Digital Commons Network^™

Revising Policy And Process: A Collaborative Project Between The Society Of Chartered Surveyors Ireland (Scsi) And Tu Dublin, Roisin Murphy Dr, James Lonergan

Conference Papers

No abstract provided.

Exploring The Impact Of Signal Quality Enhancement On Heart Sound Classification Models, Davoud Shariat Panah, Andrew Hines, Susan Mckeever

Articles

Limited cardiology resources increase the urgency for automated heart disease screening for the general public. Heart sound diagnostic models have been recently employed as a cost-effective solution for the initial screening of heart disease. Noise in heart sound recordings, however, can reduce the performance of such data-driven models. Various quality enhancement approaches have been adopted to alleviate the destructive impact of noise on model performance. One approach is universal noise reduction which applies denoising techniques to recordings, irrespective of their noise level. The second approach is targeted noise reduction, which applies denoising solely to recordings deemed to need it, based …

Are We Day-Dreaming Our Way To The Future?, John O'Connor

Presentations

This paper explores the transformative impact of technology on society, drawing on Marshall McLuhan’s insights. It scrutinizes the consequences of profit-driven technological progress, particularly in VR, brain-computer interfaces, and AI hallucinations. Critiquing the dominance of industry leaders in AI safety discussions, the paper advocates a balanced, inclusive approach.

Philosophical perspectives on AI and VR prompt questions about their impact on human experience. The paper proposes an educational shift to cultivate human attributes alongside technological skills. Examining AI hallucinations and gaming glitches, it raises concerns about the potential blurring of reality and virtuality.

Connecting technological advancements with environmental challenges, the paper …

A Comprehensive Review On Metal Oxide-Nanocellulose Composites In Sustainable Active And Intelligent Food Packaging, Kalpani Y. Perera, Amit Jaiswal, Swarma Jaiswal, Dileswar Pradhan

Articles

The aim of this article is to provide an overview of the potential advantages and drawbacks of nanocellulose and metal oxide-based composites in food packaging. These materials offer improved mechanical and barrier properties, as well as antioxidant and antimicrobial benefits that extend the shelf life of food products. Nanocomposite structures protect food from various physiological factors and immobilize enzymes, while metal oxide nanoparticles provide antibacterial effects against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. However, there are concerns regarding the safety of nanoparticles and their potential migration into packaged food during processing and storage. This article explores these issues and highlights the need …

Making Tradable White Certificates Trustworthy, Anonymous, And Efficient Using Blockchains, Nouman Ashraf, Sachin Sharma, Sheraz Aslam, Khursheed Aurangzeb

Articles

Fossil fuel pollution has contributed to dramatic changes in the Earth’s climate, and this trend will continue as fossil fuels are burned at an ever-increasing rate. Many countries around the world are currently making efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and one of the methods is the Tradable White Certificate (TWC) mechanism. The mechanism allows organizations to reduce their energy consumption to generate energy savings certificates, and those that achieve greater energy savings can sell their certificates to those that fall short. However, there are some challenges to implementing this mechanism, such as the centralized and costly verification and control …

Synergising Bim And Real-Time Data For Improved Efficiency: An Irish Case Study, Ahmed Hassan, Ankur Mitra, Alan Hore, Mark Mulville

Conference Papers

The evolution of 3D visualisation and the Internet of Things (IoT) presents a substantial opportunity for integrating real-time data with Building Information Models (BIM) to improve its functionality and construction workflow efficiency. Integrating real-time data with BIM can enhance the digital representation of construction buildings’ physical and functional characteristics and provide recordable status of on-site operations. Nevertheless, the integration between Visualisation and IoT technologies with BIM remains in its preliminary stages and faces a myriad of technical and operational challenges. Furthermore, developing advanced solutions to facilitate this complex integration requires a considerable understanding of the viability and feasibility of merging …

Optimization Of Biomedical Imaging Filters For Use In Recaptured Identity Document Classification, John Magee, Stephen Sheridan Phd, Christina Thorpe Phd

Conference papers

As banks and online financial institutions move toward full remote onboarding services, the attack vectors for bad actors increases to include those of recaptured identity documents. This type of fraud opens banking customers to potential crimes of identity theft, as well as causing reputational damage to the institutions involved. In this paper we extend existing research focusing on the use of biomedical imaging filters and their usefulness when classifying recaptured identity documents. We perform a grid search and demonstrate that different filter configurations exist that dramatically reduce the classification error rates compared to those achieved using only the default filter …

