Conference Papers

Enhancing the Entrepreneurial Spirit in Apprenticeship Education to Develop Craft and Micro-enterprises

Ray M. English et al. — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 02:35:31 PST

Micro, small and medium–sized enterprises are considered to be the mainstay of the economy of the European Union, since they represent 99% of all EU enterprises. They are socially and economically important in that they provide 65 million jobs and contribute to innovation and entrepreneurship. However, a 2002 Eurobarometer survey found that EU citizens are less inclined to become entrepreneurs, and tend to be more risk adverse. In recognising this, the EU made entrepreneurship one of the main objectives of the Lisbon Agenda in 2000. The European Commission in 2003 drafted the Green Paper on Entrepreneurship in Europe to stimulate debate on how to best promote the entrepreneurial spirit. In 2004, in adopting the conclusions from ‘Stimulating Entrepreneurship’ the European Council recognising that entrepreneurship is a major driver of employment, innovation and growth encouraged member states to stimulate the entrepreneurial mindset through training and education. The SENSibilisation des Apprentis à leSprit d’entreprendre (SENSAS) project is based around the notion of fostering entrepreneurship, or the entrepreneurial spirit, among young people, in line with the European Commission’s 2004 “Action Plan: The European Agenda for Entrepreneurship”. In this specific case the focus is on apprentices, who are in direct contact with both the worlds of work and training by virtue of their position in work-linked training programmes. As such, this project aims to target trainers, to enable them to imbue their students with the idea of entrepreneurship and to equip apprentices with an entrepreneurial spirit that they will employ in the real world. This partnership entrepreneurial project is located within the area of continuing education for teachers and trainers. It targets the following actors: trainers of apprentices and apprentices. In addition the outputs of this project can be broadened to reach regular third level students (of business or commerce for example) as well as secondary school pupils and their teachers or lecturers. There are two main products or outputs anticipated for this project. These are a pedagogical tool kit to raise awareness in entrepreneurial spirit and a computer software role playing tool. This working paper will seek to assess the outcome streams from each of the partner organisations implementation of the SENSAS products and subsequent evaluation of the emerging entrepreneurial spirit and channel them into conceptual frameworks that will signpost a continuing research paradigm.

Building a Successful Transatlantic Collaboration in Engineering/Technological Education; Lessons from a Six Year Journey

Donal McHale et al. — Fri, 04 May 2012 04:48:34 PDT

This paper reflects on key learning’s from the first six-years (2004-2010) of the development of a collaborative journey of two trans-Atlantic higher-educational institutions. It describes the progress towards building a sustainable and innovative international educational partnership in Engineering/Technological education between the Dublin Institute of Technology,DublinIrelandandPurdue University,Indiana,USA.

In particular, the paper provides insight into the iterative stages of development of this relationship. It reflects on some of the key challenges and it recognises the critical enablers of success. It focuses on challenges and solutions in the following six important areas

(i) The partnership initiation stage. Key considerations and important enablers of future success

(ii) Building early “quick win” momentum in a partnership

(iii) Full-semester undergraduate exchange. Key educational and logistical challenges and solutions

(iv) Creating post-graduate opportunities.

(v) Quality assurance and standards considerations in international collaboration

(vi) Project sustainability and continuous improvement

Exchange Faculty Perspectives on International Collaborations

Donal McHale — Fri, 04 May 2012 02:02:25 PDT

The main purpose of the paper is to document key issues in developing successful transatlantic faculty exchanges and to document perspectives and key learnings’ emanating from the development and implementation of an international exchange process.

Comparing FBG and PCF Force Sensors in a Laparoscopic Smart Surgical Scissor Instrument

Dean Callaghan et al. — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 03:50:39 PST

This paper presents a sensorized laparoscopic surgical scissor instrument using both a fiber Bragg grating (FBG) and a tapered photonic crystal fiber (PCF) as force sensors. The sensors are located on the blades for the detection of interaction forces generated between the instrument and tissue during cutting. The force sensitivity of each sensorized blade is examined. Results show that the scissor blade-PCF sensor arrangement outperforms the blade with the FBG during static loading calibration experimentation. Moreover, experiments show that the PCF based arrangement is less sensitive to temperature effects than its FBG counterpart. This negates the need for additional temperature compensation sensors and techniques. The PCF sensor was shown to have higher strain measurement sensitivity (2 pm/με) than the FBG sensor (1.2pm/με).

Preparation and Accreditation of Level 7 Engineering Programmes

Mark McGrath — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 10:28:00 PST

Accreditation of 3^rd level educational programmes by a suitably recognised professional body is of particular relevance in relation to engineering. The completion of a sequence of modules which leads to the attainment of this professionally recognised award is viewed as integral to the undertaking. The engineering technology fields are developing and expanding rapidly and the third level sector must keep abreast of these changes. This is essential if the third level institutions wish to continue delivering programmes which produce graduates who can successfully complete the transition from 3rd. Level to the various engineering sectors.

