Sustainable seabed mining: guidelines and a new concept for Atlantis II Deep

The feasibility of exploiting seabed resources is subject to the engineering solutions, and economic prospects. Due to rising metal prices, predicted mineral scarcities and unequal allocations of resources in the world, vast research programmes on the exploration and exploitation of seabed minerals are presented in 1970s. Very few studies have been published after the 1980s, when predictions were not fulfilled. The attention grew back in the last decade with marine mineral mining being in research and commercial focus again and the first seabed mining license for massive sulphides being granted in Papua New Guinea’s Exclusive Economic Zone.Research on seabed exploitation and seabed mining is a complex transdisciplinary field that demands for further attention and development. Since the field links engineering, economics, environmental, legal and supply chain research, it demands for research from a systems point of view. This implies the application of a holistic sustainability framework of to analyse the feasibility of engineering systems. The research at hand aims to close this gap by developing such a framework and providing a review of seabed resources. Based on this review it identifies a significant potential for massive sulphides in inactive hydrothermal vents and sediments to solve global resource scarcities. The research aims to provide background on seabed exploitation and to apply a holistic systems engineering approach to develop general guidelines for sustainable seabed mining of polymetallic sulphides and a new concept and solutions for the Atlantis II Deep deposit in the Red Sea.The research methodology will start with acquiring a broader academic and industrial view on sustainable seabed mining through an online survey and expert interviews on seabed mining. In addition, the Nautilus Minerals case is reviewed for lessons learned and identification of challenges. Thereafter, a new concept for Atlantis II Deep is developed that based on a site specific assessment.The research undertaken in this study provides a new perspective regarding sustainable seabed mining. The main contributions of this research are the development of extensive guidelines for key issues in sustainable seabed mining as well as a new concept for seabed mining involving engineering systems, environmental risk mitigation, economic feasibility, logistics and legal aspects

Humanitarian Logistics: Shipping Designs for the Post Disaster Cargo Surge

In 2017 Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico. The humanitarian aid community scrambled a response to support the 3.4 million people affected by the disaster. In response, thousands of shipping containers filled with supplies were sent to the island. Numerous reports surfaced regarding significant delays in receiving the shipments. This research reviews the historical account of cargo throughput into Puerto Rico following Maria. A computer simulation built in ARENA compares various what-if scenarios based on empirically collected data and interviews with FEMA, port authorities, and commercial cargo carriers to determine how the humanitarian supply chain could improve for future disaster planning. An additional goal of this research is to better inform humanitarian logisticians who must balance near-term disaster response demands with long term recovery concerns

Multiple Case Comparison of the In-Transit Visibility Business Process

Over the past decade, the Department of Defense has developed an In-transit Visibility capability. Despite significant funding and research in developing this capability, the initial deployment in support of Operation ENDURING FREEDOM (OEF) in 2001 highlighted an ongoing problem to achieve ITV within the U.S. Air Force. Initial results from Headquarters USAF initiated studies point to a need to focus on business processes related ITV management. This research employed a multiple case study design embedded in a functional benchmarking process to solicit ITV management best practices from leaders in the civilian logistics industry and to identify gaps between their practices and those of the Air Force. The data collection method used electronic mail as a portal to conducting subject matter expert interviews. Using the data collected from the benchmarking partners, the research recognized 19 best practices and compared the civilian and military environments in 41 areas. This evaluation highlighted gaps between practices used in the civilian industry and those used by the Air Force. These gaps served as areas of opportunity in which the Air Force can evaluate alternative management practices in an effort to improve the ITV process. Using these gaps as a foundation, the research proposed fourteen recommendations for action

Space station MSFC-DPD-235/DR no. CM-02 specification, space station project (modular)

The orbiting laboratory which can take many forms and can be configured to house a crew of up to 12 men is discussed. The initial study of the 33-foot-diameter Space Station, launched by the Saturn INT-21 and supporting a complement of 12 crewmen, has been completed and documented. A Modular Space Station comprised of smaller, shuttle-launched modules is described. These modules could ultimately be configured to provide for a crew of the same size as envisioned for the 33-foot-diameter Space Station-but buildup would be gradual, beginning with a small initial crew and progressing toward greater capability by adding modules and crewmen on a flexible schedule