Digital Construction Annual Survey 2022 Report, Davitt Lamon, Ted Mckenna

Reports

The Annual Survey 2022 was conducted to assess the state of digital transformation in the Irish construction and built environment sector. This report presents the analysis of survey data, with a focus on implications for the Build Digital project and Build Digital’s five pillars: Digital Leadership & Cultural Change, Digital Standards, Digital Education & Training, Digital Procurement, and Sustainability & Circular Economy. Key findings from the survey indicated that a significant number of organisations have started their digital transformation journey, with many identifying themselves as proactive and possessing a clear business-focused strategy. However, a considerable cohort of respondents are keen …

Information Management And Bim Standards And Supports Inventory, Ryan Dempsey, Barry Mcauley, David Burke

Tools

The Digital Standards pillar consists of industry experts who champion the benefits of common rules, guidelines, and workflows that facilitate the improvement of information flow and information management across asset life cycles. Digital standards provide a common language that can be translated to technical specifications enabling clients, designers, contractors, and facilities managers, irrespective of their preferred tools, to communicate efficiently and reduce cost, rework, and disputes. Working closely with the Digital Procurement and Digital Education and Training pillars, this pillar is developing and delivering Irish Information Management/BIM (Digital Construction) guidelines for the sector.

This report summarises existing digital construction standards, …

Sustainability And Circular Economy Horizon Scan And Needs Analysis, Sadaf Dalirazar, Mark Kelly, Derek Sinnott, James O'Donnell

Reports

The construction industry plays a crucial role in addressing the climate crisis as it is the largest global consumer of raw materials and contributes significantly to global energy consumption and emissions. Considering the world’s continuous population growth and the imperative to address infrastructure and housing demands the construction sector needs to adopt further sustainable strategies in its activities to reduce the pressure on natural resources. In addition, the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) sector is responsible for generating substantial amount of waste known as Construction and Demolition Waste (CDW), which is projected to increase due to the future construction developments. …

International Information Management And Bim Best Practice Report - 2026 Update, Ted Mckenna, Davitt Lamon

Reports

In order to inform the Digital Leadership and Cultural Change pillar of the Build Digital, a study of international best practice in digital adoption within the built environment sector globally was undertaken and is presented here-in. In order to identify key learnings for Ireland in the context of digital transformation, eight countries were included in this study, namely, Denmark, Finland, Netherlands, Germany, United Kingdom (UK), New Zealand, Australia and Singapore. These countries were selected for various reasons, including the level of digital maturity, the scale of the built environment sector and geographic spread. Key data for each country is included …

Poster: Optimising Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure In Dublin Using Geecharge, Alexander Mutiso Mutua, Ruairí De Fréin, Ali Malik, Kibanza Eliel, Sahbane Marco, Pantel Maxime

Conference papers

Range anxiety is a significant challenge affecting electric vehicles use as drivers fear running out of charge without finding a charging point on time. We develop methods to optimise the distribution of charging points. EV portacharge and GEECharge solutions distribute charging points in a city by considering the population density and Points Of Interest (POI) or road traffic. This paper focuses on (1) developing and evaluating methods to distribute Charging Points (CPs) in Dublin city; (2) optimising CP allocation; (3) visualising paths in the graph network to show the most used roads and points of interest; (4) describing a way …

In Situ Tuning And Investigating The Growth Process Of Size Controllable Gold 2 Nanoparticles And Statistical Size Prediction Analysis, Vinayak Sharma

Articles

A critical understanding of the formation and growth process of gold nanoparticles (GNPs) is crucial, in order to synthesize monodisperse gold nanocrystals of controllable size and shape in a predictable way. GNPs of different shapes and sizes can be produced by altering different physicochemical reaction conditions, such as pH, temperature, and the ratio of reactants. The significant variations in the morphological features of GNPs can be monitored in situ in a time-dependent manner by using UV–visible spectroscopy. In this study, we have synthesized seedless GNPs by reduction of HAuCl4 by using various molar ratios of HEPES and Na2HPO4. The shape …

Profess 12: Project Report Pr4: The Profess 12 Summer School Toolkit, Una Beagon, Margaret Morgan, Ruchita Jani, Rosalind M Henry, Janet Mckennedy, Brian Bowe

Reports

This document forms part of the PROFESS 12 Summer School Toolkit for engineering educators as a component of Work Package 3 in the HEA funded PROFESS 12 (PROFessional skills for Engineering students - Summer School to achieve SDG 12) Project.

