Functional Verification of Power Electronic Systems

This project is the final work of the degree in Industrial Electronics and Automatic Engineering. It has global concepts of electronics but it focuses in power electronic systems. There is a need for reliable testing systems to ensure the good functionality of power electronic systems. The constant evolution of this products requires the development of new testing techniques. This project aims to develop a new testing system to accomplish the functional verification of a new power electronic system manufactured on a company that is in the power electronic sector . This test system consists on two test bed platforms, one to test the control part of the systems and the other one to test their functionality. A software to perform the test is also designed. Finally, the testing protocol is presented. This design is validated and then implemented on a buck converter and an inverter that are manufactured at the company. The results show that the test system is reliable and is capable of testing the functional verification of the two power electronic system successfully. In summary, this design can be introduced in the power electronic production process to test the two products ensuring their reliability in the market

Semantic discovery and reuse of business process patterns

Patterns currently play an important role in modern information systems (IS) development and their use has mainly been restricted to the design and implementation phases of the development lifecycle. Given the increasing significance of business modelling in IS development, patterns have the potential of providing a viable solution for promoting reusability of recurrent generalized models in the very early stages of development. As a statement of research-in-progress this paper focuses on business process patterns and proposes an initial methodological framework for the discovery and reuse of business process patterns within the IS development lifecycle. The framework borrows ideas from the domain engineering literature and proposes the use of semantics to drive both the discovery of patterns as well as their reuse

Sustainability in design: now! Challenges and opportunities for design research, education and practice in the XXI century

Copyright @ 2010 Greenleaf PublicationsLeNS project funded by the Asia Link Programme, EuropeAid, European Commission

Entrepreneurs as discoverers: the case of portuguese born globals

Comunicação apresentada em XVI Rent: Entrepreneurship and Small BusinessTraditionally, internationalisation has been study has a gradual process, where the firms start their operation to close markets with forms involving low risk. As time goes by, and the firm acquire experiential knowledge, the firm change his commitment to internationalisation, using more risky and demanding entry modes, and acting in distant markets. In the nineties, several firms, labelled born globals, challenge this pattern, operating, since inception, in international markets, start in distant markets and using hybrid entry modes, as alliances, licenses and franchising. This paper, through four in depth case studies, of Portuguese born globals, shows that entrepreneurs act as discoverers and are the key element in understanding this phenomenon. It also shows that prior knowledge corridors are crucial for entrepreneurs, in his process of discovery and exploitation of opportunities

New imperialism or new capitalism?

Over the past century, the institution of capital and the process of its accumulation have been fundamentally transformed. By contrast, the theories that explain this institution and process have remained largely unchanged. The purpose of this paper is to address this mismatch. Using a broad brush, we outline a new, power theory of capital and accumulation. We use this theory to assess the changing meaning of the corporation and the capitalist state, the new ways in which capital gets accumulated and the specific historical trajectory of twentieth-century capitalism up to the present.arms; accumulation; capital flow; capitalism; conflict; corporation; crisis; distribution; elite; energy; finance; globalization; growth; imperialism; GPE; liberalism; Marxism; Middle East; military; national interest; neoclassical economics; neoliberalism; nomos; oil; OPEC; ownership; peace; power; profit; ruling class; security; stagflation; state; stock market; TNC; United States; US; utility; value; violence; war

Empirical evidence for a theory of international new ventures

This paper analyzes twenty empirical studies relating to international new ventures (INVs). Based on this analysis it is shown that traditional internationalization theories do not explain INVs sufficiently. Therefore a model integrating static and process elements from the empirical evidence as well as parts of the traditional internationalization theories is developed. Obtained was an eclectic theory describing and explaining the rise of new firms already venturing abroad briefly after the time of their formation. Key results A 4-pillar-model for explaining the internationalization of INVs is developed. The model relies on basic assumptions from the network-, the stages-, the internalization- and the monopolistic advantage theory.Born global, international new ventures, internationalization theory

Sales channel strategy decision-making in Finnish B2B born globals

Recently, academics have raised interest on the decision-making logic of international entrepreneurial firms. Literature on the subject indicates that normal causation-based decision-making logic does not explain the decision-making of entrepreneurial firms, such as born globals, but a decision-making logic called effectuation is a more fitting theory for the logic behind their decision-making. Furthermore, traditional approach to marketing is not effective for these firms so they tend to engage in Entrepreneurial Marketing (EM) approach, which has a more innovative and network-based approach to marketing. The relationship of dominant decision-making logic and sales channel strategy was investigated in three Finnish-based B2B born global firms. A theoretical framework to indicate the relationship between the decision-making logic and sales channel structure, and the relationship between decision-making logic and the level of EM in the sales channel strategy was built based on previous theory. Data for the empirical analysis was collected through semi structured interviews and company publications. Empirical data of each case company was cross-analyzed and the theoretical framework was revised. The results show that the use of effectuation positively influences a higher level of EM in born global sales channel strategy. However, it was found out that the dominant decision-making logic does not affect the sales channel structure. Instead, a pattern of born global sales channel structure development was identified.fi=Opinnäytetyö kokotekstinä PDF-muodossa.|en=Thesis fulltext in PDF format.|sv=Lärdomsprov tillgängligt som fulltext i PDF-format