Development and testing of methodology for evaluating the performance of multi-input/multi-output digital control systems

A Controller Performance Evaluation (CPE) methodology for multi-input/multi-output digital control systems was developed and tested on an aeroelastic wind-tunnel model. Modern signal processing methods were used to implement control laws and to acquire time domain data of the whole system (controller and plant) from which appropriate transfer matrices of the control system could be generated. Matrix computational procedures were used to calculate singular values of return-difference matrices at the plant input and output points to evaluate the performance of the control system. The CPE procedures effectively identified potentially destabilizing controllers and confirmed the satisfactory performance of stabilizing ones

Teaching induction program: Framework, design and delivery

Professional development is a key factor in ensuring teaching staff are confident in the delivery of quality teaching. Professional development is especially relevant for staff who are new to teaching and are required to teach in the context of the large and increasingly diverse student cohorts, prevalent in the Faculty of Business and Economics. The Teaching Induction Program (TIP) addresses this need by modelling best practice in tertiary learning and teaching, delivered in a blended mode. The foundation of TIP is a series of videos, using the student voice, and this feedback is the lens through which knowledge and skills in learning and teaching are developed. During the program, participants build community around their experiences of implementing the teaching skills they have developed, and thereby reflect upon their efficacy for students' learning. Participant feedback is used to inform the development of following iterations of TIP and this has led to two additional programs being planned, using the voices of new teachers or tutors as well as experienced teachers

Development, simulation validation, and wind tunnel testing of a digital controller system for flutter suppression

Flutter suppression (FS) is one of the active control concepts being investigated by the AFW program. The design goal for FS control laws was to increase the passive flutter dynamic pressure by 30 percent. In order to meet this goal, the FS control laws had to be capable of suppressing both symmetric and antisymmetric flutter instabilities simultaneously. In addition, the FS control laws had to be practical and low-order, robust and capable of real time execution within the 200 hz. sampling time. The purpose here is to present an overview of the development, simulation validation, and wind tunnel testing of a digital controller system for flutter suppression

Customers’ savings rate and share of wallet: the moderating role of religion and ethnicity/immigrant generation vis-à-vis attitude as mediator

© 2016, © 2016 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This study explores the role of attitude toward money, religion and ethnicity in the relationship between income and consumer behavior. The three-country (Australia, Canada and China) study sampled 755 consumers and uses structural equation modeling and multivariate analysis to test for mediating effects of attitude toward money and moderating effects of religion and ethnicity/immigrant generation. Religion is found to be a moderating variable for savings rate and share of wallet, while ethnicity/immigrant generation only moderates the association between income and savings rate. We also demonstrate the interaction effects of religion and ethnicity/immigrant generation with income as determinants of savings rate and share of wallet. This research provides the foundation for modeling savings rate and share of wallet, incorporating attitude, religion, and ethnicity/immigrant generation, as well as income, demonstrating the need to include other factors (i.e. demographic factors in addition to attitudinal/satisfaction measures) to better identify, understand and strategically target consumer segments with potential for profitability and growth

Applying threshold concepts to finance education

© 2016, © Emerald Group Publishing Limited. Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate and identify threshold concepts that are the essential conceptual content of finance programmes. Design/methodology/approach – Conducted in three stages with finance academics and students, the study uses threshold concepts as both a theoretical framework and a research methodology. Findings – The study identifies ten threshold concepts in finance that are clearly endorsed by finance academics. However, the extent to which students are explicitly aware of the threshold concepts in finance is limited. Research limitations/implications – As well as informing further research into the design and delivery of finance programmes, the findings of the study inform the use of threshold concepts as a theoretical framework and a research methodology. The study does not explore the bounded, discursive, reconstitutive and liminal aspects of threshold concepts. Implications include the lack of recognition of more modern concepts in finance, and the need for input from industry and related disciplines. Practical implications – The threshold concepts in finance provide the starting point for finance educators in the design and delivery of finance programmes. In particular, the threshold concepts in finance need to be made more explicit to students. Social implications – Using the threshold concepts in finance as well as the other findings of this study to inform to finance curriculum design and delivery is likely to achieve better quality educational outcomes for finance students as well as better prepare them for professional finance roles. Originality/value – The finance curriculum is under researched and for the first time this study identifies the threshold concepts in finance to inform the design of finance programmes

Competitiveness and workforce performance: Asia vis-à-vis the “West”