This handbook outlines the pedagogical background to the design of the Summer School and describes in detail the components of each session, outlining the aims and objectives, teaching and learning activities and links to resources or templates as required. Educators are encouraged to provide feedback or additional relevant resources to the project team for inclusion as alternative options.

A student …

Building Services Engineering September/October 2023

Building Services Engineering

No abstract provided.

Building Services Engineering November/December 2023

Building Services Engineering

No abstract provided.

School Of Culinary Arts & Food Technology Autumn Newsletter 2023, James Murphy

Other resources

The School of Culinary Arts and Food Technology, TU Dublin, Autumn Edition Newsletter captured the many events, research, awards, significant contributions and special civic and community activities which the students and staff members of the school have successfully completed up to the Autumn period of 2023. The successful completion of these activities would not be possible without the active and on-going support of the 'INSPIRED' friends of Culinary Arts (school supporters) and our school's industry association supporters. If you would like to support our school and the next Generation of Food, Culinary and Horticulture students, contact us at e: [email protected]

Contemporary Landscape, Drivers And Developments In Engineering Education For Sustainability, Edmond Byrne

Plenary Presentations and Doctoral Symposium

The ‘landscape’ around sustainability education in engineering has continued to evolve. Engineering education for sustainability largely emerged originally out of environmental engineering imperatives, though more recent developments have considerably broadened the scope of ‘sustainability’ teaching in professional engineering programmes. This has implications for associated curriculum developments as well as having pedagogical implications. Principal drivers for these developments emanate from the evolving requirements of professional engineering bodies internationally. These drivers have been supported and supplemented by an enhanced sense of urgency in the wake of the impacts of an unsustainable societal construct (e.g. the consequences of accelerated climate change, biodiversity loss, …

Interdisciplinary Projects – Moving From Transfer To Transformation In Learning, Anette Kolmos

Plenary Presentations and Doctoral Symposium

In the PBL communities, we have always argued that the deep learning in the projects would compensate for the lack of knowledge from taught courses by the students’ ability to transfer knowledge to new areas. Within the disciplinary discourses, this has proved to be valid as the transfer of learning works within the same language and disciplinary thinking and the projects share similarities. However, we have learned that in an interdisciplinary context, where students are to transform their experiences from a disciplinary to an interdisciplinary context, the students do experience difficulties in leading and managing their projects. This keynote will …

The Doctoral Symposium In Engineering Education Research At Sefi 2023, Jonte Bernhard, Shannon Chance, Tinne De Laet, Kristina Edström

Plenary Presentations and Doctoral Symposium

The 7th SEFI Doctoral Symposium in Engineering Education Research, held at the campus of Technological University Dublin on Sunday, September 10th, preceded the SEFI 2023 Annual Conference. In all, 37 Ph.D. researchers attended, which is a record number for this event. They came to share and further probe their Ph.D. research topics and plans of study and to strengthen and extend their professional networks. During this full and intense day, 27 established scholars provided the Ph.D. researchers with personal feedback and ideas regarding their research. The highlight, according to the Ph.D. student participants, was the warm and enthusiastic reception they …

Developing Research Culture Among Staff Under Conditions Of Organizational Change, Mariia Perelygina, Denise O'Leary

Conference papers

This paper focuses on encouraging the growth of a research culture within a school of hospitality and tourism in one third-level institution in Ireland. The aim of the initiative is to increase engagement of staff members in impactful research, leading to benefits for individual staff members and a greater research profile for the school. Taking an action research approach, a plan of initiatives was designed and implemented to develop research culture. The paper examines the phenomenon of changing the organizational culture at the department level in a higher education institution undergoing a large amount of organisational change. The initiative is …

Confirmation Report: Modelling Interlocutor Confusion In Situated Human Robot Interaction, Na Li

Reports

Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) is an important but challenging field focused on improving the interaction between humans and robots such to make the interaction more intelligent and effective. However, building a natural conversational HRI is an interdisciplinary challenge for scholars, engineers, and designers. It is generally assumed that the pinnacle of human- robot interaction will be having fluid naturalistic conversational interaction that in important ways mimics that of how humans interact with each other. This of course is challenging at a number of levels, and in particular there are considerable difficulties when it comes to naturally monitoring and responding to the …

Sigite'23 Poster And Extended Abstract: The Proof Of Gold Is Fire: Measuring Stress To Show Impact Of Gender Based Initiatives In Computing Education, Alina Berry, Sarah Jane Delany

