Decisions of technology innovation: the role of indicators

This work presents research conducted to understand the role of indicators in decisions of technology innovation. A gap was detected in the literature of innovation and technology assessment about the use and influence of indicators in this type of decision. It was important to address this gap because indicators are often frequent elements of innovation and technology assessment studies. The research was designed to determine the extent of the use and influence of indicators in decisions of technology innovation, to characterize the role of indicators in these decisions, and to understand how indicators are used in these decisions. The latter involved the test of four possible explanatory factors: the type and phase of decision, and the context and process of construction of evidence. Furthermore, it focused on three Portuguese innovation groups: public researchers, business R&D&I leaders and policymakers. The research used a combination of methods to collect quantitative and qualitative information, such as surveys, case studies and social network analysis. This research concluded that the use of indicators is different from their influence in decisions of technology innovation. In fact, there is a high use of indicators in these decisions, but lower and differentiated differences in their influence in each innovation group. This suggests that political-behavioural methods are also involved in the decisions to different degrees. The main social influences in the decisions came mostly from hierarchies, knowledge-based contacts and users. Furthermore, the research established that indicators played mostly symbolic roles in decisions of policymakers and business R&D&I leaders, although their role with researchers was more differentiated. Indicators were also described as helpful instruments to conduct a reasonable interpretation of data and to balance options in innovation and technology assessments studies, in particular when contextualised, described in detail and with discussion upon the options made. Results suggest that there are four main explanatory factors for the role of indicators in these decisions: First, the type of decision appears to be a factor to consider when explaining the role of indicators. In fact, each type of decision had different influences on the way indicators are used, and each type of decision used different types of indicators. Results for policy-making were particularly different from decisions of acquisition and development of products/technology. Second, the phase of the decision can help to understand the role indicators play in these decisions. Results distinguished between two phases detected in all decisions – before and after the decision – as well as two other phases that can be used to complement the decision process and where indicators can be involved. Third, the context of decision is an important factor to consider when explaining the way indicators are taken into consideration in policy decisions. In fact, the role of indicators can be influenced by the particular context of the decision maker, in which all types of evidence can be selected or downplayed. More importantly, the use of persuasive analytical evidence appears to be related with the dispute existent in the policy context. Fourth and last, the process of construction of evidence is a factor to consider when explaining the way indicators are involved in these decisions. In fact, indicators and other evidence were brought to the decision processes according to their availability and capacity to support the different arguments and interests of the actors and stakeholders. In one case, an indicator lost much persuasion strength with the controversies that it went through during the decision process. Therefore, it can be argued that the use of indicators is high but not very influential; their role is mostly symbolic to policymakers and business decisions, but varies among researchers. The role of indicators in these decisions depends on the type and phase of the decision and the context and process of construction of evidence. The latter two are related to the particular context of each decision maker, the existence of elements of dispute and controversies that influence the way indicators are introduced in the decision-making process.

International partner selection Indian technical textile market

Due to a combination of a vast agricultural industry and a tremendously growing technical textile industry, Ludvig Svensson identified India as target market for possible expansion through domestic production and supply. However, Svensson needed additional information about the industry structure and key players. Therefore, this project focused on a detailed analysis of the technical textile market and its players by following the international partner selection process. Thereby, five key players were identified as potential partners, as well as the need for additional research to determine alternative entry modes, as the market does not currently seem to be receptive for Svensson products.

Fuel switching

The present Master dissertation is a project whose main objective is to identify value creation opportunities through fuel switching in the Portuguese industry, services, agriculture and fishing sectors. Fuel switching opportunities are characterized by type of fuel transition, type of technology transition, economy subsectors prone to have fuel switching and value created through fuel shift. Results suggest tomato concentrate, dairy, beer manufacturing and sugar refining subsectors is where prevalence of fuel oil steam boilers is high, for such cases conversion to natural gas steam boilers should result in operations having a ratio of NPV over CAPEX larger than ten and a payback period just under one year. Results further suggest food, beverages, textile, chemicals and wood subsectors currently operate between ten and twenty cogeneration Diesel engines that can be either modified to operate with natural gas or replaced by new natural gas cogeneration systems. Financial modeling indicates that both options have great value creation potential. The current analysis aims to be used by natural gas suppliers and energy project promoters to identify new potential deals as well as by heavy energy consumers to mitigate their energy related costs.

