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1
Winn, Victor. "Career awareness for grade nine learners with regard to engineering trade career choices at previously disadvantaged academic schools." Thesis, Peninsula Technikon, 2003. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11838/1909.
Full textAbstract:
Thesis (MTech (Education))--Peninsula Technikon, Cape Town, 2003Currently in South Africa most learners attend academic schools that offer general subjects such as History, Geography, Biology, Accountancy and so on. There are considerably fewer technical schools that can absorb those individuals who want to pursue an engineering trade career path. Academic schools are not equipped to provide for learners who want to pursue engineering trade careers. These learners either fall by the wayside by leaving school prematurely, or they continue at the school through to matric with subjects that are not linked to engineering careers. This study attempts to determine the knowledge, understanding, attitude and perception of the learners, parents, educators, principal, and the WCED with regard to this problem. It is intended through this study to make recommendations that will lead to meaningful interventions in an attempt to rectify the current situation. The findings indicate that learners do not have an understanding of engineering careers and are more inclined to choose the more traditional careers such as teacher, doctor, lawyer, nurse etc. Because their career options are limited, many learners are unsure of what careers to choose while others end up choosing careers that are not suited for them. The parents are not knowledgeable enough and do not possess the necessary skills to assist their children with their career choices. Teachers at academic schools themselves had an academic education. As a result they are not aware of engineering careers and are not empowered to advise the learners. The principal, who is also an academic, has to consider the implication of making learners aware of engineering careers, because this could lead to an exodus of students from the school. He is under pressure from the WCED to maintain the required teacher - student ratios. The findings indicate that the WCED has initiated various programs around careers, but nothing specific with regard to career awareness. It is evident that these programs have not filtered through to this school. The methodology for this research incorporated a multi-method approach with both quantitative and qualitative instruments used. Questionnaires were directed at learners, educators and the parents. Focus group sessions were conducted with the learners and educators and interviews were directed at the principal and the WCED official. The study concludes with recommendations drawn from international models.
2
Davies, James. "Integrated target tracking and weapon guidance." Thesis, University of Liverpool, 2013. http://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/11573/.
Full textAbstract:
The requirements of a modern guided weapon will be established based on the current and perceived threats at the time the design is commissioned. However the design of a modern guided weapon is a long and expensive process which can result in the weapon entering service only for the original threat to have changed or passed, inevitably inducing a capability gap. The defence budgets of the major military powers such as the UK and USA continue to shrink. As a result the emphasis of military research is being placed on adapting current legacy systems to bridge these capability gaps. One such gap is the requirement to be able to intercept small relocatable, highly manoeuvrable targets. It was demonstrated a number of years ago, that the performance of a legacy weapon against manoeuvering targets could be potentially increased by retrofitting a data link to the weapon. The data link allows commands to be sent to the weapon in flight. The commands will result in the weapon executing one or more manoeuvres which will change the shape of the trajectory. This has the potential to improve the performance of current Advanced Anti-Armour Weapons (AAAW) against manoeuvring targets. The issue which arises from data linking any weapon including an AAAW, is that the ability to shape the trajectory of the weapon will be limited due to the original design parameters of the non data linked system. Therefore in order to obtain the maximum performance increase, the trajectory shaping (retargetting) capability must be efficiently utilised over the duration of the weapon fly out. It was postulated in this thesis that this could be achieved using an integrated fire control system, which would seek to calculate an optimal shaped trajectory. The optimal trajectory should maximise the ability of the weapon to respond to target manoeuvres, thereby improving the probability of a successful intercept occurring. The potential effectiveness of an integrated fire control system was explored by considering the scenario of a generic data linked AAAW which is to intercept a small highly manoeuvrable surface vessel. A total of three integrated fire control systems were developed which calculated the optimal trajectory for different criteria. The first system optimised the weapon trajectory considering multiple predicted target trajectories. Each trajectory had an associated probability. For a given weapon trajectory, the seeker would be able to detect the target at one or more locations along certain predicted target trajectories. The sum of the probabilities associated with the detectable locations represented the total probability of intercept. The weapon trajectory was optimised by calculating the trajectory which achieved the maximum probability of intercept using simulated annealing and simple search optimisation algorithms. The second system optimised the weapon trajectory considering only the most probable trajectory (M.P.T) from a distribution of predicted target trajectories. Appropriate commands were calculated such that a location along this M.P.T trajectory was detectable at some instant in time. The third system presented in this thesis optimised the trajectory considering the maximum probability of intercept initially and then only the M.P.T trajectory later on in the engagement. The three integrated systems and a Fire and Forget system were tested against 80 random target trajectories. In each of the integrated fire control systems, the performance of the AAAW against manoeuvring targets was significantly improved when compared to the Fire and Forget results.
