How reliable is smartness? And how smart is reliability?

This paper highlights major reliability concerns in the trend of building smartness in everything from devices to systems. It alerts engineers to determine the trade-off equilibrium of new smartness in a more practical and realistic manner. The discussion is based on several common roles of smart practices that include software; driver; and redundancy. The major concerns are expressed in five areas: series reliability shrinkage; cold standby's intrinsic imperfection; crossroad & roundabout jeopardy; software unreliability and cyber vulnerability.postprin

Time division multiplex of discrete air-conditioning units

POS1: Poster Session (1): P-025In Hong Kong, air-conditioning (a/c) is a major energy end-user in building services. Nowadays, operation modes of various a/c are uncoordinated. Hence, the diversity of this major energy usage is coarse and uncontrolled. The project shall utilize Time-Division-Multiplex (TDM) concept to regulate this. Through research effort, a better diversity of energy utilization in premises will be achieved. The peak demand of current, the sum of steady load currents and the cable heat loss will then be reduced. The cable capacity will be better utilized, and the potential of reserve in buildings will then be significantly enhanced. Beyond this study, the TDM concept can be extended to other appliances, for example, kitchen appliances and storage-type water heater. It is also envisaged that the project becomes an integral part to smart metering communication management. This shall call for a new culture to regulate the load demand pattern with a better diversity in premises.postprintThe International Conference on Electrical Engineering (ICEE) 2008, Okinawa, Japan, 6-10 July 2008

A Smart Metering Scheme for a Smart Grid System

Fulltext at http://joa.csee.org.cn/Public/DownloadFile.aspx?FileStorageId=4ee2fb00-309e-44b8-ad54-63e076762d99The development of smart grid systems calls for new metering schemes in measuring consumption and power flow metrics between connected entities. The new meters which import the concept of renewable resource should also carry intelligence and communication compatibility for enhancement of new applications in demand side management. Our project explores network relationships of stakeholder parties in a smart grid system and their value channel behavior. A potentially successful smart metering scheme must carry a win-win-win scenario that satisfies all the partners involved. It is important to understand possible network partnership behavior. The scheme must resolve the potential contradictions and induce a balance of interests. Continuing our earlier study on the smart metering schemes, a derivative business model and the interface platform are further discussed by this paper

The Development of a smart metering scheme

Paper no. O-036Collaboration is a term to characterize contemporary relationship between a supplier and a consumer. In the old days, an energy meter is the interface service-counter that prompts the double-coincidence of wants between the parties. Nowadays a meter can have smartness beyond registration of consumption units by the supplier. It can carry intelligence to serve demand side management. When the electrical-load-signature technology has been efficiently developed, then a user has to accept that the barrier to load monitoring and surveillance by other parties is no longer a technical issue, but primarily an ethical issue only. On the other hand, it is anticipated that experience curves shall drag down the cost of intelligent home management system to an extent that most of the homes can equip one system to enhance installation operation efficiency and human comfort. It is perceived that when a platform can be developed to permit the intelligence of two sides to share information, then each of them may support the other as a neighboring aide. This paper discusses on philosophies and models that shall develop the concepts.postprintThe International Conference on Electrical Engineering (ICEE) 2008, Okinawa, Japan, 6-10 July 2008

Vision development in engineering education during financial crisis and natural disasters

Theme: Towards a safe, reliable, sustainable intelligent power systemPaper no. I9FP0473Risks are seeds of new opportunities. The year 2008 is heart-breaking to global nations. University undergraduates are ambitious, yet within a fortnight after their summer vacation, their sweet day dreams have turned into nightmares. Many youths may indeed become desperate. The University of Hong Kong realizes this impact to their engineering students. Making use of broadening education, the University utilizes recent case studies to make their engineering students observant and alert. The present economic downturn and non-ethical practices provide good lessons in building up maturity and morality in fresh engineers. In the business world, and history recalls, an end in a road is never a dead-end when there is a turn to another road. The one who finds this turn first shall master tomorrow. Hence we enhance students’ vision in exploring new business opportunities. We encourage the whole curriculum to make entry to entrepreneurship competition, and to enroll in visits to places devastated by natural disasters. Through critical thinking and “seeing is believing”, we develop algorithm and passion in these youths to serve the new society with a good heart either through entrepreneurship or engineering or their integration. Already we see maturity substantially in the batch.postprintThe 15th International Conference on Electrical Engineering (ICEE 2009), Shenyang, China, 5-9 July 2009

Hodgkin's lymphoma as a second cancer in multiple myeloma never exposed to lenalidomide.

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Candida parapsilosis associated with cervical necrotizing fasciitis and descending mediastinitis

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Collaboration interface in Smart Metering Scheme

Theme: Towards a safe, reliable, sustainable intelligent power systemPaper no. I9FP0475Smart meter provides intelligence to serve demand side management. The development of electrical-load-signature technology provides an effective base to enable condition-based monitoring and energy-collaboration management among stakeholders. In a smart metering scheme, the three direct contributors are supplier, estate manager and consumer. Affiliated members are appliance manufacturers and sustainability managers. It is perceived that when a platform can be developed to permit members sharing information, trading benefits, and recommending energy plans. The development of a collaboration interface is to assist the principal members in supporting each other as neighboring aide in these activities. This paper discusses on philosophies and models that shall develop the concepts; and shares the development of this interface.postprintThe 15th International Conference on Electrical Engineering (ICEE 2009), Shenyang, China, 5-9 July 2009

Percutaneous transhepatic cholangioscopy (PTCS) in management of biliary tract stones: preliminary experience in Tung Wah Hospital

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A novel method to construct taxonomy electrical appliances based on load signatures

A load signature is an electrical expression that a load device or appliance distinctly possesses. Load signatures can be applied to produce many useful services and products, such as, determining the energy usage of individual appliances, monitoring the health of critical equipment, monitoring power quality, and developing facility management tools. Load signatures of typical yet extensive loads are needed to be collected before applying them to different services and products. As there are an enormous number of electrical appliances, it is beneficial to classify the appliances for building a well-organized load signature database. The objective of this study is to develop an effective method to classify the loads. A 2-dimensional form of load signatures, voltage-current (V-I) trajectory, is suggested for characterizing the typical household appliances. Hierarchical clustering method was employed to classify the appliances and construct the taxonomy of the appliances. The taxonomy based on V-I trajectory was compared to the taxonomies based on traditional power metrics and eigenvectors in the previous studies. It was found that the groups of appliances in the taxonomy based on V-I trajectory were well-separated and had engineering meanings. © 2007 IEEE.published_or_final_versio