7,479 research outputs found

    Raising Critical Consciousness in Engineering Education: A Critical Exploration of Transformative Possibilities in Engineering Education and Research

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    This thesis represents a critical exploration of the opportunities, challenges, and barriers to enacting social justice via the engineering curriculum. Through an ethnographic case study of a British engineering for sustainable development course, I illuminate tensions and contradictions of attempts to “do good” while “doing engineering” in a higher education setting. This work is couched within critical and anti-colonial theoretical frames. Through critical and reflexive analysis, I illustrate attempts of participants to innovate in engineering education toward a counter-hegemonic engineering practice, and highlight transformative possibilities, as well as barriers. This case illustrates how the structures that formed modern engineering continue to shape engineering higher education, restraining attempts to transform engineering training for social good.A central question that has driven this work has been: Is it possible to cultivate a more socially just form of engineering practice through engineering higher education? The function of asking this question has been to interrogate a core assumption in engineering education research – that with the right blend of educational interventions, we can make strides towards social justice. My intent in interrogating this assumption is not to be nihilistic per se. I believe it is entirely possible that engineering could potentially be wielded for just cause and consequence. However, if we do not critically examine our core assumptions around this issue, we may also miss out on the possibility that socially just engineering is not achievable, at least in the way we are currently approaching it or in the current context within which it exists.An examination of this topic is already underway in the US context. However, it is under-explored in a British context. Given the different historical trajectories of engineering and engineering in higher education between these two contexts, a closer look at the British context is warranted

    TEACHING STRATEGIES AND THE PROBLEM FACED BY EFL TEACHER DURING COVID-19 OUTBREAK AT JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL

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    The education system have to switch from face-to-face to online teaching due to the pandemic. This situation is considered new in Indonesia, the teachers have to adapt their self with this situation. An example is learning to use technology in online teaching and making a lesson plan that can make students interested in online learning.This research aimed to know what are teaching strategies used by EFL teachers and what are the teacher problems in online teaching at the Junior High School 98 during Pandemic. This research used qualitative as a design and narrative descriptive as the approach. The technique to collect the data researcher used in this research is observation, interview, and documentation. In addition, the object of this research is EFL teachers, the researcher interviewed 5 EFL teachers. The results of this research are: 1)The teacher strategies used in online teaching during a pandemic is synchronous, while teacher used platform WhatsApp, Google Classroom, and Google Meet for online classes. In addition, to create the task the teacher gives chance to the students to useanother platform such as Canva, Youtube, Video Maker, etc. On the other hand, the teacher have some strategies to overcome the problems when teaching online, such as when the students have a problem in the following class online through the platform Google Meet, the teacher shared the material in Google Classroom. While, the researcher found in students motivation the teacher do teamwork with students’ parents in control the students at home; 2) the teaching online problems that researcher found in this research are: lack of quota package, lack of internet access, lack of motivation, and lack of facilities

    DIN Spec 91345 RAMI 4.0 compliant data pipelining: An approach to support data understanding and data acquisition in smart manufacturing environments

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    Today, data scientists in the manufacturing domain are confronted with a set of challenges associated to data acquisition as well as data processing including the extraction of valuable in-formation to support both, the work of the manufacturing equipment as well as the manufacturing processes behind it. One essential aspect related to data acquisition is the pipelining, including various commu-nication standards, protocols and technologies to save and transfer heterogenous data. These circumstances make it hard to understand, find, access and extract data from the sources depend-ing on use cases and applications. In order to support this data pipelining process, this thesis proposes the use of the semantic model. The selected semantic model should be able to describe smart manufacturing assets them-selves as well as to access their data along their life-cycle. As a matter of fact, there are many research contributions in smart manufacturing, which already came out with reference architectures or standards for semantic-based meta data descrip-tion or asset classification. This research builds upon these outcomes and introduces a novel se-mantic model-based data pipelining approach using as a basis the Reference Architecture Model for Industry 4.0 (RAMI 4.0).Hoje em dia, os cientistas de dados no domínio da manufatura são confrontados com várias normas, protocolos e tecnologias de comunicação para gravar, processar e transferir vários tipos de dados. Estas circunstâncias tornam difícil compreender, encontrar, aceder e extrair dados necessários para aplicações dependentes de casos de utilização, desde os equipamentos aos respectivos processos de manufatura. Um aspecto essencial poderia ser um processo de canalisação de dados incluindo vários normas de comunicação, protocolos e tecnologias para gravar e transferir dados. Uma solução para suporte deste processo, proposto por esta tese, é a aplicação de um modelo semântico que descreva os próprios recursos de manufactura inteligente e o acesso aos seus dados ao longo do seu ciclo de vida. Muitas das contribuições de investigação em manufatura inteligente já produziram arquitecturas de referência como a RAMI 4.0 ou normas para a descrição semântica de meta dados ou classificação de recursos. Esta investigação baseia-se nestas fontes externas e introduz um novo modelo semântico baseado no Modelo de Arquitectura de Referência para Indústria 4.0 (RAMI 4.0), em conformidade com a abordagem de canalisação de dados no domínio da produção inteligente como caso exemplar de utilização para permitir uma fácil exploração, compreensão, descoberta, selecção e extracção de dados

