led to recommendations for modifications of the initial indicators when incoherence was identified, and/or for new indicators based on best practices (identified through literature searches) when gaps were identified. It also led to recommendations for modifications of the level of emphasis within each course to ensure developmental progression. The exercise has led to a revised Sequence Performance Indicator Mapping for the knowledge, skills, and competencies across the six core courses.

Keywords: Curriculum alignment, horizontal and vertical progression, performance indicators, skill level.

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Authors: Ming-Hsiang Shih, Wen-Pei Sung, Shih-Heng Tung

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The purposes of hydraulic gate are to maintain the functions of storing and draining water. It bears long-term hydraulic pressure and earthquake force and is very important for reservoir and waterpower plant. The high tensile strength of steel plate is used as constructional material of hydraulic gate. The cracks and rusts, induced by the defects of material, bad construction and seismic excitation and under water respectively, thus, the mechanics phenomena of gate with crack are probing into the cause of stress concentration, induced high crack increase rate, affect the safety and usage of hydroelectric power plant. Stress distribution analysis is a very important and essential surveying technique to analyze bi-material and singular point problems. The finite difference infinitely small element method has been demonstrated, suitable for analyzing the buckling phenomena of welding seam and steel plate with crack. Especially, this method can easily analyze the singularity of kink crack. Nevertheless, the construction form and deformation shape of some gates are three-dimensional system. Therefore, the three-dimensional Digital Image Correlation (DIC) has been developed and applied to analyze the strain variation of steel plate with crack at weld joint. The proposed Digital image correlation (DIC) technique is an only non-contact method for measuring the variation of test object. According to rapid development of digital camera, the cost of this digital image correlation technique has been reduced. Otherwise, this DIC method provides with the advantages of widely practical application of indoor test and field test without the restriction on the size of test object. Thus, the research purpose of this research is to develop and apply this technique to monitor mechanics crack variations of weld steel hydraulic gate and its conformation under action of loading. The imagines can be picked from real time monitoring process to analyze the strain change of each loading stage. The proposed 3-Dimensional digital image correlation method, developed in the study, is applied to analyze the post-buckling phenomenon and buckling tendency of welded steel plate with crack. Then, the stress intensity of 3-dimensional analysis of different materials and enhanced materials in steel plate has been analyzed in this paper. The test results show that this proposed three-dimensional DIC method can precisely detect the crack variation of welded steel plate under different loading stages. Especially, this proposed DIC method can detect and identify the crack position and the other flaws of the welded steel plate that the traditional test methods hardly detect these kind phenomena. Therefore, this proposed three-dimensional DIC method can apply to observe the mechanics phenomena of composite materials subjected to loading and operating.

Keywords: Welded steel plate, crack variation, three-dimensional Digital Image Correlation (DIC).

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Authors: R. Monib, C. I. Goodier, A. Gibb

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This paper aims to investigate decision support strategies in the EC sector to determine the most appropriate degree of modularization. This is achieved through three oil and gas (O&G) and two power plant case studies via semi-structured interviews (n = 59 and n = 27, respectively), analysis of project documents, and case study-specific semi-structured validation interviews (n = 12 and n = 8). Terminology to distinguish degrees of modularization is proposed, along with a decision-making support checklist and a diagrammatic decision-making support figure. Results indicate that the EC sub-sectors were substantially more satisfied with the application of component, structural, or traditional modularization compared with system modularization for some types of modules. Key drivers for decisions on the degree of modularization vary across module types. This paper can help the EC sector determine the most suitable degree of modularization via a decision-making support strategy.

Keywords: Modularization, engineering construction, case study, decision support.

