Proposal of a tiered conceptual framework for sustainable design and planning of large-scale development projects in the metropolitan context

The overwhelming threat posed by climate change means that increasingly, emphasis is being placed on the need to integrate sustainability considerations into all areas of policy making, planning and development. Actors in the built environment are progressively considering environmental and social issues alongside functional and economic aspects of development projects. However, to date in Australia and internationally, there have been few practical examples of integrated applications of sustainability principles in the built environment across design, planning, construction, operation and de-construction phases. Notable initiatives have tended to be narrow in scope, focusing on either mitigation or adaptation strategies. Integrated considerations of impacts from component and building scales to city and regional scales and across physical and socio-economic dimensions are urgently needed, particularly for long-life major infrastructure projects. This paper proposes a conceptual framework based on the principal that early intervention is the most cost-effective and efficient means of implementing effective strategies for mitigation and adaptation. A Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) approach is forwarded as an umbrella analytical framework, assembled from analytical methods which are strategically ‘tiered’ to inform different stages of the planning and decision-making process. Techniques such as Ecological footprint, Life cycle costing and Risk analysis may be applied to integrate sustainable design, construction and planning considerations which address both mitigation and adaptation dimensions, results of each analysis ultimately being collated into the overall SEA. This integrated conceptual framework for sustainable, resilient and cost-effective infrastructure development will in practice be applied to assess selected case-studies of major development projects in Australia, focusing on the area of stadium development. Practically applied and timed accordingly, the framework would allow assessments to be targeted towards appropriate decision making levels and enable better decision-making and more efficient resource allocation for major infrastructure development projects.

User-centered design and evaluation of an interactive visual-haptic-auditory interface : a user study on assembly

Utilizing user-centred system design and evaluation method has become an increasingly important tool to foster better usability in the field of virtual environments (VEs). In recent years, although it is still the norm that designers and developers are concerning the technological advancement and striving for designing impressive multimodal multisensory interfaces, more and more awareness are aroused among the development team that in order to produce usable and useful interfaces, it is essential to have users in mind during design and validate a new design from users' perspective. In this paper, we describe a user study carried out to validate a newly developed haptically enabled virtual training system. By taking consideration of the complexity of individual differences on human performance, adoption and acceptance of haptic and audio-visual I/O devices, we address how well users learn, perform, adapt to and perceive object assembly training. We also explore user experience and interaction with the system, and discuss how multisensory feedback affects user performance, perception and acceptance. At last, we discuss how to better design VEs that enhance users perception, their interaction and motor activity.

Atom probe tomography as a tool to advance steels design and performance

Development of modern steels consisting of complex or nano-scale microstructures with advanced properties requires in-depth understanding of the mechanisms responsible for their microstructure/property relationships. The evolution of microstructure during processing is often associated with various changes taking place at atomic level. These include solute distribution between phases as a result of phase transformations, formation of atmospheres at dislocations, clustering and precipitation phenomena due to various thermo-mechanical processing schedules and/or heat treatments. Atom probe tomography (APT) is invaluable tool for gaining insight into events at atomic scale determining the steel properties. This technique also contributes to the fundamental understanding of phase transformations, which is essential for nano-scale engineering of modern steels and optimization of their performance. In this work application of APT to study solute segregation, clustering and precipitation in TRIP steels and nanostructured bainitic steels after isothermal heat-treatment and after thermomechanical processing will be discussed.

Gaussian vault geometry : integrated approach in design and fabrication of physical prototypes

This paper reports the second part of a study on the digital design and fabrication of scaled architectural prototypes. The first paper reported techniques in the realization of a double curved vault surface, the Gaussian Vault. The aims of the research here further extend this body of knowledge to a better understanding of constructible components. It addresses the problem of fabricating complex curved forms through the integration of the basic building elements, skin and structure, to achieve a scaled physical prototype. The focus of the experimentation is to investigate the process from which a digital surface form is conceived, to its preparation for fabrication and eventual construction in the fashion of a scaled model or workable prototype.

On the edge of the desert : design and planning for Roxby Downs

The design and planning of settlements in arid Australia has long been wrought with difficulties because they are positioned in the extremes of environmental and social contexts. Historically many mining-related settlements in Western Australia (WA), South Australia (SA), Northern Territory (NT) and Queensland have struggled or failed in realising a quality design and plan, but also to sustain a robust and vibrant community who do not wish to escape to mainstream suburbia or simply operate as a fly-in fly-out employer commuter from this suburbia. Places like Mt Isa, Theodore, Moranbah, Broken Hill, Radium Hill, Leigh Creek, Roxby Downs, Paraburdoo, Shay Gap, Karratha are typical of these circumstances.

