Practice-centred approach to research in design

This paper gives an overview of practice-centred research programmes at Sheffield Hallam University and discusses the principles behind practice-centred research, its place in the Design School, its effect on the regional economy and the community and the resources and methods employed. Implications for research degrees are discussed and developments in the form of the PhD are described.</p

Run Time Approximation of Non-blocking Service Rates for Streaming Systems

Stream processing is a compute paradigm that promises safe and efficient parallelism. Modern big-data problems are often well suited for stream processing's throughput-oriented nature. Realization of efficient stream processing requires monitoring and optimization of multiple communications links. Most techniques to optimize these links use queueing network models or network flow models, which require some idea of the actual execution rate of each independent compute kernel within the system. What we want to know is how fast can each kernel process data independent of other communicating kernels. This is known as the "service rate" of the kernel within the queueing literature. Current approaches to divining service rates are static. Modern workloads, however, are often dynamic. Shared cloud systems also present applications with highly dynamic execution environments (multiple users, hardware migration, etc.). It is therefore desirable to continuously re-tune an application during run time (online) in response to changing conditions. Our approach enables online service rate monitoring under most conditions, obviating the need for reliance on steady state predictions for what are probably non-steady state phenomena. First, some of the difficulties associated with online service rate determination are examined. Second, the algorithm to approximate the online non-blocking service rate is described. Lastly, the algorithm is implemented within the open source RaftLib framework for validation using a simple microbenchmark as well as two full streaming applications.Comment: technical repor

Crash Course or Course Crash: Gaming, VR and a Pedagogical Approach

The human brain is wired for spatial thinking (GERSMEHL & GERSMEHL 2007), and research has demonstrated that spatial visualization abilities can be improved through education (SORBY & BAARTMANS 2000). This paper describes the uses of cutting edge technology and games to grow spatial thinking, improve spatial design, and solidify landscape planning concepts within the classroom. Specifically, this paper discusses how SimCity 2013, ESRI CityEngine and the Oculus Rift were embedded within a graduate level landscape planning course to see if it improved students understanding of spatial concepts and interest in using related new technologies. While the paper provides a narrative of the experience, some interesting results from student evaluations were discovered. Primarily, that they thoroughly enjoyed using SimCity, that CityEngine was not quite as fun, but that students wanted to spend more time using the technology

Advanced subsonic transport propulsion

A brief review of the current NASA Energy Efficient Engine (E(3)) Project is presented. Included in this review are the factors that influenced the design of these turbofan engines and the advanced technology incorporated in them to reduce fuel consumption and improve environmental characteristics. In addition, factors such as the continuing spiral in fuel cost, that could influence future aircraft propulsion systems beyond those represented by the E(3) engines, are also discussed. Advanced technologies that will address these influencing factors and provide viable future propulsion systems are described. The potential importance of other propulsion system types, such as geared fans and turboshaft engines, is presented

A Pedagogical Retrospective: Gamifying the Konza Prairie through an Interdisciplinary Studio

Recently we embarked on developing an interdisciplinary pedagogical approach that integrates concepts of virtual reality and gaming design to leverage these technologies’ potential to influence how we interpret, visualize, design and analyze environments. The approach was developed as part of an advanced studio at Kansas State University led by two professors and represented by students across three different disciplines: landscape architecture, education and computer science. The entire project consisted of a core studio, buttressed by a seminar and technical module. We refer to the courses and project as “Studio Konza.” This retrospective paper highlights why this effort was undertaken, what resources were required, how the game was conceptualized and developed, what milestones were achieved, and what challenges remain for continued development and application