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Authors: H. Ostad-Ahmad-Ghorabi, T. Rahmani, D. Gerhard

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Product Data Management (PDM) systems for Computer Aided Design (CAD) file management are widely established in design processes. This management system is indispensable for design collaboration or when design task distribution is present. It is thus surprising that engineering design curricula has not paid much attention in the education of PDM systems. This is also the case for eduction of ecodesign and environmental evaluation of products. With the rise of sustainability as a strategic aspect in companies, environmental concerns are becoming a key issue in design. This paper discusses the establishment of a PDM platform to be used among technical and vocational schools in Austria. The PDM system facilitates design collaboration among these schools. Further, it will be discussed how the PDM system has been prepared in order to facilitate environmental evaluation of parts, components and subassemblies of a product. By integrating a Business Intelligence solution, environmental Life Cycle Assessment and communication of results is enabled.

Keywords: CAD, Engineering Design, Design Education, ProductLife Cycle, Sustainability

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Authors: S. Golmohammadi, M. Noorian Bidgoli

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Tunneling progress is a key parameter in the blasting method of tunneling. Taking measures to enhance tunneling advance can limit the progress distance without a supporting system, subsequently reducing or eliminating the risk of damage. This paper focuses on modeling tunneling progress using three main groups of parameters (tunneling geometry, blasting pattern, and rock mass specifications) based on the Rock Engineering Systems (RES) methodology. In the proposed models, four main effective parameters on tunneling progress are considered as inputs (RMR, Q-system, Specific charge of blasting, Area), with progress as the output. Data from 86 blasts conducted at the tailrace tunnel in the Azad Dam, western Iran, were used to evaluate the progress value for each blast. The results indicated that, for the 86 blasts, the progress of the estimated model aligns mostly with the measured progress. This paper presents a method for building the interaction matrix (statistical base) of the RES model. Additionally, a comparison was made between the results of the new RES-based model and a Multi-Linear Regression (MLR) analysis model. In the RES-based model, the effective parameters are RMR (35.62%), Q (28.6%), q (specific charge of blasting) (20.35%), and A (15.42%), respectively, whereas for MLR analysis, the main parameters are RMR, Q (system), q, and A. These findings confirm the superior performance of the RES-based model over the other proposed models.

Keywords: Rock Engineering Systems, tunneling progress, Multi Linear Regression, Specific charge of blasting.

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Authors: H. Noun, C. Urban-Seelmann, M. Abdelfattah, G. Zeller, G. Rajesh, I. Mozgova, R. Lachmayer

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Several modules in automotive are usually modified and adapted for various project-specific applications. Due to a standardized safety concept a high reusability is accessible. A safety element out of context (SEooC) according to ISO 26262 can be a suitable approach. Based on the same safety concept and analysis, common modules can reach high reusability. For developing according to a module out of context, an appropriate and detailed development approach is required. This paper shows how to deduce this development processes for platform modules. Therefore, the detailed approach of the SEooC is derived. The aim is to create a detailed workflow for all phases of the development and integration of any kind of system modules. As an application example, an automotive project for an actuator control module is considered.

Keywords: Functional Safety, Safety Element out of Context, System Engineering, Hardware Engineering.

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Authors: Jonathan Sahu, Jill Aylott

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Individuals with Autism, Intellectual and Developmental disabilities (AIDD) are one of the most vulnerable groups in society, hampered not only by their own limitations to understand and interact with the wider society, but also societal limitations in perception and understanding. Communication to express their needs and wishes is fundamental to enable such individuals to live and prosper in society. This research project was designed as an organisational case study, in a large secondary health care hospital within the National Health Service (NHS), to assess the quality of care provided to people with AIDD and to review the role of advocacy to reduce health inequalities in these individuals. Methods: The research methodology adopted was as an “insider researcher”. Data collection included both quantitative and qualitative data i.e. a mixed method approach. A semi-structured interview schedule was designed and used to obtain qualitative and quantitative primary data from a wide range of interdisciplinary frontline health care workers to assess their understanding and awareness of systems, processes and evidence based practice to offer a quality service to people with AIDD. Secondary data were obtained from sources within the organisation, in keeping with “Case Study” as a primary method, and organisational performance data were then compared against national benchmarking standards. Further data sources were accessed to help evaluate the effectiveness of different types of advocacy that were present in the organisation. This was gauged by measures of user and carer experience in the form of retrospective survey analysis, incidents and complaints. Results: Secondary data demonstrate near compliance of the Organisation with the current national benchmarking standard (Monitor Compliance Framework). However, primary data demonstrate poor knowledge of the Mental Capacity Act 2005, poor knowledge of organisational systems, processes and evidence based practice applied for people with AIDD. In addition there was poor knowledge and awareness of frontline health care workers of advocacy and advocacy schemes for this group. Conclusions: A significant amount of work needs to be undertaken to improve the quality of care delivered to individuals with AIDD. An operational strategy promoting the widespread dissemination of information may not be the best approach to deliver quality care and optimal patient experience and patient advocacy. In addition, a more robust set of standards, with appropriate metrics, needs to be developed to assess organisational performance which will stand the test of professional and public scrutiny.

