A behavioural view of the decision for capability investments: the solar PV industry in Taiwan

This research examines the role of framing in the process of decision-making for new capability investments under conditions of policy and technological uncertainty. I argue that framing can explain the decision to exploit current capabilities, but is not sufficient to explain the decision to explore new capabilities. This research discriminates between “frames” and “framing” in the investigation: whereas “framing” is the process of constructing the meaning of the decision problem, “frame” refers to a specific perspective adopted by the decision makers. I develop a three-level research design: the industry-level analysis adopts the approach of eliciting heuristics to identify general patterns. The firm-level examines sources of variation and causal complexity by comparative case analysis. The decision-maker level investigates the influence of senior managers’ professional experience using a scenario evaluation approach. Three observations from the case study of Taiwanese solar PV firms: firstly, systematic patterns are found in the process of framing environmental uncertainty and attributing the causes of the decision problem of capability investments. Secondly, whilst differentiated framing exists and corresponds to selective attention; such a difference is not necessarily associated with different choice pattern. Finally, the loosely coupling framing and choices leads to the speculation that the role of deliberate practice, rather than framing has a stronger influence on the decision to explore. This research illustrates that the capabilities investment decision is not a single event but a complex process. While the stylised psychological principles explain the heuristic judgments, the influencing factors of an organisational decision are interdependent and temporally connected in the decision context. I argue that the problem of framing lies in prohibiting the alterative frame. Therefore exploration needs to be deliberately sought by the specially designed practice. This research contributes to understanding the relationship between behavioural view of descriptive analysis and prescriptive view of procedural rationality in the decision- making process

Printable Spacecraft: Flexible Electronic Platforms for NASA Missions

Why printed electronics? Why should NASA use printed electronics to make a spacecraft? Three words provide the answer: universal, impactful, progressive. The technology is universal because the applications it can affect are broad and diverse from simple sensors to fully functional spacecraft. The impact of flexible, printed electronics range from straightforward mass, volume and cost savings all the way to enabling new mission concepts. The benefits of the technology will become progressively larger from what is achievable today so that investments will pay dividends tomorrow, next year and next decade. We started off three years ago asking the question can you build an entire spacecraft out of printed electronics? In other words, can you design and fabricate a fully integrated, electronic system that performs the same end-to-end functions of a spacecraft - take scientific measurements, perform data processing, provide data storage, transmit the data, powers itself, orients and propels itself - all out of thin flexible sheets of printed electronics? This "Printable Spacecraft" pushes the limits of printed flexible electronics performance. So the answer is yes, more or less. In our studies for the NIAC (NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts) program, we have explored this question further, to explain more completely what "more or less" means and to outline what is needed to make the answer a definitive "yes". Despite its appealing "Flat Stanley"-like (a book series by Jeff Brown) qualities, making a Printable Spacecraft is not as easy as flattening the Cassini spacecraft with a bulletin board, as was Stanley Lamchop's fate. But, if NASA invests in the design challenges, the materials challenges, the performance challenges of printed electronics, it might find itself with a spacecraft that can enable as many adventures and advantages as Flat Stanley including putting it in an envelope and mailing it to the planet of your choice. You just have to let your imagination take over. In this report we document the work of the Phase 2 Printable Spacecraft task conducted under the guidance and leadership of the NIAC program. In Phase One of the NIAC task entitled "Printable Spacecraft", we investigated the viability of printed electronics technologies for creating multi-functional spacecraft platforms. Mission concepts and architectures that could be enhanced or enabled with this technology were explored. In Phase 2 we tried to answer the more practical questions such as can you really build a multi-functional printed electronic spacecraft system? If you do, can it survive the space environment? Even if it can, what benefit does a printable system provide over a traditional implementation of a spacecraft

Event program

UNLV Undergraduates from all departments, programs and colleges participated in a campus-wide symposium on April 16, 2011. Undergraduate posters from all disciplines and also oral presentations of research activities, readings and other creative endeavors were exhibited throughout the festival

Latihan industri membuka peluang pekerjaan kepada graduan lepasan politeknik Malaysia

