Software de gestão pedagógica e administrativa para as escolas

Trabalho de Projeto apresentado à Escola Superior de Tecnologia do Instituto Politécnico de Castelo Branco para cumprimento dos requisitos necessários à obtenção do grau de Mestre em Desenvolvimento de Software e Sistemas Interactivos, realizada sob a orientação científica do Professor Doutor José Carlos Metrôlho, do Instituto Politécnico de Castelo Branco.

The road to successful ITS software acquisition: software acquisition process reference guide.

Federal Highway Administration, Arlington, Va.

Identifying and implementing corridor safety improvements: a highway safety improvement process and safety analysis tools for Arizona.

Arizona Department of Transportation, Phoenix

Supporting the software testing process through specification animation

Achieving consistency between a specification and its implementation is an important part of software development. In this paper, we present a method for generating passive test oracles that act as self-checking implementations. The implementation is verified using an animation tool to check that the behavior of the implementation matches the behavior of the specification. We discuss how to integrate this method into a framework developed for systematically animating specifications, which means a tester can significantly reduce testing time and effort by reusing work products from the animation. One such work product is a testgraph: a directed graph that partially models the states and transitions of the specification. Testgraphs are used to generate sequences for animation, and during testing, to execute these same sequences on the implementation.

Inventory parameter management and focused continuous improvement for repetitive batch manufacturers

What this thesis proposes is a methodology to assist repetitive batch manufacturers in the adoption of certain aspects of the Lean Production principles. The methodology concentrates on the reduction of inventory through the setting of appropriate batch sizes, taking account of the effect of sequence dependent set-ups and the identification and elimination of bottlenecks. It uses a simple Pareto and modified EBQ based analysis technique to allocate items to period order day classes based on a combination of each item's annual usage value and set-up cost. The period order day classes the items are allocated to are determined by the constraints limits in the three measured dimensions, capacity, administration and finance. The methodology overcomes the limitations associated with MRP in the area of sequence dependent set-ups, and provides a simple way of setting planning parameters taking this effect into account by concentrating on the reduction of inventory through the systematic identification and elimination of bottlenecks through set-up reduction processes, so allowing batch sizes to reduce. It aims to help traditional repetitive batch manufacturers in a route to continual improvement by: Highlighting those areas where change would bring the greatest benefits. Modelling the effect of proposed changes. Quantifying the benefits that could be gained through implementing the proposed changes. Simplifying the effort required to perform the modelling process. It concentrates on increasing flexibility through managed inventory reduction through rationally decreasing batch sizes, taking account of sequence dependent set-ups and the identification and elimination of bottlenecks. This was achieved through the development of a software modelling tool, and validated through a case study approach.

Linking the witness simulation software to an expert system to represent a decision-making process

Expert systems, and artificial intelligence more generally, can provide a useful means for representing decision-making processes. By linking expert systems software to simulation software an effective means of including these decision-making processes in a simulation model can be achieved. This paper demonstrates how a commercial-off-the-shelf simulation package (Witness) can be linked to an expert systems package (XpertRule) through a Visual Basic interface. The methodology adopted could be used for models, and possibly software, other than those presented here.

A survey of continuous improvement practices in the United Kingdom and Mexico

With the advent of globalisation companies all around the world must improve their performance in order to survive. The threats are coming from everywhere, and in different ways, such as low cost products, high quality products, new technologies, and new products. Different companies in different countries are using various techniques and using quality criteria items to strive for excellence. Continuous improvement techniques are used to enable companies to improve their operations. Therefore, companies are using techniques such as TQM, Kaizen, Six-Sigma, Lean Manufacturing, and quality award criteria items such as Customer Focus, Human Resources, Information & Analysis, and Process Management. The purpose of this paper is to compare the use of these techniques and criteria items in two countries, Mexico and the United Kingdom, which differ in culture and industrial structure. In terms of the use of continuous improvement tools and techniques, Mexico formally started to deal with continuous improvement by creating its National Quality Award soon after the Americans began the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. The United Kingdom formally started by using the European Quality Award (EQA), modified and renamed as the EFQM Excellence Model. The methodology used in this study was to undertake a literature review of the subject matter and to study some general applications around the world. A questionnaire survey was then designed and a survey undertaken based on the same scale, about the same sample size, and the about the same industrial sector within the two countries. The survey presents a brief definition of each of the constructs to facilitate understanding of the questions. The analysis of the data was then conducted with the assistance of a statistical software package. The survey results indicate both similarities and differences in the strengths and weaknesses of the companies in the two countries. One outcome of the analysis is that it enables the companies to use the results to benchmark themselves and thus act to reinforce their strengths and to reduce their weaknesses.