This paper outlines various aspects of the preparation for, and the facilitation of, the accreditation of a Level 7 Bachelor of Engineering Technology programme in DIT by Engineers Ireland (EI). The generation and presentation of modules which satisfy the programme outcome approach to engineering programme development is overviewed. The accreditation process can be simplified if various steps are taken to ensure that all relevant material is presented to the panel in a logical/coherent fashion. Various personal recommendations are discussed in relation to the layout/structure of supporting documentation as well as presentation of evidence during the accreditation visit.

Preparation & Accreditation of Level 7 Engineering Programmes

Mark McGrath — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 07:26:41 PST

Accreditation of 3rd level educational programmes by a suitably recognised professional body is of particular relevance in relation to engineering. The completion of a sequence of modules which leads to the attainment of this professionally recognised award is viewed as integral to the undertaking. The engineering technology fields are developing and expanding rapidly and the third level sector must keep abreast of these changes. This is essential if the third level institutions wish to continue delivering programmes which produce graduates who can successfully complete the transition from 3rd level to the various engineering sectors. This paper outlines various aspects of the preparation for, and the facilitation of, the accreditation of a Level 7 Bachelor of Engineering Technology programme in DIT by Engineers Ireland (EI). The generation and presentation of modules which satisfy the programme outcome approach to engineering programme development is overviewed. The accreditation process can be simplified if various steps are taken to ensure that all relevant material is presented to the panel in a logical/coherent fashion. Various personal recommendations are discussed in relation to the layout/structure of supporting documentation as well as presentation of evidence during the accreditation visit.

An Acoustic Fluid-structure Simulation of a Theraputic Ultrasound Wire Waveguide Apparatus

Graham Gavin et al. — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 07:06:36 PDT

The use of high-power low-frequency ultrasound transmitted down small diameter wire waveguides is an emerging technology that may have potential in the treatment of complicated atherosclerotic plaques in cardiovascular surgery. This form of energy delivery results in vibrating the distal-tip of the wire waveguide disrupting material by means of direct contact ablation and also cavitation, pressure waves and acoustic streaming in the surrounding fluid. This work describes a numerical acoustic fluid-structure model of the ultrasound wire waveguide and blood surrounding the distal tip. The structural analysis of the model predicts the natural frequencies of the waveguide and shows the extent to which these are affected by the presence of the distal-tip geometry, the surrounding fluid and the length of wire waveguide. These results are validated against experimental results on a 23.5 kHz waveguide apparatus. The acoustic fluid results show the pressure field developed in the surrounding blood and predicts pressure conditions sufficient to cause cavitation in a region close to the distal-tip. These results compare favourably with experimental measurements reported in the literature. The model will prove a valuable design tool in the further development of this potential minimally invasive technology.

Development of a Numerical Model to Simulate Pressure Distributions in Ultrasound Angioplasty

Graham Gavin et al. — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 06:58:44 PDT

Ultrasound Angioplasty has been shown to be effective in the removal and re-canalising of blockages in arteries (Siegel RJ, 1993). The ultrasound is delivered via a wire waveguide to the lesion location. The wire, generally, has a ball-tip at the distal end to increase transmission of the ultrasound to the surrounding fluid by causing the ball-tip to oscillate between 20– 45kHz and with displacements of up to 100mm peak-to-peak (Atar, 1999 and Yock, 1997). Pressure waves, micro streaming, cavitation and direct contact with the oscillating ball-tip affect the blockage. Most work to date has concentrated on a spherical ball-tip geometry at the distal end of the wire waveguide, with the ball-tip diameter between 1-2mm (Steffen, 1994 and Rosenschein, 1996). METHODS To simulate the interaction between the ball-tip and surrounding fluid a Finite Element Acoustic Model using fluid-solid interaction and acoustic elements was developed. In order to validate the FEA model a pulsating sphere was simulated and compared with the analytical solution, given in Equation 1. The radial displacement and frequency were the input loads on the solid ball tip, while outputs included maximum nodal pressures at points in the acoustic field. DISCUSSION The correspondence between the finite element solution and the analytical solution for a pulsating sphere is shown in Figure 1. This is a plot of the maximum pressures at points axially parallel to the tip at a distance of 1mm. This location is similar to that of the arterial wall, although the presence of the wall is ignored here. Areas of cavitation activity may be identified where the maximum pressure amplitude exceeds ambient fluid pressure. This information may aid in the design of the devices. In future work the validated model will be used to simulate an oscillating sphere. This is more representative of actual tip movement during ultrasound angioplasty

Use of Collaborative Learning Technology to Support Cross-Faculty Group Learning

Colm O'Kane et al. — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 06:46:52 PDT

The scope of applications of computer supported collaborative learning (CSCL) has grown exponentially in recent years. This group of techniques has been found to be extremely effective as a collaborative tool to inspire scaffolding between students. It is also useful when several academic supervisors wish to view the same project work.

