A novel eccentric lapping machine was designed by the author and manufactured in-house, to serve as a test bench to investigate the finishing process parameters in relation to surface quality, as well as the feasibility of accelerating the finishing process of HIPed silicon nitride balls. The kinematics of the eccentric lapping were analysed and discussed. Taguchi Methods were used to optimise the finishing parameters to achieve maximum material removal rate in lapping and to achieve minimum surface roughness value Ra in polishing. Two kinds of HIPed silicon nitride ball blanks were finished by this machine. A finishing rate of 68 µm/hour was achieved which is 15 times higher than the conventional concentric lapping (normally 3'-4µm/hour). The surface roughness and roundness of the polished ball were above grade 5, close to grade 3 precision bearing ball specification. The upper limits of lapping load and lapping speed were determined by aggressive lapping tests. The effects of various finishing parameters on the surface quality generated were studied by detailed surface analysis, including X-ray diffraction residual stress measurement. As a result, the relationship between the finishing process and surface quality has been established. Accelerated rolling contact fatigue tests were performed both under a standard 4-ball and a modified 5-ball rolling configuration, with a ceramic ball as the upper ball and steel balls as lower balls. The tests were conducted at high speed and lubricated conditions under different loads and were run for up to 135-200 million stress cycles. Tests were conducted on commercially finished balls with different surface roughness and with different surface integrity (heterogeneous porosity, star defect, grinding defect and C-cracks). Tests were also conducted on self-finished balls with different finishing parameters and with different surface roughness. After tests, the rolling tracks and failure areas were examined by detailed surface analysis. The residual stresses on the rolling tracks were measured. Finite Element Approaches were also employed to describe the contact stress status. Failure modes in relation to surface quality were discussed. The research has provided an understanding of the finishing process, surface quality and rolling contact fatigue behaviour of HIPed silicon nitride balls.

The aim of this study is to determine wheelchair user's views about access and ascertain whether designers are able to contribute to issues pertaining to inclusion through design solutions. Popular constructions of disability have established a relatively powerless and deviant status for the disabled population when compared to their able bodied peers. Regulatory controls and legislation require that builders and designers are sensitised to the needs of disabled people, but there is no legislative process to endorse disabled peoples request for a fully inclusive and accessible lifestyle. The enquiry is divided into two phases. The first phase considers access issues from a sample of wheelchair users via the use of focus groups and individual interviews. The data attained and information collated for the literature review leads the author to conclude that designers should consult with end users throughout the design process. During the second phase of the study the author proposes a model of inclusive design and an associated design resource. The author advocates that this is to be used by designers and development professionals to ensure inclusion within society is attained for all sectors of the community. The study concludes that, historically, society has responded to the needs of the disabled by providing separate and special services based on each individual's impairment, as opposed to the promotion of an equitable lifestyle for all. Inclusive design focuses on the design of the environment and not individual impairments. It is a process that promotes inclusivity for all sectors of society regardless of age, race, gender, sexuality or disability. Its principles consider diversity, and provides for an inclusive environment that can help break down barriers and exclusion as everyone will benefit from the end result.

For the first ten years of my career I practiced my craft — advertising art direction — exclusively by hand. To help me in the design process itself, I hired specialists. For typography, for instance, I chose a firm I admired in Minneapolis where the typographers would hand cut the film negatives letter by letter. In those days — the 1980s — each area of design had master craftsmen. I can remember one day walking into a warehouse with thirty-foot ceilings. On the back wall I saw a large horizontal canvas. The artist was suspended from scaffolding and covered in speckled paint dots. I wasn’t in an artist’s studio looking at a masterpiece half-finished. I was admiring a billboard — a hand painted one-of-a-kind billboard. This is not to say that the old methods of working by hand were entirely idyllic. They had countless drawbacks. IT took several days to put together a layout with Pantone paper and transfer type, only to realize the color combination was wrong and the time wasted. Because processes were slow and labor-intensive, choices were limited. In the mid 1980s, design studios and creative departments started using computers. For the first time I was able to select a color scheme, click a button, and see seemingly endless options instantaneously. It wasn’t long before the skilled craftsmen of type were replaced with digitized fonts loaded directly onto hard drives. Suddenly, the idea of working type by hand became economically unfeasible. The typographers closed up shop, threw out their old tools, and went out to look for new jobs. Several years later billboards were being painted on vinyl sheets right from our electronic files. Perfect replications of the original reproduced with speed and precision saved time and manpower. The new process had replaced the billboard artists almost overnight. I saw a generation of artisans exchanged for a generation of desktop publishers. Just like the craftsmen of the past, older methods of graphic design have been cast aside finding their way uneasily into the category of fine art. And now fine art, too, may cast them aside. Recently the Dean of the Fine Arts Program at Virginia Commonwealth University has held several meetings where he discussed the elimination of older printmaking methods in order to expand digital printmaking. Computers, it seems, will not be simply content with displacing the old hand processes; they want to eliminate them. For most young designers the computer has completely replaced the hand in every stage of the design process. I’ve noticed in many cases designers aren’t problem solving outside of the computer. It isn’t even considered. Certainly, the goal and outcome of my creative project were not intended to revive antiquated hand methods, at least as they historically existed. But hopefully, I’ve created something original by combining both hand methods and modern technology. If nothing else, I want younger designers to think beyond the 20GB hard drive as the only tool in their process.

