Berlin Tapes: A conversation between Jayne Wallace, Jon Rogers and Justin Marshall

An edited and reconfigured documentation of day long conversation between Jayne Wallace, Jon Rogers and Justin Marshall exploring both the conceptual nature of a craft thinking (and doing) and practical ways in which this can be implemented in relation to critical issues within IoT development and use

Why craft?

A short discussion piece on the relevance and potential value of considering and engaging with IoT production form a craft perspective

Hypervelocity Impact Experimentation of a Novel Micrometeoroid/Orbital Debris Shielding Concept Imbibed with Rheologically Characterized Shear Thickening Fluids

Spacecraft are vulnerable to hypervelocity impacts (HVIs) from micrometeoroid/orbital debris (MMOD) while in space and must mitigate these using shielding. In this research aluminum honeycomb core sandwich panels filled with a shear thickening fluid (STF) were developed as a novel MMOD shielding concept. STFs display a marked rise in viscosity with increasing shear rate above a critical shear rate. The results of HVI experiments with impact velocities of ~4.8 km/s or ~6.8 km/s at 80oC or 21oC showed that incorporating a STF into shielding, as opposed to the STF’s liquid phase alone, can reduce damage to the core and the likelihood of back-side facesheet perforation in the event of HVI. STFs can be subjected to a significant temperature variation in many applications such as the HVI experiments in this research or when deployed on the surface of a spacecraft. The effect of temperature on the shear-thickening behavior was investigated using four low molecular weight polymeric glycols/fumed-silica suspensions. The dispersed phase volumeraction, its surface chemistry, and the chemical compositions of the suspending media were varied in a series of steady shear rheological characterizations over a range of temperatures. It was thought that hydroclustering mechanism initiated the onset of shear thickening, and this onset was shown to be more closely correlated to a critical shear rate rather than a critical shear stress. Evidence of the hydroclustering mechanism was sought using small angle neutron scattering (SANS) experiments. SANS steady state rheological characterization experiments were carried out on five low molecular weight polymeric glycols/fumed-silica STFs at the NIST Center for Neutron Research. The SANS experiments were conducted at shear rates below the critical shear rates, at the critical shear rates, and during shear thickening. In all the SANS experiments, the results showed an increase in scattering intensity with increasing shear rates indicating an evolution of the suspension microstructure consistent with the formation of hydroclusters

Democratic Paradox: The Role Of Regime Type In Civil War Intervention Initiation And Success

Abstract: Justin M. Burnett: democratic paradox: the role of regime type in civil war intervention initiation and success. (Under the direction of Dr. Timothy Nordstrom) regime type is an important yet largely ignored factor in the likelihood of civil war intervention initiation and success. Most research related to intervention processes has analyzed these processes without questioning whether or not domestic political institutions and constraints affect the decision to intervene as well as the probability of success. Democracies have unique institutions and recognized norms that do not exist in non-democratic states. I argue that these differences matter and that domestic political audiences in democracies can more effectively drive foreign policy decisions than populations in non-democratic states. When democratic populations are exposed to media images of particularly violent conflict they have the opportunity to assess the need for intervention based on ingrained democratic norms. I believe that this leads to democratic policy makers being compelled to intervene in the most intractable conflicts in response to demands from domestic audiences. However, due to the difficulty of intervention in these conflicts i argue that the same type of political pressure that leads to intervention in these conflicts also serves to pressure policy makers to withdraw prior to successful completion of the mission. By drawing from a wide variety of literatures related to conflict i proposed two hypotheses to test the whether or not regime type influences the decision to intervene and the probable success of all intervention opportunities from 1945-2012. I found empirical evidence that supports my assertion that democracies are more likely than non-democracies to intervene in the most intractable conflicts. With regard to my theory on success i did not find strong evidence that indicates that democracies are less likely to be successful than their non-democratic counter parts. Rather, it appears that they are simply less successful than when they engage in interstate war

Thinking through Making

A discussion of the relationship between making and thinking through documenting a visit to a potter and ceramicist based in Goa, India. It includes making distinctions between a designerly and crafty approach to the development of artifacts

