Technology strategy for re-engineering design and construction

Automation technology can provide construction firms with a number of competitive advantages. Technology strategy guides a firm's approach to all technology, including automation. Engineering management educators, researchers, and construction industry professionals need improved understanding of how technology affects results, and how to better target investments to improve competitive performance. A more formal approach to the concept of technology strategy can benefit the construction manager in his efforts to remain competitive in increasingly hostile markets. This paper recommends consideration of five specific dimensions of technology strategy within the overall parameters of market conditions, firm capabilities and goals, and stage of technology evolution. Examples of the application of this framework in the formulation of technology strategy are provided for CAD applications, co-ordinated positioning technology and advanced falsework and formwork mechanisation to support construction field operations. Results from this continuing line of research can assist managers in making complex and difficult decisions regarding reengineering construction processes in using new construction technology and benefit future researchers by providing new tools for analysis. Through managing technology to best suit the existing capabilities of their firm, and addressing the market forces, engineering managers can better face the increasingly competitive environment in which they operate.

Design and implementation of the Exercise for Health trial – a pragmatic exercise intervention for women with breast cancer

Background Exercise for Health was a pragmatic, randomised, controlled trial comparing the effect of an eight-month exercise intervention on function, treatment-related side effects and quality of life following breast cancer, compared with usual care. The intervention commenced six weeks post-surgery, and two modes of delivering the same intervention was compared with usual care. The purpose of this paper is to describe the study design, along with outcomes related to recruitment, retention and representativeness, and intervention participation. Methods: Women newly diagnosed with breast cancer and residing in a major metropolitan city of Queensland, Australia, were eligible to participate. Consenting women were randomised to a face-to-face-delivered exercise group (FtF, n=67), telephone-delivered exercise group (Tel, n=67) or usual care group (UC, n=60) and were assessed pre-intervention (5-weeks post-surgery), mid-intervention (6 months post-surgery) and 10 weeks post-intervention (12 months post-surgery). Each intervention arm entailed 16 sessions with an Exercise Physiologist. Results: Of 318 potentially eligible women, 63% (n=200) agreed to participate, with a 12-month retention rate of 93%. Participants were similar to the Queensland breast cancer population with respect to disease characteristics, and the randomisation procedure was mostly successful at attaining group balance, with the few minor imbalances observed unlikely to influence intervention effects given balance in other related characteristics. Median participation was 14 (min, max: 0, 16) and 13 (min, max: 3, 16) intervention sessions for the FtF and Tel, respectively, with 68% of those in Tel and 82% in FtF participating in at least 75% of sessions. Discussion: Participation in both intervention arms during and following treatment for breast cancer was feasible and acceptable to women. Future work, designed to inform translation into practice, will evaluate the quality of life, clinical, psychosocial and behavioural outcomes associated with each mode of delivery.

Shear strength and design of LiteSteel beams

This paper presents the details of a parametric study based on finite element analyses (FEA) and development of design rules for the shear strength of a recently developed, cold-formed steel channel beam known as LiteSteel Beam (LSB). The LSB sections are commonly used as flexural members in residential, in-dustrial and commercial buildings. In order to ensure safe and efficient designs of LSBs, many research stu-dies have been undertaken on the flexural behaviour of LSBs. However, no research has been undertaken on the shear behaviour of LSBs. Therefore a detailed investigation including both numerical and experimental studies was undertaken to investigate the shear behaviour of LSBs. Both the experimental and FEA parametric study results showed that the current design rules in cold-formed steel design codes are very conservative for the shear design of LSBs. New shear strength equations for LSBs were proposed based on the experimental and FEA parametric study results.

Show

Script for non-verbal performance. ----- ----- ----- Research Component: Silent Treatment: Creating Non-verbal Performance Works for Children ----- ----- ----- The research field of theatre for young people draws on theories of child development and popular culture. SHOW explored personal and social development, friendship and creative play through the lens of the experience of girls aged 8-12. This project consolidated and refined innovative approaches to creating non-verbal theatre performance, and addressed challenges inherent in the creation of a performance by adults for young audiences. A significant finding of the project was the unanticipated convergence of creative practice and research into child behaviour and development: the congruence of content (Female bullying) and theatrical form (non-verbal performance: “Within the hidden culture of aggression, girls fight with body language and relationships instead of fists and knives. In this world, friendship is a weapon, and the sting of a shout pales in comparison to a day of someone’s silence. There is no gesture more devastating than the back turning away Simmons, Rachel (2002:3) Odd Girl Out: The Hidden Culture Of Aggression In Girls Schwartz Books The creative development and drafting process focussed on negotiating the conceptual design and practical constraints of incorporating diegetic music and video sources into the narrative. The authorial (and production) challenges of creating a script that could facilitate the re-mount a non-verbal work for a company specialising in text-based theatre . ----- ----- ----- Show was commissioned by the Queensland Theatre Company in 2003, toured into Queensland Schools by the Queensland Arts Council and in 2004 was performed at the Sydney Opera House.