Keywords: Autism, intellectual developmental disabilities, advocacy, health inequalities, quality of care.

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Authors: Victoria C. Valdebenito

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Located within the context of accelerating globalization in the 21^st-century knowledge society, this paper focuses on one selected university in Chile at which radical curriculum policy changes have been taking place, diverging from the traditional curriculum in Chile at the undergraduate level as a section of a larger investigation. Using a ‘policy trajectory’ framework, and guided by the interpretivist approach to research, interview transcripts and institutional documents were analyzed in relation to the meso (university administration) and the micro (academics) level. Inside the case study, participants from the university administration and academic levels were selected both via snow-ball technique and purposive selection, thus they had different levels of seniority, with some participating actively in the curriculum reform processes. Guided by an interpretivist approach to research, documents and interview transcripts were analyzed to reveal major themes emerging from the data. A further ‘bigger picture’ analysis guided by critical theory was then undertaken, involving interrogation of underlying ideologies and how political and economic interests influence the cultural production of policy. The case-study university was selected because it represents a traditional and old case of university setting in the country, undergoing curriculum changes based on international trends such as the competency model and the liberal arts. Also, it is representative of a particular socioeconomic sector of the country. Access to the university was gained through email contact. Qualitative research methods were used, namely interviews and analysis of institutional documents. In all, 18 people were interviewed. The number was defined by when the saturation criterion was met. Semi-structured interview schedules were based on the four research questions about influences, policy texts, policy enactment and longer-term outcomes. Triangulation of information was used for the analysis. While there was no intention to generalize the specific findings of the case study, the results of the research were used as a focus for engagement with broader themes, often evident in global higher education policy developments. The research results were organized around major themes in three of the four contexts of the ‘policy trajectory’. Regarding the context of influences and the context of policy text production, themes relate to hegemony exercised by first world countries’ universities in the higher education field, its associated neoliberal ideology, with accountability and the discourse of continuous improvement, the local responses to those pressures, and the value of interdisciplinarity. Finally, regarding the context of policy practices and effects (enactment), themes emerged around the impacts of the curriculum changes on university staff, students, and resistance amongst academics. The research concluded with a few recommendations that potentially provide ‘food for thought’ beyond the localized settings of this study, as well as possibilities for further research.

Keywords: Curriculum, policy, higher education, global-local dynamics.

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Authors: Inci Develioglu, Hasan Firat Pulat

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Sustainable development is one of the most important topics in today's world, and it is also an important research topic for geoenvironmental engineering. Dredging process is performed to expand the river and port channel, flood control and accessing harbors. Every year large amount of sediment are dredged for these purposes. Dredged marine soils can be reused as filling materials, road and foundation embankments, construction materials and wildlife habitat developments. In this study, geotechnical engineering properties and compressibility behavior of dredged soil obtained from the Izmir Bay were investigated. The samples with four different organic matter contents were obtained and particle size distributions, consistency limits, pH and specific gravity tests were performed. The consolidation tests were conducted to examine organic matter content (OMC) effects on compressibility behavior of dredged soil. This study has shown that the OMC has an important effect on the engineering properties of dredged soils. The liquid and plastic limits increased with increasing OMC. The lowest specific gravity belonged to sample which has the maximum OMC. The specific gravity values ranged between 2.76 and 2.52. The maximum void ratio difference belongs to sample with the highest OMC (De_11% = 0.38)_. As the organic matter content of the samples increases, the change in the void ratio has also increased. The compression index increases with increasing OMC.