Intuitive representation of photopolarimetric data using the polarization ellipse

Photopolarimetry is the spatial characterization of light polarization. Unlike intensity or wavelength, we are largely insensitive to polarization and therefore find it hard to explore the multidimensional data that photopolarimetry produces (two spatial dimensions plus four polarization dimensions). Many different ways for presenting and exploring this modality of light have been suggested. Most of these ignore circular polarization, include multiple image panes that make correlating structure with polarization difficult, and obscure the main trends with overly detailed information and often misleading colour maps. Here, we suggest a novel way for presenting the main results from photopolarimetric analyses. By superimposing a grid of polarization ellipses onto the RGB image, the full polarization state of each cell is intuitively conveyed to the reader. This method presents linear and circular polarization as well as ellipticity in a graphical manner, does not require multiple panes, facilitates the correlation between structure and polarization, and requires the addition of only three novel colours. We demonstrate its usefulness in a biological context where we believe it would be most relevant

Junior Recital: Justin Brookins, viola

This recital is presented in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree Bachelor of Music in Performance. Mr. Brookins studies viola with Allyson Fleck.https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/musicprograms/1493/thumbnail.jp

A Comparison of Pesticide Monitoring Programs, State vs. Federal

Exposure to pesticide residues continues to be a threat to both human and environmental health despite increased efforts in the agricultural industry to control end-product levels. Multiple government agencies routinely sample and screen common agricultural commodities (fruits and vegetables) for pesticide residues, albeit to do so they use different commodity sampling methods and satisfy different program objectives. Often, results of such screening programs are used in a supplementary fashion in human and environmental health studies, but rarely are the results studied against one another. Six years of archived data (narrowed down from 14) of two separate pesticide monitoring programs were isolated and matching quantitative data were compared against one another. Of particular interest are historical detections of various organochlorines, organophosphates, and organonitrates in common fruits and vegetables as well as detected concentrations of these compounds across both surveys. Historical outcomes were compared using linear regression models and t-tests of the matching detections to investigate trends in the pooled data over the various commodities sampled, chemical compounds detected, detection frequencies, and any effects potentially related to inherent characteristics of both the commodities or compounds. Nearly all t-tests indicated that mean detections of the surveys do not significantly differ at the 5% level; however, t-tests were more likely to detect significant differences as the number of observations grew. Roughly 25% of matrix-specific regression models could explain the variance of one survey’s outcome on another with r2 \u3e 0.90, while nearly half of models had r2 \u3e 0.50. Regressions of compound and matrix structural property effects against differences in survey outcomes were generally less reliable, but did show some trends in the models’ slopes. While not conclusive, the results lay a foundation for future concentrated research and demonstrate the need for increased data sharing and cooperation between all State and Federal agencies, as much of their annual data can be very useful beyond its intended scope when examined conjunctively

Craft-oriented hybrid analogue/digital practices; their values and our future relations with technology

This paper focuses on a hybrid digital/analogue making project that sought to investigate the aesthetic opportunities that digital design and production technologies holds for the craftsperson. It is presented as a demonstration of how a disruptive craft-based approach to engaging with digital making tools can act as a stimulus to reconsider the relationship between hand and machine, and our wider relationship with technologies and how we assess their role and value. Through challenging some assumptions about what digital technologies are ‘good’ for, it proposes a digital craft ethos that aspires to: fidelity not accuracy, sensitive making not efficient manufacturing, affective not effective technologies, to augment existing practices not replace established ways of working, uniqueness not infinite replicability, and continual ‘hands-on’ interaction with tools not full automation. Taking this digital craft ethos beyond the boundaries of the sector, the paper will conclude with an argument that our relationship with making technologies needs to evolve. If we continue to only use an established industrially focused myopic lens to view and assess the value of all technologies, (i.e. their productive efficiency, their speed, and their ability to accurately achieve predetermined goals), then as automation and machine learning have an increasing impact on labour markets and work, questions arise such as; what is the future of making? and what can, and do we want, our roles to be