Other resources

Many initiatives across the world try to address the issue of gender imbalance in computing education. Evaluation of the impact of these initiatives is not always straightforward. Some interventions are able to demonstrate impact based on recruitment and retention numbers of underrepresented gender groups, in particular, women, often requiring a longer-term study to see impact. Others, especially shorter term interventions and those taking place during the teaching and learning process, frequently use feedback and other instruments as a measure of impact. This work reviews existing evaluation methods from the literature, categorises them as using statistical data, feedback or instruments, grouping …

Lgbtq+ Safe Zone Ally Workshop, Rocio Chavela Guerra, Stephanie Farrell

Workshops

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) individuals have historically faced harassment, exclusionary behavior, and discrimination in many aspects of their lives, including in educational settings. This workshop will equip participants with the knowledge and tools to (1) recognize the negative impact of bias and heterosexual/cisgender privilege on the experiences of LGBTQ+ individuals; (2) recognize challenges faced by LGBTQ+ individuals in STEM fields; (3) identify strategies for creating an inclusive and affirming environment; and (4) formulate a plan to become an ally for LGBTQ+ individuals. The workshop is open to students, faculty, and the professional community in STEM fields and …

Integrating Learning Analytics Into Engineering Education: Design Strategies For Teachers, C.A. Vonk, E. Ventura-Medina, C.C.P. Snijders, U. Matzat, R. Zhang, T. Cristea

Workshops

No abstract provided.

Quantitative Analysis Of China's Application-Oriented Talents Cultivation Policies, Yingying Qiao, Yiang Yang, Ling Zhu

Research Papers

Faced with a new wave of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation, the Chinese government has implemented policies to cultivate application-oriented talents. Application-oriented talents utilise engineering theories and technical methods to achieve engineering objectives. Cultivating such talents enables Chinese engineering education to meet better the needs of local economic and social development, promoting the differentiated development of Chinese higher education. We use quantitative methods to analyse China's application-oriented talents cultivation policies. The analysis focuses on the changes in policy contents and characteristics of policy responses to capture the developmental trends and critical stages of these policies. Findings from our …

Engineering Students Emotional Intelligence And Neuro-Linguistics Programming (Nlp) As Developmental Tool, Ahlem Khefacha, Beatrix Séllei

Research Papers

This article investigates the strengths and weaknesses of engineering students' emotional intelligence (EI) and the possibility of using neurolinguistics programming (NLP) as a developmental tool. Students' emotional intelligence was assessed using the Bar-On Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-I) with 5 points Likert scale. Firstsemester engineering students were approached by part of a broader study at the Budapest University of Technology during 2018-2022. In the article, we describe the emotional intelligence profile of more than 3600 students in various fields of engineering. NLP professionals around the world filled out the second questionnaire. We got answers from 35 professionals based in Tunisia, Hungary, …

Mapping The Engineering Education Research Landscape Across Europe, Natalie Wint, Andrew Valentine, Bill Williams, Mike Murphy

Research Papers

The growth of Engineering Education Research (EER) has led to claims about it becoming a globally connected field of inquiry. This paper presents data on the development of EER within seven European countries, with the aim of contributing towards understanding of the field. Data was collected from participants of a workshop held at the SEFI 2022 Annual Conference which was entitled “Mapping Engineering Education Research in Europe”. Participants were asked to comment on the presence of formal research groups and PhD Programmes, as well as incentives and funding opportunities within the context. In most countries, there was a reported absence …

Preparing Structural Engineering Graduates To Increase Their Positive Impact, Louise Lynch, James Norman

Research Papers

Traditionally the role of a structural engineer was to design structures that were safe for use by society and that enabled society to develop and evolve. However, with the climate emergency structural engineers need to be more conscious of the choices that are made on their projects that lead to overuse of material, and work to reduce the embodied carbon in their structures. This cannot be achieved in isolation, it’s a systemic issue, where decisions made throughout a project, from concept to construction, can impact the embodied carbon. The structural engineer needs to be mindful of these decisions to have …

Workplace Spaces As Learning Spaces – Engineering Students’ Experiences With Co-Op, Maartje Van Den Bogaard, Johannes Strobel

Research Papers

Many authentic learning environments in formal schooling contexts mimic elements of authentic engineering environments, yet do not afford students to experience the full complexity of a real work environment. Workplace learning is a powerful way for students to close these gaps. In this exploratory study we interviewed 11 students about their experiences in a co-op program in a Midwestern research university in the USA pre-COVID. Our qualitative study was guided by the three dimensions of learning by Illeris: personal, cognitive and social learning. We added the perspective of epistemic learning. Our preliminary findings include a variance of workplace experiences, the …