scholarly journals The ‘perfect’ mixing machine

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 25-37
Author(s):  
Péter Majoros ◽  
Ferenc János Szabó

In the past few years the Machine and Product Design Institute of the University of Miskolc took part in an international project, called HeiBus (http://www.heibus.eu/). As a part of this project student groups had to work on different real-life problems that were given by companies like Valeo, Robert Bosch, Festool etc. The real-life problem this paper is about was given by the Festool. The task was to design a machine that helps to make the ‘perfect’ mix. This paper is about the idea and about the developing process. In the task inscription, there was only one statement: ‘Develop the perfect mixing machine’. There were no restrictions about size, price and application, everything was up to the student team, but it was obvious that it had to be marketable.

Author(s):  
Daniel Pritchard ◽  
Edward A. Beimborn

Results are reported of the implementation of an engineer-in-residence concept in the Department of Civil Engineering and Mechanics at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee College of Engineering and Applied Science. This concept brings an experienced practitioner to campus specifically to mentor students and faculty in the application of engineering and management principles to real-life problems and to provide additional relevancy to the education process. Success of the concept is measured by evaluations completed by students and faculty. On the basis of the findings of these evaluations, the concept is a promising way to provide expanded relevancy to a transportation education program.


2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 362-367
Author(s):  
Brian D. Clocksin ◽  
Margo B. Greicar

Community engagement is commonly imbedded in the ethos of institutions of higher education and has been identified as a High Impact Practice for student learning and retention. The Sustained Engagement Experiences in Kinesiology (SEEK) program at the University of La Verne is a curriculum-wide approach that moves students through four stages of community engagement: Respect, Participating with Effort, Self-Directions, and Leadership. The stages are developmentally sequenced across the curriculum and provide opportunities for learners to move from passive participants to active engagement scholars. The engagement experiences serve to enhance students’ abilities to transfer what they learn in the classroom to real-life problems, foster an asset-based approach to community engagement, and facilitate a transition from surface-to deep-learning.


Author(s):  
Sechaba MG Mahlomaholo

In this paper I show how bricolage as a theoretical framework is used to understand and enhance the learning of the postgraduate students and academics working as a team. Bricolage is described as a metaphor for a research approach which creates something out of nothing and uses that which is available to achieve new goals. It is about finding many and new ways to resolve real life problems using that which is present in the context. It is not linear research, but research that acknowledges and works with the contradictions and incongruences in order to weave a complex text of solutions to the problems. It uses multiple voices, different textual forms and different resources, blurring neat disciplinary boundaries. In short, it splinters the dogmatism of a single approach. This theoretical positioning provides the vocabulary to describe and understand processes and interactions among the research team of 28 PhD and 22 Masters’ students being supervised by 15 academics, across the two campuses of the University of the Free State. For example, while all the actors in this team come from diverse and sometimes contradictory theoretical origins and fields of specialisation they tend to coalesce around the theme of creating sustainable learning environments in their respective research sites. To this theme they ask different questions, hence diverse aims and objectives. They also read different literature informed by the diverse groups of participants in their respective studies. Rather than being the sole determinants of their respective research agendas, they treat the participants as co-researchers who direct and inform the direction of these studies. Their methodologies acknowledge the multiple voices of those who directly experience the problem under investigation and thus can assist in the resolution thereof. They listen to all, irrespective of their station in life and, like bricoleurs, they weave meaningful solutions out of fragments of data and materials from very diverse sources of participants with different ways of doing things.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-62
Author(s):  
Ferenc János Szabó

In a previous paper the new EBSYQ (Evolutionary Based SYstem for Qualification and Evaluation of Group Achievements) system has been proposed for teachers and juries, helping them in making accurate and objective ranking. The analysis of the behaviour of the special characteristic sigmoid functions of the groups gives the possibility to discover some interesting points of view for qualifying the achievement and the standard of the groups (subgroups of talented and under- motivated students, spectrum of the group, eigenvalues, Lorentz function). This paper shows a case study of an international project of student groups competition in the field of product design, with Finnish and Hungarian students. Comparison of the decision process of the jury without using the EBSYQ system and with the application of the system shows the efficiency of the qualification system in realizing a well-founded and careful ranking of the groups, even in case of very close competition. Each point of view of the decision-making system is evaluated by numbers, which can increase the objectivity and accuracy of the decision.


Author(s):  
Michael Lang

Statistical modeling lies at the heart of product design and development throughout numerous engineering disciplines, especially since processing large amounts of data has become increasingly ubiquitous. While mathematical statistics provide elegant guidance pertaining to the question of whether or not some particular underlying modeling assumptions are justified and appropriate, when pursuing a more comprehensive assessment of product design and development other considerations often increase in significance. Therefore, we will examine and analyze the tedious interactions and implications of statistical modeling choices and product liability exposure. To the best of our knowledge, this paper is the first to draw attention to and explore some often overlooked or oversimplified dangers and pitfalls that enter the equation when product design heavily relies on statistical modeling. In particular, through a diligent analysis of both statistical and legal aspects we will explore how statistically optimal procedures may yield far from optimal outcomes in terms of product liability when applied to actual real life problems and why suboptimal nonparametric or robust approaches may constitute better alternatives.


