Engineering Commons^™

Chapter 7: The Evaluation Of Ontologies, Leo Obrst, Benjamin Ashpole, Werner Ceusters, Inderjeet Mani, Steven Ray, Barry Smith

Steven R Ray

Recent years have seen rapid progress in the development of ontologies as semantic models intended to capture and represent aspects of the real world. There is, however, great variation in the quality of ontologies. If ontologies are to become progressively better in the future, more rigorously developed, and more appropriately compared, then a systematic discipline of ontology evaluation must be created to ensure quality of content and methodology. Systematic methods for ontology evaluation will take into account representation of individual ontologies, performance and accuracy on tasks for which the ontology is designed and used, degree of alignment with other ontologies …

Porous Fiber Formation In A Polymer-Solvent System Undergoing Solvent Evaporation, Thein Kyu

Thein Kyu

Temporal evolution of the fiber morphology during dry spinning has been investigated in the framework of Cahn-Hilliard equation [J. Chem. Phys.28, 258 (1958)] pertaining to the concentration order parameter or volume fraction given by the Flory-Huggins free energy of mixing [P. J. Flory, Principles of Polymer Chemistry (Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY, 1953), p. 672] in conjunction with the solventevaporation rate. To guide the solventevaporation induced phase separation, equilibrium phase diagram of the starting polymer solution was established on the basis of the Flory-Huggins free energy of mixing. The quasi-steady-state approximation has been adopted to account for the nonconserved nature …

A Longitudinal Evaluation Of Electromagnetic Theory Students’ Continuous Improvement In Learning Skills, Rozeha A Rashid, Mazlina Esa, Mohd Saidfudin Masodi, Razimah Abdullah

Razimah Abdullah

Performance Of Continual Quality Improvement For Learning Process In A Microwave Engineering Based Core Subject, Mazlina Esa, Rozeha A Rashid, Mohd Saidfudin Masodi, Razimah Abdullah

Razimah Abdullah

Precision And Accuracy Of Thermal Calibration Of Atomic Force Microscopy Cantilevers, Nancy Burnham, G Matei, E Thoreson, J Pratt, D Newell

Nancy A. Burnham

To have confidence in force measurements made with atomic force microscopes(AFMs), the spring constant of the AFM cantilevers should be known with good precision and accuracy, a topic not yet thoroughly treated in the literature. In this study, we compared the stiffnesses of uncoated tipless uniform rectangular silicon cantilevers among thermal, loading, and geometric calibration methods; loading was done against an artifact from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The artifact was calibrated at NIST using forces that were traceable to the International System of units. The precision and accuracy of the thermal method were found to be …

The Geometry Of The Forisome–Sieve Element–Sieve Plate Complex In The Phloem Of Vicia Faba L. Leaflets, Winfried Peters, Aart Van Bel, Michael Knoblauch

Winfried S. Peters

Forisome Based Biomimetic Smart Materials, Amy Shen, Benjamin Hamlington, Michael Knoblauch, Winfried Peters, William Pickard

Winfried S. Peters

Prospects And Possibilities For Ontology Evaluation: The View From Ncor, Leo Obrst, Todd Hughes, Steven Ray

Steven R Ray

In this position paper, we briefly describe the perspective of the US National Center for Ontological Research (NCOR, http://ncor.us) on ontology evaluation. NCOR’s inauguration was recently held (October 2005), and at that time goals were identified and committees formed to pursue those goals, including the Ontology Evaluation Committee. This committee is charged with developing a plan for the evaluation of ontologies that is designed to transform ontological engineering into a true scientific and engineering discipline. This paper discusses some issues on ontology evaluation, including the relevant questions to ask, and suggests some approaches.

Inductive Teaching And Learning Methods: Definitions, Comparisons, And Research Bases, Michael Prince, R. Felder

Michael J. Prince

No abstract provided.

Substrate Rigidity Regulates The Formation And Maintenance Of Tissues, Nancy Burnham, Wei-Hui Guo, Margo Frey, Yu-Li Wang

Nancy A. Burnham

The ability of cells to form tissues represents one of the most fundamental issues in biology. However, it is unclear what triggers cells to adhere to one another in tissues and to migrate once a piece of tissue is planted on culture surfaces. Using substrates of identical chemical composition but different flexibility, we show that this process is controlled by substrate rigidity: on stiff substrates, cells migrate away from one another and spread on surfaces, whereas on soft substrates they merge to form tissue-like structures. Similar behavior was observed not only with fibroblastic and epithelial cell lines but also explants …

A Cost-Effective Fabrication Method For Ionic Polymer-Metal Composites, Jonathan Stolk, Michael Siripong, Susan Fredholm, Que Anh Nguyen, Brian Shih, Johannah Itescu

Michael Siripong

To date, many processes have been used for the preparation of ionic polymer-metal composite (IPMC) artificial muscle membranes from conductive metals and perfluorosulfonic polymers such as Nafion. The most widely used of these methods is the platinum plating process, which involves chemical reduction of ionic salt solutions. Although these chemical electroding techniques produce IPMCs with outstanding surface electrodes and excellent performance characteristics, they are relatively costly and time-consuming. In this paper, we describe a novel fabrication process for fast preparation of low-cost Ni-Au-Nafion IPMCs. The process involves the formation of an adherent surface layer on prepared Nafion through DC sputter …

Nanophotonics: Design, Fabrication And Characterization (Sc647), Andrew Sarangan

Andrew Sarangan

No abstract provided.

