Culture and concept design : a study of international teams

This paper explores the relationship between culture and performance in concept design. Economic globalisation has meant that the management of global teams has become of strategic importance in product development. Cultural diversity is a key factor in such teams, and this work seeks to better understand the effect this can have on two key aspects of the concept design process: concept generation and concept selection. To this end, a group of 32 students from 17 countries all over the world were divided into culturally diverse teams and asked to perform a short design exercise. A version of the Gallery Method allowed two kinds of activity to be monitored – the individual development of concepts and the collective filtering and selection of them. The effect of culture on these processes was the focus of the work. Using Hofstede’s cultural dimensions, the output from the sessions were reviewed according to national boundaries. The results indicate that individualism and masculinity had the most discernable effect on concept generation and concept selection respectively

Development of photonic technologies for astronomical instruments using ultrafast laser inscription

Recently there has been a desire to apply photonic concepts and technologies to astronomical applications, with the aim of replacing traditional bulk optic instruments. This astrophotonic approach is envisioned to produce compact devices that have the potential to provide the unprecedented precision and stability required for current astronomical goals, such as the detection of Earth-like exoplanets capable of supporting life. The work in this thesis covers the investigation of the technique of Ultrafast Laser Inscription (ULI) to create the building blocks that may lead to a fully integrated compact spectrograph for astronomy. Unlike conventional fabrication technologies, ULI allows custom three-dimensional optical devices to be directly inscribed within a bulk substrate. Volume gratings with high first order diffraction efficiencies optimised for a variety of wavelengths are demonstrated, with a view to providing efficient gratings for the midinfrared wavelength range. Initially the mid infrared transmitting material GLS was used to create gratings with a first order efficiency of 63 % up to a wavelength of 1.35 μm. Anti-reflection coatings were applied to GLS and gratings with an efficiency of 95 % at 1.02 μm were produced. A second material, IG2 was used and diffraction gratings with a first order efficiency of 63 % were produced, which were efficient up to a wavelength of 2.5 μm, with thicker gratings produced which have yet to be characterised in a mid-infrared setup. These developments show that practical mid-infrared volume gratings can be produced by the process of ULI. Photonic reformatters have also been developed to reshape a multimode telescope point spread function into a pseudo-slit, suitable as an input for a diffraction-limited spectrograph. Two device designs were investigated. The first was a fully integrated ULI component which, tested in the laboratory reformatted a multimode input at 1550 nm into a slit, single mode in one axis and highly multimode in the orthogonal axis with an efficiency of 66 %. The device was tested on-sky at the William Herschel Telescope and performed with an efficiency of 19.5 % over the wavelength range 1450 to 1610 nm. The second, improved device combined a ULI component with a multicore fibre component, and performed with a similar performance in the laboratory demonstrating an efficiency of 69 %, but a much improved on sky efficiency of 53 % showing a potential for such devices to be used as an input for a diffraction limited spectrograph

Computing equilibrium states of cholesteric liquid crystals in elliptical channels with deflation algorithms

We study the problem of a cholesteric liquid crystal confined to an elliptical channel. The system is geometrically frustrated because the cholesteric prefers to adopt a uniform rate of twist deformation, but the elliptical domain precludes this. The frustration is resolved by deformation of the layers or introduction of defects, leading to a particularly rich family of equilibrium configurations. To identify the solution set, we adapt and apply a new family of algorithms, known as deflation methods, that iteratively modify the free energy extremisation problem by removing previously known solutions. A second algorithm, deflated continuation, is used to track solution branches as a function of the aspect ratio of the ellipse and preferred pitch of the cholesteric.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figure

Case-linking : a theory of case and verb diathesis applied to classical Sanskrit.

Thesis. 1979. Ph.D.--Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Linguistics and Philosophy.MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND HUMANITIES.Vita.Bibliography: leaves 424-432.Ph.D

The Development of Canada's Competency Profile for Professional Geoscientists at Entry-to-Practice