3
Mkwananzi, Nokuphumula. "Factors impacting on engineering professionals' decision to seek alternative employment." Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1011335.
Full textAbstract:
The purpose of this study was to determine factors that impacted on engineering professionals’ decision to seek alternative employment, as well as to determine the decision making processes applied by engineering professionals when seeking alternative employment. A conceptual model was developed to illustrate the impact of various factors on labour turnover and the decision making processes that could be followed by engineering professionals when seeking alternative employment. The factors impacting on labour turnover were organised into four categories, namely external, internal, expectations and personal trait factors. The theoretical study revealed that employees were more likely to leave their present organisations if they perceived that there was ample opportunity for acceptable alternative employment (Bigliardi, Petroni & Dormio, 2005). Zimmerman (2008) stated that employee turnover was a problem faced by all organisations globally. In their study they mentioned that high labour turnover rates have been associated with decreased customer satisfaction, productivity, future revenue growth and profitability. A sense of instability and frustration can also cause work backlogs and slow productivity. At times employees lose faith in their organisations as more individuals seek alternative employment (Drake International, 2010). When the organisation experiences high turnover, burnout also increases and could possibly lead to stayers also seeking alternative employment. Previous studies contain evidence of an extensive poaching of South African engineering professionals (technologists and engineers) by overseas companies (Du Toit & Roodt, 2009). As a result of this mobility and the lack of significant engineering graduates entering the industry, companies competed for a limited number of engineering professionals. This challenge resulted in a higher labour turnover rate among engineers as the demand for engineering professionals was higher than the supply. The skills shortage of engineering professionals in South Africa was one of the perceived contributing factors impacting engineering professionals’ decision to seek alternative employment. Apart from the shortage of skills there were other factors that impacted on engineering professionals’ decision to seek alternative employment. External factors, such as slow recruitment due to the low economy, have been identified as having an impact on labour turnover rates. Bigliardi et al (2005) stated that external factors, also referred to as push factors, such as changes in economic, social and technological conditions,created challenges for retaining engineering professionals. Through developing multivariate models that combine a number of factors contributing to labour turnover and empirically testing these models, researchers have attempted to predict why individuals decide to seek alternative employment (MINTRAC, 2010). The job search process was evaluated and referred to as the process of looking for alternatives to a current job, and the evaluation of those alternatives (Brown, 2009). Various decision making models, including the rational decision making model, Steers and Mowday’s model, image theory and the unfolding path model were studied to provide an understanding of how engineering professionals decided whether to seek alternative employment. Donnell and Quirin (2006) explained two decision making models. These are the image theory and Lee and Mitchell’s unfolding model. According to Zimmerman (2008), the studies carried out did not clearly reflect the impact of individual characteristic factors. An empirical study, by means of a survey and a questionnaire as a data collecting tool, was conducted to determine the factors that impacted on engineering professionals at GIBB to seek alternative employment and the decision making process they applied in seeking alternative employment. This study reflected that personal traits such as openness to new experiences, high levels of competency, the ability to form relationships at work, a general level of commitment, ability to incorporate other people’s views at work and a general positive attitude towards work itself influenced the decision to seek alternative employment. The external, internal, expectancy and personal trait factors that were perceived to be the most influential in impacting on engineering professionals’ decision to seek alternative employment were presented in a revised concept model. This model could be valuable for developing retention strategies at GIBB. Future research that could be beneficial to GIBB and the engineering industry was also identified.
4
Delaney, Michael J. (Michael James) 1979. "Risk-informed design guidance for a Generation-IV gas-cooled fast reactor emergency core cooling system." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2004. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/17747.
Full textAbstract:
Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Nuclear Engineering, 2004.Includes bibliographical references (p. 75-77).
