The light table is conceived of and assembled as a series of layered pieces, each locking the previous one in place. A maple frame, finger-jointed at the corners, is rimmed by a wider walnut base (1) which supports the panel housing the electrical components. The panel itself is laminated create grooves (2), thus allowing the wires from the fluorescent tubes (3) to run concealed to their corresponding ballast (4) and then to return to the other side of the tubes, completing the circuit. These channels are sealed when the panel is placed within the frame. A dividing arm of maple (5) rests in a trough cut into the panel, and bears both the walnut lid for the ballast storage box and the sandblasted glass. Wedged walnut insets (6) provide gaps within the frame that permit the glass to be easily removed. / Master of Architecture

The purpose of this study was to better understand the role of design in the product development process in the apparel industry in the United States, looking for variations in how design is used in the industry. In order to obtain a snapshot of the fashion design industry, creativity, originality, innovation, and product development were examined, as well as corporate culture and strategic orientation. The study also sought to examine pedagogical strategies based on these findings. A mixed methods approach, consisting of an on-line survey and interviews, was employed. The findings suggest variations in the role of design based on the time design-department employees spent on creative tasks. These variations were examined and industrial and pedagogical implications are explored. The significance of this study relates to the findings of the importance of creativity in the product development process of the apparel industry in the United States, as well as considerations for pedagogical strategies.

No description available.

With the passage of the American with Disabilities Act (ADA) it has become a civil rights violation to deny access to persons with disabilities to public transportation. The ADA requires transit agencies to provide accessible buses or equivalent services to persons with mobility, sensory or cognitive impairments. This study examines issues concerning persons with sensory and cognitive impairments, and their access to fixed route transit services. The goal of this report is: to specify operating guidelines, suggest technological changes, offer operating policy and training programs modifications that solve problems of transit access for persons with sensory and cognitive impairments. To determine where the access problems exist in fixed route transit systems, an examination was undertaken of existing technologies and programs that are in use by transit agencies in North America. Upon review of the available literature it was noted that there were available technologies and policies for persons with visual and hearing impairments, however, little appeared to be available for persons with cognitive impairments. To fill in this knowledge gap, surveys and interviews were conducted with persons with cognitive and other impairments, persons who trained persons with sensory and cognitive impairments, and persons who provide transportation services. A major conclusion of this study is that for persons with cognitive impairments, technological solutions are not the answer to increase bus accessibility. Personal interaction is needed to solve each individual circumstance with the transit user. Training for transit personnel is needed so personnel become aware and more sensitive to the needs of all transit users. Training for the transit user is necessary so use of the transit system is accomplished with grace, speed, efficiency and dignity. Training for the trainers of persons with disabilities is necessary so transit travelers will be informed of all the available services the transit agencies are offering. Another conclusion is visual signage must be standardized to be effective. This includes location, lighting, contrast, and content. / Graduation date: 1993

The purpose of this study of Richard Neutra's houses is three-fold: 1. To analyze the spatial treatment of the interiors. 2. To analyze the spatial treatment of the exteriors. 3. To determine the spatial relationship of the interiors to exteriors and find out how it was achieved.

This thesis uses the work and career of the textile designer Maria Kipp to stage a prolegomena concerning how to write about a female designer active during the middle of the twentieth century. How can design historians incorporate new methodologies in the writing of design history? This thesis explores the current literature of feminist design history for solutions to the potential problems of the traditional biography and applies these to the work and career of Kipp. It generates questions concerning the application of methodologies, specifically looking at a biographical methodology and new methodologies proposed by feminist design historians. Feminist writers encourage scholarship on unknown designers, while also they call for a different kind of writing and methodology. The goal of this thesis is to examine how these new histories are written and in what ways they might inspire the writing of Kipp into design history.

System dynamics is based on principles borrowed from engineering—especially feedback concepts. It makes possible a representation of decision policies and information flow. The systems approach is a mixture of scientific approaches to conceptualizing problems and solving them through research, design and analysis. In system dynamics, differential equations are represented in the form of difference equations. There is no limit to the number that can be employed to represent the complex details of any system. The models developed here help in determining the superiority or inferiority of the Advanced Tactical Aircraft (ATA) over the baseline aircraft. The advanced tactical aircraft is a proposed replacement aircraft that can undertake any of the three missions—air superiority, fleet defense and attack/interdiction. The baseline aircraft for air superiority and fleet defense is the Tomcat Fighter, F-14 and for attack/interdiction it is Intruder, A-6. Several measures of effectiveness are presented to evaluate the superiority or inferiority of the replacement aircraft over the baseline aircraft. / Master of Science / incomplete_metadata