The impact of vertical integration of design teams on the chemical engineering program

Author(s):  
S. Spickard-Prettyman ◽  
H. Qammar ◽  
F. Broadway ◽  
H.M. Cheung ◽  
E. Evans
2018 ◽  
Vol 69 (6) ◽  
pp. 1303-1308 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuel Alexandru Gitea ◽  
Simona Bungau ◽  
Daniela Gitea ◽  
Lavinia Purza ◽  
Sebastian Nemeth ◽  
...  

Chemistry in agriculture has been considered for several decades a formula synonymous with progress and development, as chemical engineering, mechanization, irrigation, modern agro-technical processes have contributed to a substantial increase in production. At present, the use of pesticides to increase agricultural productivity is considered to be a global hazard to the environment. This study examines changes in tree tolerance for major diseases and pests, disease and pest behavior, and the changes that occur in the recommended pesticide treatment. The researches were carried out on different species of fruit trees (apple, plum, and almond), cultivated in an intensive system, in five orchards located in Bihor county. The behavior of each species, as well as the behavior of different varieties with respect to tolerance to major diseases and pests, have been observed over the last 5 years (2013-2017). In addition, pesticide residues were monitored from all crops of apple, plum and almond. During 2015-2017, from March to May, the diseases were more virulent, requiring intensive intervention with systemic and contact fungicide combinations to achieve optimal efficiency; this fact has been correlated with the increase in the number of samples containing pesticide residues. This perspective allows an ecological remodeling of current progress in orchard development, including all aspects of environmental protection and the impact on population2 s health.


2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-33
Author(s):  
Fumitoshi Mizutani

Abstract The main purpose of this study is to evaluate factors affecting passenger rail demand, with special attention to the effects of structural reform/regulation and competition. In order to do this, we use data obtained from 30 OECD countries for the 24 years from 1990 to 2013. As structural reform/regulation and competition variables, we take the OECD’s five kinds of regulatory indices: (i) overall, (ii) entry, (iii) public ownership, (iv) vertical integration, and (v) market structure; and for competition variables, we take (vi) rail passenger-freight ratio, (vii) rail share, and (viii) high-speed train ratio. As estimation methods, both the fixed effect model and the Hausman-Taylor estimation model are used. The major findings are as follows. First, competition as competitiveness (i.e. the share of rail, passenger over freight ratio) increases passenger demand. And the existence of high-speed trains increases passenger demand. Second, overall, entry regulation, and market structure have no significant effect on demand. Third, public ownership affects passenger demand positively. Last, vertical integration reduces passenger demand.


Author(s):  
James Righter ◽  
Andy Blanton ◽  
Hallie Stidham ◽  
Doug Chickarello ◽  
Joshua D. Summers

This paper describes exploratory research regarding leadership and communication within undergraduate engineering design teams. The case study was performed on student design projects of one and two semester duration to begin to assess the impact of project length on leadership and communication within the design teams. Data was collected using a survey that was given to the participants in three capstone design projects in Clemson University’s senior design course. The survey was administered within one month of course and project completion. While there were differences in the communication and leadership patterns between the teams, there were other possible influences beyond the project length such as team size and organization, organizational and geographic distribution, and the nature of the product. As a result, further research is proposed to study leadership and communication structures within undergraduate teams and multi-team systems (MTS).


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rahul Priyadarshi ◽  
Srikanta Routroy ◽  
Girish Kant

Purpose The purpose of this study is to analyze the post-harvest supply chain enablers (PHSCEs) for vertical integration to enhance rural employability, farmer profitability and rural produce marketability (i.e. market prospects) in the post-harvest supply chain (PHSC). The impact of vertical integration is also explored for various commercial produces. Design/methodology/approach A structural equation modeling (SEM) of PHSCEs for vertical integration was developed to enhance market prospects, rural employability and farmer profitability. The impact of business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-customer market prospects are explored in various dimensions for stakeholders such as farmers, manufacturers (processors), distributors and retailers. The fuzzy technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution (F-TOPSIS) was used to prioritize these PHSCEs to improve market prospects and rural employability. Findings The PHSCEs are clustered into three groups, namely, initiatives at the strategic frontier, initiatives at the tactical frontier and concerns for rural employability via vertical integration using exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis and SEM to prove the null hypothesis. With F-TOPSIS results, the availability of warehousing was found to be the most crucial enabler when observing the PHSCEs from the initiatives’ perspective. The technology adaptability and availability, institute for training and research and information infrastructure and information visibility were found to be the key PHSCEs when observed from PHSC stakeholders’ perspectives. Research limitations/implications The implementation of this study will improve the rural produce marketability, rural employability, B2B marketing (i.e. effective distribution) and subsequent value chains with the practice of vertical integration for fresh produce at the rural level. Practical implications The outcomes of this study have a key role in developing the rural regions and improving rural livelihoods via value addition. The awareness of commercial cultivation and value addition in rural areas needs to be improved. This will help farmers to earn better revenues with improved market prospects in comparison to the revenues obtained from the cultivation of staple/conventional crops. Originality/value In an era of cold chains and food processing, this study aims to disseminate awareness about value addition for commercial and fresh produces at the rural level. The implication of this study will improve rural produce marketability, rural employability and farmer profitability at the rural level with the level of vertical integration.