Fundamental objectives of sustainability, economics, safety and reliability, and proliferation resistance, physical protection and stakeholder relations must be considered during the design of an advanced reactor. However, an advanced reactor's core damage frequency dominates all other considerations at the preliminary stage of reactor design. An iterative four-step methodology to guide the MIT gas-cooled fast reactor emergency core cooling system design through PRA insights was utilized based upon the preliminary stage of the reactor design and activities currently ongoing in the nuclear industry, regulator, and universities regarding advanced reactors. Advanced reactor designs also face an uncertain regulatory environment. It was concluded from the move towards risk- informed regulations of current reactors, that there will be some level of probabilistic insights in the regulations and supporting regulatory documents for advanced, "Generation-IV" nuclear reactors. The four-step methodology is moreover used to help designers analyze designs under potential risk-informed regulations and predict design justifications the regulator will require during the licensing process. The iterative design guidance methodology led to a reduction of the CDF contribution due to a LOCA of over three orders of magnitude from the baseline ECCS design (from 1.19x10-5 to 6.48x10-8 for the 3x100% loop configuration) and potential ECCS licensing issues were identified. This illustrates the value of formal design guidance based upon PRA.
by Michael J. Delaney.
S.M.
5
Janse, van Rensburg Zelda. "Factors influencing career choice of learners in engineering : a case of a selected university of technology in South Africa." Thesis, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11838/2547.
Full textAbstract:
Thesis (MTech (Business Administration))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2017.A steady decline in student enrolment at the Tshwane University of Technology’s Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment (TUTFEBE) was seen in recent years. Small numbers of South African pupils have been matriculating with Mathematics as a subject, and most of them have been underperforming. Since there has been no scientific evidence to date on which recruitment and guidance efforts work best for attracting quality learners for courses in engineering at the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT), this study was conducted to identify the factors that influence learners’ choice of engineering as a career. This information could assist in the design of an evidence-based recruitment and marketing model. A single-case explanatory study design was used for this research, since it focused on the TUTFEBE. A quantitative and qualitative study was completed by means of inputs from first-year extended curriculum engineering programme students. The data was analysed using the Statistical Package for the Study of Social Sciences (SPSS). By studying the qualitative data from more than one viewpoint, the quantitative findings were verified and triangulated. The influences that played a role in learners’ career choices were identified. Thematic clusters emerged as stimulation or creation of an awareness of or interest in engineering, the influences of different people on learners’ career choices, relevant exposure to careers in engineering, the huge impact of Maths and Science teachers on learners’ career decision-making, method of teaching, employability and the image and reputation of an institution. It became evident that engineering faculties themselves need to assume responsibility for the recruitment of their students. Copying seems to be the main coping strategy in most institutions regarding marketing and recruitment engagements. Although many of TUTFEBE’s current marketing and recruitment actions were on par with the rest of the world, alternative actions were identified and implemented in the model. Informed consent in written format for both the quantitative and qualitative studies was obtained from the subjects after they had been informed what the purpose, risks and benefits were and which procedures would be implemented to ensure confidentiality. The subjects were informed of their right to withdraw at any stage, without any penalty or disadvantage, and were assured that withdrawal would in no way influence their continued relationship with the researcher or their academic progress at TUT.
6
Slupe, Gregory Thomas. "Study of the primary factors influencing students to choose engineering as a career." Menomonie, WI : University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2007. http://www.uwstout.edu/lib/thesis/2007/2007slupeg.pdf.
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7
Ozcan, Ali Erdem. "Autopilot And Guidance For Anti-tank Imaging Infrared Guided Missiles." Master's thesis, METU, 2008. http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/12610111/index.pdf.
Full textAbstract:
An anti-tank guided missile is a weapon system primarily designed to hit and
destroy armored tanks and other armored vehicles. Developed first-generation
command-guided and second-generation semi-automatic command guided
missiles had many disadvantages and lower hit rates. For that reason, third
generation imaging infrared fire-and-forget missile concept is very popular
nowadays.
In this thesis, mainly, a mathematical model for a fire-and-forget anti-tank missile
is developed and a flight control autopilot design is presented using PID and LQR
techniques. For target tracking purposes, &ldquocorrelation&rdquo
, &ldquo
centroid&rdquo
and &ldquo
active contour&rdquo
algorithms are studied and these algorithms are tested over some scenarios for maximizing hit rate. Different target scenarios and countermeasures are discussed in an artificially created virtual environment.