Keywords: Compressibility, consolidation, geotechnical properties, organic matter content, organic soils.

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Authors: Steven Whittle, Ingrida Valiusaityte

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Within the domain of Systems Engineering the need to perform property aggregation to understand, analyze and manage complex systems is unequivocal. This can be seen in numerous domains such as capability analysis, Mission Essential Competencies (MEC) and Critical Design Features (CDF). Furthermore, the need to consider uncertainty propagation as well as the sensitivity of related properties within such analysis is equally as important when determining a set of critical properties within such a system. This paper describes this property breakdown in a number of domains within Systems Engineering and, within the area of CDFs, emphasizes the importance of uncertainty analysis. As part of this, a section of the paper describes possible techniques which may be used within uncertainty propagation and in conclusion an example is described utilizing one of the techniques for property and uncertainty aggregation within an aircraft system to aid the determination of Critical Design Features.

Keywords: Complex Systems, Critical Design Features, Property Aggregation, Uncertainty.

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Authors: Ali Reza Vaezi, Fereshteh Haghshenas

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Land use has generally been considered a local environmental issue, but it is becoming a force of global importance. Extensive changes to forests and pastures are being driven by the need to provide food, fiber, and shelter for people in recent decades. Land use is an important factor affecting soil organic carbon accumulation and storage in soils which influence directly on other physicochemical soil properties, soil productivity and soil’s susceptibility to water erosion. The change of pastures to the agricultural lands has been increasing rapidly in most semi-arid regions in Iran. Information on the effect of the land use change in these areas on the deterioration of soil physicochemical properties is limited. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate the physical deterioration of soil as affected by land use change in semi-arid pastures in north west of Iran. Toward this, seven areas covering both pasture and rainfed lands with different soil textures (clay loam, silty clay loam, sandy clay loam, silt loam, loam, sandy loam and sandy loam) were selected in a semi-arid region in Zanjan, NW Iran. Pasture in the area is covered with poor vegetation and mostly grazed in wet seasons (end of winter and early spring and autumn). Rainfed lands resulting land use change are mostly planted for winter wheat production. In each area, soil samples (0-30 cm depth) were collected from the two land uses (pasture and rainfed land) at three replications. A total of 42 soil samples were taken from the study area. Various soil physical properties consisting of bulk density, total porosity, coarse pores volume, aggregate size, aggregate stability, water-holding capacity and saturated hydraulic conductivity were determined in the soil samples using the laboratory conventional methods. The results showed that the change of pastures to rainfeds is severely deteriorated soil physical properties. However, the variation rate of the physical soil properties is different. The loss of soil physical properties as a result of the land use change was in the following order: 61% water-stable aggregates, 60% aggregate size > 41% macroporosity > 28% bulk density > 22% total porosity > 11% water holding capacity > 5% saturated point. This result reveals that the structural characteristics of soils in this area are the most important soil physical characteristics that are affected by land use change. The deterioration of these soil properties influences negatively the pore size distribution and volume percentage of macroporosity. Effects of land use change on deterioration of soil physical properties were different in various soil textures. The highest mean loss of soil physical properties was found in loam (42%), whereas the lowest value was in silty clay loam (23%). As a consequence, loam is the most vulnerable soil to physical degradation caused by land use change in the pastures. This physical loss of soil is associated with its higher percentage of larger aggregates as well as water-stable aggregates.

Keywords: Pasture, soil physical properties, soil structural characteristics, soil texture.

