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Full-Text Articles in Engineering

Social Enterprise And Sustainability: Key Factors That Lead To The Successful Establishment Of Sustainable Development Initiatives In Ireland, Gerard Doyle Sep 2020

Social Enterprise And Sustainability: Key Factors That Lead To The Successful Establishment Of Sustainable Development Initiatives In Ireland, Gerard Doyle

Doctoral

International research points to the positive impact that social enterprises with an environmental focus (also referred to as sustainable development initiatives) perform in the transition to low carbon societies. This thesis examines the capacities required for the establishment and maintenance of sustainable development initiatives in Ireland. The thesis is based on five pieces of research which are either published in international peer-reviewed publications or of a publishable standard. One of the published pieces provides an explanatory framework addressing the reasons why the social enterprise sector in Ireland is less developed than in a number of European countries, details a number …


Towards A Sociotechnical Reconfiguration Of Engineering And An Education For Ethics : A Critical Realist Investigation Into The Patterns Of Education And Accreditation Of Ethics In Engineering Programmes In Ireland, Diana Adela Martin Jul 2020

Towards A Sociotechnical Reconfiguration Of Engineering And An Education For Ethics : A Critical Realist Investigation Into The Patterns Of Education And Accreditation Of Ethics In Engineering Programmes In Ireland, Diana Adela Martin

Doctoral

The focus of this thesis is on the provision and evaluation of ethics in engineeringprogrammes in Ireland, by placing this examinationin the wider cultural context of engineering education.The study benefitted from the support of the national accrediting body Engineers Ireland, and included 23 engineering programmes from 2 institutes of technology and 4 universities in Ireland which underwent accreditation between 2017-2019.By using a Critical Realistframe, the study undertakes a multi-layeredinvestigation of the engineering education system that takes into consideration theindividual level of single agents such as instructors and evaluators, the institutional level comprised of engineering programmes, as well as the policy …


Irish Construction Cross Border Trade And Brexit: Practitioner Perceptions On The Periphery Of Europe, Tara Brooks, Lloyd Scott, John P. Spillane, Katy Hayward Jan 2020

Irish Construction Cross Border Trade And Brexit: Practitioner Perceptions On The Periphery Of Europe, Tara Brooks, Lloyd Scott, John P. Spillane, Katy Hayward

Articles

The United Kingdom (UK) Brexit vote of June 2016 has created unprecedented uncertainty in the construction industry in Ireland but little research to date has been undertaken on existing construction trading patterns and the potential effects of regulatory divergence and other nontariff barriers in Ireland in this context. In response, this study uses mixed methods to fill this gap in knowledge. The experience of nine construction industry interviewees is probed – five based in Northern Ireland (in the UK) and four from Ireland, which will remain in the EU after the UK leaves. The researchers’ analysis of the qualitative data …


The Integration Between Strategy Formulation And Implementationin Construction Contracting Firms In Ireland, Ahmed Hassan Jan 2020

The Integration Between Strategy Formulation And Implementationin Construction Contracting Firms In Ireland, Ahmed Hassan

Doctoral

The role of the construction sector in Ireland is critical in terms of the economic and social development however the economic, competitive, and regulatory business environment present a myriad of complexities to firms operating within the sector. The importance of strategic planning for business survival and prosperity has been well documented over several decades of research but there remains a paucity of empirical evidence to determine the in strategic decision-making process under these volatile environmental conditions.This study addresses the perceptible gap in existing knowledge by investigating the characteristics of the strategy strategic decision-making process, strategic choices, and implementation process in …


A Discrimination Aware Model To Predict Childhood Literacy Levels, Kate Byrne Jan 2020

A Discrimination Aware Model To Predict Childhood Literacy Levels, Kate Byrne

Dissertations

It is illegal in Ireland to discriminate in the provision of education on the basis of multiple characteristics including gender, race and religion. While the increased use of machine learning models can open multiple avenues to identify early intervention strategies in education, caution must be exercised to ensure that any intervention does not discriminate with respect to a protected class. Poor literacy in childhood can have long term effects as the child ages, including on employment and mental health outcomes. Early intervention is key in mitigating this. In this dissertation, a model was created that predicted the outcome of a …


A Framework For Sustainable Procurement Practice In The Irish Construction Industry, Duga Jamus Ewuga Jan 2020

A Framework For Sustainable Procurement Practice In The Irish Construction Industry, Duga Jamus Ewuga

Doctoral

The Architectural, Engineering and Construction (AEC) sector has been called upon to develop innovative strategies to drive sustainability. Despite the efforts and commitments made, their performance is still observed to be low, this has been linked to the low level of understanding of practitioners. Also noted was the lack of interest by firms due to the uncertainty of the benefits of committing to long term investments. Nevertheless, academic literature and reports have stated that firms nowadays utilise their procurement mechanism to drive their sustainability practice. However, there is a gap in understanding how construction firms adopt and embed sustainability in …


The Temporal And Spatial Dynamics Of Fluvial Carbon Cycling In Irish Blanket Peatland Pools And Soils, Mariya Radomski Jan 2020

The Temporal And Spatial Dynamics Of Fluvial Carbon Cycling In Irish Blanket Peatland Pools And Soils, Mariya Radomski

Doctoral

Blanket peatlands in Ireland are reservoirs of organic matter and have effects on carbon dioxide (CO2) flux regulation. Data on dissolved CO2 in Ireland is limited. In blanket peatlands, the drainage systems are well connected with pools, hummocks and lawns and this connectivity leads to significant variations in outflows of carbon. The excess carbon dioxide in blanket peatlands could originate from soil organic matter decomposition. Dissolved CO2 could be transported into pools via surface run-off and lateral throughflow. Peatland pools are typically supersaturated in CO2. As part of a project described in this thesis, the role of spatial and seasonal …