Opening doors to the world : a new trade agenda for the Middle East

Published in the Arab countries, Iran and Turkey by the American University in Cairo Pres

Appraisal theory as a linguistic tool for the analysis of market research interview data

The use of linguistics within market research is for the most part, marked by its absence. This is perhaps surprising given the potential it offers for analysing what people have said and what they might mean. Though the study of 'evaluation' has been approached from many different linguistic perspectives, previous work in this field has tended to focus on individual markers, rather than aiming to provide a fuller, more comprehensive account. This thesis proposes that it is possible to combine approaches from Discourse and Conversation Analysis, with developments in the field of Systemic Functional Grammar, to gain a more inclusive understanding of the social and interactional influences that can determine how an evaluation is both formulated and articulated. The data for this study was collected from thirty paired depth interviews, in the field of New Product Development. This data was transcribed and tagged using O'DOlU1ell's (2007) CorpusTool software. It was then analysed using Martin and White's (2005)framework of Appraisal Theory, in conjunction with a scale developed from Brown and Levinson's (1987) Politeness Theory and Sinclair and Coulthard's (1975, 1992) work on teacher! pupil interactions. As a result of the analysis carried out in this study, two potential extensions to the Appraisal Theory Framework are suggested. These extensions are with regards to the relevance of the subject matter to the speaker making the evaluation, and the notion of neutral evaluations. In addition to taking an existing framework and developing it for a new purpose, this thesis also contributes to the wider understanding of 'evaluation', through the development of a Scale of Importance for individual hu'J1S, with regards to the 'weight' that should be assigned to them due to their place in the turn taking structure

Challenges for engineering students working with authentic complex problems

Engineers are important participants in solving societal, environmental and technical problems. However, due to an increasing complexity in relation to these problems new interdisciplinary competences are needed in engineering. Instead of students working with monodisciplinary problems, a situation where students work with authentic complex problems in interdisciplinary teams together with a company may scaffold development of new competences. The question is: What are the challenges for students structuring the work on authentic interdisciplinary problems? This study explores a three-day event where 7 students from Aalborg University (AAU) from four different faculties and one student from University College North Denmark (UCN), (6th-10th semester), worked in two groups at a large Danish company, solving authentic complex problems. The event was structured as a Hackathon where the students for three days worked with problem identification, problem analysis and finalizing with a pitch competition presenting their findings. During the event the students had workshops to support the work and they had the opportunity to use employees from the company as facilitators. It was an extracurricular activity during the summer holiday season. The methodology used for data collection was qualitative both in terms of observations and participants’ reflection reports. The students were observed during the whole event. Findings from this part of a larger study indicated, that students experience inability to transfer and transform project competences from their previous disciplinary experiences to an interdisciplinary setting

Exploring the practical use of a collaborative robot for academic purposes

This article presents a set of experiences related to the setup and exploration of potential educational uses of a collaborative robot (cobot). The basic principles that have guided the work carried out have been three. First and foremost, study of all the functionalities offered by the robot and exploration of its potential academic uses both in subjects focused on industrial robotics and in subjects of related disciplines (automation, communications, computer vision). Second, achieve the total integration of the cobot at the laboratory, seeking not only independent uses of it but also seeking for applications (laboratory practices) in which the cobot interacts with some of the other devices already existing at the laboratory (other industrial robots and a flexible manufacturing system). Third, reuse of some available components and minimization of the number and associated cost of required new components. The experiences, carried out following a project-based learning methodology under the framework of bachelor and master subjects and thesis, have focused on the integration of mechanical, electronic and programming aspects in new design solutions (end effector, cooperative workspace, artificial vision system integration) and case studies (advanced task programming, cybersecure communication, remote access). These experiences have consolidated the students' acquisition of skills in the transition to professional life by having the close collaboration of the university faculty with the experts of the robotics company.Postprint (published version