    Utilizing the Value of Smart Sensor Data in Motor Manufacturing

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    The topic of this master’s thesis was the utilizing of the value of smart sensor data in motor manufacturing at an electric motor factory in Vaasa. The target company has developed and manufactured smart sensors to customers for years and is now implementing them in its own production. In the thesis’s the possibilities of utilization of the data of smart sensor utilization in the Vaasa factory has been studied through a specified case study. The motors included in the pilot were selected by their usage in the process. The target was to identify improvement potentials for smart sensors in discrete industries and to create a plan for sensor data usage and further development. With the increased value of the efficient data usage, the target is to reduce unplanned stoppages, improve safety, and minimize the penalties and other costs paid because of delayed motors. An additional target was to improve the service and spare part activities with better utilization of data from the sensors as well as define the suitability of current motors in use to their current intended use. The concrete target of this thesis was to create reporting tools to the target company. First, a literature study was carried out for the basics in sensors, smart sensors, and electric motors. Special focus was on the target company’s smart motor sensors and their competitors on the market. With the information available the products were compared to each other. Conclusion were made on the basis of the pilot installation on the target factory’s premises on the value of the smart sensors on discrete production. Through the case study the additional value created to the target company of the smart sensor data was analyzed. A roadmap was created for the smart sensor data for further analyses, storing data and user experience. The outcome of this thesis was several Power BI templates, a fleet report and several recommendations for further development. Through a comparison it was noted that the ABB Ability Smart Sensor TM as a product is slightly more advanced than the smart sensors of the competitors. It was observed that only measuring the data does not bring value to the company, but the data has to be transformed into understandable and visual information and only after that it can bring real value to the company. In the case study it was also noted that actions based on the data created by the sensors can be performed in order to reduce unplanned outages in the motor manufacturing with the predictive data for timing of services and repairs. It was also observed that the data and information provided by the smart sensors can also be utilized in discrete manufacturing on motors that are not continuously used. This is additionally to the knowledge compared to the motors used in process industries where the value of the sensor data was already confirmed in earlier studies.Diplomityön aiheena on kohdeyrityksen älykkään anturin tuottama lisäarvo yhtiön Vaasan moottoritehtaan moottorivalmistuksessa. Kohdeyritys on valmistanut älykkäitä antureita asiakkaille myytäväksi jo useita vuosia ja on nyt käyttöönottamassa tuotteen omassa prosessissaan. Työssä tutkitaan älykkään anturin tuottaman datankäytön mahdollisuuksia kohdeyrityksen Vaasan yksikössä, määritellyn pilotin avulla. Pilottiin valittiin moottorit käyttötarkoituksen mukaan. Tavoitteena on tunnistaa kehittämiskohteita älykkäälle sensorille kappaletavaratuotannossa sekä luoda suunnitelma sensoridatan käytölle ja sen kehittämiseen. Datan tehokkaan käytön tavoitteina on pienentää suunnittelemattomia käyttökatkoksia, parantaa työturvallisuutta ja minimoida moottorien viivästyneiden toimitusten aiheuttamat lisääntyneet rahti ja muut ylimääräiset kustannukset. Lisäksi datankäytön tuomalla lisäarvolla pyritään kehittämään huolto- ja varaosatoimintaa, sekä määrittelemään käytössä olevien moottorien soveltuvuus nykyiseen käyttötarkoitukseensa. Konkreettisena tavoitteena on luoda toimeksiantoyritykselle raportointityökaluja. Työ alussa on kirjallisuuskatsaus anturien, älykkäiden anturien ja sähkömoottoreiden perusteisiin. Erityisesti tarkasteltiin kohdeyrityksen älykkäitä antureita ja sen kilpailijoita. Näitä vertailtiin toisiinsa saatavilla olevan tiedon avulla. Älykkään anturin pilottiasennuksen perusteella tehtiin johtopäätöksiä antureiden soveltuvuudesta kappaletavaratuotantoon esimerkkiyrityksen kautta. Pilotin perusteella pyrittiin analysoimaan tuotteen käyttöönoton kannattavuutta kohdeyritykselle. Lopuksi luotiin tiekartta antureista saatavan datan analysoinnille, tallettamiselle ja esittämiselle. Työn tuloksena syntyi Power BI raportointipohjia ja fleet report sekä kehitysehdotuksia jatkotoimenpiteille. Lisäksi työssä havaittiin, että ABB:n Ability Smart Sensor TM on tuotteena kilpailijoitaan hieman edellä tuotteen ominaisuuksien ja käytettävyyden osalta. Työssä havaittiin, että pelkkä datan mittaaminen sensoreilla ei itsessään tuo lisäarvoa yritykselle, vaan data pitää muuttaa ymmärrettäväksi informaatioksi ja vasta sen jälkeen se tuo lisäarvoa kohdeyritykselle. Edellisten lisäksi pilotissa havaittiin, että anturien tuottaman datan perusteella voidaan tehdä toimenpiteitä, jotta tuotannon suunnittelemattomia katkoksia pystyttäisiin vähentämään käyttämällä Smart Sensorin tuottamia tietoja ennakoivien huoltojen ja korjausten ajastamisessa. Ilmi tuli myös, että Smart Sensoreiden tuottamaa dataa voi käyttää myös kappaletavarateollisuudessa käytössä olevissa moottoreissa, jotka eivät ole jatkuvassa käytössä. Näin on siis prosessiteollisuudessa jatkuvassa käytössä olevien moottorien lisäksi, jossa sensorien tuotta-man datan hyöty on vahvistettu jo aikaisemmin

