This work presents a novel and pragmatic approach to Curriculum Development by combining theoretical knowledge with expertise in the form of practical rules within a Knowledge-Based System. As a broad generalisation, the literature on Curriculum Development tends to focus on theoretical issues and fails to address the practical needs of course designers in engineering, particularly in countries with developing educational systems. The main achievements of the present research are: " demonstration that Knowledge-Based Systems can be successfully applied to Curriculum Development. Reports of Verification and Validation by experts and end-users are presented. " an innovative approach to Curriculum Development by providing course designers in engineering with sound advice concerning their specific needs (by combining built in expertise with their own data as input from the keyboard) in the subdomains of Introduction to Curriculum Development, Methods of Curriculum Content Identification, Course Structure, Learning Outcomes and Student Assessment. This approach has led to the representation of expertise through practical and numerical rules which has never been published. "a framework for building Knowledge-Based System which incorporates a novel strategy for knowledge acquisition using several experts. This was the result of devising the concepts of Boundaries, Limits, Inputs and Outputs which ensured that the size and integration of the knowledge base were kept under control and prevented the conflict of expertise. " an element for training in Curriculum Development by developing an Explanation Network which provides the end-user with concepts and principles relevant to the curriculum theory. This vehicle for training, which comes in addition to the advice given in the main consultation, is also a novel feature in the development of Knowledge-Based Systems. Indeed the research has shown that there is scope for acquiring expertise on Curriculum Development yet a wide variety of techniques of knowledge elicitation were needed to acquire specific rules from the Curriculum Development experts. The research also has demonstrated that these rules can be implemented in a portable, standalone system. The work concludes with a reflective discussion about the major findings of this research which underpins the recommendations about the use and dissemination of this Knowledge-Based ystem.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1989. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 131-140).

Biological sulphate reduction (BSR) has been identified as a promising alternative technology for the treatment of acid mine drainage. BSR is a process that uses sulphate reducing bacteria to reduce sulphate to sulphide using substrates as nutrients under anaerobic conditions. The performance of BSR is dependent on several factors including substrate, pH, temperature and hydraulic retention time (HRT). In a quest to find a cost effective technology, Mintek conducted bench-scale tests on BSR that led to the commissioning of a pilot plant at a coal mine in Mpumalanga province, South Africa. This current study forms part of the ongoing tests that are conducted to improve Mintek’s process. The purpose of this study was to investigate the robustness of Mintek’s process and to develop a tool that can be used to predict the process’ performance with varying pH, temperature and HRT. Design Expert version 11.1.2.0 was used to design the experiments using the Box-Behnken design. In the design, pH ranged from 4 to 6, temperature from 10 °C to 30 °C and HRT from 2 d to 7 d with sulphate reduction efficiency, sulphate reduction rate and sulphide production as response variables. Experiments were carried out in water jacketed packed bed reactors that were operated in a down-flow mode. The reactors were packed with woodchips, wood shaving, hay, lucerne straw and cow manure as support for sulphate reducing bacteria (SRB) biofilm. Cow manure and lucerne pellets were used as the main substrates and they were replenished once a week. These reactors mimicked the pilot plant. The data obtained were statistically analysed using response surface methodology. The results showed that pH did not have a significant impact on the responses (p>0.05). Temperature and HRT, on the other hand, greatly impacted the process (p<0.05) and the interaction between these two factors was found to be strong. Sulphate reduction efficiency and sulphate reduction rate decreased by over 60 % with a decrease in temperature 30 °C to 10 °C. Generally, a decrease in sulphide production was observed with a decrease in temperature. Overall, a decrease in HRT resulted in a decline of sulphate reduction efficiency and sulphide production but favoured sulphate reduction rate. This study demonstrated that Mintek’s process can be operated at pH as low as 4 without any significant impact on the performance. This decreases the lime requirements and sludge production during the pre-neutralisation stage by close to 50 %. There was, however, a strong interaction between temperature and HRT which can be used to improve the performance especially during the winter season. / Dissertation (MEng)--University of Pretoria, 2020. / Chemical Engineering / MEng / Unrestricted

no / This paper presents an overview of existing function-based conceptual design expert (CDE) systems with a view to identifying their scope in the contexts of functional modeling knowledge representation and conceptual design process. A number of heterogeneous function-based CDE systems are identified and listed. A key comprehensive benchmarking framework is developed in this paper that helps in identifying the trend, gaps and scope of current function-based CDE systems. Accordingly, the gaps in the aforementioned contexts are discussed which are to date have not been summarized and highlighted for a well-balanced system development for a product conceptual design.

