The impact of Computer Aided Design and Manufacture (CAD/CAM) on school-based design work

This paper reports the findings of a national survey distributed to Heads of Design and Technology departments, with the aim of identifying the level of CAD capability that currently exists, and the nature of its implementation, within UK schools. It draws on teacher perceptions and conclusions from the study to identify further research that might be undertaken to help clarify the impact CAD/CAM has had on the activity of ‘designing’ within an educational context. The role and impact that CAD may have on other aspects of Design and Technology education is described and provides for a more informed discussion on the students’ learning experience, particularly where this might be promoted by CAD

Computer Aided Design : implications for pupil attainment and assessment

Previous research has established that, at the very least, the introduction of CAD into design practice led to the better communication and presentation of ideas in the form of high quality outcomes. It recognised that the predominant use of CAD as a means of output is likely to be encouraged by its ability to directly support separate points of assessment rather than focusing on the act of designing itself. This paper develops on the previous research undertaken by means of a web administered survey and highlights a strong relationship between CAD implementation and an increase in pupil attainment. The paper suggests CAD allows pupils to consistently meet a level of quality, manufacture and accuracy that is well rewarded by some specific points of assessment. Teachers observed an increase in the percentage average A*-C grades of around 10%. The paper reflects on a number of specific case studies which illustrate that despite the emphasis on final outcome it was apparent that CAD was contributing to not only the general quality of pupils’ design work (in terms of presentation etc) but additionally the quality of design development

Use of Technology Solutions to Improve CAD Instruction

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Empirical Models for Dark Matter Halos. II. Inner profile slopes, dynamical profiles, and rho/sigma^3

We have recently shown that both the Prugniel-Simien model and Sersic's function (hereafter referred to as the Einasto model when applied to internal density profiles) describe simulated dark matter halos better than an NFW-like model with equal number of parameters. Here we provide analytical expressions for the logarithmic slopes of these models, and compare them with data from real galaxies. Depending on the Einasto parameters of the dark matter halo, one can expect an extrapolated, inner (0.01--1 kpc), logarithmic profile slope ranging from -0.2 to -1.5, with a typical value at 0.1 kpc around -0.7. Application of this (better fitting) model therefore alleviates some of the past disagreement with observations on this issue. We additionally provide useful expressions for the concentration and assorted scale radii: r_s, r_{-2}, r_e, R_e, r_virial, and r_max -- the radius where the circular velocity profile has its maximum value. We also present the circular velocity profiles and the radial behavior of rho(r)/sigma(r)^3 for both the Einasto and Prugniel-Simien models. We find this representation of the phase-space density profile to be well approximated by a power-law with slope slightly shallower than -2 near r=r_{-2}.Comment: AJ, in press. (Paper I can be found at astro-ph/0509417

The Millennium Galaxy Catalogue: Bulge/Disc Decomposition of 10095 Nearby Galaxies

We have modelled the light distribution in 10095 galaxies from the Millennium Galaxy Catalogue (MGC), providing publically available structural catalogues for a large, representative sample of galaxies in the local Universe. Three different models were used: (1) a single Sersic function for the whole galaxy, (2) a bulge-disc decomposition model using a de Vaucouleurs (R^{1/4}) bulge plus exponential disc, (3) a bulge-disc decomposition model using a Sersic (R^{1/n}) bulge plus exponential disc. Repeat observations for 700 galaxies demonstrate that stable measurements can be obtained for object components with a half-light radius comparable to, or larger than, the seeing half-width at half maximum. We show that with careful quality control, robust measurements can be obtained for large samples such as the MGC. We use the catalogues to show that the galaxy colour bimodality is due to the two-component nature of galaxies (i.e. bulges and discs) and not to two distinct galaxy populations. We conclude that understanding galaxy evolution demands the routine bulge-disc decomposition of the giant galaxy population at all redshifts.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS. 23 pages, 20 figure

The application of computer-aided design and manufacture in school-based design

The increased provision of digital media to facilitate design activity in commercial practice, Higher Education and schools, has led to the need to consider what the likely impact has been on design education. The potential for Computer Aided Design (CAD) to impact the activity of ‘designing’ within an educational context is clearly established and it has been identified that many of the activities associated with projectbased design could be undertaken using CAD technology. This paper aims to examine the extent to which the potential identified is being effectively implemented in design activity within education. To do this, the paper reports further research on a survey distributed to design and technology departments nationally (Hodgson and Fraser, 2005) and describes the role and impact that CAD may have on aspects of design and technology education. It reports both teacher and pupil opinions arising from interviews and analysis of student work. It provides relevant case studies to support any conclusions drawn. It notes that CAD/CAM is having a significant and positive impact on the activities undertaken in design and technology education and that, at the very least, this allows participants to make and manufacture items that would not have been possible either by more conventional means or within the time constraints of a modern curriculum. Despite this, the paper suggests the impact of Computer Aided ‘design’ and the role it can play in the activity of ‘designing’ is an area of potential not very well established or often recognised. It notes an increasing awareness of how the technology may be used to better facilitate ‘designing’ and that the use of CAD in design development activity could be seen as furthering the potential already well established

Product lifecycle management in design and engineering education: International perspectives

Technological advances in the last decade have influenced changes in the design and engineering industries on a global scale. Lean and collaborative product development are approaches increasingly adopted by the industry and seen as the core of product lifecycle management. These trends have created the need for new skilled professionals, and universities should adapt their curricula in response. There is an increased need for academia to work with industry in order to meet these challenges. This article reports on the Parametric Technology Corporation Academic Research Symposium held in April 2011. The topics were centred around understanding the essence of product lifecycle management and its impact on design and engineering education. Furthermore, examples of implementing product lifecycle management and collaborative practices in higher education were presented from the United States and France. This article concludes with a discussion of the recommendations made at the symposium for the future development and support of key skills across university curricula. © The Author(s) 2014

Biosynthesis and expression of a disintegrin-like and metalloproteinase domain with thrombospondin-1 repeats-15

Background ADAMTS proteoglycanases show proteolytic activity toward versican and other proteoglycans.Results ADAMTS15, which cleaves versican, is expressed during early cardiac development and during musculoskeletal development.Conclusion With unique and overlapping biological properties, ADAMTS15 is likely to have cooperative roles with other members of the ADAMTS proteoglycanase clade.Significance Versican cleavage has profound effects on developmental morphogenesis and regulates cancer cell behavior