Ecological aspects of biosecurity surveillance design for the detection of multiple invasive animal species

Complex surveillance problems are common in biosecurity, such as prioritizing detection among multiple invasive species, specifying risk over a heterogeneous landscape, combining multiple sources of surveillance data, designing for specified power to detect, resource management, and collateral effects on the environment. Moreover, when designing for multiple target species, inherent biological differences among species result in different ecological models underpinning the individual surveillance systems for each. Species are likely to have different habitat requirements, different introduction mechanisms and locations, require different methods of detection, have different levels of detectability, and vary in rates of movement and spread. Often there is a further challenge of a lack of knowledge, literature, or data, for any number of the above problems. Even so, governments and industry need to proceed with surveillance programs which aim to detect incursions in order to meet environmental, social and political requirements. We present an approach taken to meet these challenges in one comprehensive and statistically powerful surveillance design for non-indigenous terrestrial vertebrates on Barrow Island, a high conservation nature reserve off the Western Australian coast. Here, the possibility of incursions is increased due to construction and expanding industry on the island. The design, which includes mammals, amphibians and reptiles, provides a complete surveillance program for most potential terrestrial vertebrate invaders. Individual surveillance systems were developed for various potential invaders, and then integrated into an overall surveillance system which meets the above challenges using a statistical model and expert elicitation. We discuss the ecological basis for the design, the flexibility of the surveillance scheme, how it meets the above challenges, design limitations, and how it can be updated as data are collected as a basis for adaptive management.

Design education online : learning delivery and evaluation

Online learning has been recognised as an effective pedagogical method and tool, and is broadly integrated into various types of teaching and learning strategies in higher education. In practice, the use of Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) in higher education has become an integral strategy for quality education. The field of design education however has not been researched extensively in regard to online learning, delivery and evaluation. This paper discusses design education from an online learning perspective. It proposes an integrated framework with three key components for online learning via VLE including an interactive delivery structure, communication channels, and learning evaluation. Additionally, the paper describes and evaluates how VLE sites for two design units were built based on an integrated framework and student learning experiences. The results indicate that online design education should be integrated with various educational values and functional features in a systematic manner, and requires designing learning evaluation protocols as part of learning activities and communicative forms within online-based learning sites.

House as home : emotions centred design for disability

In this paper we highlight how current approaches to design for disability have failed to consider the emotional needs not only of those with disabilities but their families and other carers as well. In conjunction with this, we demonstrate through a review of literature the significance of the house, the home and home in the support and growth of the person as a whole in association with their loved ones, and the potential inequity that arises when the emotional and holistic dimensions of 'being' are neglected. With a growing trend nationally and internationally away from group and shared housing, a greater focus on the family and their home is required. However, as research has shown, home for families where a family member has a disability is not necessarily a positive experience; it can be a source of stress, work, conflict and burden, arousing emotions ranging from loss of control through guilt. As proposed in the paper, consideration of the negative as well as positive emotions demands exploration of the 'middle ground' between institutions and home-based care models. This paper outlines the beginning of one such exploration.

Arts-based research in design education

There is an urgent need in terms of changing world conditions to move beyond the dualist paradigm that has traditionally informed design research, education and practice. Rather than attempt to reduce uncertainty, novelty and complexity as is the conventional approach, an argument is presented in this article that seeks to exploit these qualities through a reconceptualisation of design in creative as well as systematic, rigorous and ethical terms. Arts-based research, which 'brings together the systematic and rigorous qualities of inquiry with the creative and imaginative qualities of the arts', is presented as being central to this reconceptualisation. This is exemplified in the application of art-informed inquiry in a research unit for graduating tertiary-level interior design students. The application is described in this article and is shown to rely substantially on the image and its capacity to open up and reveal new possibilities and meaning.

Inclusive universal design practice and activism : a case study

This paper reports on a unique approach to inclusive practice that responds to several critical issues highlighted in the first Universal Design (UD) Conference in Yokohama as well as in more recent literature on universal design. The approach, as explained in the paper, involves a not-for-profit community organization, university researchers, and a design action group comprising practitioners from across the design disciplines, together with other specialist consultants, developing a voluntary capacity an independent housing model for people with disabilities and their families or caretakers. With a focus on relationships and "a system that places human beings at the centre in all respects", this paper presents the approach and the ermerging theoretical framework which addresses three issues that afacan and Erbug (2009) propose hinder the integration of universal design with design practice, namely: theory-practice inconsistency involving the lack of flow-on of universal design awareness into design practice; a way of thinking that exhibits very little empathy with and understanding of the requirements of diverse users; and poorly implemented and coordinated collaboration and communication involving designers and other professionals (pp. 731 - 732).

Design for inspiration : children, personal connections and educational technology

The project is working towards building an understanding of the personal interests and experiences of children with the aim of designing appropriate, usable and, most importantly, inspirational educational technology. kidprobe, an adaptation of the technology probe concept, has been used as a lightweight method of gaining contextual information about children's interactions with 'fun' technology. kidprobe has produced design inspiration which focuses primarily on the social and emotional connections children made. The use of kidprobe has generated some important ideas for improving the use of probes with children. It is an important first step in understanding how to effectively adapt probing techniques to inspire the design of technology for children.