This paper describes the process and the motivation behind the first implementation of a campus pack-based project in Year 3 of Dublin Institute of Technology's (DIT) BSc. in Product Design programme. Issues have been encountered in previous years with this cross-faculty managed project, but this work shows the potential that exists in harnessing technology to unlock the true learning potential of collaborative work at undergraduate level. The paper reviews the collaborative learning field and continues to describe the DIT implementation. This description includes initial hurdles encountered, approaches taken to resolve these, learning about the process of using Wikis for collaborative work and conclusions for future implementations.

Force Measurement and Evaluation for Surgical Cutting Applications: Development of an Effective Characterisation Testbed

Dean Callaghan — Mon, 09 May 2011 01:33:15 PDT

Sensorized instruments that cater for accurate measurement of the interaction forces (between biological tissue and instrument end-effector) during surgical procedures offer surgeons a greater sense of immersion during minimally invasive robotic surgery (MIRS). There is much ongoing research into force measurement/evaluation involving surgical graspers. However, comparatively little corresponding effort has been expended in the measurement and subsequent evaluation of forces between scissor blades and tissue. This paper presents the design and development of a force/strain measurement test apparatus, which will ultimately serve as an effective sensor characterisation and evaluation platform. Data acquired from the testing platform can be used to differentiate between tissue samples with differing mechanical properties in a reliable, repeatable manner. PVA cryogel samples which have been exposed to differing freeze-thaw cycles, giving properties similar to those of biological tissue are used. These samples, with a range of stiffness values, allow testbed performance to be evaluated over a wide range of tissue types. Further experimental data/analysis is presented which quantifies the levels of strain generated on the scissor blades during a cutting procedure. The resulting force/strain data correlates well with typical scissor cutting trends. This data is being used to establish a comprehensive set of operational requirements for force sensing transducers which could be incorporated into, or placed on to, a scissor blade end-effector. Future applications of the test equipment will include the assessment of new direct force sensing technologies for telerobotic end-effectors in minimally invasive robotic surgery.

Investigation of Four-wheel Steering Algorithms for a Formula SAE Car

Colm O'Kane et al. — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 08:58:51 PDT

An algorithm was developed for a speed-dependent four-wheel steering system for a Formula SAE car. A linear bicycle model was implemented using the MATLAB and SIMULINK software packages. Various control laws were investigated for the rear steer angle with the objective of reducing the sideslip angle. A full 3D model of the vehicle incorporating weight transfer and tire non-linearity was then developed using the DADS software. An algorithm developed using the linear model with the aim of reducing vehicle sideslip angle was implemented in the nonlinear model. It is shown that this algorithm can improve the dynamic performance for both high-speed and low-speed maneuvers.

Online Real-Time Water Quality Monitoring and Control System

Paul Duffy et al. — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 07:28:05 PDT

On-Line Realtime Water Quality Monitoring and Control for Swimming Pools

Paul Duffy et al. — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 07:28:05 PDT

Effective swimming pool water quality monitoring and control systems are important to safeguard public health and for bather comfort. Most Irish swimming pool monitoring systems rely heavily on manual methods for sampling, testing and data recording of important parameters. Microbiological testing is infrequent and results can often take days. The goal of this research is to develop a water quality monitoring and control system with real time data logging, automatic data analysis, remote monitoring and control, microbiological sampling capabilities and online connectivity. National Instruments hardware and its software package LabView form the basis of the monitoring and control system. Several sensors measure the main water parameters affecting disinfection and overall water balance: temperature, pH level, total dissolved solids, turbidity, chlorine level and redox potential. Water hardness is measured manually due to the prohibitive cost of an automatic system. The LabView package and related hardware controls the chemical dosing of the pool in order to maintain these parameters within their recommended optimum levels. An investigation is also being carried out into the development of a biosensor to detect E. coli, as it is the best indicator of faecal contamination in water. The flexibility of the technology used in this research means that it has numerous other potential applications, such as: drinking water treatment, waste water treatment, industrial process control, environmental study and monitoring.