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Authors: Introducing Principles of Land Surveying by Assigning a Practical Project

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A practical project is used in an engineering surveying course to expose sophomore and junior civil engineering students to several important issues related to the use of basic principles of land surveying. The project, which is the design of a two-lane rural highway to connect between two arbitrary points, requires students to draw the profile of the proposed highway along with the existing ground level. Areas of all cross-sections are then computed to enable quantity computations between them. Lastly, Mass-Haul Diagram is drawn with all important parts and features shown on it for clarity. At the beginning, students faced challenges getting started on the project. They had to spend time and effort thinking of the best way to proceed and how the work would flow. It was even more challenging when they had to visualize images of cut, fill and mixed cross sections in three dimensions before they can draw them to complete the necessary computations. These difficulties were then somewhat overcome with the help of the instructor and thorough discussions among team members and/or between different teams. The method of assessment used in this study was a well-prepared-end-of-semester questionnaire distributed to students after the completion of the project and the final exam. The survey contained a wide spectrum of questions from students' learning experience when this course development was implemented to students' satisfaction of the class instructions provided to them and the instructor's competency in presenting the material and helping with the project. It also covered the adequacy of the project to show a sample of a real-life civil engineering application and if there is any excitement added by implementing this idea. At the end of the questionnaire, students had the chance to provide their constructive comments and suggestions for future improvements of the land surveying course. Outcomes will be presented graphically and in a tabular format. Graphs provide visual explanation of the results and tables, on the other hand, summarize numerical values for each student along with some descriptive statistics, such as the mean, standard deviation, and coefficient of variation for each student and each question as well. In addition to gaining experience in teamwork, communications, and customer relations, students felt the benefit of assigning such a project. They noticed the beauty of the practical side of civil engineering work and how theories are utilized in real-life engineering applications. It was even recommended by students that such a project be exercised every time this course is offered so future students can have the same learning opportunity they had.

Keywords: Land surveying, highway project, assessment, evaluation, descriptive statistic.

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Authors: Sara S. Fouad, Omneya Messallam

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Egypt has countless prestigious buildings and diversity of cultural heritage which are located in many cities. Most of the researchers, archaeologists, stakeholders and governmental bodies are paying more attention to the big cities such as Cairo and Alexandria, due to the country’s centralization nature. However, there are other historic cities that are grossly neglected and in need of emergency conservation. For instance, Port Said which is a former colonial city that was established in nineteenth century located at the edge of the northeast Egyptian coast between the Mediterranean Sea and the Suez Canal. This city is chosen because it presents one of the important Egyptian archaeological sites that archive Egyptian architecture of the 19^th and 20^th centuries. The historic urban fabric is divided into three main districts; the Arab, the European (Al-Afrang), and Port Fouad. The European district is selected to be the research case study as it has culture diversity, significant buildings, and includes the largest number of the listed heritage buildings in Port Said. Based on questionnaires and interviews, since 2003 several initiative trials have been taken by Alliance Francaise, the National Organization for Urban Harmony (NOUH), some Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), and few number of community residents to highlight the important city legacy and protect it from being demolished. Unfortunately, the limitation of their participation in decision-making policies is considered a crucial threat facing sustainable heritage conservation. Therefore, encouraging the local community to participate in their architecture heritage conservation would create a self-confident one, capable of making decisions for the city’s future development. This paper aims to investigate the role of the local inhabitants in protecting their buildings heritage through listing the community level of participations twice (2012 and 2018) in preserving their heritage based on the ladder citizen participation approach. Also, it is to encourage community participation in order to promote city architecture conservation, heritage management, and sustainable development. The methodology followed in this empirical research involves using several data assembly methods such as structural observations, questionnaires, interviews, and mental mapping. The questionnaire was distributed among 92 local inhabitants aged 18-60 years. However, the outset of this research at the beginning demonstrated the majority negative attitude, motivation, and confidence of the local inhabitants’ role to safeguard their architectural heritage. Over time, there was a change in the negative attitudes. Therefore, raising public awareness and encouraging community participation by providing them with a real opportunity to take part in the decision-making. This may lead to a positive relationship between the community residents and the built heritage, which is essential for promoting its preservation and sustainable development.