8
Isiyel, Kadir. "Autopilot Design And Guidance Control Of Ulisar Uuv (unmanned Underwater Vehicle)." Master's thesis, METU, 2007. http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/12608867/index.pdf.
Full textAbstract:
Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUV) in open-seas are highly nonlinear with system motions.
Because of the complex interaction of the body with environment it is difficult to
control them efficiently. Linearization is applied to system in order to design controllers developed
for linear systems. To overcome the effects of disturbances, a mathematical model
which will compensate all disturbances and effects of linearization is required. In this study
first a mathematical model is formed wherein the linear and nonlinear hydrodynamic coeffi-
cients are calculated with strip theory.
After the basic mathematical model is developed, it is simplified and decoupled into speed,
steering and diving subsystems. Consequently PID (Proportional Derivative Integral), SMC
(SlidingMode Control) and LQR (Linear Quadratic Regulator)/LQG (Linear Quadratic Gaussian)
control methods can be applied on each subsystem to design controllers. Some of the
system parameters can be estimated from state vector data based on measurements using the
methods of linear sequential estimation and genetic algorithms. As for the final part of the
study, an online obstacle avoidance algorithm which avoids local optimums using Boolean
operators is presented. In addition a simple guidance algorithm is suggested for waypoint
navigation.
Due to the fact that ULISAR UUV is still on construction phase, we were unable to test our algorithms. But in the near future, we plan to study all these algorithms on the UUV
ULISAR.
9
Evcimen, Cagdas. "Development And Comparison Of Autopilot And Guidance Algorithms For Missiles." Master's thesis, METU, 2007. http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/2/12608677/index.pdf.
Full textAbstract:
In order to have an interception with a target, a missile should be guided with a successful guidance algorithm accompanied with a suitable autopilot structure. In this study, different autopilot and guidance designs for a canard-controlled missile
are developed. As a first step, nonlinear missile mathematical model is derived by using the equations of motion with aerodynamic coefficients found by Missile DATCOM program.
Autopilot design starts by the linearization of the nonlinear missile model around equilibrium flight conditions. Controllers based on the concepts of optimal control theory results and sliding mode control are designed. In all of the designs, angle
of attack command and roll angle command type autopilot structures are used. During the design process, variations in angle of attack, Mach number and altitude can lead to significant performance degradation. This problem is typically solved by applying gain-scheduling methodology according to these parameters.
There are different types of guidance methods in the literature. Throughout this study, proportional navigation guidance and its modified forms are selected as a base algorithm in the guidance system design. Other robust forms of guidance methods, such as an optimal guidance approach and sliding mode guidance, are also formed for performance comparison with traditional proportional navigation guidance approach. Finally, a new guidance method, optimal proportional-integral guidance, whose performance is the best among all of the methods included in the thesis against highly maneuvering targets, is introduced.
10
Worrall, Kevin James. "Guidance and search algorithms for mobile robots : application and analysis within the context of urban search and rescue." Thesis, University of Glasgow, 2008. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/508/.
Full textAbstract:
Urban Search and Rescue is a dangerous task for rescue workers and for this reason the use of mobile robots to carry out the search of the environment is becoming common place. These robots are remotely operated and the search is carried out by the robot operator. This work proposes that common search algorithms can be used to guide a single autonomous mobile robot in a search of an environment and locate survivors within the environment. This work then goes on to propose that multiple robots, guided by the same search algorithms, will carry out this task in a quicker time. The work presented is split into three distinct parts. The first is the development of a nonlinear mathematical model for a mobile robot. The model developed is validated against a physical system. A suitable navigation and control system is required to direct the robot to a target point within an environment. This is the second part of this work. The final part of this work presents the search algorithms used. The search algorithms generate the target points which allow the robot to search the environment. These algorithms are based on traditional and modern search algorithms that will enable a single mobile robot to search an area autonomously. The best performing algorithms from the single robot case are then adapted to a multi robot case. The mathematical model presented in the thesis describes the dynamics and kinematics of a four wheeled mobile ground based robot. The model is developed to allow the design and testing of control algorithms offline. With the model and accompanying simulation the search algorithms can be quickly and repeatedly tested without practical installation. The mathematical model is used as the basis of design for the manoeuvring control algorithm and the search algorithms. This design process is based on simulation studies. In the first instance the control methods investigated are Proportional-Integral-Derivative, Pole Placement and Sliding Mode. Each method is compared using the tracking error, the steady state error, the rise time, the charge drawn from the battery and the ability to control the robot through a simple motion. Obstacle avoidance is also covered as part of the manoeuvring control algorithm. The final aspect investigated is the search algorithms. The following search algorithms are investigated, Lawnmower, Random, HillClimbing, Simulated Annealing and Genetic Algorithms. Variations on these algorithms are also investigated. The variations are based on Tabu Search. Each of the algorithms is investigated in a single robot case with the best performing investigated within a multi robot case. A comparison between the different methods is made based on the percentage of the area covered within the time available, the number of targets located and the time taken to locate targets. It is shown that in the single robot case the best performing algorithms have high random elements and some structure to selecting points. Within the multi robot case it is shown that some algorithms work well and others do not. It is also shown that the useable number of robots is dependent on the size of the environment. This thesis concludes with a discussion on the best control and search algorithms, as indicated by the results, for guiding single and multiple autonomous mobile robots. The advantages of the methods are presented, as are the issues with using the methods stated. Suggestions for further work are also presented.