    Challenges and New Trends in Power Electronic Devices Reliability

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    The rapid increase in new power electronic devices and converters for electric transportation and smart grid technologies requires a deepanalysis of their component performances, considering all of the different environmental scenarios, overload conditions, and high stressoperations. Therefore, evaluation of the reliability and availability of these devices becomes fundamental both from technical and economicalpoints of view. The rapid evolution of technologies and the high reliability level offered by these components have shown that estimating reliability through the traditional approaches is difficult, as historical failure data and/or past observed scenarios demonstrate. With the aim topropose new approaches for the evaluation of reliability, in this book, eleven innovative contributions are collected, all focusedon the reliability assessment of power electronic devices and related components

    Microfinance as a tool for socio-economic empowerment of rural women in Northern Malawi : a practical theological reflection

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    Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2022.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Poverty is a multifaceted, gendered global challenge that affects women significantly more than men. To alleviate poverty and achieve sustainable development, women in the Global South are engaging in microfinance. Microfinance is the provision of financial services to underprivileged people who cannot access credit from commercial banks and is proving to be a tool of socio-economic empowerment of women from rural areas. This study explores the ways in which the church can promote the microfinance model of savings and loans in a holistic and sustainable way. This study discusses poverty and the feminisation of poverty in the light of the gender and development (GAD) approach and explores the status of women in Malawi in terms of education, health, agriculture, the environment, politics, issues of gender-based violence and socio-economic empowerment. African women theologies and transnational feminism are the theoretical lenses used to explore the advancement of the socio-economic empowerment of rural women in the Global South in the context of economic globalisation. Identified as feminist liberation theologies that seek justice and liberation of all people, African women theologies, are used as the theological lens to analyse the socio-economic empowerment of women in order to explore how women can be liberated from the oppression caused by economic injustice. As a qualitative empirical study, this research explores the nature and impact of existing savings and loans groups run by rural women in the communities of Bwengu and Bolero in Northern Malawi. With a view to understanding the role of the church in microfinance with regards to rural women, clergy from the Henga and Nyika Presbyteries and church leaders of the CCAP Synod of Livingstonia and the Malawi Council of Churches were also included in the study. The findings from the empirical research indicate that microfinance is beneficial to individual women, their families and communities as the savings and loan model encourages women to save money from their resources. Through the savings and loan groups, it appears that women are empowered socio-economically and they become financially independent. The findings also indicate that women who are involved in savings and loan groups can now participate in decision making at household and community levels. Furthermore, women’s involvement in such groups assists in reducing incidents of gender-based violence at the household level because women are making a substantial contribution to the household income. The microfinance model of savings and loans is, therefore, deemed to be both holistic as it encourages women to save from what they have and to generate social capital and spiritual inspiration as they work together in solidarity through the groups. These findings call the church to engage with such models of economic development as they highlight the fact that the churches