Keywords: Al-Afrang/Port Said, community participation, heritage conservation, ladder of citizen participation, NGOs.

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Authors: Khondokar Farid Ahmmed, Robin Bown

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It is widely recognized that the formal financing of Small and Medium Size Enterprises (SMEs) by Private Commercial Banks (PCBs) is restricted. Due to changing financial market competition, SMEs are now important customers to PCBs in the member countries of the Asian Development Bank (ADB). Various initiatives in enhancing the efficiency of risk assessment of PCBs have failed in increasing financing accessibility in the traditional financing system where information asymmetry is a key constraint. In this circumstance, PCBs need to undertake a holistic approach. Holistic approach refers to methods that attempt to fundamentally change established traditions. To undertake holistic approach, this study intends to find the entire established financing culture between PCBs and SMEs in a new lens beyond the tradition on the basis of two basic questions: “What is the traditional lending culture between PCBs and SMEs” and “What could be potential role of PCBs to develop that culture where focusing on SME financing to PCBs". This study considered formal SME financing in Bangladesh by focusing on SMEs applying for their first loan. Bangladesh is a member country of ADB. The data collection method is semi-structured and we utilized face-to-face interviews with in-depth branch managers, higher officials and owner-managers of SME customers of PCBs and higher officials of SME Foundation and the Bangladesh central bank. Discourse analysis method was used for data analysis on the frame of thematic discussion fully based on participants’ views. The research found that branch managers and loan officers have a high level of power in assessing and financing decision-making. There is a changing attitude in PCB sector in requiring flexible collateral assets. Branch managers (Loan Officers) consider value of business prospect of owner-mangers as complementary of collateral assets. However, the study found the assessment process of business prospect is entirely unstructured and linked with socio-cultural settings that does not support PCBs’ changing manner in terms of collateral requirement. The study redefined and classified collateral assets to include all financing constructs in a structure. The degree of value of the collateral assets determines the degree of business prospects. This study suggested applying an outside classroom-learning paradigm such as “knowledge tour” to enhance the value of the kinds of collateral assets. This is the scope of PCBs in increasing SMEs’ financing eligibility in win-win basis. The findings and proposition could be effective in other ADB member countries and audiences in the field.

Keywords: CCA, financing, information asymmetry, PCA, PCB, financing.

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Authors: J. H. Lv, W. Z. Wang, S.W. Liu

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The major concern in the aviation industry is the flight safety. Although great effort has been put onto the development of material and system reliability, the failure cases of fatal accidents still occur nowadays. Due to the complexity of the aviation system, and the interaction among the failure components, the failure analysis of the related equipment is a little difficult. This study focuses on surveying the failure cases in aviation, which are extracted from failure analysis journals, including Engineering Failure Analysis and Case studies in Engineering Failure Analysis, in order to obtain the failure sensitive factors or failure sensitive parts. The analytical results show that, among the failure cases, fatigue failure is the largest in number of occurrence. The most failed components are the disk, blade, landing gear, bearing, and fastener. The frequently failed materials consist of steel, aluminum alloy, superalloy, and titanium alloy. Therefore, in order to assure the safety in aviation, more attention should be paid to the fatigue failures.

Keywords: Aviation industry, failure analysis, failure component, fatigue.

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Authors: M. Rychlik, R. Roszak, M. Morzynski, M. Nowak, H. Hausa, K. Kotecki

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Article presents the geometry and structure reconstruction procedure of the aircraft model for flatter research (based on the I22-IRYDA aircraft). For reconstruction the Reverse Engineering techniques and advanced surface modeling CAD tools are used. Authors discuss all stages of data acquisition process, computation and analysis of measured data. For acquisition the three dimensional structured light scanner was used. In the further sections, details of reconstruction process are present. Geometry reconstruction procedure transform measured input data (points cloud) into the three dimensional parametric computer model (NURBS solid model) which is compatible with CAD systems. Parallel to the geometry of the aircraft, the internal structure (structural model) are extracted and modeled. In last chapter the evaluation of obtained models are discussed.

