Digital Commons Network^™

An Investigation Into Obstacles Effecting The Use Of Support Technology For Accommodation Facilitation In Third Level Education, Conor Brennan

Dissertations

The profile of students attending third level education in Ireland has changed over the past number of years. More non-traditional students have entered mainstream education. These non-traditional students may be mature students, students whose first language is not English and students with disabilities. In the 2010-2011 academic session 6,932 students with disabilities were enrolled in third level education. This represent 3.9%(AHEAD 2011) of all students enrolled in third level education, which constitutes a 10% increase on 2009-2010. This increase is putting pressure on an already strained system. Efforts have been made to educate and inform lecturers and teaching staff on …

The Prevailing Obstacles In Web Accessibility On Three Well-Known Websites For Older People With Sight Difficulties, Sarah O'Reilly

Dissertations

Prior research has argued that there is no one best approach to evaluating web accessibility and proposes the adoption of multiple approaches. Following these proposals this research used three different approaches for evaluating accessibility on websites for accessibility to older persons with sight difficulties as there are advantages and disadvantages to each approach. Approached used included: (1) Using automated tools to determine accessibility, which looks at the code of websites to get a general overview of accessibility issues. (2) Manually looking at the design, code and also how it might impact the user. This involved a manual assessment of each …

Stochastic Hybrid Embodied Co2-Eq Analysis: An Application To The Irish Apartment Building Sector, Adolf Acquaye, Aidan Duffy, Biswajit Basu

Articles

Although embodiedCO2-eq analysis has seen recent developments as evident in the establishment of the ISO14040 and 14044 LCA standards, it is recognized that due to weaknesses in gathering data on product-related emissions,embodiedCO2-eq values are probabilistic. This paper presents a stochastic analysis of hybrid embodied CO2-eq in buildings to account for this weakness in traditional methods and, by way of example, applies it to an Irish construction-sector case study. Using seven apartment buildings, 70,000 results are simulated with Monte Carlo analysis and used to derive probabilistic and cumulative embodied CO2-eq intensity distributions for apartment buildings in Ireland. A Wakeby distribution with …

Investigation To Improve The Control And Operation Of A Three-Phase Photovoltaic Grid-Tie Inverter, Mohamed Moin Hanif

Doctoral

Solar Energy or more precisely photovoltaic energy is one of the most promising sources of electricity for the future and it can be used as a distributed generator (DG) to play its role in ‘smart grids of the future’. Distributed PV (photovoltaic) generators can provide numerous potential benefits such as augmenting the capacity of distribution systems, deferring capital investments on distribution and transmission (T&D) systems and improving power quality and system reliability. The PV energy which possesses very special I-V and P-V characteristics has to be conditioned by a PV inverter before it can be consumed by an ac load …

Cloud Computing For Schools, Shane O'Doherty

Dissertations

This project evaluates previous Information and Communication Technology policy and practice relating to primary schools in Ireland with a view to suggesting a better way forward in light of advances in ICT, such as the availability of fast broadband services, including fibre broadband, browser-based applications and the advent of cloud computing. Cloud computing refers to the Internet as a source of both software programs and also data retention, in effect the Internet provides the software and data services via browsers to users who may remain entirely unaware of the technology at work, uncluttered by hardware or software licensing issues or …

Building A Successful Transatlantic Collaboration In Engineering/Technological Education; Lessons From A Six Year Journey, Donal Mchale, Mark Mcgrath, John Lawlor

Conference Papers

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 Technological University Dublin,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 …

Concurrent Masters Degrees Across The Atlantic: Innovations, Issues And Insights, Michael Dyrenfurth, Mike Murphy, Gary Bertoline, Robert Herrick, Kathryne Newton, Gareth O'Donnell, Donal Mchale, Nuria Castell, Miquel Barcelo, Didac Balas, Maria Ribera Sancho, Jordi Garcia

Conference papers

Atransatlantic degree consortium to implement a four-semester dual masters degree initiative across a three-institution consortium consisting of Purdue University (USA), the Technological University Dublin (DIT), and the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (Spain) is presented in this paper.

A Framework To Develop Lifelong Learning And Transferable Skills In An Engineering Programme, Gavin Duffy, Brian Bowe

Conference papers

Engineering programmes have a strong reputation in the delivery of technical knowledge and skills. Graduates need equally high levels of competence in personal and professional skills to not only meet the existing requirements of employers and professional bodies but to also help them manage the inevitable changes that society is facing in an increasingly populated world. The need to move from traditional to student-centred learning is discussed in the context of engineering education. The use of group-based, problem driven learning facilitates high integration of technical and non-technical knowledge and skills and requires more engagement with the programme from today’s student. …

A Covert Encryption Method For Applications In Electronic Data Interchange, Jonathan Blackledge, Dmitry Dubovitskiy

Articles

A principal weakness of all encryption systems is that the output data can be ‘seen’ to be encrypted. In other words, encrypted data provides a ‘flag’ on the potential value of the information that has been encrypted. In this paper, we provide a new approach to ‘hiding’ encrypted data in a digital image.

In conventional (symmetric) encryption, the plaintext is usually represented as a binary stream and encrypted using an XOR type operation with a binary cipher. The algorithm used is ideally designed to: (i) generate a maximum entropy cipher so that there is no bias with regard to any …

Knowledge Sharing: Using Searchable Email Databases, Frank Wedgeworth

Dissertations

In today’s knowledge driven economy, a company’s intellectual capital is increasingly becoming its most important asset. The knowledge of how to create value defines a company’s success. Through knowledge management the value of knowledge within a company can be increased. One way of increasing the value of knowledge is by making it more accessible. The accessibility of knowledge can be facilitated by integrating the search for knowledge into the user’s workflow. Another way to increase the value of knowledge is through the capture of undocumented, tacit knowledge and converting it into explicit, documented knowledge. Email has been identified as the …

Why Renewables Need Nuclear?: A Brief Narrative, John Ratcliffe, Ruth Saurin

Articles

No abstract provided.

An Examination Of Eu Directive 98/76/Ec In Regards To The Irish Road Haulage Industry, Eoin Plant, Declan Allen, Edward Sweeney

Conference papers

The Irish economy experienced a tremendous increase in economic growth during the 1990s and early 21st Century (Celtic Tiger). This economic boom was export driven and the Irish Road Haulage Industry transported the majority of products produced at some stage, if not a number of stages in the logistics tunnel. In recent times there has been somewhat of a growing unease in the road haulage industry in relation to increasing costs, squeezing already tight profit margins. A report commissioned by the Department of Public Enterprise illustrated that 48% of hauliers identified themselves as needing training in the area of cost …

Heat Pump Evaluation And Design For The Irish Climate, Jim Mcgovern

Other resources

The work of this thesis concerns the application of heat pumps to domestic space heating in Ireland. Only small air-source electric-powered vapour compression plants using fluorocarbon refrigerants are considered. Tests have been carried out on an air-to-air heat pump unit with a rated heat output of 3 kW. The performance characteristics of each of the system components have been determined from the test results. Computer programs have been written to calculate performance figures for theoretical heat pump cycles and refrigerants 12, 22 and 502 have been compared with one another on the basis of theoretical performance. A computer program has …