Author(s):  
Sara Hinterplattner ◽  
◽  
Jakob S. Skogø ◽  
Corinna Kröhn ◽  
Barbara Sabitzer

The Children’s Congress is an event, developed to meet a demand for strengthening computational thinking and to increase the interest in STEAM subjects. This congress brings teachers, university students and pupils together to work interdisciplinary on real-life problems. During these proceedings, the pupils slip into the role of researchers and scientists, supported by their teachers, university staff and university students. In every project team, at least one student from the Honors program of the Johannes Kepler University in Linz takes part. This support helps the pupils both in their projects and in their personal development, through mentoring by the talent students of the university. To find out more about these benefits and to improve the congress for the next years the Honors students were asked to give feedback after the congress. In these interviews, the Honors students described the Children’s Congress as a very inspiring and motivating project for all the participants. The results show that the students experienced a lot of appreciation through the work with the pupils, and that they faced many new challenges. They see many benefits for the pupils, starting from the increasing academical knowledge to skills like team- and time management. Furthermore, the benefit of getting used to computational thinking was described. Besides the advantages for the pupils, benefits for teachers were mentioned. Overall, the results show that the Children’s Congress successfully combines computational thinking, real-life problems, interdisciplinarity, project work and mentoring, benefitting all participants involved.


NIR news ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 096033602110592
Author(s):  
Justyna Grabska

Analytical near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy has developed rapidly over the past few decades and is today of incredible value for academic, industrial and institutional laboratories. These developments are closely related to the development of instruments and miniaturization, as well as the methods of multivariate analysis. The strong stimulus for the development of NIR spectroscopy originating from the application field resulted in the advancement of this technique to suite unitarian goals. By contrast, less actively explored have been the foundations of NIR spectroscopy. Much of the information contained in the NIR spectrum is still not easily accessible for the purpose of basic research. In the past few years, a promising development has been made in application of the methods of computational chemistry to NIR spectroscopy. In this article, the current frontier of this advancement is summarized. The scope of the recent accomplishments shifts closer to the challenging real-life problems, such as interactions of the analysed molecules with the matrix, including the aqueous environment. Particular attention was given to the interpretation of the chemical factors underlying instrumental differences between miniaturized NIR spectrometers using different technology and optical solutions. The applicability of the methods of computational chemistry to unravel intricate NIR spectral features of complex molecules such as biomolecules and polymers should be highlighted as well.


2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahendra Gooroochurn ◽  
Bhoomitra Toolsy

The key role of education for achieving sustainable development has been well recognized around the world and used as a powerful lever for transforming economies based on sound principles. Indeed universities are prime institutions which have the essential role to impart requisite knowledge and skills to learners so that they can stand to the challenges in their respective professions, which means universities have had to bring radical changes to their curricula over the past decade to integrate sustainability principles as well as come up with new programmes centered on sustainability. However, the multi-disciplinary nature of sustainability projects as they occur in real-life has meant that the education curricula cannot be developed in isolation for a given programme of studies, but need to have linkages and crossover with other disciplines to provide a platform for learners to nurture this all-important skill. The University of Mauritius has aligned this key ingredient of education for sustainable development (ESD) with the accreditation framework for engineers provided by the Washington Accord through its graduate attributes, specifically Graduate Attribute 8 which includes multidisciplinary work within the range statement. This paper describes the methods adopted to implement this cross-linking between programmes from different disciplines effectively.


2012 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 36-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fiona Cram ◽  
Hazel Phillips

The development of Māori (Indigenous New Zealanders) research capacity over the past 20 years now begs the question of how Māori and Tauiwi (non-Māori) researchers might authentically partner and undertake transdisciplinary research that upholds the integrity and aspirations of both parties. In this article, the notion of interstitial space is suggested as a middle ground whereby researchers can acknowledge their own worldviews and come together for fruitful transdisciplinary engagements. Seven community-up research values set an engagement context in which researchers are called upon to respect one another, share and listen, be cautious and humble, acknowledge ontological and epistemological differences and build commitment to the development of mutual understandings. A scale is proposed to encourage researcher self-reflection on their readiness to join a multicultural, transdisciplinary research group. The readiness of group members to appropriately engage has the potential to spark successful transdisciplinary research in order to provide strategic solutions to complex, real-life problems.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher McCollough ◽  
Danna Gibson ◽  
Richard Baxter

This paper discusses the purpose, reach, and function of the Non-Profit and Civic Engagement (NPACE) Center in the Department of Communication. Additionally, it explores how the ground-up creation of NPACE resulted from a thorough examination of the strengths and needs of both department and community and how the center offers substantive solutions to meet real-life challenges of both. Along the way, the paper addresses how faculty members negotiated with faculty and administrators across campus to gain support to launch the center. Moreover, the paper discusses key achievements of a few select projects executed in the past 5 years of service to the university and community. It also addresses the value of NPACE to its students, including a recent trend that has potential for further examination regarding the effect of the learning model and the center on fostering the civic and community engagement of graduates. Finally, the paper discusses emerging challenges, lessons learned, and opportunities for NPACE.


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