Keywords: computer modeling, numerical simulation, Reverse Engineering, structural model

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Authors: Sharon S. Wu, Yong S. Park

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This project aims to study and evaluate the motorcycle crash bar, which is used to reduce injuries caused by side impacts to the motorcycle, and then develop an improved design using the engineering design process theory based on the current benchmark crash bar in order to lower the severity of motorcycle crash injuries. For this purpose, simulations for the crash bar are set up so that it travels at an angle towards a fixed concrete wall and collides at certain velocities. 3D CAD models are first designed in SolidWorks and dynamic crash simulations are then carried out using ANSYS to determine the lowest maximum Von-Mises stress over time and deformations by adjusting the parameters used in manufacturing the crash bar, including the velocity of the crash, material used, geometries with various radius fillets, and different thicknesses for the bar. The results of the simulation are used to determine the optimum parameters for a safer crash bar to withstand higher stress and deformation. Specifically, the von-Mises stress was reduced by at least 75% compared with the benchmark design by choosing aluminum alloy and a true unibar design.

Keywords: Crash bar, crash simulation, engineering design, motorcycle safety.

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Authors: Kwok Tak Kit

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With the growing trend of adoption of advanced technologies like, building information modeling, artificial intelligence, wireless network, the collaboration and integration of these technologies into digital twin become more prominent in architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry in view of the nature and scale of AEC industry which efficiently adopted the digital twin. Digital twin is provided to be effective for AEC professions for design and project management. The digital concept is continuously developing and it is vital for AEC professionals and other stakeholders to understand the digital twin concept and the adoption of various advanced building technologies related to the AEC industry. This paper is to review the application of digital twins application in project management in AEC industry and highlight the challenge of AEC partitioners faced by the revolution of technologies including digital twins and building information modelling (BIM) for further research and future study.

Keywords: Digital Twin, AEC, building information modeling, project management, internet of things.

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Authors: Sarra Roubi, Mohammed Erramdani, Samir Mbarki

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This paper presents an approach for the model-driven generating of Rich Internet Application (RIA) focusing on the graphical aspect. We used well known Model-Driven Engineering (MDE) frameworks and technologies, such as Eclipse Modeling Framework (EMF), Graphical Modeling Framework (GMF), Query View Transformation (QVTo) and Acceleo to enable the design and the code automatic generation of the RIA. During the development of the approach, we focused on the graphical aspect of the application in terms of interfaces while opting for the Model View Presenter pattern that is designed for graphics interfaces. The paper describes the process followed to define the approach, the supporting tool and presents the results from a case study.

Keywords: Code generation, Design Pattern, metamodel, Model Driven Engineering, MVP, Rich Internet Application, transformation, User Interface.

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Authors: Prompt Udomdech, Eleni Papadonikolaki, Andrew Davies

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Building Information Modelling (BIM) is the major technological trend among built environment organisations. Digitalising businesses and operations, BIM brings forth a digital transformation in any built environment industry. The adoption of BIM presents challenges for organisations, especially Small- and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs). The main problem for built environment SMEs is the lack of project actors with adequate BIM competences. The research highlights learning in projects as the key and explores into the learning of BIM in projects of designers and engineers within Thai design and engineering SMEs. The study uncovers three impeding attributes which are: a) lack of English proficiency; b) unfamiliarity with digital technologies; and c) absence of public standards. This research expands on the literature of BIM competences and adoption.

Keywords: BIM competences and adoption, digital transformation, learning in projects, SMEs, and developing built environment industry.

