From Process to Product: An Analysis of Seattle's Design Review Program

Thesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2016-06

Consequences of incorrect sampling procedures in resonance-based radar target identification

Radar target identification based on complex natural resonances is sometimes achieved by convolving a linear time-domain filter with a received target signature. The filter is constructed from measured or pre-calculated target resonances. The performance of the target identification procedure is degraded if the difference between the sampling rates of the target signature and the filter is ignored. The problem is investigated for the natural extinction pulse technique (E-pulse) for the case of identifying stick models of aircraft.

Sensitivity of marine-reserve design to the spatial resolution of socioeconomic data

Socioeconomic considerations should have an important place in reserve design, Systematic reserve-selection tools allow simultaneous optimization for ecological objectives while minimizing costs but are seldom used to incorporate socioeconomic costs in the reserve-design process. The sensitivity of this process to biodiversity data resolution has been studied widely but the issue of socioeconomic data resolution has not previously been considered. We therefore designed marine reserves for biodiversity conservation with the constraint of minimizing commercial fishing revenue losses and investigated how economic data resolution affected the results. Incorporating coarse-resolution economic data from official statistics generated reserves that were only marginally less costly to the fishery than those designed with no attempt to minimize economic impacts. An intensive survey yielded fine-resolution data that, when incorporated in the design process, substantially reduced predicted fishery losses. Such an approach could help minimize fisher displacement because the least profitable grounds are selected for the reserve. Other work has shown that low-resolution biodiversity data can lead to underestimation of the conservation value of some sites, and a risk of overlooking the most valuable areas, and we have similarly shown that low-resolution economic data can cause underestimation of the profitability of some sites and a risk of inadvertently including these in the reserve. Detailed socioeconomic data are therefore an essential input for the design of cost-effective reserve networks.

The design and piloting of an eBusiness design studio

This paper describes the establishment and early use of an eBusiness Design Studio in Aston Business School at Aston University which is located in Birmingham in the UK. It was originally conceived as an R&D aid as much as a teaching resource. However the bulk of its use to date has been in the support of Masters level modules (courses) and this description will focus on that application in the first instance. We have less experience of its use in an R&D context but we will make some preliminary comments on this in a later section.

Design determines 70% of cost? A review of implications for design evaluation

This paper disputes the fact that product design determines 70% of costs and the implications that follow for design evaluation tools. Using the idea of decision chains, it is argued that such tools need to consider more of the downstream business activities and should take into account the current and future state of the business rather than some idealized view of it. To illustrate the argument, a series of experiments using an enterprise simulator are described that show the benefit from the application of a more holistic 'design for' technique. Design For the Existing Environment.

Solids mixing and segregation in a gas spout-fluid bed-effect of the distributor design

This work is concerned with the assessment of a newer version of the spout-fluid bed where the gas is supplied from a common plenum and the distributor controls the operational phenomenon. Thus the main body of the work deals with the effect of the distributor design on the mixing and segregation of solids in a spout-filled bed. The effect of distributor design in the conventional fluidised bed and of variation of the gas inlet diameter in a spouted bed were also briefly investigated for purpose of comparison. Large particles were selected for study because they are becoming increasingly important in industrial fluidised beds but have not been thoroughly investigated. The mean particle diameters of the fraction ranged from 550 to 2400 mm, and their specific gravity from 0.97 to 2.45. Only work carried out with binary systems is reported here. The effect of air velocity, particle properties, bed height, the relative amount of jetsam and flotsam and initial conditions on the steady-state concentration profiles were assessed with selected distributors. The work is divided into three sections. Sections I and II deal with the fluidised bed and spouted bed systems. Section III covers the development of the spout-filled bed and its behaviour with reference to distributor design and it is shown how benefits of both spouting and fluidising phenomena can be exploited. In the fluidisation zone, better mixing is achieved by distributors which produce a large initial bubble diameter. Some common features exist between the behaviour of unidensity jetsam-rich systems and different density flotsam-rich systems. The shape factor does not seem to have an affect as long as it is only restricted to the minor component. However, in the case of the major component, particle shape significantly affects the final results. Studies of aspect ratio showed that there is a maximum (1.5) above which slugging occurs and the effect of the distributor design is nullified. A mixing number was developed for unidensity spherical rich systems, which proved to be extremely useful in quantifying the variation in mixing and segregation with changes in distributor design.