© 2016, © Emerald Group Publishing Limited. Purpose: The purpose of this eight-country study is to examine what drives performance at the individual worker’s level and compare the explanatory power of such drivers between emerging, newly developed and developed markets around the globe. Design/methodology/approach: The study combines established behavioural theory developed in a Western context with three factors anticipated to be most relevant in Asia (competitive attitude, willingness to serve and speed) as drivers of workforce performance. Four thousand working and middle-class respondents from eight countries were sampled. The associations were tested using structural equation modelling, and workforce performance was measured using univariate analysis. Findings: Three country clusters emerged from the research: emerging economies in Asia (Indonesia, India), where the three factors powerfully explain performance; “Confucian orbit countries” (China, Japan, Korea), where the factors explain 81-93 per cent; and highly developed Western countries (the USA, the UK, Germany), where the factors account for only 20-29 per cent. Practical implications: As well as providing a framework for modelling workforce performance, particularly in Asian countries, the findings indicate that workforce performance should be incorporated in performance indexes. The findings as to which drivers best explain workforce performance in each county can inform workforce recruitment and management, as well as the location of businesses and outsourcing. Originality/value: For the first time, the study addresses the anomaly between economic growth and development experienced by Asian countries and their relatively low rankings in global competitiveness indexes by making the link between workforce performance and country performance

Digital-flutter-suppression-system investigations for the active flexible wing wind-tunnel model

Active flutter suppression control laws were designed, implemented, and tested on an aeroelastically-scaled wind tunnel model in the NASA Langley Transonic Dynamics Tunnel. One of the control laws was successful in stabilizing the model while the dynamic pressure was increased to 24 percent greater than the measured open-loop flutter boundary. Other accomplishments included the design, implementation, and successful operation of a one-of-a-kind digital controller, the design and use of two simulation methods to support the project, and the development and successful use of a methodology for on-line controller performance evaluation

Using Key Performance Indicators for traffic management and Intelligent Transport Systems as a prediction tool

In recent research work (FP7 CONDUITS) a performance evaluation framework for traffic management and Intelligent Transport Systems was developed. The new framework consists of a set of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for the strategic themes of traffic efficiency, safety, pollution reduction and social inclusion, and the last stages of the project saw its validation through its application to four case studies. Following up from this work, this paper presents the extension of the framework for use as a prediction tool enabling urban transport authorities to assess the impacts of relevant policies and technologies before implementing them. Focussing on pollution reduction, a tool (CONDUITS-DST) integrating the respective KPIs with microsimulation modelling is developed. The paper describes the integration process, including the model chosen for calculating the emissions levels of a number of scenarios, presents the results of the application to a case study in the city of Brussels, and outlines future developments targeted at broadening the integration of the KPIs into decision-makin

Joint and individual variation explained (JIVE) for integrated analysis of multiple data types

Research in several fields now requires the analysis of data sets in which multiple high-dimensional types of data are available for a common set of objects. In particular, The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) includes data from several diverse genomic technologies on the same cancerous tumor samples. In this paper we introduce Joint and Individual Variation Explained (JIVE), a general decomposition of variation for the integrated analysis of such data sets. The decomposition consists of three terms: a low-rank approximation capturing joint variation across data types, low-rank approximations for structured variation individual to each data type, and residual noise. JIVE quantifies the amount of joint variation between data types, reduces the dimensionality of the data and provides new directions for the visual exploration of joint and individual structures. The proposed method represents an extension of Principal Component Analysis and has clear advantages over popular two-block methods such as Canonical Correlation Analysis and Partial Least Squares. A JIVE analysis of gene expression and miRNA data on Glioblastoma Multiforme tumor samples reveals gene-miRNA associations and provides better characterization of tumor types. Data and software are available at https://genome.unc.edu/jive/Comment: Published in at http://dx.doi.org/10.1214/12-AOAS597 the Annals of Applied Statistics (http://www.imstat.org/aoas/) by the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (http://www.imstat.org

Active load control during rolling maneuvers

A rolling maneuver load alleviation (RMLA) system has been demonstrated on the active flexible wing (AFW) wind tunnel model in the Langley Transonic Dynamics Tunnel (TDT). The objective was to develop a systematic approach for designing active control laws to alleviate wing loads during rolling maneuvers. Two RMLA control laws were developed that utilized outboard control-surface pairs (leading and trailing edge) to counteract the loads and that used inboard trailing-edge control-surface pairs to maintain roll performance. Rolling maneuver load tests were performed in the TDT at several dynamic pressures that included two below and one 11 percent above open-loop flutter dynamic pressure. The RMLA system was operated simultaneously with an active flutter suppression system above open-loop flutter dynamic pressure. At all dynamic pressures for which baseline results were obtained, torsion-moment loads were reduced for both RMLA control laws. Results for bending-moment load reductions were mixed; however, design equations developed in this study provided conservative estimates of load reduction in all cases