Production of mexican brown macroalgae fucoidan and fucosidases under an integral green technology bioproceses by the biorefinery concept

Marine ecosystem can be considered a rather exploited source of natural substances with enormous bioactive potential. In Mexico macro-algae study remain forgotten for research and economic purposes besides the high amount of this resource along the west and east coast. For that reason the Bioferinery Group of the Autonomous University of Coahuila, have been studying the biorefinery concept in order to recover high value byproducts of Mexican brown macro-algae including polysaccharides and enzymes to be applied in food, pharmaceutical and energy industry. Brown macroalgae are an important source of fucoidan, alginate and laminarin which comprise a complex group of macromolecules with a wide range of important biological properties such as anticoagulant, antioxidant, antitumoral and antiviral and also as rich source of fermentable sugars for enzymes production. Additionally, specific enzymes able to degrade algae matrix (fucosidases, sulfatases, aliginases, etc) are important tools to establish structural characteristics and biological functions of these polysaccharides. The aims of the present work were the integral study of bioprocess for macroalgae biomass exploitation by the use of green technologies as hydrothermal extraction and solid state fermentation in order to produce polysaccharides and enzymes (fucoidan and fucoidan hydrolytic enzymes). This work comprises the use of the different bioprocess phases in order to produce high value products with lower time and wastes.

Evaluation of the performance of recycled textile fibres in the mechanical behaviour of a gypsum and cork composite material

Given the need for using more sustainable constructive solutions, an innovative composite material based on a combination of distinct industrial by-products is proposed aiming to reduce waste and energy consumption in the production of construction materials. The raw materials are thermal activated flue-gas desulphurization (FGD) gypsum, which acts as a binder, granulated cork as the aggregate and recycled textile fibres from used tyres intended to reinforce the material. This paper presents the results of the design of the composite mortar mixes, the characterization of the key physical properties (density, porosity and ultrasonic pulse velocity) and the mechanical validation based on uniaxial compressive tests and fracture energy tests. In the experimental campaign, the influence of the percentage of the raw materials in terms of gypsum mass, on the mechanical properties of the composite material was assessed. It was observed that the percentage of granulated cork decreases the compressive strength of the composite material but contributes to the increase in the compressive fracture energy. Besides, the recycled textile fibres play an important role in the mode I fracture process and in the fracture energy of the composite material, resulting in a considerable increase in the mode I fracture energy.

A study on the performance of technology transfer units

Universities are increasingly institutionalizing activities related to technology transfer and one of the main institutional mechanisms that has emerged is the “technology transfer unit” (TTU). Many of them are focusing their activities on the management of the university intellectual property. Studies have investigated factors that seem to affect their performance, but few have looked in detail at internal procedures and techniques that are used in their processes related to technology evaluation and licensing. The aim of this paper is to provide a comprehensive overview of some of the several steps that comprises the processes regarding technology evaluation and licensing, providing an analysis of the critical issues that affect each step of the process. A review of the literature was made, complemented with interviews to seven university TTUs, which was used as a check and a complement to the literature review and as way of perceiving from an insider perspective, the problems and issues that this paper wants to emphasize and to state clearly.

Step towards of a homemade business intelligence solution: A case study in textile industry

Nowadays, organizations are increasingly looking to invest in business intelligence solutions, mainly private companies in order to get advantage over its competitors, however they do not know what is necessary. Business intelligence allows an analysis of consolidated information in order to obtain more specific outlets and certain indications in order to support the decision making process. You can take the right decision based on the data collected from different information systems present in the organization and outside of them. The textile sector is a sector where concept of Business Intelligence it is not many explored yet. Actually there are few textile companies that have a BI platform. Thus, the article objective is present an architecture and show all the steps by which companies need to spend to implement a successful free homemade Business Intelligence system. As result the proposed approach it was validated using real data aiming assess the steps defined.

Antibacterial activity of textiles for wound treatment

Major advances in the development and use of antimicrobial textiles to control bacterial proliferation on wound beds continue. However, wound dressings are, in general, not included in standardized regimens for measuring and monitoring their antimicrobial effectiveness. This work adapts these methods to assess the antibacterial activity of textiles designed for wound healing purposes. Environmental conditions representative of those present at the wound site (i.e., moisture levels, infection, and available nutrients) were evaluated. This work shows that moisture levels were the environmental factor that had the greatest influence on the antimicrobial agent activities tested. These results suggest that it is possible to use the more representative environmental conditions present on the wound bed for in vitro screening of textile antimicrobial activity.

Desenvolvimento de estruturas fibrosas com comportamento auxético

Tese de Doutoramento Engenharia Têxtil

Microstructure and mechanical properties of carbon nanotube reinforced cementitious composites developed using a novel dispersion technique

The authors also acknowledge Centre for Textile Science and Technology (University of Minho) and FIBRENAMICS PLATFORMfor providing required conditions for this research. Sincere thanks are also due to Mr. Pedro Samuel Leite and Mr. Carlos Jesus for their kind help in sample preparation and testing.

Inkjet printing technology for flexible pressure sensors

Tese de Doutoramento Ciência e Engenharia de Polímeros e Compósitos.

