Computational fluid dynamics modeling and in situ physics-based monitoring of aerosol jet printing toward functional assurance of additively-manufactured, flexible and hybrid electronics

Aerosol jet printing (AJP)—a direct-write, additive manufacturing technique—has emerged as the process of choice particularly for the fabrication of flexible and hybrid electronics. AJP has paved the way for high-resolution device fabrication with high placement accuracy, edge definition, and adhesion. In addition, AJP accommodates a broad range of ink viscosity, and allows for printing on non-planer surfaces. Despite the unique advantages and host of strategic applications, AJP is a highly unstable and complex process, prone to gradual drifts in machine behavior and deposited material. Hence, real-time monitoring and control of AJP process is a burgeoning need. In pursuit of this goal, the objectives of the work are, as follows: (i) In situ image acquisition from the traces/lines of printed electronic devices right after deposition. To realize this objective, the AJP experimental setup was instrumented with a high-resolution charge-coupled device (CCD) camera, mounted on a variable-magnification lens (in addition to the standard imaging system, already installed on the AJ printer). (ii) In situ image processing and quantification of the trace morphology. In this regard, several customized image processing algorithms were devised to quantify/extract various aspects of the trace morphology from online images. In addition, based on the concept of shape-from-shading (SfS), several other algorithms were introduced, allowing for not only reconstruction of the 3D profile of the AJ-printed electronic traces, but also quantification of 3D morphology traits, such as thickness, cross-sectional area, and surface roughness, among others. (iii) Development of a supervised multiple-input, single-output (MISO) machine learning model—based on sparse representation for classification (SRC)—with the aim to estimate the device functional properties (e.g., resistance) in near real-time with an accuracy of ≥ 90%. (iv) Forwarding a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model to explain the underlying aerodynamic phenomena behind aerosol transport and deposition in AJP process, observed experimentally. Overall, this doctoral dissertation paves the way for: (i) implementation of physics-based real-time monitoring and control of AJP process toward conformal material deposition and device fabrication; and (ii) optimal design of direct-write components, such as nozzles, deposition heads, virtual impactors, atomizers, etc

Salaries, Salary Growth, and Promotions of Men and Women in a Large, Private Firm

[Excerpt] Salaries, promotions, and salary growth of men and women in a large, diversified firm were examined for the years 1980 through 1986. Consistent with other studies, men\u27s average salary was higher than women\u27s average salary. However, statistical adjustment for gender differences in-education, tenure, time at level, experience, and job level substantially reduced the salary advantage of men over women. Although the average salary of men was higher than that of women in 1980 and 1986, women actually received greater numbers of promotions, as well as larger percentage salary increases between 1980 and 1986. One reason for women\u27s salary growth advantage was the higher average performance ratings of women between 1980 and 1986. One important reason for women\u27s promotion advantage was their greater likelihood of being in (lower) job levels where promotion opportunities were greatest

Salary cuts and competitiveness

There is a prevalent view outside Greece that promotion of competitiveness is tantamount with price reductions for Greek goods and services. Massive horizontal salary cuts appear, at first, to promote competitiveness by reducing unit labor costs and to reduce fiscal deficits by reducing the wage bill of the public sector. Upon closer look, however, horizontal salary cuts have been much greater than needed for Greek competitiveness, providing an alibi vis a vis the Troika for reforms that are still to be implemented, but at the same time undermining both competitiveness and the potential to reduce public debt through sustainable development