11
Maria, Marreiros Filipe Miguel. "Guidance and Visualization for Brain Tumor Surgery." Doctoral thesis, Linköpings universitet, Avdelningen för radiologiska vetenskaper, 2016. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-130791.
Full textAbstract:
Image guidance and visualization play an important role in modern surgery to help surgeons perform their surgical procedures. Here, the focus is on neurosurgery applications, in particular brain tumor surgery where a craniotomy (opening of the skull) is performed to access directly the brain region to be treated. In this type of surgery, once the skull is opened the brain can change its shape, and this deformation is known as brain shift. Moreover, the boundaries of many types of tumors are difficult to identify by the naked eye from healthy tissue. The main goal of this work was to study and develop image guidance and visualization methods for tumor surgery in order to overcome the problems faced in this type of surgery. Due to brain shift the magnetic resonance dataset acquired before the operation (preoperatively) no longer corresponds to the anatomy of the patient during the operation (intraoperatively). For this reason, in this work methods were studied and developed to compensate for this deformation. To guide the deformation methods, information of the superficial vessel centerlines of the brain was used. A method for accurate (approximately 1 mm) reconstruction of the vessel centerlines using a multiview camera system was developed. It uses geometrical constraints, relaxation labeling, thin plate spline filtering and finally mean shift to find the correct correspondences between the camera images. A complete non-rigid deformation pipeline was initially proposed and evaluated with an animal model. From these experiments it was observed that although the traditional non-rigid registration methods (in our case coherent point drift) were able to produce satisfactory vessel correspondences between preoperative and intraoperative vessels, in some specific areas the results were suboptimal. For this reason a new method was proposed that combined the coherent point drift and thin plate spline semilandmarks. This combination resulted in an accurate (below 1 mm) non-rigid registration method, evaluated with simulated data where artificial deformations were performed. Besides the non-rigid registration methods, a new rigid registration method to obtain the rigid transformation between the magnetic resonance dataset and the neuronavigation coordinate systems was also developed. Once the rigid transformation and the vessel correspondences are known, the thin plate spline can be used to perform the brain shift deformation. To do so, we have used two approaches: a direct and an indirect. With the direct approach, an image is created that represents the deformed data, and with the indirect approach, a new volume is first constructed and only after that can the deformed image be created. A comparison of these two approaches, implemented for the graphics processing units, in terms of performance and image quality, was performed. The indirect method was superior in terms of performance if the sampling along the ray is high, in comparison to the voxel grid, while the direct was superior otherwise. The image quality analysis seemed to indicate that the direct method is superior. Furthermore, visualization studies were performed to understand how different rendering methods and parameters influence the perception of the spatial position of enclosed objects (typical situation of a tumor enclosed in the brain). To test these methods a new single-monitor-mirror stereoscopic display was constructed. Using this display, stereo images simulating a tumor inside the brain were presented to the users with two rendering methods (illustrative rendering and simple alpha blending) and different levels of opacity. For the simple alpha blending method an optimal opacity level was found, while for the illustrative rendering method all the opacity levels used seemed to perform similarly. In conclusion, this work developed and evaluated 3D reconstruction, registration (rigid and non-rigid) and deformation methods with the purpose of minimizing the brain shift problem. Stereoscopic perception of the spatial position of enclosed objects was also studied using different rendering methods and parameter values.