are aware of microfinance initiatives but the churches have not engaged in the initiatives. However, there is need for the churches to engage in such initiatives because they empower the communities. In order to promote holistic and sustainable microfinance, the church has to advocate for economic justice and build the capacities of its members concerning microfinance. The church should, therefore, seek to encourage all including men, women and youth to engage in microfinance so that the entire community is lifted and empowered socio-economically.AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Armoede is 'n veelvlakkige globale uitdaging waarby gender ook 'n rol speel; dit raak vroue beduidend meer as mans. Vroue in die Globale Suide maak gebruik van mikrofinansiering om armoede te verlig en volhoubare ontwikkeling te bewerkstellig. Mikrofinansiering is die voorsiening van finansiële dienste aan minderbevoorregtes wat nie toegang tot krediet van kommersiële banke het nie en blyk 'n instrument van sosio-ekonomiese bemagtiging van vroue in landelike gebiede te wees. Hierdie studie ondersoek maniere waarop die kerk die mikrofinansieringsmodel van spaar-en-leen op 'n holistiese en volhoubare manier kan bevorder. Die studie bespreek armoede en die feminisering van armoede volgens die gender en ontwikkeling (GAD) benadering, en ondersoek die status van vroue in Malawi wat betref onderwys, gesondheid, landbou, die omgewing, politiek, gender-gebaseerde geweld, en sosio-ekonomiese bemagtiging. Die teoretiese lense van Afrika-vroue-teologieë en transnasionale feminisme word gebruik om die bevordering van die sosio-ekonomiese bemagtiging van landelike vroue in die Globale Suide in die konteks van ekonomiese globalisering te ondersoek. Afrika-vroue-teologieë, wat geïdentifiseer word as feministiese bevrydingsteologieë wat geregtigheid en bevryding van alle mense nastreef, word gebruik as die teologiese lens om die sosio-ekonomiese bemagtiging van vroue te analiseer ten einde te ondersoek hoe vroue bevry kan word van die onderdrukking wat deur ekonomiese onreg veroorsaak word. Hierdie kwalitatiewe empiriese studie ondersoek die aard en impak van bestaande spaar-en-leningsgroepe wat deur landelike vroue in die gemeenskappe van Bwengu en Bolero in Noord-Malawi bestuur word. Predikante en kerkleiers van die Henga- en Nyika-sinodes, die Livingstonia-sinode van die Church of Central Africa Presbyterian (CCAP) en die Malawi Raad van Kerke is ook by die studie betrek met die oog daarop om die rol van die kerk in mikrofinansiering met betrekking tot landelike vroue te verstaan. Die bevindings van die empiriese navorsing dui daarop dat mikrofinansiering voordelig is vir individuele vroue, hul gesinne en gemeenskappe, aangesien die spaar-en-leningsmodel vroue aanmoedig om van hul middele te spaar. Dit blyk dat spaar-en-leningsgroepe bydra tot die sosio-ekonomiese bemagtiging en finansiële onafhanklikheid van vroue. Die bevindinge dui ook daarop dat vroue wat by spaar-en-leningsgroepe betrokke is, betrek word by besluitneming op huishoudelike en gemeenskapsvlakke. Verder dra vroue se betrokkenheid by sulke groepe by om voorvalle van gender-gebaseerde geweld op huishoudelike vlak te verminder omdat vroue 'n beduidende bydrae tot die huishoudelike inkomste lewer. Die mikrofinansieringsmodel van spaar-en-lenings word dus as holisties beskou, aangesien vroue van die middele tot hul beskikking spaar; dit genereer ook sosiale kapitaal en geestelike inspirasie aangesien die vroue in solidariteit in die groepe saamwerk. Hierdie bevindinge roep die kerk op om met sulke modelle van ekonomiese ontwikkeling in gesprek te tree, aangesien dit beklemtoon dat kerke bewus is van mikrofinansierings-inisiatiewe, maar nie aan die inisiatiewe deelneem nie. Daar is egter 'n behoefte daaraan dat kerke aan sulke inisiatiewe deelneem omdat dit gemeenskappe bemagtig. Ten einde holistiese en volhoubare mikrofinansiering te bevorder, moet die kerk pleit vir ekonomiese geregtigheid, en lidmate se vermoëns rakende mikrofinansiering opbou. Die kerk moet dus poog om almal, insluitend mans, vroue en jongmense, aan te moedig om mikrofinansiering te beoefen sodat die hele gemeenskap sosio-ekonomies opgehef en bemagtig word.Doctora

