From Discounting to Incorporating Decisions\u27 Long-Term Impacts

Ms. Atherton urges a different approach to valuing the impact of present day decisions on future generations

A top-down appraoch to patent mapping

Patent mapping [1] is an attempt to present competitive patent information in graphical form for strategic decision-making purposes. Currently, patent mapping is a bottom-up process, starting from the structured data recorded in patents, through data mining, and ending at multidimensional graphs. A problem is that, as databases expand and consequently mining methods become complicated, the resultant increase in dimensions of visualisations make interpretations more difficult. In fact patent mapping need not be a bottom-up process, as we propose a new top-down approach that is based upon the widely accepted Theory of Innovative Problem Solving (TRIZ) [2]. In order to avoid statistical analysis of many patents, this TRIZ-led patent mapping, first, begins with comprehension of patent competition rules using simple gaming models before visualising competitive environments and technical correlations; then key patents are probed for relevant techniques finally reaching an analysis of technical innovation (Figure 1 below). The research addresses: (i) a critical review of current patent mapping; (ii) explanation of how TRIZ can inform a new patent mapping method; and (iii) application of this new method to a case study in aluminium beverage can manufacturing. The conclusion is that a TRIZ-led mapping method reveals synergistic relationships between patents that are not identified by current method

The reaction between diethyphtalate and various Grignard reagents

Thesis (M.A.)--Boston University, 1936. This item was digitized by the Internet Archive

Creating an entrepreneurial region: exploring the entrepreneurial capacity of the East Midlands

This paper explores the notion of the entrepreneurial region and, in particular, the relevance and appropriateness of this concept to the East Midlands. An outline framework is developed that depicts aspects and dimensions of an entrepreneurial region. This is then applied to the East MIdlands to gauge how entrepreneurial the region is

Robust optimization of cardiovascular stents: A comparison of methods

This is the post-print version of the Article. The official published version can be accssed from the links below. Copyright @ 2004 Taylor & FrancisModern engineering design contains both creative and analytic components. This paper discusses the design process and illustrates links between design optimization and conceptual design through the re-design of a cardiovascular stent. A comparison is presented of two methods for design improvement: genetic algorithms (GA) and model-based robust engineering design (RED). Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models are used to generate measurements of the quality of competing designs based on the concept of dissipated power. Alternative performance measures are also discussed. Environmental noise is introduced into the analysis and consideration is given to the treatment of discrete and continuous design parameters. Improved designs are identified using both methods and verified with further CFD analyses, and the benefits of each method are discussed

Secondary centres of economic activity in the East Midlands: final report

This report outlines the findings of a study of secondary centres of economic activity in the East Midlands. The study builds on previous work undertaken in the ‘GDP Growth in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and Humberside regions’ project by the Enterprise Research and Development Unit on behalf of emda and Yorkshire Forward

Partial CFD models of cardiovascular stents

Copyright @ 2002 Wiley BlackwellThis paper outlines the use of a partial CFD stent model in order to improve discretisation of important small features. The effects of mesh size on the performance measure are investigated. The results are compared with those from full models and also comparisons with clinical trials are made. It is shown that partial models provide a better approximation to reality than full models when using modest PC workstation resources. The general conclusion is that computer-based design of medical devices must take into account the variations in geometry between patients by means of, for example, a flat performance curve against noise

Searching for improvement

Engineering design can be thought of as a search for the best solutions to engineering problems. To perform an effective search, one must distinguish between competing designs and establish a measure of design quality, or fitness. To compare different designs, their features must be adequately described in a well-defined framework, which can mean separating the creative and analytical parts of the design process. By this we mean that a distinction is drawn between coming up with novel design concepts, or architectures, and the process of detailing or refining existing design architecture. In the case of a given design architecture, one can consider the set of all possible designs that could be created by varying its features. If it were possible to measure the fitness of all designs in this set, then one could identify a fitness landscape and search for the best possible solution for this design architecture. In this Chapter, the significance of the interactions between design features in defining the metaphorical fitness landscape is described. This highlights that the efficiency of a search algorithm is inextricably linked to the problem structure (and hence the landscape). Two approaches, namely, Genetic Algorithms (GA) and Robust Engineering Design (RED) are considered in some detail with reference to a case study on improving the design of cardiovascular stents