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Authors: P. Zamov, H. Spangenberg

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Presents a concept for a multidisciplinary process supporting effective task transitions between different technical domains during the architectural design stage. A system configuration challenge is the multifunctional driven increased solution space. As a consequence, more iteration is needed to find a global optimum, i.e. a compromise between involved disciplines without negative impact on development time. Since state of the art standards like ISO 15288 and VDI 2206 do not provide a detailed methodology on multidisciplinary design process, higher uncertainties regarding final specifications arise. This leads to the need of more detailed and standardized concepts or processes which could mitigate risks. The performed work is based on analysis of multidisciplinary interaction, of modeling and simulation techniques. To demonstrate and prove the applicability of the presented concept, it is applied to the design of aircraft high lift systems, in the context of the engineering disciplines kinematics, actuation, monitoring, installation and structure design.

Keywords: Systems engineering, multidisciplinary, architectural design, high lift system.

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Authors: B. Tondu, N. Bardou

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In its attempt to offer new ways into autonomy for a large population of disabled people, assistive technology has largely been inspired by robotics engineering. Recent human-like robots carry new hopes that it seems to us necessary to analyze by means of a specific theory of anthropomorphism. We propose to distinguish a functional anthropomorphism which is the one of actual wheelchairs from a structural anthropomorphism based on a mimicking of human physiological systems. If functional anthropomorphism offers the main advantage of eliminating the physiological systems interdependence issue, the highly link between the robot for disabled people and their human-built environment would lead to privilege in the future the anthropomorphic structural way. In this future framework, we highlight a general interdependence principle : any partial or local structural anthropomorphism generates new anthropomorphic needs due to the physiological systems interdependency, whose effects can be evaluated by means of specific anthropomorphic criterions derived from a set theory-based approach of physiological systems.

Keywords: Anthropomorphism, Human-like machines, Systemstheory, Disability.

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Authors: Meghna Maiti, Utpal Roy

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In India, till today, malaria is considered to be one of the significant infectious diseases. Most of the cases regional geographical factors are the principal elements to let the places a unique identity. The incidence and intensity of infectious diseases are quite common and affect different places differently across the nation. The present study aims to identify spatial clusters of hot spots and cold spots of malaria incidence and their seasonal variation during the three periods of 2012-2014, 2015-2017 and 2018-20 in the state of West Bengal in India. As malaria is a vector-borne disease, numbers of positive test results are to be reported by the laboratories to the Department of Health, West Bengal (through the National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme). Data on block-wise monthly malaria positive cases are collected from Health Management Information System (HMIS), Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India. Moran’s I statistic is performed to assess the spatial autocorrelation of malaria incidence. The spatial statistical analysis mainly Local Indicators of Spatial Autocorrelation (LISA) cluster and Local Geary Cluster are applied to find the spatial clusters of hot spots and cold spots and seasonal variability of malaria incidence over the three periods. The result indicates that the spatial distribution of malaria is clustered during each of the three periods of 2012-2014, 2015-2017 and 2018-20. The analysis shows that in all the cases, high-high clusters are primarily concentrated in the western (Purulia, Paschim Medinipur districts), central (Maldah, Murshidabad districts) and the northern parts (Jalpaiguri, Kochbihar districts) and low-low clusters are found in the lower Gangetic plain (central-south) mainly and northern parts of West Bengal during the stipulated period. Apart from this seasonal variability inter-year variation is also visible. The results from different methods of this study indicate significant variation in the spatial distribution of malaria incidence in West Bengal and high incidence clusters are primarily persistently concentrated over the western part during 2012-2020 along with a strong seasonal pattern with a peak in rainy and autumn. By applying the different techniques in identifying the different degrees of incidence zones of malaria across West Bengal, some specific pockets or malaria hotspots are marked and identified where the incidence rates are quite harmonious over the different periods. From this analysis, it is clear that malaria is not a disease that is distributed uniformly across the state; some specific pockets are more prone to be affected in particular seasons of each year. Disease ecology and spatial patterns must be the factors in explaining the real factors for the higher incidence of this issue within those affected districts. The further study mainly by applying empirical approach is needed for discerning the strong relationship between communicable disease and other associated affecting factors.

Keywords: Malaria, infectious diseases, spatial statistics, spatial autocorrelation, LISA.

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