Towards high performance and multi-functional structural membranes using advanced fibrous and textile materials

Scientific and technological advancements in the area of fibrous and textile materials have greatly enhanced their application potential in several high-end technical and industrial sectors including construction, transportation, medical, sports, aerospace engineering, electronics and so on. Excellent performance accompanied by light-weight, mechanical flexibility, tailor-ability, design flexibility, easy fabrication and relatively lower cost are the driving forces towards wide applications of these materials. Cost-effective fabrication of various advanced and functional materials for structural parts, medical devices, sensors, energy harvesting devices, capacitors, batteries, and many others has been possible using fibrous and textile materials. Structural membranes are one of the innovative applications of textile structures and these novel building skins are becoming very popular due to flexible design aesthetics, durability, lightweight and cost benefits. Current demand on high performance and multi-functional materials in structural applications has motivated to go beyond the basic textile structures used for structural membranes and to use innovative textile materials. Structural membranes with self-cleaning, thermoregulation and energy harvesting capability (using solar cells) are examples of such recently developed multi-functional membranes. Besides these, there exist enormous opportunities to develop wide varieties of multi-functional membranes using functional textile materials. Additionally, it is also possible to further enhance the performance and functionalities of structural membranes using advanced fibrous architectures such as 2D, 3D, hybrid, multi-layer and so on. In this context, the present paper gives an overview of various advanced and functional fibrous and textile materials which have enormous application potential in structural membranes.

Re-Design of ribbon for new applications

O conceito de qualidade de vida surge pela primeira vez em 1920, através do economista inglês Arthur Cecil Pigou, que utiliza este termo para descrever o impacto governamental sobre a vida das pessoas mais desfavorecidas. Com a instalação de uma era industrializada e com o fim da 2º Guerra Mundial, a sociedade mudou de paradigma e iniciou uma procura incessante de formas para melhorar a sua qualidade de vida. Este conceito desenvolve-se juntamente com o desenvolvimento do conceito de educação, saúde, habitação, transporte, trabalho e lazer, bem como indicadores do aumento da esperança de vida, a diminuição da mortalidade infantil e dos níveis de poluição. O avanço da tecnologia teve um papel fundamental para a evolução desses conceitos, bem como o Design na procura de soluções para aplicação dessas mesmas tecnologias. No caso concreto da indústria tèxtil, a tendência é o desenvolvimento de têxteis inteligentes envolvendo a engenharia electrónica no seu processo de conceptualização e de fabrico. A chamada tecnologia wearable abre novos horizontes para a criação de soluções inovadoras, abrindo novos nichos de mercado com elevado valor acrescentado. Existem atualmente vários produtos no mercado cuja funcionalidade e utilidade lhes conferiu um estatuto imutável ao longo dos anos, onde a evolução não avançou na tendência atual. Esse é o caso dos tecidos estreitos, cuja funcionalidade poderá adquirir novas capacidades e ser utilizada em diferentes componentes têxteis nas mais variadas áreas. Essas capacidades poderão ser acrescentadas pela incorporação de materiais com luminosidade (Led’s e L-Wire) nas suas estruturas. Neste estudo realizado o design de produtos com novas funcionalidades, adaptando as tecnologias até agora desenvolvidas em novas soluções e/ou novas recriações de produto.

Promoting independent living and recreation in life through ambient assisted living technology

The increase in life expectancy with a decrease in birth rates is contributing to the ageing of the European population. This phenomenon, coupled with greater awareness of the quality of life, the need to have cost-efficient assistive care, the intention of people to live independently in their homes, and the technological developments in recent decades, have contributed to the emergence of the concept of ambient assisted living (AAL). AAL solutions aim to provide healthy and safe ageing to users through promoting independence in performing daily activities and interacting with technology, taking into consideration the deterioration of the users’ capabilities and the reduced costs of the solutions. In this chapter, AAL developments of monitoring activities of daily living (ADLs) and participation in a virtual community with the selected stakeholders are introduced, their roadmap with the expected technological developments are described, and the expected impact of these solutions on the end users of the developed solutions are discussed. This enables a real user guidance structure that represents the different needs and limitations of each user, presenting a highly structured project based on personas and possible solutions for them. The AAL4ALL Ambient Assisted Living for All (ALL4ALL) project is considered here as a case study to analyze and illustrate the ALL concepts discussed in this chapter.

Review of robotic technology for keyhole transcranial stereotactic neurosurgery

The research of stereotactic apparatus to guide surgical devices began in 1908, yet a major part of today's stereotactic neurosurgeries still rely on stereotactic frames developed almost half a century ago. Robots excel at handling spatial information, and are, thus, obvious candidates in the guidance of instrumentation along precisely planned trajectories. In this review, we introduce the concept of stereotaxy and describe a standard stereotactic neurosurgery. Neurosurgeons' expectations and demands regarding the role of robots as assistive tools are also addressed. We list the most successful robotic systems developed specifically for or capable of executing stereotactic neurosurgery. A critical review is presented for each robotic system, emphasizing the differences between them and detailing positive features and drawbacks. An analysis of the listed robotic system features is also undertaken, in the context of robotic application in stereotactic neurosurgery. Finally, we discuss the current perspective, and future directions of a robotic technology in this field. All robotic systems follow a very similar and structured workflow despite the technical differences that set them apart. No system unequivocally stands out as an absolute best. The trend of technological progress is pointing toward the development of miniaturized cost-effective solutions with more intuitive interfaces.