scholarly journals Overview of the Characteristics of the Modular Industry and Barriers to its Increased Market Share

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 30-53
Author(s):  
Tarek Salama ◽  
Osama Moselhi ◽  
Mohamed Al-Hussein

Modular and offsite construction approaches reduce project duration and cost by synchronizing offsite and onsite work. Project activities are undertaken in a controlled offsite facility to minimize the effects of inclement weather and site disruptions, while meeting safety and quality requirements. To study the characteristics of modular and offsite construction, questionnaires have been conducted during the last decade by many organizations, including the Modular Building Institute (MBI), the Buildoffsite campaigning organization in the United Kingdom, the Canadian Manufactured Housing Institute, the National Institute of Building Sciences, McGraw-Hill Construction, and the Fails Management Institute. This paper introduces comprehensive analysis of the results of a questionnaire survey carried out in collaboration between members of the Department of Building, Civil & Environmental Engineering at Concordia University, the Modular Building Institute, NRB Inc., and the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering at the University of Alberta. The questionnaire focuses on two issues: (1) the characteristics of the modular and offsite construction industry, and (2) the barriers against increased market share in this industry. For the latter, an effort was made to address a set of five factors identified in a workshop on the topic of challenges and opportunities for modular construction in Canada held in Montréal in 2015 to analyze barriers to growth of modular construction in the Canadian context. Key findings of this survey include requests for use of a separate building code for modular construction design, innovative financing and insurance solutions, standards that consider procurement regulations, and for financial institutions to create lending programs suited for modular construction.

Author(s):  
Tarek Salama ◽  
Osama Moselhi ◽  
Mohamed Al-Hussein

Modular and offsite construction reduces project duration and cost by synchronizing offsite and onsite work. Project activities are constructed in a controlled offsite facility to minimize effects of inclement weather and site disruptions, while meeting safety and quality requirements. In recent years, many organizations have conducted questionnaires to study characteristics of modular and offsite construction, such as the Modular Building Institute (MBI), Buildoffsite campaigning organisation in the UK, Canadian Manufactured Housing Institute (CMHI), National Institute of Building Sciences, McGraw-Hill Construction, and Fails Management Institute (FMI). This paper introduces a summary of results for a new questionnaire carried out in collaboration between the Department of Building, Civil and Environmental Engineering (BCEE) at Concordia University, MBI, Niagara Relocatable Buildings, Inc. (NRB) in Canada, and the Nasseri School of Building Science and Engineering at the University of Alberta. This questionnaire focuses on two issues: (1) the characteristics of the modular and offsite construction industry, and (2) detected barriers to the increased market share of this industry. For the latter, effort was made to address five factors emanated from a workshop on äóěChallenges and opportunities for modular construction in Canadaäóť held in Montreal in October 2015 to analyze barriers to growth of modular construction in Canada. Key findings of this questionnaire include requests for use of a separate code of modular construction design, innovative financing and insurance solutions, standards that consider procurement regulations, and lending institutions that partner with financial houses to create special lending programs for modular construction.


Author(s):  
Mohammad Mehdi Ebadi ◽  
Michele Richards ◽  
Carol Brown ◽  
Samer Adeeb

Growing attention to environmental sustainability, modular construction, and application of new generation of materials, accompanied with advanced data collection techniques and computer modeling, has revolutionized the area of Civil Engineering within the past few years. This demonstrates the necessity of continually reviewing the curriculum to assure that graduating engineers are knowledgeable enough to deal with complex problems in their area of specialty. This is also essential to satisfy the continual improvement process (CIP) requirements mandated by the Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board (CEAB). As a first step to design a rigorous CIP, a comprehensive comparison was made between the Civil Engineering curricula of the University of Alberta (UofA) and eight other major universities across Canada, including the University of Calgary, University of Toronto, McGill University, University of Windsor, University of Regina, University of British Columbia (UBC), University of Waterloo, and Polytechnic of Montreal. After categorizing the courses into twelve different streams, it was observed that some universities paid less attention to a specific stream in comparison with the average, which could be identified as a gap in the curriculum. A capstone design or group design project that is multidisciplinary and covers multiple areas of specialty is the predominant approach followed by most of the universities.


Author(s):  
Samer Adeeb ◽  
Carol Brown ◽  
Norma Nocente

This paper discusses how a blended learning approach was implemented in two courses in the Civil and Environmental Engineering program at the University of Alberta: CivE 398 (Introduction to Continuum Mechanics); and CivE 295 (Civil Engineering Analysis II). During the blend, two approaches were used to convert content to an online format: first was the development of online videos that were used to complement either in-class or laboratory activities. The second approach was the development of an online textbook (https://sameradeeb.srv.ualberta.ca) with interactive examples which replaced a traditional paper textbook. For each approach, the tools that were used along with the associated costs will be presented. Changes to in-class or lab activities will be also be discussed, along with the associated challenges, and perceived advantages of the blended approach, from the instructor perspective. In addition, the preliminary results of student surveys related


Author(s):  
Jennifer Branch-Mueller ◽  
Joanne De Groot

This paper explores the development of the Teacher-Librarianship by Distance Learning Program at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It explores the development of the program from 1997 onwards, discusses the challenges and opportunities of Learning Management Systems, and explores key changes in the program over time. One key change has been the impact of technological changes and advances on teaching and learning. Participatory Culture and Connectivism are explained and the implications for this program are discussed. The authors understandings of teaching and learning in online environments have changed over the past 15 years. Key lessons learned and future plans are also highlighted.


