Polymer Nanocomposites for Advanced Automobile Applications

The automotive industry is one major sector that consume material such as plastic at the advanced technological level. Hence, automotive plastics are now gaining attention due to the desire for light weight and low CO2 emission from vehicles. It is therefore anticipated that polymer nanocomposites will significantly enhance the performance of current technologies for car industries due to their excellent mechanical, chemical, thermal, electrical and barrier properties and their influence on fire retardancy. Hence, with the use of polymer nanocomposites, the encouraging outcomes in different sectors of automotive industry has resulted to new horizons in terms of advanced polymer nanocomposites for automobile applications. This chapter reviews advance polymer composites for automobile applications. Methods of fabricating polymer nanocomposites and several applications of polymer nanocomposites in automotive industries are discussed

A Conceptual Model for the Implementation of Lean Product Development

Companies are faced with the need to address their product development challenges innovatively in order to stay competitive in today's market. One way of doing that is the integration of lean thinking in their product development process. However, due to the lack of clear understanding of the lean thinking performance measurements, the near absent of a holistic and unifying measuring method and the near or non-existence of an evaluating conceptual model to allow for the evaluation of the performance of the lean product development processes, many companies are unable to fully implement the lean thinking principle in their Product development process. In dealing with these issues, this article has therefore proposed a conceptual model which is based on some core critical success factors for the examination of lean performance in the product development process

Shari’ah Compliance as a Matter for Financial Performance

Islamic banks must comply with the Shari'ah rulings fully as it is the foundation of Islamic banks. However, the level of Shari'ah compliance is not the same among the Islamic banks. Similarly, despite performing well, the financial performances of Islamic banks differ from each other. Therefore, the chapter explores the association between financial performance and Shari'ah compliance. The chapter used both the primary and secondary data. The primary data was collected through surveying 300 bank executives from six full-fledged Islamic banks operated in Bangladesh with a structured questionnaire on Shari'ah compliance, whereas information on financial performance were extracted from the annual reports of the sample banks. Descriptive statistics and regression analysis were used to analyze the data and conclude the findings. The findings show that Shari'ah compliance has a positive and significant impact on the financial performance with respect to the total liabilities and total assets.</p

Fostering Global Literacies among Pre-Service Teachers through Innovative Transdisciplinary Projects

This chapter investigates the role of global literacy skills in teacher education while integrating multiple literacies as a means of further developing pre-service teachers’ global competencies and 21st century skills1 while designing innovative transdisciplinary curriculum projects with limited resources and equipment in the global education context. The goal is to: a) introduce the role of multiple literacies (e.g., information, technology, geography, media literacy) in developing global competencies and 21st century skills among pre-services teachers; b) showcase pre-service teachers’ Universal Design of Learning (UDL)2 model lessons across content areas (e.g., math, geography, cultural studies, physical education) in P-12 curriculum; and c) demonstrate creative strategies and possibilities for engaging pre-service teachers in project-based global literacy activities integrating new technologies. </jats:p