Reusable Space Vehicle Ground Operations Baseline Conceptual Model

Modeling efforts for future space operation vehicles at the United States Air Force Research Labs Air Vehicles Directorate have been focused towards the in-flight mission. To better serve the research and development effort, a simulation of the ground operations is required allowing for trade-offs within turnaround operations and between the components that drive those procedures. However, before a simulation can be developed a conceptual model must be generated to guide the model building process. This research provides a baseline conceptual model for reusable space vehicles based on the space shuttle as the only operational vehicle of its kind. The model is built utilizing the Integrated Definition (IDEF) methodology, specifically IDEF3. IDEF3 is focused towards process-viewpoint diagramming and layout. The model is developed using the hierarchical development capabilities of the IDEF3 methodology and is broken into modules allowing for greater reuse and usability. This model captures the scheduled maintenance performed to turnaround the space shuttle for the next launch but does not contain every activity. The idea was to capture the baseline activities that may be found in future Reusable Space Vehicles and provide a description of what happens at Kennedy Space Center when preparing the space shuttle for the next launch

Technology for the Future: In-Space Technology Experiments Program, part 2

The purpose of the Office of Aeronautics and Space Technology (OAST) In-Space Technology Experiments Program In-STEP 1988 Workshop was to identify and prioritize technologies that are critical for future national space programs and require validation in the space environment, and review current NASA (In-Reach) and industry/ university (Out-Reach) experiments. A prioritized list of the critical technology needs was developed for the following eight disciplines: structures; environmental effects; power systems and thermal management; fluid management and propulsion systems; automation and robotics; sensors and information systems; in-space systems; and humans in space. This is part two of two parts and contains the critical technology presentations for the eight theme elements and a summary listing of critical space technology needs for each theme

Space station MSFC-DPD-235/DR no. CM-03 specification, modular space station project, Part 1 CEI

Contract engineering item specifications for the modular space station are presented. These specifications resulted from the development and allocations of requirements which are concise statements of performance or constraints on performance. Specifications contain requirements for functional performance and for the verification of design solutions

Integrated Multimodal Transportation Dashboard

Na área dos sistemas de transportes atualmente existem vários sistemas inteligentes que permitem a monitorização, controlo e outras funções relevantes para um dado tipo de transportes. Entretanto, o tratamento individualizado dos diferentes modos, não favorece a geração de políticas e mecanismos integrados de gestão de transporte multimodal; são pouquíssimas as soluções que juntam diferentes tipos de transportes numa só aplicação. Surgiu, portanto, a necessidade dum painel de monitorização multimodal, que permitirá unir vários tipos de sistemas de transportes e fornecerá a visão geral para a observação se todos os sistemas estão funcionais e operantes a um nível de serviço aceitável. Uma vez que tais sistemas fornecem serviços e dados de alcance diferente e com os níveis de qualidade e detalhes variáveis, a detecção de funcionamento abnormal dum sistema é um desafio que requer a identificação, aplicação, adaptação ou criação de métricas de funcionamento normal para cada sistema de transportes, tendo como base os dados fornecidos por protocolos utilizados por ITSs integrados na solução. Este problema é abordado por projeto "Integrated Multimodal Transportation Dashboard" ou Painel Integrado de Monitorização de Transportes Multimodais em Portugues que tem como objetivo a elaboração dum protótipo funcional de uma ferramenta para a monitorização de transportes multimodais.At present time there exist various intelligent systems in Transportation area that permit monitoring, control and other relevant functionalities for a given transport means. However, individual solutions for different transport means don't favor multimodal transport management; there are a very few solutions that combine different transport types in one application. Therefore, a need for a multimodal supervision dashboard arouse - a dashboard that would permit to combine transportation systems of different types and that would provide a comprehensive view in order to observe whether all the systems are functional and operating at an acceptable Level of Service (LOS). Since these systems supply services and data of different scope and varied detail and quality levels, the detection of an abnormal functioning of a certain transportation system is a challenge. It requires identification, application, adaptation or creation of metrics for each transportation system functioning. The metrics should be based on the data supplied by the protocols used by the ITSs integrated in the solution. This problem is addressed by the project "Integrated Multimodal Transportation Dashboard" and has as an aim the elaboration of a functional prototype of a tool for the monitoring of multimodal transports

The Digitalisation of African Agriculture Report 2018-2019

An inclusive, digitally-enabled agricultural transformation could help achieve meaningful livelihood improvements for Africa’s smallholder farmers and pastoralists. It could drive greater engagement in agriculture from women and youth and create employment opportunities along the value chain. At CTA we staked a claim on this power of digitalisation to more systematically transform agriculture early on. Digitalisation, focusing on not individual ICTs but the application of these technologies to entire value chains, is a theme that cuts across all of our work. In youth entrepreneurship, we are fostering a new breed of young ICT ‘agripreneurs’. In climate-smart agriculture multiple projects provide information that can help towards building resilience for smallholder farmers. And in women empowerment we are supporting digital platforms to drive greater inclusion for women entrepreneurs in agricultural value chains