Author(s):  
Tracy Stewart ◽  
Denise Koufogiannakis ◽  
Robert S.A. Hayward ◽  
Ellen Crumley ◽  
Michael E. Moffatt

This paper will report on the establishment of the Centres for Health Evidence (CHE) Demonstration Project in both Edmonton at the University of Alberta and in Winnipeg at the University of Manitoba. The CHE Project brings together a variety of partners to support evidence-based practice using Internet-based desktops on hospital wards. There is a discussion of the CHE's cultural and political experiences. An overview of the research opportunities emanating from the CHE Project is presented as well as some early observations about information usage.


2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lelly Christin

<p>Lately competition becomes really tough, because of that each University has to choose the right strategy in order to increase their market share. Some of the strategies than can be done are by choosing the right communication media for each promotion that the university wants to do. For the reason, this research wants to know which communication media that really attracts students at Bunda Mulia University, Management Major in year 2010/2011. In this research, the writers used incidental sampling. The writers also use questionnaire for gathering the data or information need. To analyze the data, the writes use SPSS ver. 15.0 for windows. The conclusion of this research about the highest percentage to the lowest percentage of the most attractive communication media are television, internet, direct mail, magazines, radio, newspapers, outdor advertising, and the last one is telemarketing. According to result, the highest percentage of an attractive communication media is television, so writer suggest that the best media to do the promotion is television media.</p><p>Keyword :</p><p>Communication media, markeing communication, integrated marketing communication</p>


2000 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 55-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Fettig ◽  
M. Miethe ◽  
K. Rathke

For ten years, the Division of Applied Science, University of Paderborn, has gained experience with a four-year undergraduate environmental engineering programme. Up to now, more than 400 graduates have successfully entered a professional career, proving that the educational concept is accepted by the employment sector, e.g. consultants, industry and authorities. Important aspects of this concept are the combination of civil engineering - as a core engineering field - with natural environmental sciences in the basic studies, the coverage of all environmental compartments in the main studies before specialisation in one area, and a strong practical component of the curriculum both inside and outside the university.


2000 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 47-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
H.H. Hahn

Traditionally in Germany environmental engineering education took place within the context of a civil engineering programme. There were reasons for this: the beginning of much of what we understand today to be environmental works fell within the parameters of city engineering. There were and are advantages mostly in view of the necessary planning, construction and operation of environmental infrastructure. There are also disadvantages which become more and more pronounced as the field of environmental protection expands: the civil engineer frequently lacks basic training in disciplines such as biology and chemistry and carries a large and sometimes burdensome knowledge of other less relevant subjects. Thus, educators begin to look for alternatives. This paper deals with an alternative that was developed some ten years ago and therefore has proven viable and successful: at the University of Karlsruhe students may choose to major in environmental engineering within the context or on the basis of an economics and business administration curriculum. The basic question here is as to what extent the student masters the field of environmental engineering if he or she has predominantly a solid background in social sciences and very little in natural sciences. The paper will describe the curriculum in structure and intensity and evaluate the accumulated knowledge and suitability of these students in terms of actual environmental problems. This will be done in terms of examination performance parallel and/or relative to traditionally trained civil environmental engineers as well as in terms of topics successfully treated in Masters' theses. In conclusion, it is argued that such combination of curricula should not be confined to economic sciences and environmental engineering but also be planned for legal sciences and environmental engineering.


NeuroSci ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-94
Author(s):  
Kulpreet Cheema ◽  
William E. Hodgetts ◽  
Jacqueline Cummine

Much work has been done to characterize domain-specific brain networks associated with reading, but very little work has been done with respect to spelling. Our aim was to characterize domain-specific spelling networks (SpNs) and domain-general resting state networks (RSNs) in adults with and without literacy impairments. Skilled and impaired adults were recruited from the University of Alberta. Participants completed three conditions of an in-scanner spelling task called a letter probe task (LPT). We found highly connected SpNs for both groups of individuals, albeit comparatively more connections for skilled (50) vs. impaired (43) readers. Notably, the SpNs did not correlate with spelling behaviour for either group. We also found relationships between SpNs and RSNs for both groups of individuals, this time with comparatively fewer connections for skilled (36) vs. impaired (53) readers. Finally, the RSNs did predict spelling performance in a limited manner for the skilled readers. These results advance our understanding of brain networks associated with spelling and add to the growing body of literature that describes the important and intricate connections between domain-specific networks and domain-general networks (i.e., resting states) in individuals with and without developmental disorders.


Author(s):  
Bukola Salami ◽  
Alleson Mason ◽  
Jordana Salma ◽  
Sophie Yohani ◽  
Maryam Amin ◽  
...  

Immigrants experience poorer health outcomes than nonimmigrants in Canada for several reasons. A central contributing factor to poor health outcomes for immigrants is access to healthcare. Previous research on access to healthcare for immigrants has largely focused on the experience of immigrant adults. The purpose of this study was to investigate how immigrants access health services for their children in Alberta, Canada. Our study involved a descriptive qualitative design. Upon receiving ethics approval from the University of Alberta Research Ethics Board, we invited immigrant parents to participate in this study. We interviewed 50 immigrant parents, including 17 fathers and 33 mothers. Interviews were audio recorded, transcribed, and analyzed according to the themes that emerged. Findings reveal that systemic barriers contributed to challenges in accessing healthcare for immigrant children. Participants identified several of these barriers—namely, system barriers, language and cultural barriers, relationship with health professionals, and financial barriers. These barriers can be addressed by policymakers and service providers by strengthening the diversity of the workforce, addressing income as a social determinant of health, and improving access to language interpretation services.


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