Using developmental theories to inform the design of technology for children

Electronic Blocks are a new programming environment, designed specifically for children aged between three and eight years. As such, the design of the Electronic Block environment is firmly based on principles of developmentally appropriate practices in early childhood education. The Electronic Blocks are physical, stackable blocks that include sensor blocks, action blocks and logic blocks. Evaluation of the Electronic Blocks with both preschool and primary school children shows that the blocks' ease of use and power of engagement have created a compelling tool for the introduction of meaningful technology education in an early childhood setting. The key to the effectiveness of the Electronic Blocks lies in an adherence to theories of development and learning throughout the Electronic Blocks design process.

Comprehensive Australian Study of Entrepreneurial Emergence (CAUSEE): design, data collection and descriptive results

The Comprehensive Australian Study of Entrepreneurial Emergence (CAUSEE) is a research programme that aims to uncover the factors that initiate, hinder and facilitate the process of emergence of new economic activities and organizations. It is widely acknowledged that entrepreneurship is one of the most important forces shaping changes in a country’s economic landscape (Baumol 1968; Birch 1987; Acs 1999). An understanding of the process by which new economic activity and business entities emerge is vital (Gartner 1993; Sarasvathy 2001). An important development in the study of ‘nascent entrepreneurs’ and ‘firms in gestation’ was the Panel Study of Entrepreneurial Dynamics (PSED) (Gartner et al. 2004) and its extensions in Argentina, Canada, Greece, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden. Yet while PSED I is an important first step towards systematically studying new venture emergence, it represents just the beginning of a stream of nascent venture studies – most notably PSED II is currently being undertaken in the US (2005– 10) (Reynolds and Curtin 2008).

A new and efficient intelligent collaboration scheme for fashion design

Technology-mediated collaboration process has been extensively studied for over a decade. Most applications with collaboration concepts reported in the literature focus on enhancing efficiency and effectiveness of the decision-making processes in objective and well-structured workflows. However, relatively few previous studies have investigated the applications of collaboration schemes to problems with subjective and unstructured nature. In this paper, we explore a new intelligent collaboration scheme for fashion design which, by nature, relies heavily on human judgment and creativity. Techniques such as multicriteria decision making, fuzzy logic, and artificial neural network (ANN) models are employed. Industrial data sets are used for the analysis. Our experimental results suggest that the proposed scheme exhibits significant improvement over the traditional method in terms of the time–cost effectiveness, and a company interview with design professionals has confirmed its effectiveness and significance.

Working time alterations within the Australian construction industry

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide a labour process theory interpretation of four case studies within the Australian construction industry. In each case study a working time intervention (a shift to a five-day working week from the industry standard six days) was implemented as an attempt to improve the work-life balance of employees. ----- ----- Design/methodology/approach: This paper was based on four case studies with mixed methods. Each case study has a variety of data collection methods which include questionnaires, short and long interviews, and focus groups. ----- ----- Findings: It was found that the complex mix of wage- and salary-earning staff within the construction industry, along with labour market pressures, means that changing to a five-day working week is quite a radical notion within the industry. However, there are some organisations willing to explore opportunities for change with mixed experiences. ----- ----- Practical implications: The practical implications of this research include understanding the complexity within the Australian construction industry, based around hours of work and pay systems. Decision-makers within the construction industry must recognize a range of competing pressures that mean that “preferred” managerial styles might not be appropriate. ----- ----- Originality/value:– This paper shows that construction firms must take an active approach to reducing the culture of long working hours. This can only be achieved by addressing issues of project timelines and budgets and assuring that take-home pay is not reliant on long hours of overtime.

Expression pattern of Oct-4, Sox2, and c-Myc in the primary culture of human dental pulp derived cells

Dental pulp cells (DPCs) have shown promising potential in dental tissue repair and regeneration. However, during in vitro culture, these cells undergo replicative senescence and result in significant alteration in cell proliferation and differentiation. Recently, the transcription factors of Oct-4, Sox2, c-Myc, and Klf4 have been reported to play a regulatory role in the stem cell self-renewal process, namely cell reprogramming. Therefore, it is interesting to know whether the replicative senescence during the culture of dental pulp cells is related to the diminishing of the expression of these transcription factors. In this study, we investigated the expression of the reprogramming markers Oct-4, Sox2, and c-Myc in the in vitro explant cultured dental pulp tissues and explant cultured dental pulp cells (DPCs) at various passages by immunofluorescence staining and real-time polymerase chain reaction analysis. Our results demonstrated that Oct-4, Sox2, and c-Myc translocated from nucleus in the first 2 passages to cytoplasm after the third passage in explant cultured DPCs. The mRNA expression of Oct-4, Sox2, and c-Myc elevated significantly over the first 2 passages, peaked at second passage (P < .05), and then decreased along the number of passages afterwards (P < .05). For the first time we demonstrated that the expression of reprogramming markers Oct-4, Sox2, and c-Myc was detectable in the early passaged DPCs, and the sequential loss of these markers in the nucleus during DPC cultures might be related to the cell fate of dental pulp derived cells during the long-term in vitro cultivation under current culture conditions.