Detection of Microcracks During Bone Cutting Using Acoustic Emission Techniques

Ashkan Safari et al. — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 07:59:36 PDT

Surgeons may use a number of cutting instruments such as osteotomes and chisels to cut bone during operative procedures. The initial loading of cortical bone during the cutting process results in the formation of microcracks in the vicinity of the cutting zone with main crack propagation to failure occurring with continued loading; microcracking acts as a stimulus for main crack formation and has also been shown to occur during the propagation of the main crack. It has also been reported that Acoustic Emission (AE) is generated due to microcrack formation and crack growth, prior to, and during final fracture in tensile loading of bovine and human cortical bone. In this study, we recorded the number of AE hits and AE signal amplitudes during monotonic indentation cutting of cortical bone, to correlate between the intensity and duration of the signals and micro and macro crack formation and propagation.

Indentation Fracture of Bovine Cortical Bone: Acoustic Emission Technique

Ashkan Safari et al. — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 07:59:35 PDT

Indentation cutting may result in microcracking and main crack growth which was previously reported. In this study, we recorded the AE signals produced by cracking processes during cutting on cortical bone, measuring the cutting force and correlating between load-displacement curves and AE activities.

Cutting Rate Effect on Temperature During Cortical Bone Sawing

Hamid Khalili Parsa et al. — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 07:45:31 PDT

When bone is cut the occurrence of thermal damage to the bone is of major concern to the surgeon. If the temperature exceeds 44°C for longer than 1 min, bone repair is impaired (Eriksson et al, 1984) and necrosis may occur. Repeated use of cutting blades may reduce the cutting efficiency (Wevers et al, 1987; Toksvig-Larsen et al, 1992). Wevers et al also found that there is a greater force required to cut cortical bone using a blunt saw compared to new one.

Analysis of Indentation Loading of Cortical Bone Using Acoustic Emission Techniques

Ashkan Safari et al. — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 07:45:30 PDT

In this study, we recorded the number of Acoustic emission (AE) hits and related AE energy during indentation fracture of cortical bone using a PAC PCI-2 card and pico sensor. A threshold value of 43dB was used to filter premature trigger due to background noise. Registered AE hits had more than one count (threshold crossing). Amplifier gain was set at 40dB with a (0.1-1) MHz band pass filter. 8mm cubes of cortical bones were indented in the longitudinal direction at constant crosshead speed of 1 mm min-1 using a large 2D, 50˚ wedge indenter. We hypothesised that signals occurring as a result of microcracking would have low AE energy and occur prior to and during the period of maximum load whereas those associated with main crack propagation would have high AE energy and occur at fracture only.

Sequential Labelling and Acoustic Emission Analysis of Damage Occurring in Cortical Bone During Indentation Cutting

Ger Reilly et al. — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 07:45:30 PDT

When a surgeon uses a wedge shaped blade or an osteotome to cut cortical bone during an operative procedure the bone will fail by a process of microcracking and primary crack propagation. It has previously been observed that crack propagation is dependent on the direction of cutting relative to the main axis of the bone. It has also been observed that microcracks occurring during fracture release acoustic signals that facilitate real-time monitoring of a cutting process. In these novel studies, we labelled damage accumulation during cutting of cortical bone using sequential chelating dyes and we correlated recorded AE signals during cutting with load-displacement curves.

Ultrasonic Angioplasty: Assessing the Risk of Arterial Perforation

Mark Wylie et al. — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 07:45:29 PDT

Atherosclerosis is a cardiovascular disease that effects large and medium muscular arteries (such as coronary and iliac) and also large elastic arteries (such as aorta) [1]. It causes thickening of the arterial wall and over time can result in a completely blocked artery or chronic total occlusion (CTO). While the majority of atherosclerotic lesions can be attempted by typical Percutaneous Transluminal Coronary Angioplasty (PTCA) such as balloon and stent implantation, calcified CTOs are often problematic as they do not lend themselves to be accessed by the guidewire which is required to implant the balloon and stent. Excessive guidewire pushing force may result in arterial perforation with CTOs often requiring invasive by-pass surgery. An alternative method proposes the use of low frequency high power ultrasound transmitted through wire waveguides for the removal of the calcified material from advanced atherosclerotic lesions. This type of energy manifests itself as a mechanical vibration at the distal tip of the wave guide with amplitudes of up to 100 microns and frequencies ranging between 20-45 kHz commonly reported. The ultrasound acts to disrupt calcified diseased tissue by means of direct contact ablation, cavitation, acoustic steaming and other pressure wave components while the elastic tissue remains largely unaffected [2]. In this study the effects of this form of ultrasound on healthy arterial tissue (porcine aorta) is examined. Experiments were carried out to determine the force required to perforate healthy porcine arterial tissue both with and without ultrasound at various distal tip displacements.

Techniques for Investigation of Surgical Cutting Instruments

Eamon Price et al. — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 07:45:29 PDT