Formula electric : powertrain

The Santa Clara Formula Electric team designed, and manufactured a powertrain for an electric racecar according to the rules prescribed by the SAE International Formula Electric competition. The powertrain is divided into subsystems: the battery pack, battery pack cooling system, motor controller, and the motor. The battery pack was constructed, but full electrical connection of all cells were not made. The pack was not integrated with the motor and motor controller. In addition, due to time constraints, extensive testing could not be completed

Empirical Agent-Based Modelling for exploring Intergroup Contact in a Segregated Society

Agent-based modelling has a long history of application in the study of segregation, but is rarely deployed beyond the examination of residential segregation. This study leverages multiple datasets: including census, survey, PGIS and GPS traces; in order to create an empirical agent-based model for the exploration of mobility practices between segregated communities in Belfast (Northern Ireland). In doing so, we are able to conduct novel examinations into the impact of day-to-day mobility choices upon intergroup attitudes and activity-space segregation; with policy implications for understanding and combatting segregation in cities around the world

Short Life Working Group on Facilitating Peaceful Assemblies: report

The Short Life Working Group on Peaceful Processions in Scotland has reviewed processions in Scotland. The report uses the comparison between Northern Ireland and Scotland as a basis to discuss how well the legislative framework and related processes are working in Scotland

Negotiating the Ground: ‘Mobilizing’ a Divided Field Site in the ‘Post-Conflict’ City

While an exploration of mobility patterns in ‘post-conflict’ societies has much to tell us about how division is produced through ordinary activities, less work has considered the practical application of a mobilities ‘lens’ during fieldwork in such contexts. Negotiating the ground in highly polarized contexts presents a unique array of challenges, but also offers opportunities to make use of mobile methodologies. This paper discusses the advantages of GPS-based technologies and walking interviews to a recent activity-space segregation study in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and reflects on methodological issues posed by the ‘post-conflict’ field site

Parallel lives: Intergroup contact, threat and the segregation of everyday activity spaces

Although intergroup contact can reduce prejudice, opportunities to experience such contact are often constrained by systems of segregation. Work on this problem has focused on divisions entrenched within institutions of residence, education and employment. Our research employed a complementary approach, which treated segregation as the outcome of individuals’ movements over time within everyday life spaces. Taking as a case study Catholics’ and Protestants’ use of public environments in north Belfast, we used GPS tracking technology, combined with GIS analytics, to explore the time geography of residents’ activity space use over a two-week period (Study 1). We also conducted a field survey to explore how psychological factors shaped their willingness to use activity spaces beyond their own communities (Study 2). Analysis based on around 1000 hours of raw movement data revealed that north Belfast is marked by high levels of segregation, expressed via residents’ limited use of public spaces, facilities and pathways located in outgroup areas. However, use of shared spaces is also common, with Catholics spending more time in such spaces than Protestants. Structural equation modelling suggested that residents’ self-reported willingness to use activity spaces outside their own communities was associated with both negative and positive intergroup contact - relationships partially mediated by realistic threat, symbolic threat, and anxiety over interaction across sectarian lines. Both kinds of contact and realistic threat were also associated with the time residents actually spent in spaces beyond their own communities. Opportunities for integrating psychological and geographic research on contact and segregation are highlighted