Detab is a company in Jönköping that develops systems for feeding parts for robots and packaging processes. To control the flow of parts on their vibratory feeders, Detab uses different carpets with angled straws. The two mainly used carpets have been discontinued and must now be replaced. A newly emerged option is a contender in replacing one of the carpets. The new white carpet is completely additively manufactured. To compare the old carpet and the new carpet, data is needed to show how different settings affect the flow of the parts. Through design of experiments and response surface methods, tests can be performed in a systematic and mathematical way compare the performance of different settings. Some basic parameters were defined to begin the investigation of which design of experiments method would be used to best compare the carpets. The parameters defined where the parts that would be used in the tests, the factors that were to be adjusted during the tests, the maximum and minimum values of the selected factors and how the results would be measured. Different methods were tested, and finally optimal design was chosen and executed using the program Design-Expert. The completed tests resulted in response surfaces that were constructed using Design-Expert. These response surfaces were analyzed and several similarities and differences between the different carpets were observed. Primarily, it was found that the green carpet had more settings that resulted in a flow above 0 parts/minute. Using Design-Expert, the response surfaces could be analyzed to find the optimal settings and their expected response. These points and more were then compared with tests performed afterwards to see if the expected values matched reality. It turned out that there were some uncertainties in how well the surfaces could predict the response in comparison with reality. Based on the experiments carried out, recommendations were made on how the company should proceed to be able to assess whether the new carpet is worth using in future construction of their machines.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-15T19:38:50Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Rogerio Rossi.pdf: 904346 bytes, checksum: 97bd85c5b58024fa6d84096509256a25 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-08-13 / Fundo Mackenzie de Pesquisa / The advancement of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and the automation growth have been reflected in the activities of various sectors, including education, and more specifically the distance education. It is noticeable the increase of schools, courses and students who use the distance education modality based on ICT as can be identified on the indicators published by the competent organizations. As in many areas of modern society, is also observed high demands on the quality of products and services associated with this modality of education, as well as confirmed that the interest related to quality is not limited to the students, but also turns to the others involved as those responsible for the construction and maintenance of educational materials. Thus, this thesis presents a model called eQETIC, which can be applied in institutionalizing and improving processes related to planning, development and maintenance of educational products and services based on ICT. The eQETIC model is based on the concepts of continuous process improvement and should be implemented by three improvement levels: Sufficient, Intermediate and Global Level. The implementation rules presented in the model are distributed under six common entities: Didactic-Pedagogical, Management, Technology, Support, Tutorial and Evaluation. It is a model that can benefit formal education institutions and the organizations that develop digital educational products. As an original model it contributes to the knowledge area that is inserted i.e. the quality of digital educational products and services, proposing ways to build the quality as required and desired by many involved. To provide a diagnosis to the user related to the adherence of institutional processes to the eQETIC model two expert systems ((EXSeQETIC-SIN e EXSeQETIC-2GO) were developed. Likewise, a proof of concept was performed with both expert systems, and it showed satisfactory results regarding the use of the systems, given that they were able to provide the user with diagnosis as the application and use of the eQETIC model. / O avanço das Tecnologias de Informação e Comunicação (TIC) e a ampliação da capacidade de automatização têm repercutido em atividades de diversos setores, inclusive o da educação, e, mais especificamente o da educação a distância. É notório o aumento de instituições, cursos e estudantes que se utilizam da modalidade educacional a distância baseada nas TIC conforme se identifica em indicadores divulgados por órgãos competentes. Como em diversos setores da sociedade moderna, também se verifica alta exigência quanto à qualidade dos produtos e serviços associados a esta modalidade educacional, bem como se confirma que o interesse relacionado com a qualidade não se restringe aos estudantes, mas também aos demais envolvidos, como por exemplo, os responsáveis pela construção e disponibilização dos materiais educacionais. Sendo assim, este trabalho apresenta como contribuição a definição de um modelo de qualidade denominado eQETIC, que pode ser aplicado na institucionalização e melhoria de processos relacionados ao planejamento, desenvolvimento e manutenção de produtos e serviços educacionais baseados nas TIC. Considerando os princípios de melhoria contínua, o modelo concebe em sua estrutura três níveis de melhoria: Suficiente, Intermediário e Global; e um conjunto de regras que viabilizam a institucionalização dos processos, distribuídas sob seis entidades comuns: Didático-Pedagógica, Gestão, Tecnologia, Suporte, Tutoria e Avaliação. É um modelo capaz de beneficiar as instituições formais de educação e as organizações desenvolvovedoras de produtos educacionais digitais. Original, o modelo colabora com o campo do saber ao qual está inserido quer seja a qualidade dos produtos e serviços educacionais digitais, de maneira que propõe mecanismos para a construção da qualidade tão requerida e almejada pelos diversos envolvidos. Para oferecer um diagnóstico quanto a utilização do modelo eQETIC, foram construídos dois Sistemas Especialistas independentes (EXSeQETIC-SIN e EXSeQETIC-2GO) e realizada uma prova de conceito com os mesmos, sendo possível verificar que de fato os dois sistemas foram capazes de fornecer um diagnóstico ao usuário quanto a aplicação e uso do modelo eQETIC.