The 2006 Upper Ontology Summit Communique, Leo Obrst, Patrick Cassidy, Steven Ray, Barry Smith, Dagobert Soergel, Matthew West, Peter Yim

Steven R Ray

On March 14-15 in Gaithersburg, MD, at the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the Upper Ontology Summit (UOS) took place. The Upper Ontology Summit was a convening of custodians of several prominent upper ontologies, key ontology technology participants, and interested other parties, with the purpose of finding a means to relate the different ontologies to each other. The result is reflected in a joint communiqué, directed to the larger ontology community and the general public, and expressing a joint intent to build bridges among the existing upper ontologies in ways designed to increase and rationalize their utilization …

Maintenance Outsourcing Of A Multi-Process Manufacturing System With Multiple Contractors, Hakan Tarakci, Kwei Tang, Herb Moskowitz, Robert Plante

Hakan Tarakci

Consider a manufacturer with a manufacturing system that consists of multiple processes. The manufacturer’s revenue is determined by the minimum of the uptimes among the processes. The maintenance functions of the processes are outsourced to independent contractors so that each contractor is responsible only for one process. A performance-based incentive contract is offered to each contractor, consisting of an uptime target level and a bonus rate for exceeding the uptime target. Under the incentive contract, a contractor receives a bonus only when the achieved uptime exceeds the target level specified in the contract. We develop a model for jointly determining …

Manufacturing Interoperability, Steven Ray, Al Jones

Steven R Ray

As manufacturing and commerce become ever more global, companies are dependent increasingly upon the efficient and effective sharing of information with their partners, wherever they may be. Leading manufacturers perform this sharing with computers, which must therefore have the required software to encode and decode the associated electronic transmissions. Because no single company can dictate that all its partners use the same software, standards for how the information is represented become critical for error-free transmission and translation. The terms interoperability and integration are frequently used to refer to this error-free transmission and translation. This paper summarizes two projects underway at …

Alternative Technology For Dredging And Dewatering Of Hazardous Sludge In Marine Environments, David Olowokere

David 0 Olowokere

This paper is a case study that describes the application of the Dry DREdge™ technology coupled with geotubes in the dredging and dewatering of hazardous sediments. The paper describes the project objectives, the Dry DREdge™ and Geotube technologies, and the results of applying this technique. The Dry DREdge™ was jointly developed and tested by DRE and the U.S Army Corps of Engineers, Waterways Experiment Station (WES), Vicksburg, MS, under the Corps of Engineers Construction Productivity Research Program (CPAR). Though the case study pertains to containment of dredged hazardous material from settling pond, the technology is applicable for the removal of …

Prospective Energy Densities In The Forisome, A New Smart Material, William Pickard, Michael Knoblauch, Winfried Peters, Amy Shen

Winfried S. Peters

Insisting On Truth At The Expense Of Conceptualization: Can Engineering Portfolios Help?, Ozgur Eris

Ozgur Eris

Teaching and promoting conceptual thinking in engineering education is challenging. Two recently introduced design thinking models are compared in order to explore the reasons behind this challenge. The comparison results in key distinctions between divergent and convergent thinking, and between concept and knowledge domains. The differentiating principle is shown to be a common principle of the two models, truth-value, or logical status, of the propositions that engineers make. Building on this insight, divergent thinking by inquiry is identified as a mechanism for promoting conceptual thinking, and a specific implementation of engineering portfolios is proposed as a pedagogical tool.

Incentive Maintenance Outsourcing Contracts For Channel Coordination And Improvement, Hakan Tarakci, Kwei Tang, Herb Moskowitz, Robert Plante

Hakan Tarakci

Consider a manufacturer who has a process with an increasing failure rate over time. In order to improve the process performance, the following two types of maintenance activity are outsourced to an external contractor: (i) preventive maintenance is performed periodically to improve the reliability of the process when the process is functional; and (ii) corrective maintenance is used to restore the process to a specified condition when it fails. We consider the use of incentive contracts to induce the contractor to select the maintenance policy that optimizes the total profit of the manufacturer and contractor. It is demonstrated that an …