12
Cevher, Firat Yilmaz. "Autopilot And Guidance Design For A Mini Rov (remotely Operated Underwater Vehicle)." Master's thesis, METU, 2012. http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/12615767/index.pdf.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis consists of a mathematical model, autopilot and guidance design of a mini ROV (Remotely Operated Underwater Vehicle) and investigates the effects of environmental forces (ocean currents etc.) on the guidance algorithms. First of all, a non-linear 6 degrees-of-freedom (DOF) mathematical model is obtained. This model includes hydrodynamics forces and moments. There is no exact calculation method for hydrodynamic coefficientshowever strip theory and results of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis are used to calculate their approximate values. Linear mathematical model is obtained by linearization at trim points and it is used when designing surge speed, heading and depth controller. Guidance is examined by two methods such as way point guidance by line-of-sight (LOS) and way point guidance based on optimal control. Moreover, an online obstacle avoidance algorithm is developed. This thesis ends with the subject of navigation of the vehicle under GPS-like measurements and magnetic sensors measurements.
13
Syverson, Peter D. "Engineering undergraduate enrollment and the engineering labor market: a lagged-supply analysis." Thesis, Virginia Tech, 1988. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/44088.
Full textAbstract:
The relationship between economic and demographic
factors and the flow of new students into undergraduate
engineering programs was investigated. An empirical analysis
was undertaken based on a lagged-supply model developed
earlier by Richard Freeman. The analysis involved the
replication of the Freeman model over the 1948-1972 period,
the extension of the model through 1986, and the forecasting
of first-year engineering enrollments up to the year 2000.
The model developed in this thesis was able to a
accurately mirror the engineering enrollment trends from 1948
to 1986. The economic variables--especially R&D expenditures
and starting engineering salaries relative to median income
of college graduates--were found to be important factors in
the flow of freshmen into engineering. None of the
variables relating to demographic trends were found to
significantly related to first-year engineering enrollment.
The importance of the federal government's role in the
engineering labor market through research and development
funding is discussed, along with forecasts of possible trends
in first-year engineering enrollment.Master of Arts
14
Aribal, Seckin. "Development Of An Autopilot For Automatic Landing Of An Unmanned Aerial Vehicle." Master's thesis, METU, 2011. http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/12613391/index.pdf.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis presents the design of an autopilot and guidance system for an unmanned aerial vehicle. Classical (PID) and modern control (LQT, Sliding Mode) methods for autonomous navigation and landing in adverse weather conditions are implemented. Two different guidance systems are designed in order to navigate through waypoints during normal and/or emergency flight. The nonlinear Pioneer UAV model is used in controller development and simulations.
Aircraft is linearized at different trim points and total airspeed, altitude, roll and yaw autopilots are designed using Matlab/Simulink environment for lateral and longitudinal control of the aircraft. Gain scheduling is used to combine controllers designed for different trim points. An optimal landing trajectory is determined using &ldquoSteepest Descent&rdquo
Algorithm according to the dynamic characteristics of the aircraft. Optimal altitude trajectory is used together with a lateral guidance against cross-wind disturbance. Finally, simulations including landing under crosswind, tailwind, etc., are run and the results are analyzed in order to demonstrate the performance and effectiveness of the controllers.
15
Chan, Chi-on, and 陳志安. "Professionals in the civil service: a study of the problems of structural engineers in the Housing Department." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 1987. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B31974983.
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16
Ellis-Kalton, Carrie A. "Science- and engineering-related career decision-making, bright adolescent girls and the impact of an intervention program /." free to MU campus, to others for purchase, 2001. http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/mo/fullcit?p3036823.
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Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2001.Typescript. Vita. "The Newton Summer Academy is a program intervention funded by the National Science Foundation. It was developed at the University of Missouri-Columbia by a team of scientists, instruction and curriculum personnel, and educators."--Leaf 8. "The present study sought to investigate the saliency of social cognitive factors in the career decision-making processes of bright, adolescent females. In addition, the present study aimed to gain empirical information about the effectiveness of the Newton Summer Academy, a National Science Foundation intervention program."--Leaf [12]. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 141-162). Also available on the Internet.