Author(s):  
Muhammad Yasir ◽  
Awais Ahmed ◽  
Masood Khan ◽  
Zahoor Iqbal ◽  
Muhammad Azam

The most important and significant research topic in mechanical and industrial engineering is the fluid flow with heat transport by a stretched surface because of the numerous applications. The impact of heat transport on product quality can be noticed in the field of chemical engineering, polymer processing, glass fiber production, hot rolling, metal extrusion, production of paper, and drawing of plastic films and wires. In light of such foregoing applications, an attempt is made to model the thermal and solutal diffusion phenomena in Oldroyd-B nanofluid flow over a stretching cylinder by using Buongiorno's model and Cattaneo-Cristov theory. To explore the heat flow mechanism in the flow, the effects of heat source/sink with ohmic heating are also considered. Additionally, the influence of chemical reactions is used to investigate the solutal transport process in nanofluid flow. The mathematical formulation section of the manuscript depicts the mathematical modeling of momentum, heat, and mass diffusion equations. The effect of dimensionless physical constraints on the flow, temperature, and concentration distributions of Oldroyd-B nanofluid flow are investigated using the homotopy analysis method (HAM) in Wolfram Mathematica. In the results and discussion section, graphical findings are displayed and physically justified. A section of concluding remarks is added at the end of the text to emphasize the study's major findings.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dominique Jaccard ◽  
Laurent Suppan ◽  
Félicia Bielser

BACKGROUND Multidisciplinary collaboration is essential to the successful development of serious games, albeit difficult to achieve. The co.LAB serious game design framework was created to support collaboration within serious game multidisciplinary design teams. Its use has not yet been validated in a naturalistic context. OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to perform a first assessment of the impact of the co.LAB framework on collaboration within multidisciplinary teams during serious game design and development. METHODS This was a mixed-methods study based on two serious game design projects in which the co.LAB framework was used. The first phase was qualitative and carried out using a general inductive approach. To this end, all members of the first serious game project team who used the co.LAB framework were invited to take part in a focus group session (N=6). Results inferred from qualitative data were then used to define a quantitative instrument (questionnaire) which was designed according to the Checklist for Reporting Results of Internet E-Surveys. Members of both project teams (N=11) were then asked to answer the questionnaire. Quantitative results were reported as median [Q1;Q3] and appropriate non-parametric tests used to assess for between group differences. Finally, results gathered through the qualitative and quantitative phases were integrated. RESULTS In both phases, the participation rate was 100%. Verbatim transcripts were classified into 4 high level themes: influence on collaborative dimensions; impact on project course, monitoring and efficiency; qualitative perceptions of the framework; and influence of team composition on the use of the framework. Accordingly, the web-based questionnaire was then developed according to Burhardt's seven dimensions of collaboration. In both projects, the co.LAB framework had a positive impact on most dimensions of collaboration during the multidisciplinary design and development of serious games. When all collaborative dimensions were aggregated, the overall impact of the framework was rated on a scale from "-42" to "+42" (very negative to very positive). The overall score was 23 [20;27], with no significant difference between groups (P=.58). Most respondents also believed that all serious game design teams should include a member possessing a significant expertise in serious game design frameworks to guide the development process. CONCLUSIONS The co.LAB framework has a positive impact on collaboration within serious game development teams. However, expert guidance seems necessary to maximize development efficiency. Whether such guidance can be provided by means of a collaborative web platform remains to be determined.


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