Bonding of reusable surface insulation with low density silicone foams

The development and evaluation of a reduced density, high reliable foamed bond strain isolation system for attaching reusable surface insulation to the space shuttle structure are reported. Included are data on virgin materials as well as on materials that received 100 cycles of exposure to 650 F for approximately 20 minutes per cycle. Room temperature vulcanizing silicon elastomers meet all the requirments for an adhesive bonding system

Exploratory development of a flexible ablative covering for space shuttle application

An applied research program is considered for a preliminary design and development of a flexible ablative covering for the space shuttle vehicle that could be easily replaced and/or refurbished. The program was structured to concentrate resources on the major technical problem areas associated with the flexible ablator concept. These areas included: (1) fabrication of a suitable woven carpet reinforcement, (2) modification of a flexible ablator formulation for filling the woven carpet construction, and (3) testing of the flexible ablator concept. Several approaches were evaluated to obtain a flexible ablator. The final recommended solution was one in which the ablative filler was based on a low-density formulation of the elastomeric shield material series (ESM). The preferred approach is one in which a light-weight fabric backing is bonded to preformed and fully cured ESM, and the composite tufted with Astroquartz fiber to the desired tuft or pile density. Ablation tests performed in a hyperthermal arc facility demonstrated the ablation performance of the concept and overshoot capability of the system

The roles of conceptual device models and user goals in avoiding device initialization errors

While mistakes, and approaches to design and training that reduce them, have been studied extensively, relatively little work in HCI studies 'slip' errors, which occur when one intends to do a certain action during a skilled task but unintentionally does another. In this article we examine approaches to training that might reduce the occurrence of a slip error referred to as a 'device initialization error'. This error occurs when skilled users of a device forget to perform some initialization action, such as positioning the cursor in a text entry box or setting the device into the correct mode, before entering data or performing some other significant activity. We report on an experiment studying the effects of two training interventions on this error, which aim to manipulate the salience of the error-prone action without making any physical changes to the device. In the first intervention participants were given a particular conceptual model of the device's operation, to evaluate whether having an improved understanding of the effect of each action would lead to fewer errors. In the second, participants were given a new device operation goal requiring them to 'test' the device, to evaluate whether attending to the outcome of initialization actions would lead to fewer errors. Only participants who were asked to 'test' the device and also given enhanced instructions to enter dummy data after completing initialization actions showed a statistically significant improvement in performance. Post-test interviews and evidence from existing literature suggest that when participants forgot the initialization step it was because they were attending to the subsequent data entry steps. This study highlights the central roles that user goals and attention play in the occurrence (or avoidance) of slip errors. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Technology Overload: Is There a Technological Panacea?

While developments in technology have made computing and electronics ubiquitous and wearable, they have also given rise to a plethora of devices each delivering a special functionality. Numerous appliances and gadgets may overwhelm us, leading to Technology Overload, the cognitive and physical burden placed on human beings due to usage of multiple devices for everyday activities. While research into the design of devices has concentrated on making each separate feature/ functionality of a device more efficient and effective, (such as enhancing the resolution of cameras or improving the portability of a mobile phone) or integrating a few functionalities at a time (such as PDA-phones, cell phone-cameras etc), little work has been done to systematically determine which features and functionalities should be placed in which device/s in order to reduce technology overload. This paper discusses technology overload and explores the implications of current and proposed solutions to help ease it

Leadership and Trust in Partially Distributed Software Development Teams

Partially distributed teams (PDTs) are common as organizations collaborate across distances. A PDT has at least one collocated subteam and at least two geographically dispersed subteams. We describe a large-scale experiment that examines student global PDTs working on software requirements for an emergency MIS; the teams comprised one U.S. subteam and one Dutch subteam. Leadership configuration was varied so that some teams had only a team leader; some had only subteam leaders; and some had both. However most teams chose to select subteam leaders, regardless of instructions. Trust has been found to be important for team functioning in traditional and virtual teams. This paper focuses on the experimental results related to leadership and trust in PDTs. Results indicate that while there is no evidence that trust varies by leadership configuration, the type of leader (subteam/team) matters and that trust is associated with leader effectiveness and perceptions of team and subteam performance

Exploring Students’ Reactions to Virtual Worlds

Our research explores multi-user virtual environments for teaching university-level courses. This paper focuses on undergraduate students’ reactions to five virtual worlds explored as part of a Computers and Ethics course. Written reports from twenty-five students were qualitatively analyzed with respect to perceived ease of use, user satisfaction, and user concerns. Our preliminary findings indicate that students’ perceptions and attitudes were mixed. Some students perceived virtual worlds as relatively easy to use regarding object interactions, communication and user interaction. However, there were some instances of difficulty in navigation and in completing some tutorials. Furthermore, students expressed concerns beyond usability issues, such as user misbehavior and cheating. These issues could become significant barriers to using virtual worlds for college courses. We present suggestions for reducing such barriers

Midcourse Corrections and Life Satisfaction in a Sample of Mid-Career Doctoral Students

The focus of this study was to examine motivations and reactions in context of a midlife decision to seek a doctoral degree. Participants were 116 non-traditional age, men and women graduate students and recent alumni from one of three geographically distributed and blended delivery model doctoral programs. Demographic information was collected, including career history and goals, age, gender, and ethnicity. The mean and median ages were between 41 and 50. The research questionnaire featured narrative questions regarding “midcourse corrections,” any experienced trauma, and life satisfactions. Autobiographical material was also analyzed thematically, providing further illustrative examples of the midlife experiences in the course of negotiating a doctoral education. Both the narrative responses and autobiographies were analyzed using content analysis (Ryan & Bernard, 2000). Forty-four percent of the sample reported seeking the doctoral degree as part of a career change plan, while 56% sought to achieve an advanced degree in their current fields. Despite a high rate of reported regret, surprise, and even trauma, considerable life satisfaction (91%) was reported as the result of seeking doctoral education in midlife, by definition a “midcourse correction.

Are Visual Informatics Actually Useful in Practice: A Study in a Film Studies Context

This paper describes our work in examining the question of whether providing a visual informatics application in an educational scenario, in particular, providing video content analysis, does actually yield real benefit in practice. We provide a new software tool in the domain of movie content analysis technologies for use by students of film studies students at Dublin City University, and we try to address the research question of measuring the ‘benefit’ from the use of these technologies to students. We examine their real practices in studying for the module using our advanced application as compared to using conventional DVD browsing of movie content. In carrying out this experiment, we found that students have better essay outcomes, higher satisfactions levels and the mean time spent on movie analyzing is longer with the new technologies