Other Engineering Commons^™

Home Owners’ Attitudes, Perceptions And Willingness To Pay For Microgeneration Technologies, Marius Claudy, Aidan O'Driscoll, Aidan Duffy

Reports

This report evaluates Irish home owners’ perceptions, attitudes and willingness to pay (WTP) for microgeneration technologies, including photovoltaic (solar panels),[1] solar water heaters, micro wind turbines and wood pellet boilers.

The data presented in the report stem from two large-scale surveys, both designed by Technological University Dublin (DIT) and commissioned on behalf of Sustainable Energy Authority Ireland (SEAI) and DIT. The first study gathered data on Irish people’s general awareness of microgeneration technologies and was conducted in March 2009. The second and main survey targeted Irish home owners in order to understand their perceptions of and attitudes to microgeneration. …

Green Supply Chains Initiatives In Transport And Logistics Service Industry: An Exploratory Case Study Analysis, Pietro Evangelista, Edward Sweeney, Gabriella Ferruzzi, Juan Carlos Carrasco

Conference papers

No abstract provided.

The Future Is Urban, Where ‘Up Mayo’ Politics Just Won’T Do, Lorcan Sirr, Conor Skehan

Media

No abstract provided.

Energy-Related Carbon Emissions In Ireland: Scenarios To 2020, Tadhg O'Mahony

Doctoral

The consumption of energy and related carbon emissions are a development challenge requiring analysis and policy insights. Current analysis of future change in Ireland relies on quantitative point forecasts within which accuracy is difficult to achieve. A scenario analysis approach has often been applied with the longer term but is also useful on shorter time-scales. This research applied a combination of decomposition analysis and scenario analysis to identify and analyse the driving forces of change in Ireland historically from 1990-2007 and in the future to 2020. The historical decomposition used the LMDI I technique and was further quantified to 2020 …

Validated Real-Time Energy Models For Small-Scale Grid-Connected Pv-Systems, Lacour Ayompe, Aidan Duffy, Sarah Mccormack, Michael Conlon

Articles

This paper presents validated real-time energy models for small-scale grid-connected PV-systems suitable for domestic application. The models were used to predict real-time AC power output from a PV system in Dublin, Ireland using 30-min intervals of measured performance data between April 2009 and March 2010. Statistical analysis of the predicted results and measured data highlight possible sources of errors and the limitations and/or adequacy of existing models, to describe the temperature and efficiency of PV-cells and consequently, the accuracy of power prediction models. PV-system AC output power predictions using empirical models for PV-cell temperature and efficiency prediction showed lower percentage …

Ghost Estates Will Haunt Us For Years, Lorcan Sirr

Media

No abstract provided.

An Intriguing Monument, Muiris O'Sullivan, Frank Prendergast, Geraldine Stout

Articles

No abstract provided.

Development Of A Framework For The Assessment Of The Role And Impact Of Technology On The Public Procurement Process: An Irish Health Sector Study, Paul Davis

Doctoral

This thesis sets out to examine how the role and impact of technology, in the context of the public procurement process, can be assessed by addressing it as a single bounded structural entity. The thesis specifically examines the procurement process in the Irish Health Sector. This thesis takes the view that context for the procurement process is critical and that adopting a structuration approach to the examination of the process allows for a greater understanding of the role of technology. The thesis is built around a thematic structure which examines the changing relationship between information technology systems and organisational structure. …

The Measurement Of Success In External Engagement Activities, Mike Murphy

Conference papers

Our ambition is to identify, through the presentations and the discussion, a number of key insights and necessary actions for development of more and deeper partnerships between Higher Education Institutions and Employers.

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 Doctoral Thesis Examining Change In A Hei In Ireland: Changing Universities And The Response Of Academics To Change In The Dublin Institute Of Technology, Kevin Kelly

Books/Book chapters

This is doctoral thesis undertaken by an experienced academic in the Engineering Faculty of a Higher Education Institute in Ireland. It examines the demand for universities to change in response to a fast changing external environment. This research explores how stakeholders are responding to the demands for change and how a bureaucratic organisation is attempting to become more responsive and innovative.

Towards An Integrated Approach To Engineering Ethics, Eddie Conlon

Conference papers

There is an increasing diversity in approaches to teaching engineering ethics due to increasing dissatisfaction with the dominant approach which uses case studies focused on moral dilemmas confronting individual engineers. There has been a demand for a greater consideration of the organisational and social context in which engineers work and for a shift in focus from micro ethics issues concerning individuals to macro issues of concern to the engineering profession. Further, there has been a demand that engineers focus on societal decision making about technology and their role in policy development. Drawing on the work of the American sociologist George …

There's More To Planning Than Coloured Maps, Lorcan Sirr

Articles

No abstract provided.

Solar Cell Efficiency Enhancement Through Down-Shifting And Up-Converting Layers: The Ephocell Project: Luminescent Downshifting Quantum Yield Measurements, M. Kennedy, L. Aubouy, D. Gutiérrez-Tauste, A. Jorge, M. Faccini, G. Noriega, M. Di Lorenzo, M. Cocca, M. Avella, M. Errico, G. Gentile, John Doran, Brian Norton, S. Baluschev, J. Bistué Guardiola, A. Robles Molina, J. Puigdollers, C. Voz, S. Daren, F. Tsvetkov, A. Pashov

Conference Papers

Organic cells and dye-sensitized cells developed to-date have a narrow active absorption range, relative to the spectral range of the available solar resource. Their efficiency could be significantly enhanced through a process of down-shifting (DS) and up-conversion of non-absorbable photons converting them to photons better matching the spectral response of the particular solar cell. The DS molecules must exhibit a large Stokes shift and high luminescent quantum yield when incorporated in the downshifting polymer layer. In this paper, the QY of a downshifting Europium (III) complex in solution is determined using two distinct experimental techniques. The QY is measured for …

On The Use Of A Dynamic Hybrid Tempo Detection Model For Beat Tracking, Mikel Gainza

Conference papers

In this paper, an approach that estimates the times at which musical beats occur is presented. The system uses a hybrid multi-band decomposition in order to estimate the music tempo. Following this, beat events are tracked by using a dynamic programming approach, which is updated by using short time tempo estimates. The hybrid decomposition is used in order to calculate the tempo by using different onset detection functions in different frequency bands. In addition, a method that estimates which frequency bands provide reliable periodicities is also presented. The accuracy of the model is evaluated by comparing the presented system against …

Broadening Ethics Teaching In Engineering: Beyond The Individualistic Approach, Eddie Conlon, H. Zandvoort

Articles

There is a widespread approach to the teaching of ethics to engineering students in which the exclusive focus is on engineers as individual agents and the broader context in which they do their work is ignored. Although this approach has frequently been criticised in the literature, it persists on a wide scale, as can be inferred from accounts in the educational literature and from the contents of widely used textbooks in engineering ethics. In this contribution we intend to: (1) Restate why the individualistic approach to the teaching of ethics to engineering students is inadequate in view of preparing them …

Quality Indicators For Engineering And Technology Education, Michael Dyrenfurth, Mike Murphy, Gary Bertoline

Conference papers

In recent years the development and use of university rankings, comparisons, and/or league tables has become popular and several methodologies are now frequently used to provide a comparative ranking of universities. These rankings are often based on research and publication activity and also not uncommonly focus on indicators that can be measured rather than those that should be measured. Further, the indicators are generally examined for the university as a whole rather than for university divisions, departments or programs. Implicit also is that placement in the rankings is indicative of quality. This paper provides an overview of the methodologies used …