Process integration and improvement using systemic diagrams and a human-centred approach

If product cycle time reduction is the mission, and the multifunctional team is the means of achieving the mission, what then is the modus operandi by which this means is to accomplish its mission? This paper asserts that a preferred modus operandi for the multifunctional team is to adopt a process-oriented view of the manufacturing enterprise, and for this it needs the medium of a process map [16] The substance of this paper is a methodology which enables the creation of such maps Specific examples of process models drawn from the product develop ment life cycle are presented and described in order to support the methodology's integrity and value The specific deliverables we have so far obtained are a methodology for process capture and analysis, a collection of process models spanning the product development cycle, and, an engineering handbook which hosts these models and presents a computer-based means of navigating through these processes in order to allow users a better understanding of the nature of the business, their role in it, and why the job that they do benefits the work of the company We assert that this kind of thinking is the essence of concurrent engineering implementation, and further that the systemigram process models uniquely stim ulate and organise such thinking.

Improvement of bio-oil stability in wood pyrolysis process

Pyrolysis is one of several thermochemical technologies that convert solid biomass into more useful and valuable bio-fuels. Pyrolysis is thermal degradation in the complete or partial absence of oxygen. Under carefully controlled conditions, solid biomass can be converted to a liquid known as bie-oil in 75% yield on dry feed. Bio-oil can be used as a fuel but has the drawback of having a high level of oxygen due to the presence of a complex mixture of molecular fragments of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin polymers. Also, bio-oil has a number of problems in use including high initial viscosity, instability resulting in increased viscosity or phase separation and high solids content. Much effort has been spent on upgrading bio-oil into a more usable liquid fuel, either by modifying the liquid or by major chemical and catalytic conversion to hydrocarbons. The overall primary objective was to improve oil stability by exploring different ways. The first was to detennine the effect of feed moisture content on bio-oil stability. The second method was to try to improve bio-oil stability by partially oxygenated pyrolysis. The third one was to improve stability by co-pyrolysis with methanol. The project was carried out on an existing laboratory pyrolysis reactor system, which works well with this project without redesign or modification too much. During the finishing stages of this project, it was found that the temperature of the condenser in the product collection system had a marked impact on pyrolysis liquid stability. This was discussed in this work and further recommendation given. The quantity of water coming from the feedstock and the pyrolysis reaction is important to liquid stability. In the present work the feedstock moisture content was varied and pyrolysis experiments were carried out over a range of temperatures. The quality of the bio-oil produced was measured as water content, initial viscosity and stability. The result showed that moderate (7.3-12.8 % moisture) feedstock moisture led to more stable bio-oil. One of drawbacks of bio-oil was its instability due to containing unstable oxygenated chemicals. Catalytic hydrotreatment of the oil and zeolite cracking of pyrolysis vapour were discllssed by many researchers, the processes were intended to eliminate oxygen in the bio-oil. In this work an alternative way oxygenated pyrolysis was introduced in order to reduce oil instability, which was intended to oxidise unstable oxygenated chemicals in the bio-oil. The results showed that liquid stability was improved by oxygen addition during the pyrolysis of beech wood at an optimum air factor of about 0.09-0.15. Methanol as a postproduction additive to bio-oil has been studied by many researchers and the most effective result came from adding methanol to oil just after production. Co-pyrolysis of spruce wood with methanol was undertaken in the present work and it was found that methanol improved liquid stability as a co-pyrolysis solvent but was no more effective than when used as a postproduction additive.

Introduction to performance improvement management software (PIM-DEA)

This chapter provides information on the use of Performance Improvement Management Software (PIMDEA). This advanced DEA software enables users to make the best possible analysis of the data, using the latest theoretical developments in Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). PIM-DEA software gives full capacity to assess efficiency and productivity, set targets, identify benchmarks, and much more, allowing users to truly manage the performance of organizational units. PIM-DEA is easy to use and powerful, and it has an extensive range of the most up-to-date DEA models and which can handle large sets of data.

The RAGE Software Asset Model and Metadata Model

Software assets are key output of the RAGE project and they can be used by applied game developers to enhance the pedagogical and educational value of their games. These software assets cover a broad spectrum of functionalities – from player analytics including emotion detection to intelligent adaptation and social gamification. In order to facilitate integration and interoperability, all of these assets adhere to a common model, which describes their properties through a set of metadata. In this paper the RAGE asset model and asset metadata model is presented, capturing the detail of assets and their potential usage within three distinct dimensions – technological, gaming and pedagogical. The paper highlights key issues and challenges in constructing the RAGE asset and asset metadata model and details the process and design of a flexible metadata editor that facilitates both adaptation and improvement of the asset metadata model.