Salary & Benefits Schedule and Teacher Tenure Study

House Bill 278, passed by the legislature in spring 2014, instructed the Department of Administration to “present to the legislature a written proposal for a salary and benefits schedule for school districts, including an evaluation of, and recommendations for, teacher tenure” (Sec. 52). In order to meet this mandate, the Alaska Department of Administration contracted with the UAA Center for Alaska Education Policy Research (CAEPR) to produce the following deliverables: Develop geographic cost differentials for different school districts Develop base salary and benefit schedules for teachers and principals Describe superintendent duties, compensation, and responsibilities in Alaska districts Prepare a list of different benefit options school districts offer their employees and their associated costs Provide recommendations regarding teacher tenure policy Describe similarities and differences between the certified and classified labor markets in Alaska Each section of this report responds to a specific task or responsibility from this list.Alaska Department of Administration, State of AlaskaIntroduction / Report overview / Research activities / Context / The landscape of teachers in Alaska / Key findings / Recommendations / Methodology /Key informant interviews / Focus groups / Literature review / Teachers survey / District data compilation / Statistical analysis / Superintendent interviews / Base salary schedule and community salary differentials / Findings: Modeling salaries and differentials / Salary schedule development / Salary differentials estimation / Cost of living and the community salary differentials / Superintendent duties / Benefits / Tenure / Research tasks / Defining tenure / Tenure's historical origins / Current context for tenure / Empirical studies of tenure / Certified and classified labor markets / Summary and recommendations / teacher salary schedule / Teacher tenure / Final thought

Voluntary Turnover and Job Performance: Curvilinearity and the Moderating Influences of Salary Growth and Promotions

[Excerpt] The relationship between job performance and voluntary employee turnover was investigated for 5,143 exempt employees in a single firm. As hypothesized, support was found for E. F Jackofsky\u27s (1984) curvilinear hypothesis, as turnover was higher for low and high performers than it was for average performers. Two potential moderators of the curvilinearity were examined in an attempt to explain conflicting results in the performance-turnover literature. As predicted, low salary growth and high promotions each produced a more pronounced curvilinear performance-turnover relationship. Most notably, salary growth effects on turnover were greatest for high performers, with high salary growth predicting rather low turnover for these employees, whereas low salary growth predicted extremely high turnover. Additionally, once salary growth was controlled, promotions positively predicted turnover; with poor performer turnover most strongly affected

The Combined Effect of Salary Restrictions and Revenue Sharing on Club Profits, Player Salaries, and Competitive Balance

This article provides a standard "Fort and Quirk"-style model of a professional team sports league and analyzes the combined effect of salary restrictions (caps and floors) and revenue-sharing arrangements. It shows that the invariance proposition does not hold even under Walrasian conjectures if revenue sharing is combined with either a salary cap or a salary floor. In leagues with a binding salary cap for large clubs but no binding salary floor for small clubs, revenue sharing will decrease the competitive balance and increase club profits. Moreover, a salary cap produces a more balanced league and decreases the cost per unit of talent. The effect of a more restrictive salary cap on the profits of the small clubs is positive, whereas the effects on the profits of the large clubs as well as on aggregate profits are ambiguous. In leagues with a binding salary floor for the small clubs but no binding salary cap for the large clubs, revenue sharing will increase the competitive balance. Moreover, revenue sharing will decrease (increase) the profits of large (small) clubs. Implementing a more restrictive salary floor produces a less balanced league and increases the cost per unit of talent. Furthermore, a salary floor will result in lower profits for all clubs.Team sports leagues, invariance proposition, competitive balance, revenue sharing, salary cap, salary floor

Salary or Benefits?

Employer-provided benefits are a large and growing share of compensation costs. In this paper, I consider three factors that can affect the value created by employer-sponsored benefits. First, firms have a comparative advantage (for example, due to scale economies or tax treatment) in purchasing relative to employees. This advantage can vary across firms based on size and other differences in cost structure. Second, employees differ in their valuations of benefits and it is costly for workers to match with firms that offer the benefits they value. Finally, some benefits can reduce the marginal cost to an employee of extra working time. I develop a simple model that integrates these factors. I then generate empirical implications of the model and use data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth to test these implications. I examine access to employer-provided meals, child-care, dental insurance, and health insurance. I also study how benefits are grouped together and differences between benefits packages at for-profit, not-for-profit, and government employers. The empirical analysis provides evidence consistent with all three factors in the model contributing to firms' decisions about which benefits to offer.

SALT Equalizer, Vol. 2016, Issue 1

Contents of This Issue: Survey Information and Methodology, at 1. 2015-16 SALT Salary Survey, at 1. About SALT and SALT Membership, at 3. Survey Instrument, at 4. SALT Salary Survey 2015-2016, at 5