This paper reviews the design and planning origins of the villages at Olympic Dam, and critiques the future designs embedded in the Olympic Dam Expansion Environmental Impact Statement [EIS] (2009). These villages consist of Olympic dam village ( a fly-in fly-out dong-go containerised community accommodating some 500 workers) and Roxby Downs (a mixed Adelaide-template suburb with temporary village and caravan park insertions accommodation some 4,500 ‘permanent’ residents and some 200 fly-in fly-out ‘workers’). The scenario presented in the EIS is to demolish the former and establish a new village for some 10,000 workers, and expand Roxby Downs from 4,500 to near 20,000 although whether this later figure will occur is unclear but certainly the infrastructure and facilities have to be increased as well as increasing residential accommodation units).

Design and analysis of a fuzzy controller for a servo system

This paper presents design and simulation investigation of a fuzzy controller and a conventional PID controller for a servo system. First, a servo system is considered and its stability is discussed. Then, a PID controller that is tuned by the Ziegler-Nichols method is formulated for controlling the servo system. To improve the servo system's dynamic response parameters, a fuzzy controller is then proposed for controlling the system. A performance comparison between the fuzzy and the PID controllers are carried out. The results are presented and discussed.

Creative suburbs? How women, design and technology renew Australian suburbs

Australian suburbs have long been subjected to negative stereotyping – as aesthetic wastelands, politically conservative, socially isolated and environmentally rapacious – as the last places you would expect creativity. A critical engagement with this discourse and an examination of older as well as some newer suburbs unsettles these characterizations. A broad definition of ‘creativity’ directs attention to what was occurring in 20th century Australian suburbs – with a creative domestic economy and modernist architecture providing strong counters to their negative portrayal. Further, as a sample of Melbourne’s contemporary master-planned estates will illustrate, at least some of this city’s houses and neighbourhoods are at the leading edge of architectural innovation, community building and environmental sustainability – creatively developing alternatives to the stereotypical suburb.

Design and analysis of a multilayer localized surface plasmon resonance graphene biosensor

This paper describes a multilayer localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) graphene biosensor that includes a layer of graphene sheet on top of the gold layer, and the use of different coupled configuration of a laser beam. The study also investigates the enhancement of the sensitivity and detection accuracy of the biosensor through monitoring biomolecular interactions of biotin-streptavidin with the graphene layer on the gold thin film. Additionally, the role of thin films of gold, silver, copper and aluminum in the performance of the biosensor is separately investigated for monitoring the binding of streptavidin to the biotin groups. The performance of the LSPR graphene biosensor is theoretically and numerically assessed in terms of sensitivity, adsorption efficiency, and detection accuracy under varying conditions, including the thickness of biomolecule layer, number of graphene layers and operating wavelength. Enhanced sensitivity and improved adsorption efficiency are obtained for the LSPR graphene biosensor in comparison with its conventional counterpart; however, detection accuracy under the same resonance condition is reduced by 5.2% with a single graphene sheet. This reduction in detection accuracy (signal to noise ratio) can be compensated for by introducing an additional layer of silica doped B2O3 (sdB2O3) placed under the graphene layer. The role of prism configuration, prism angle and the interface medium (air and water) is also analyzed and it is found that the LSPR graphene biosensor has better sensitivity with triangular prism, higher prism angle, lower operating wavelength and larger number of graphene layers. The approach involves a plot of a reflectivity curve as a function of the incidence angle. The outcomes of this investigation highlight the ideal functioning condition corresponding to the best design parameters.

Data warehouse design and legal visualization – the applicability of H2 for reporting

The steady increase of regulations and its acceleration due to the financial crisis heavily affect the management of regulatory compliance. Regulations, such as Basel III and Solvency II particularly impact data warehouses and lead to many organizational and technical changes. From an IS perspective modeling techniques for data warehouse requirement elicitation help to manage conceptual requirements. From a legal perspective attempts to visualize regulatory requirements – so called legal visualization approaches – have been developed. This paper investigates whether a conceptual modeling technique for regulatory-driven data warehouse requirements is applicable for representing data warehouse requirements in a legal environment. Applying the modeling technique H2 for Reporting in three extensive modeling projects provides three contributions. First, evidence for the applicability of a modeling technique for regulatory-driven data warehouse requirements is given. Second, lessons learned for further modeling projects are provided. Third, a discussion towards a combined perspective of information modeling and legal visualization is presented.