    Electromembrane Processes: Experiments and Modelling

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    Electromembrane processes offer a multitude of applications, allowing for the recovery of water, other products, and energy. This book is a collection of contributions on recent advancements in electromembrane processes attained via experiments and/or models. The first paper is a comprehensive review article on the applications of electrodialysis for wastewater treatment, highlighting current status, technical challenges, and key points for future perspectives. The second paper focuses on ZSM-5 zeolite/PVA mixed matrix CEMs with high monovalent permselectivity for recovering either acid or Li+. The third paper regards direct numerical simulations of electroconvection in an electrodialysis dilute channel with forced flow under potentiodynamic and galvanodynamic regimes. The fourth paper investigates the reasons for the formation and properties of soliton-like charge waves in overlimiting conditions. The fifth paper focuses on the characterization of AEMs functionalized by surface modification via poly(acrylic) acid yielding monovalent permselectivity for reverse electrodialysis. In the sixth paper, CFD simulations of reverse electrodialysis systems are performed. The seventh paper proposes an integrated membrane process, including electrochemical intercalation–deintercalation, for the preparation of Li2CO3 from brine with a high Mg2+/Li+ mass ratio. Finally, the eighth paper is a perspective article devoted to the acid–base flow battery with monopolar and bipolar membranes

    A Precariat Charter

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    This book is available as open access through the Bloomsbury Open Access programme and is available on www.bloomsburycollections.com. Guy Standing's immensely influential 2011 book introduced the Precariat as an emerging mass class, characterized by inequality and insecurity. Standing outlined the increasingly global nature of the Precariat as a social phenomenon, especially in the light of the social unrest characterized by the Occupy movements. He outlined the political risks they might pose, and at what might be done to diminish inequality and allow such workers to find a more stable labour identity. His concept and his conclusions have been widely taken up by thinkers from Noam Chomsky to Zygmunt Bauman, by political activists and by policy-makers. This new book takes the debate a stage further, looking in more detail at the kind of progressive politics that might form the vision of a Good Society in which such inequality, and the instability it produces, is reduced. A Precariat Charter discusses how rights - political, civil, social and economic - have been denied to the Precariat, and argues for the importance of redefining our social contract around notions of associational freedom, agency and the commons

    A Case Study Examining Japanese University Students' Digital Literacy and Perceptions of Digital Tools for Academic English learning

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    Current Japanese youth are constantly connected to the Internet and using digital devices, but predominantly for social media and entertainment. According to literature on the Japanese digital native, tertiary students do not—and cannot—use technology with any reasonable fluency, but the likely reasons are rarely addressed. To fill the gap in the literature, this study, by employing a case study methodology, explores students’ experience with technology for English learning through the introduction of digital tools. First-year Japanese university students in an Academic English Program (AEP) were introduced to a variety of easily available digital tools. The instruction was administered online, and each tool was accompanied by a task directly related to classwork. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected in the form of a pre-course Computer Literacy Survey, a post-course open-ended Reflection Activity survey, and interviews. The qualitative data was reviewed drawing on the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and its educational variants as an analytical framework. Educational, social, and cultural factors were also examined to help identify underlying factors that would influence students’ perceptions. The results suggest that the subjects’ lack of awareness of, and experience with, the use of technology for learning are the fundamental causes of their perceptions of initial difficulty. Based on these findings, this study proposes a possible technology integration model that enhances digital literacy for more effective language learning in the context of Japanese education
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