Tujuan kajian ini dilaksanakan untuk menilai sumbangan latihan industri terhadap peningkatan kemahiran pelajar-pelajar Diploma Teknologi Maklumat di Politeknik. Tiga kemahiran insaniah yang diskopkan iaitu kemahiran teknikal, kemahiran komunikasi dan pengetahuan dalam bidang teknologi maklumat. Responden dipilih secara rawak iaitu 75 responden dari Politeknik Johor Bharu dan 28 responden dari Politeknik Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin. Data dianalisis secara diskriptif menggunakan perisian Statistic Package of Social Science (SPSS). Taburan min dan sisihan piawai digunakan untuk analisis kajian ini. Berdasarkan kajian yang dijalankan, pihak industri telah menerapkan kemahirankemahiran ini kepada para pelajar (skor min = 3.96). Tahap kemahiran komunikasi pelajar juga menunjukkan berada pada tahap yang tinggi (skor min = 4.06) kecuali sebahagiannya menunjukkan tahap penguasaan yang sederhana iaitu kemahiran berkomunikasi dalam bahasa Inggeris (skor min = 3.17), pengetahuan pelajar dalam bidang teknologi maklumat berada pada tahap (skor min = 3.97) dan kemahiran teknikal pelajar berada pada tahap (skor min = 3.83). Bagi faktor demografi jantina tidak terdapat perbezaan yang signifikan pengaruh jantina untuk ketiga-tiga kemahiran yang diterapkan. Selain itu, kajian ini juga telah menggariskan faktor keberkesanan program latihan industri mengikut keutamaannya. Secara keseluruhannya, latihan industri yang dijalankan telah dapat meningkatkan kemahiran para pelajar

Event program

UNLV Undergraduates from all departments, programs and colleges participated in a campus-wide symposium on April 16, 2011. Undergraduate posters from all disciplines and also oral presentations of research activities, readings and other creative endeavors were exhibited throughout the festival

Semantic Distances for Technology Landscape Visualization

This paper presents a novel approach to the visualization and subsequent elucidation of research domains in science and technology. The proposed methodology is based on the use of bibliometrics; i.e., analysis is conducted using information regarding trends and patterns of publication rather than the contents of these publications. In particular, we explore the use of term co-occurence frequencies as an indicator of the semantic closeness between pairs of words or phrases. To demonstrate the utility of this approach, a case study on renewable energy technologies is conducted, where the above techniques are used to visualize the interrelationships within a collection of energy-related keywords. As these are regarded as manifestations of the underlying research topics, we contend that the proposed visualizations can be interpreted as representations of the underlying technology landscape. These techniques have many potential applications, but one interesting challenge in which we are particularly interested is the mapping and subsequent prediction of future developments in the technological fields being studied.The research described in this paper was funded by the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology (MIST)

Program Annual Technology Report: Physics of the Cosmos Program Office

From ancient times, humans have looked up at the night sky and wondered: Are we alone? How did the universe come to be? How does the universe work? PCOS focuses on that last question. Scientists investigating this broad theme use the universe as their laboratory, investigating its fundamental laws and properties. They test Einsteins General Theory of Relativity to see if our current understanding of space-time is borne out by observations. They examine the behavior of the most extreme environments supermassive black holes, active galactic nuclei, and others and the farthest reaches of the universe, to expand our understanding. With instruments sensitive across the spectrum, from radio, through infrared (IR), visible light, ultraviolet (UV), to X rays and gamma rays, as well as gravitational waves (GWs), they peer across billions of light-years, observing echoes of events that occurred instants after the Big Bang. Last year, the LISA Pathfinder (LPF) mission exceeded expectations in proving the maturity of technologies needed for the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) mission, and the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) recorded the first direct measurements of long-theorized GWs. Another surprising recent discovery is that the universe is expanding at an ever-accelerating rate, the first hint of so-called dark energy, estimated to account for 75% of mass-energy in the universe. Dark matter, so called because we can only observe its effects on regular matter, is thought to account for another20%, leaving only 5% for regular matter and energy. Scientists now also search for special polarization in the cosmic microwave background to support the notion that in the split-second after the Big Bang, the universe inflated faster than the speed of light! The most exciting aspect of this grand enterprise today is the extraordinary rate at which we can harness technologies to enable these key discoveries

PV Status Report 2017

Photovoltaics is a solar-power technology for generating electricity using semiconductor devices known as solar cells. A number of solar cells form a solar ‘module’ or ‘panel’, which can then be combined to form solar power systems, ranging from a few watts of electricity output to multi-megawatt power stations. Growth in the solar photovoltaic sector has been robust. The Compound Annual Growth Rate over the last decade was over 40 %, thus making photovoltaics one of the fastest growing industries at present. The PV Status Report provides comprehensive and relevant information on this dynamic sector for the interested public, as well as decision-makers in policy and industry.JRC.C.2-Energy Efficiency and Renewable