<p> Writing anxiety impedes meta-cognitive writing strategies, which results in a decline in writing skills amongst college freshman composition students. This study examined the effect autograders have on reducing writing anxiety. This paper presented (a) was there significant difference in students&rsquo; writing anxiety based on autograder usage for evaluation, (b) was there significant difference in writing anxiety on the basis gender, and (c) was there significant difference in writing anxiety on the basis of age. The participants were 129 community college undergraduate composition students, 67 male students and 62 female students, of first year English Composition Community College classes 2017. The samples were selected using purposive sampling. The data were collected from the Daly/Miller Writing Apprehensive Test adapted for Survey Monkey as a pretest to determine a baseline writing anxiety scale and as a post-test from an experimental group using an autograder to evaluate the writing and a control group using an instructor to evaluate the writing following an in-class writing. Then, the data were analyzed quantitatively using ANCOVA and ANOVA. The result showed no statistically significant difference on the basis of autograder usage, gender, or age. However, the findings confirmed previous research on community college students and indicated community college students&rsquo; exhibit writing anxiety. In addition the study almost resulted in statistical significance on the basis of gender and age. Closer analysis revealed students&rsquo; writing anxiety decreased with each writing attempt.</p>

Oh, the good old metro stations! No matter how much we change, how much our society changes, they all look pretty much the same. We walk down the stairs, grab a coffee on the way, pass the gates, get to our platform and then we wait. But what if? What if it wasn’t like that? What if we could decide not to rush down to the platform, but instead enjoy the few minutes we have, before being drawn back to our daily life, in a nice, entertaining environment? A place for everyone to enjoy, not just those who own a metro card. After all, a station is still a public space, isn’t it?

Mercedes-Benz Symphony describes a vision for Mercedes-Benz Design inspired by music. The inspirational and experimental nature of the project serves the purpose of inspiring people and creating a connection between Music and Automotive Design. Placing the focus on the creative process of experimentation with the transition from an audible to visual experience the ob- server is introduced to a fabulous journey of design perception. The result of this research is illustrated by an automotive form study following this design philosophy. The complexity of the front of the car visualises the introductory beginning of a musical piece with various instruments, rhythmi- cal patterns and melodies. The side is kept solid and sculptural as a song progresses it will be experienced as an exciting whole. The rear end represents the conclusive statement, with quota- tions from previous elements. The vehicle itself becomes a mu- sical piece.

<p> Problem-based learning is an especially useful learner-centered instructional approach in which learners collaborate within small groups to solve an authentic ill-structured problem that has no right or wrong answer. However, facilitating and designing problem-based learning can be challenging for instructors as well as instructional designers, especially for learning environments, such as the law enforcement academies, that traditionally have been designed for rote memorization and repetitive skills. The purpose of this basic qualitative research was to interview and explore instructors&rsquo; experiences and the factors instructors believed are essential for facilitating problem-based learning in their learning environment. For this study, participants were selected based on their attendance at the 2014 annual conference or by referrals from those attendees. Eleven participants met the requirements of having completed the 2-week problem-based learning instructor course sponsored by an organization dedicated to the advancement of problem-based learning in police training and had 3&ndash;5 years of facilitating problem-based learning in their learning environment. In this study, semi-structured interviews with law enforcement instructors were used to provide knowledge and insight about the challenges they experienced, such as resistance to change and instructional strategies used to overcome these challenges, as well as key elements of problem-based learning. Additionally, the findings provided instructional designers insight into how to design problem-based learning instruction using effective instructional strategies identified by participants. Moreover, participants provided instructional strategies on how to move from a teacher-centered learning environment focused on lower level skills to a student-centered learning that foster problem-solving and critical thinking skills using real-world situations. A recommendation for further research is to conduct a study on a larger sample to explore facilitators&rsquo; experiences when facilitating problem-based learning. A second recommendation calls for a study to identify ways for educators and training and development professionals to promote the benefits and value of the problem-based learning process to their agency leadership and educational institution administration. A third recommendation is to conduct a study with a targeted audience of instructional designers who have designed and developed training for the law enforcement field and who use a student-centered approach to explore further strategies used to incorporate real-world instructional methods that enhance critical thinking and problem-solving skills.</p>

Denna uppsats kommer att handla om högtalare, men där uppsatsens frågeställning handlar om ”hur kan jag som designer sammanföra elektronik och vatten till en design som passar in en badrumskontext? Fokus kommer även att ligga inom en badrumskontext. Bland annat så kommer fakta kring högtalare och badrum att lyftas fram och diskuteras. Detta beror i sin tur på att fakta kring dessa faktorer påverkar designen utav högtalaren. Syftet till uppsatsen är att kunna ge betraktaren en överblick på vad som behövs och förväntas utav en produkt designer för att kunna designa en högtalare som är anpassad för miljöer som just badrum. Uppsatsen kommer även att följa en produkt designers resa ifrån en produkt idé till själva produkten där olika metoder och steg kommer att diskuteras, samt reflekteras kring. Detta för att kunna ge en så bra bild som möjligt på hur processen har sett ut som möjligt, från början till slut. Men även för att få en överblick i hur man som produkt designer tänker och reflekterar kring design och dess process.

The work illustrated and discussed in this paper was exhibited in the Anderson Gallery, Virginia Commonwealth University, November, 1974, as my graduate show. Presented here is a written explanation of the work contained in that show.

This creative project is concerned with archetypal forms expressed in art, design and communication, from Neolithic rock carvings and native American Indian petroglyphs to individual graphic languages that look to the 'primitives' like those of Joan Miro and Neville Brody. It is my belief that through the study of this diverse collection of graphic signs and archetypal forms, one can develop a system of signs that cross barriers of language and culture. A morphology, a collection of possibilities, derived from such archetypal forms, could provide designers with a foundation for the development and use of symbol signs and sign systems.