17
Sert, Muhammet. "A Rule Based Missile Evasion Method For Fighter Aircrafts." Master's thesis, METU, 2008. http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/12609490/index.pdf.
Full textAbstract:
In this thesis, a new guidance method for fighter aircrafts and a new guidance method for missiles are developed. Also, guidance and control systems of the aircraft and the missile used are designed to simulate the generic engagement scenarios between the missile and the aircraft. Suggested methods have been tested under excessive simulation studies.
The aircraft guidance method developed here is a rule based missile evasion method. The main idea to develop this method stems from the maximization of the miss distance for an engagement scenario between a missile and an aircraft. To do this, an optimal control problem with state and input dependent inequality constraints is solved and the solution method is applied on different problems that represent generic scenarios. Then, the solutions of the optimal control problems are used to extract rules. Finally, a method that uses the interpolation of the extracted rules is given to guide the aircraft.
The new guidance method developed for missiles is formulated by modifying the classical proportional navigation guidance method using the position estimates. The position estimation is obtained by utilization of a Kalman based filtering method, called interacting multiple models.
18
Ngetich, Willy Kiprotich. "An investigation of industry expectations on industrial engineering graduates: a case study of development programmes in South African universities." Thesis, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11838/1233.
Full textAbstract:
Submitted in fulfilment of the requirement for the degree
MAGISTER TECHNOLOGIAE
in
Quality
Faculty of Engineering
CAPE PENINSULA UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, 2012Post apartheid South Africa experienced major economic turbulence with poverty, unemployment and skills shortage, with most manufacturing and other key economic sectors affected by poor productivity and a subsequent downsizing of their labour work force. At the same time, many economic opportunities arose, including the full impact of globalisation, the emergence of China and Africa as economic partners and becoming a full member of the Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) economic development group by the year 2010. The government and business communities at large realised the necessity for skills augmentation in order to expedite economic development and alleviate the scarcity of employment opportunities and growth across the major economic sectors. The backdrop of the economic upheaval of 2008 and 2009 placed manufacturing firms under pressure to reconsider their current operational strategies by streamlining their organisations and adopting aggressive lean and cost saving approaches in order to remain competitive. There is a perceived lack of alignment between industry and institutions alike, sometimes resulting in a perception that graduating industrial engineers do not entirely match industry expectations. Thus, it is imperative to explore the articulation and relationship between those industries that rely on the skills of industrial engineering technologists and the graduate industrial engineers with emphasis on the skills expectations as stressed by the national priorities and the academic capacity to meet these skills expectation in today’s competitive professional arena. This perceived lack of alignment between end user requirements and the service provided falls within the ambit of the field of quality management. This study focuses on two main sample groups within two areas of interest: • The industrial engineering student community and their respective academic environments; and • the relevant industrial engineering industry and its working environment. A self-administered questionnaire coupled with a number of interviews is employed in order to gather the required data. Grouped samples, involve the relevant industry employers, students and academic institutions. The research explores the pertinent roles and responsibilities expected of industrial engineers and industrial engineering technologists on entry into the working environment, as compared to the current level of training offered by various institutional bodies as expressed by the South African qualifications authority (SAQA) and the national qualifications framework (NQF). The validation of the analysis and outcomes of the study culminates through the exploration of the following: • The influence of skills levels on productivity within the relevant industrial engineering industries. • The demand and supply of industrial engineering skills. • Skilling industrial engineering graduates for their required roles and responsibilities. • Governing bodies responsible for the curriculation of industrial engineering programmes, offered by institutions of higher learning. The study aims to proffer valuable knowledge by identifying better opportunities for employment in the industrial engineering field, the addition of value towards better industrial engineering schooling and output quality of students emerging from institutions, and lastly superseding earlier misconceived perceptions of industrial engineering.
19
Van, Raden Stephanie Justine. "The Effect of Role Models on the Attitudes and Career Choices of Female Students Enrolled in High School Science." PDXScholar, 2011. https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds/370.
Full textAbstract:
Girls who have high aptitude in math are not entering careers related to science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM fields) at the same rate as boys. As a result, female students may have fewer employment opportunities. This study explores one potential way to reduce the gap between male and female career aspirations and choices. Specifically, it looks at the impact of bringing women with careers in math- and science-related fields into high school classrooms as role models. The study uses surveys to measure pre- and post-visit perceptions of science and scientific work as well as student's short-term interest in math and science courses. In addition to these surveys, student comments were collected about the role model visits. While the overall study yielded little statistical significance, it also indicated that the role model visits had some impact on student perceptions and choices and raised questions that warrant further study.