Computer simulation of form-roll design

Changes in modern structural design have created a demand for products which are light but possess high strength. The objective is a reduction in fuel consumption and weight of materials to satisfy both economic and environmental criteria. Cold roll forming has the potential to fulfil this requirement. The bending process is controlled by the shape of the profile machined on the periphery of the rolls. A CNC lathe can machine complicated profiles to a high standard of precision, but the expertise of a numerical control programmer is required. A computer program was developed during this project, using the expert system concept, to calculate tool paths and consequently to expedite the procurement of the machine control tapes whilst removing the need for a skilled programmer. Codifying the expertise of a human and the encapsulation of knowledge within a computer memory, destroys the dependency on highly trained people whose services can be costly, inconsistent and unreliable. A successful cold roll forming operation, where the product is geometrically correct and free from visual defects, is not easy to attain. The geometry of the sheet after travelling through the rolling mill depends on the residual strains generated by the elastic-plastic deformation. Accurate evaluation of the residual strains can provide the basis for predicting the geometry of the section. A study of geometric and material non-linearity, yield criteria, material hardening and stress-strain relationships was undertaken in this research project. The finite element method was chosen to provide a mathematical model of the bending process and, to ensure an efficient manipulation of the large stiffness matrices, the frontal solution was applied. A series of experimental investigations provided data to compare with corresponding values obtained from the theoretical modelling. A computer simulation, capable of predicting that a design will be satisfactory prior to the manufacture of the rolls, would allow effort to be concentrated into devising an optimum design where costs are minimised.

Improved production of industrially relevant recombinant proteins: application of multi-factorial design of experiments and scalable process modelling

The work described in this thesis focuses on the use of a design-of-experiments approach in a multi-well mini-bioreactor to enable the rapid establishments of high yielding production phase conditions in yeast, which is an increasingly popular host system in both academic and industrial laboratories. Using green fluorescent protein secreted from the yeast, Pichia pastoris, a scalable predictive model of protein yield per cell was derived from 13 sets of conditions each with three factors (temperature, pH and dissolved oxygen) at 3 levels and was directly transferable to a 7 L bioreactor. This was in clear contrast to the situation in shake flasks, where the process parameters cannot be tightly controlled. By further optimisating both the accumulation of cell density in batch and improving the fed-batch induction regime, additional yield improvement was found to be additive to the per cell yield of the model. A separate study also demonstrated that improving biomass improved product yield in a second yeast species, Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Investigations of cell wall hydrophobicity in high cell density P. pastoris cultures indicated that cell wall hydrophobin (protein) compositional changes with growth phase becoming more hydrophobic in log growth than in lag or stationary phases. This is possibly due to an increased occurrence of proteins associated with cell division. Finally, the modelling approach was validated in mammalian cells, showing its flexibility and robustness. In summary, the strategy presented in this thesis has the benefit of reducing process development time in recombinant protein production, directly from bench to bioreactor.

Human performance modelling as an aid in the process of manufacturing system design

Manufacturing system design is an ongoing activity within industry. Modelling tools based on Discrete Event Simulation are often used by practitioners during this design cycle. However, such tools do not adequately model the behaviour of 'direct' workers in manufacturing environments. There is an important need to expand the capability of modelling to include the relationships between human centred factors (demography, attitudes, beliefs, etc), their working environment (physical and organizational), and their subsequent performance in terms of productive routines. Therefore, this paper describes research that has formed a pilot modelling methodology that is an important first step in providing such a capability.

The influence of twist drill design on rigidity and chip disposal

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What difference doguidelines make? An observational study of online-questionnaire design guidelines put to practical use

As a new medium for questionnaire delivery, the Internet has the potential to revolutionize the survey process. Online-questionnaires can provide many capabilities not found in traditional paper-based questionnaires. Despite this, and the introduction of a plethora of tools to support online-questionnaire creation, current electronic survey design typically replicates the look-and-feel of paper-based questionnaires, thus failing to harness the full power of the electronic delivery medium. A recent environmental scan of online-questionnaire design tools found that little, if any, support is incorporated within these tools to guide questionnaire designers according to best-practice [Lumsden & Morgan 2005]. This paper briefly introduces a comprehensive set of guidelines for the design of online-questionnaires. Drawn from relevant disparate sources, all the guidelines incorporated within the set are proven in their own right; as an initial assessment of the value of the set of guidelines as a practical reference guide, we undertook an informal study to observe the effect of introducing the guidelines into the design process for a complex online-questionnaire. The paper discusses the qualitative findings — which are encouraging for the role of the guidelines in the ‘bigger picture’ of online survey delivery across many domains such as e-government, e-business, and e-health — of this case study.

Evaluating the Quality of Student Web Design Projects

Иван Шотлеков, Асен Рахнев - В настоящата работа се представя набор от критерии за оценяване на качеството на студентски проекти за уеб дизайн. Критериите са подходящи за разработване, самооценяване, колегиално оценяване и оценка на уеб сайтове, проектирани от студенти. Тази оценъчна скала е апробирана по време на курс “Английски език в информационните технологии”, проведен със студенти от първи курс по информатика във Факултета по математика и информатика на Пловдивски университет “Паисий Хилендарски”. Тя помага на студентите при разработването на мултидисциплинарен проект за уеб дизайн да придобият не само технически умения, свързани с проектирането на качествени уеб сайтове, но и някои процесуални умения, които ще им бъдат необходими в реалната практика.