Perceived Function: An Investigation into a Product Advantage between Aesthetics and Function

This study involved an empirical comparison of product competitiveness driven by aesthetic and technological innovations in a mature market. This study began with a theoretical idea that users may perceive and evaluate technology development through the visible form of a product. Statistical analyses of user reviews of digital cameras showed that the impact of technology development on competitiveness was greater than that of aesthetic changes. The results demonstrated that users did not leverage product appearance for the recognition of technology development. Moreover, the findings show that specification information had a greater influence on product advantage when users did not visually perceive technological improvement. These results may indicate that manufacturers have not yet fully exploited product design for maximising product advantage in the mature market

Silicon Epitaxial Reactor for Minimal Fab

Cost-effective and mass production of size-controlled wafers becomes one of the future trends for electronic devices. Herein, we design a Minimal Fab system for the growth of half-inch-diameter silicon wafer devices. Different from the conventional chemical vapour deposition (CVD) systems, a new-type of CVD reactor was designed and developed for the Minimal Fab. The minimal CVD reactor has a small reaction chamber for rapid growth processes. It employed (i) a vertical gas flow, (ii) heating modules using concentrated infrared light, (iii) chlorine trifluoride gas for quick reactor cleaning and (iv) optimized epitaxial growth conditions so that the reactor cleaning is not necessary. Reducing the total gas flow rate is an effective way to increase the wafer temperature. The heating process was further assisted by the absorption of infrared light by the precursor trichlorosilane. The slimly designed reflector could help in improving the heating speed

INITIAL RESPONSE AND BUSINESS CONTINUITY IN THE EVENT OF FLOOD DAMAGE AT WATER SUPPLY FACILITY : CONSIDERATION FROM DISASTER CASES OF WATER SUPPLY FACILITIES CAUSED BY THE HEAVY RAIN EVENT OF JULY 2018

平成30年7月豪雨では河川氾濫などにより，水道施設に深刻な浸水被害や土砂災害が発生し，周辺地域が長期に断水するケースがあった．水道事業は被災地域の生活に必要なライフラインであることから，給水車などで応急給水を行うが，本格的な水道施設の復旧は地域の復旧に欠かせないものである．また，地域の企業や医療機関などの復旧や事業継続にも不可欠であることから，水道施設の浸水リスク等への事業継続対応は，早期の復旧・復興を考える上で大きな課題となる． 本研究では，豪雨災害で浸水被害等のあった水道施設に対し，初動対応から復旧再開までの対応についてヒアリング調査等を実施し，水道施設の被害からの速やかな水道供給と復旧を実現する上で，事業継続の観点から必要な対応や要素について検討を行った．初動対応時から復旧再開に至るまでの目標復旧時間を明確にした上で，複数の事業継続戦略を用いた対応が必要となる．そのために取り組むべき対応や考え方について提言する．The heavy rain event of July 2018 caused several severe flood disasters and landslide disasters. Some water supply facilities were damaged and the water supply was interrupted. Since water supply became difficult at water facilities, they received support from other facilities and responded to temporary facilities. We conducted interview surveys on the affected water supply facilities and summarized the way of initial response and the business continuity in the event of inundated damage. In the event of flood damage or landslide damage, the procedure from the initial response to the resumption of recovery was organized, and proactive measures for achieving early recovery were proposed