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Huelskamp, Diane M. "The effects of podcasts of STEM professionals on middle school science students interests in STEM careers." 2010. http://liblink.bsu.edu/uhtbin/catkey/1628858.
Full textAbstract:
Job vacancies in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) fields are
expected to rise to 2.5 million between 2004 and 2014 (BLS, 2005). To help fill this need,
STEM professionals were podcasted to middle school students, exposing them to the potential
job opportunities which exist, and possibly increasing their interest in STEM careers. To
investigate whether STEM professional podcasts to middle school students increased their
interest in STEM careers, a quasi-experimental pretest/midtest/posttest control group design was
analyzed with ANCOVA to determine differences in interest between those students who viewed
the podcasts and those who did not. Grade level and gender were also studied to determine
differences in interest in pursuing a STEM career. The findings were that the podcast group had
significantly higher midtest and posttest scores compared to the control group, when the pretest
was the covariate. Posttest scores were not significant between the two treatment groups when
midtest scores were used as the covariate. Findings for gender suggested that there is no
difference in males and females for interest in pursuing a STEM career when treatment group
and grade level were controlled. Grade level comparisons between the two treatment groups
found no significant difference in grade level for interest in pursuing a STEM career, when group
and gender were controlled. The incorporation of STEM professional podcasts into the
classroom could stimulate class discussions on current issues in science, potential careers in
STEM and preparatory subjects needed for a particular career which may lead future STEM
career pursuits.Access to thesis and accompanying PDF permanently restricted to Ball State community only
Department of Biology
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"A study of the full-time mechanical engineering technician programme in Hong Kong's technical institutes." Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1987. http://library.cuhk.edu.hk/record=b5885739.
Full text
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Maeko, Mogale Albert Simon. "Practical activities in civil technology : a case study of three technical schools in the Eastern Cape province." 2013. http://encore.tut.ac.za/iii/cpro/DigitalItemViewPage.external?sp=1001336.
Full textAbstract:
M. Tech. EducationInvestigates the status of Civil Technology practical activities in three South African schools in the Eastern Cape Province. The Civil Technology policy advocates that the integration of theory to practical, where learners should be capacitated with practical skills to enable them to amongst other things, enter the job market upon completion of Grade 12,or apprenticeships that will prepare them for a trade test should they not be willing to further their academic studies.
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Hanlon, Brooke Catherine June. "A sociological investigation of gender and non-gender specific career choices by young adults in Saint John, Canada." Diss., 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10500/22942.
Full textAbstract:
This study examined the gender socialisation process among ten recent high school
graduates and the reasoning behind their chosen career paths. Three institutions: the
family, school, and media, were examined to explore how these institutions could possibly
have affected the participants’ career choices. This was accomplished through qualitative
research by conducting in-depth interviews among five nursing students (three females
and two males) and five engineering students (three females and two males) who were 18
or 19 years of age. The interviews revealed that the participants were aware of current
gender stereotypes and had experienced gender socialisation through bedroom décor
and/or parental roles. The interviews further revealed ‘influencers’ (such as one’s peer
group or a close relative) as a significant factor leading males into nursing and females
into engineering. Participants within each program revealed differences in personal
definitions of success and thoughts on work-family balance.Sociology
M.A. (Sociology)
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Foster, Vuyiswa Xoliswa Nontuthuzelo. "Career aspirations of female engineering students at an FET institution." Diss., 2005. http://hdl.handle.net/10500/2370.
Full textAbstract:
The purpose of the study was to describe factors that influence black females to choose engineering as a career. It transpired from the literature study that enabling environment, gender of role models, self-efficacy and socialization are important factors in terms of causing and attracting females into the fields of science and engineering study.
From the empirical study it came out clearly that family members, female role members, and confidence in mathematics and science were factors that caused the females in engineering group to choose it as a career. Findings also revealed that gender stereotypes did not deter them from choosing engineering and that they were content with their career choice.
For the above factors to be addressed incentives exclusive to females should be launched by government so as to attract more females to the fields of science and engineering. Schools also need to pursue programmes that expose learners to these fields.Educational Studies
M. Ed.