Practice-centred approach to research in design

This paper gives an overview of practice-centred research programmes at Sheffield Hallam University and discusses the principles behind practice-centred research, its place in the Design School, its effect on the regional economy and the community and the resources and methods employed. Implications for research degrees are discussed and developments in the form of the PhD are described.</p

Run Time Approximation of Non-blocking Service Rates for Streaming Systems

Stream processing is a compute paradigm that promises safe and efficient parallelism. Modern big-data problems are often well suited for stream processing's throughput-oriented nature. Realization of efficient stream processing requires monitoring and optimization of multiple communications links. Most techniques to optimize these links use queueing network models or network flow models, which require some idea of the actual execution rate of each independent compute kernel within the system. What we want to know is how fast can each kernel process data independent of other communicating kernels. This is known as the "service rate" of the kernel within the queueing literature. Current approaches to divining service rates are static. Modern workloads, however, are often dynamic. Shared cloud systems also present applications with highly dynamic execution environments (multiple users, hardware migration, etc.). It is therefore desirable to continuously re-tune an application during run time (online) in response to changing conditions. Our approach enables online service rate monitoring under most conditions, obviating the need for reliance on steady state predictions for what are probably non-steady state phenomena. First, some of the difficulties associated with online service rate determination are examined. Second, the algorithm to approximate the online non-blocking service rate is described. Lastly, the algorithm is implemented within the open source RaftLib framework for validation using a simple microbenchmark as well as two full streaming applications.Comment: technical repor

Crash Course or Course Crash: Gaming, VR and a Pedagogical Approach

The human brain is wired for spatial thinking (GERSMEHL & GERSMEHL 2007), and research has demonstrated that spatial visualization abilities can be improved through education (SORBY & BAARTMANS 2000). This paper describes the uses of cutting edge technology and games to grow spatial thinking, improve spatial design, and solidify landscape planning concepts within the classroom. Specifically, this paper discusses how SimCity 2013, ESRI CityEngine and the Oculus Rift were embedded within a graduate level landscape planning course to see if it improved students understanding of spatial concepts and interest in using related new technologies. While the paper provides a narrative of the experience, some interesting results from student evaluations were discovered. Primarily, that they thoroughly enjoyed using SimCity, that CityEngine was not quite as fun, but that students wanted to spend more time using the technology

Advanced subsonic transport propulsion

A brief review of the current NASA Energy Efficient Engine (E(3)) Project is presented. Included in this review are the factors that influenced the design of these turbofan engines and the advanced technology incorporated in them to reduce fuel consumption and improve environmental characteristics. In addition, factors such as the continuing spiral in fuel cost, that could influence future aircraft propulsion systems beyond those represented by the E(3) engines, are also discussed. Advanced technologies that will address these influencing factors and provide viable future propulsion systems are described. The potential importance of other propulsion system types, such as geared fans and turboshaft engines, is presented

Viscous vortex flows

Several computational studies are currently being pursued that focus on various aspects of representing the entire lifetime of the viscous trailing vortex wakes generated by an aircraft. The formulation and subsequent near-wing development of the leading-edge vortices formed by a delta wing are being calculated at modest Reynolds numbers using a three-dimensional, time-dependent Navier-Stokes code. Another computational code was developed to focus on the roll-up, trajectory, and mutual interaction of trailing vortices further downstream from the wing using a two-dimensional, time-dependent, Navier-Stokes algorithm. To investigate the effect of a cross-wind ground shear flow on the drift and decay of the far-field trailing vortices, a code was developed that employs Euler equations along with matched asymptotic solutions for the decaying vortex filaments. And finally, to simulate the conditions far down stream after the onset of the Crow instability in the vortex wake, a full three-dimensional, time-dependent Navier-Stokes code was developed to study the behavior of interacting vortex rings