The impact of CEO characteristics on the international entrepreneurship of small island- based firms

This paper examines the impact of CEO characteristics on the International Entrepreneurship (IE) of listed island-based firms (IBFs) during the period 2009-2018. The research considers 164 companies from a sample of eight small islands with securities exchanges including more than one firm headquartered on the island. The selected islands are: Barbados, Cyprus, Fiji, Iceland, Jamaica, Malta, Mauritius, and Trinidad & Tobago. Framed on the upper echelons theory and social network theory, the influence on IE of CEO's tenure, academic background and achievement, family allegiance, and international exposure is studied, taking into account the small island particularities. Through a binary probit model, it is concluded that CEOs' family allegiance, tenure, and academic background (if the CEO majored in Business Administration, Finance, Accounting, or Economics) are negatively related with IE, while CEOs' academic achievement and international exposure are positively associated with IE. Some of these results are atypical in the existing literature; nevertheless, islandness can explain these results. The conclusions attained suggest new theoretical and empirical lines of IE research for IBFs

Energy Efficient Modeling and Optimization of Additive Manufacturing Process

Additive manufacturing (AM) is a leading technology in various industries including medical and aerospace for prototype and functional part fabrication. Despite being environmentally conscious, avenues pertaining to further reducing the impact of AM on the environment exist. Material wastage and energy consumption are two major concerns of the process that requires immediate attention. In this research, a multi-step optimization enabling additive manufacturing process towards energy efficiency is developed. Process objectives such as material waste and energy consumption are minimized both in part and layer domain. Numerous examples are presented to demonstrate the applicability of the developed approach. The models formulated here for selective laser sintering (SLS) process can be easily extended to other additive manufacturing technologies.Mechanical Engineerin