Competency-based assessment approaches to professional registration reflect the move by professions, both in Canada and around the world, away from traditional credentials-based assessments centred on a combination of academic achievements and supervised practice time. Entry to practice competencies are the abilities required to enable effective and safe entry-level practice in a profession.   In 2012, Geoscientists Canada received funding from the Government of Canada’s Foreign Credentials Recognition Program. A central component of the funding involved the development of a competency profile to assist in assessment for licensing in the geoscience profession. Work concluded with the approval of the Competency Profile for Professional Geoscientists at Entry to Practice by Geoscientists Canada in November 2014.   The Competency Profile comprises concise statements in plain language, setting out the skills and abilities that are required to be able to work as a geoscientist, in an effective and safe manner, independent of direct supervision. It covers competencies common to all geoscientists; competencies for the primary subdisciplines of geoscience (geology, environmental geoscience and geophysics); and a generic set of high level competences that can apply in any specific work context in geoscience.   The paper is in two parts. Part 1 puts the concept of competencies in context and describes the approach taken to develop the profile, including: input from Subject Matter Experts (practising geoscientists representing a diverse sampling of the profession); extensive national consultation and refinement; and a validation procedure, including a survey of practising Canadian geoscientists. Part 2 introduces the profile, explains its structure, and provides examples of some of the competencies. The full competency profile can be obtained from the Geoscientists Canada website www.geoscientistscanada.ca.  Future work will identify specific indicators of proficiency related to each competency and suggest appropriate methodologies to assess such competencies. It will also involve mapping the profile to the existing Canadian reference standard, Geoscience Knowledge and Experience Requirements for Professional Registration in Canada.RÉSUMÉLes approches d'évaluation basées sur les compétences en vue de l'inscription professionnelle reflètent l'abandon par les professions, tant au Canada que partout dans le monde, des évaluations classiques basées sur les titres de compétences et axées sur une combinaison de réalisations académiques et de temps de pratique supervisée. Les compétences au niveau débutant sont les capacités requises pour une pratique efficace et en toute sécurité audit niveau dans une profession.   En 2012, Géoscientifiques Canada a reçu un financement du Programme de reconnaissance des titres de compétences étrangers du gouvernement du Canada. Une composante centrale du financement incluait l’élaboration d'un profil des compétences pour faciliter l'évaluation de la délivrance de permis dans la profession de géoscience. Ce travail a été conclu en novembre 2014 avec l'approbation par Géoscientifiques Canada du Profil des compétences pour les géoscientifiques professionnels au niveau débutant.   Le profil des compétences comprend des déclarations concises dans un langage clair, définissant les compétences et les capacités requises pour exercer efficacement, en toute sécurité et indépendamment de toute supervision directe, en tant que géoscientifique. Il couvre les compétences communes à tous les géoscientifiques; les compétences pour les sous-disciplines primaires de la géoscience (géologie, géoscience environnementale et géophysique); et un ensemble générique de compétences de haut niveau pouvant s'appliquer dans tout contexte de travail spécifique en géoscience.   Le document comporte deux parties. La 1ère partie met en contexte le concept de compétences et décrit l'approche adoptée pour élaborer le profil, y compris : les contributions d'experts dans le domaine (géoscientifiques professionnels représentant un échantillonnage diversifié de la profession); de vastes consultations et perfectionnements à l'échelle nationale; et une procédure de validation, incluant une enquête auprès des géoscientifiques professionnels canadiens. La 2ème partie présente le profil, explique sa structure et fournit des exemples pour certaines des compétences. Le profil des compétences complet est disponible sur le site web de Géoscientifiques Canada www.geoscientistscanada.ca.   Les travaux futurs identifieront des indicateurs spécifiques d’aptitude liés à chaque compétence et suggèreront des méthodologies appropriées pour leur évaluation. Ils comprendront également la mise en correspondance du profil avec la norme de référence canadienne existante et les exigences en matière de Connaissances et expérience des géosciences requises pour l'inscription à titre professionnel au Canada.

Optimisation of ultrafast laser assisted etching in fused silica

Observations of runout distances combined with velocity measurements suggest that “major” dry-mixed avalanches show a scale invariance to the total drop height HSC. This is in accordance to the proposed upper-limit envelope of the maximum velocity by McClung and Schaerer (2006). The observations are also supported by a simple scaling analysis using a simple mass block model on cycloidal and parabolic tracks (Gauer, 2018b), concluding Umax~ gHSC/2 . In this supplementary paper, a simple mass block model is presented that includes basic observations of major dry-mixed avalanches, such as mass entrainment and deposition, and that reflects this scale invariance. Almost all model parameters can principally be observed in the field. Model results are compared with a series of avalanche observations of runout and velocity and match well, considering that the model is a first order approximation

Optimizing astrophotonic spatial reformatters using simulated on-sky performance

One of the most useful techniques in astronomical instrumentation is image slicing. It enables a spectrograph to have a more compact angular slit, whilst retaining throughput and increasing resolving power. Astrophotonic components like the photonic lanterns and photonic reformatters can be used to replace bulk optics used so far. This study investigates the performance of such devices using end-to-end simulations to approximate realistic on-sky conditions. It investigates existing components, tries to optimize their performance and aims to understand better how best to design instruments to maximize their performance. This work complements the recent work in the field and provides an estimation for the performance of the new components.Comment: Conference proceedings in SPIE 2018 Austin Texa