System engineering (SE) is a structured systematized methodology that deals with designing, managing, and optimizing systems performance. System engineers use the perspective of system thinking to make the successful use and retirement of engineering systems. Since the role of system engineers ranges widely from technical support to customer interaction, system design to management, there is a demand to develop a cadre of effective systems engineers. However, two critical questions are not well-defined in the extant body of SE literature: (1) What are the fundamental attributes of systems engineering that would influence the performance/effectiveness of individual systems engineer? (2) What are the corresponding leading indicators for appraising the performance of an individual systems engineer? To respond to these questions, this study proposes a new instrument to evaluate the system engineers' performance and subsequently identify their strengths and weaknesses within the complex system domain. The instrument is based on the set of performance indicators examining six fundamental system engineering attributes. The implication of this study would assist systems engineers in strengthening their system skills and reflects a state that can be improved through training, workshops, and education to prepare them to face the complex situations originating from the problem domain.

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In recent decades numerous nonprofit organizations (NPOs) are undergoing the process of professionalization characterized by increased attention to efficiency, accountability, and the adoption of “business-like” tools and practices. At the same time, the majority of NPOs rely on volunteer labor. Most nonprofit scholars focus on traditional volunteering in which one volunteers doing something other than their professional work. These studies see volunteerism and professionalism as two completely separate systems. Meanwhile, the subset of skills-based volunteers, i.e., volunteers who provide professionally-related skills or services in nonprofit settings is understudied and their views of NPOs' professionalization are generally unknown. The present thesis aims to help fill this gap by exploring how skills-based volunteers perceive their roles and increasing the professionalization of nonprofit organizations. The study is guided by two research questions: (1) how do skills-based volunteers react to the rise of NPOs' professionalization? and (2) how do they navigate possible tensions between professionalism and volunteerism? The study is an ethnographic case study of skills-based volunteers at Engineers WithoutBorders Sweden. The data is collected through 14 semi-structured interviews with working and retired volunteers complemented by my participatory observations as a part-time employee at the organization. To analyze and interpret the study findings, the thesis employs a boundary work framework. The empirical findings indicate that, contrary to traditional volunteers, skills-based volunteers react to NPOs’ professionalization positively. The professionalization helps them to integrate their roles as volunteers and professionals, thus, facilitating boundary blurring. At the same time, working and retired skills-based volunteers perceive student volunteers as a barrier to professionalization, consequently, emphasizing differences in competencies and reliability between themself and students and performing demarcation work.

This dissertation uses a historical approach to study the origins and trajectory of computer engineering as a domain of disciplinary and professional activity in the United States context. Expanding on the general question of "what is computer engineering?," this project investigates what counts as computer engineering knowledge and practice, what it means to be a computer engineer, and how these things have varied by time, location, actor, and group. This account also pays close attention to the creation and maintenance of the "sociotechnical" boundaries that have historically separated computer engineering from adjacent fields such as electrical engineering and computer science. In addition to the academic sphere, I look at industry and professional societies as key sites where this field originated and developed. The evidence for my analysis is largely drawn from journal articles, conference proceedings, trade magazines, and curriculum reports, supplemented by other primary and secondary sources. The body of my account has two major parts. Chapters 2 through 4 examine the pre-history and early history of computer engineering, especially from the 1940s to early 1960s. These chapters document how the field gained a partially distinct professional identity, largely in the context of industry and through professional society activities. Chapters 5 through 7 turn to a historical period running from roughly the mid 1960s to early 1990s. Here I document the establishment and negotiation of a distinct disciplinary identity and partially unique "sociotechnical settlement" for computer engineering. Professional societies and the academic context figure prominently in these chapters. This part of the dissertation also brings into relief a key argument, namely that computer engineering has historically occupied a position of "persistent instability" between the engineering profession, on the one hand, and independent disciplines such as computer science, on the other. In an Epilogue I review some more recent developments in the educational arena to highlight continued instabilities in the disciplinary landscape of computing, as well as renewed calls for the establishment of a distinct disciplinary and professional identity for the field of computer engineering. I also highlight important countervailing trends by briefly reviewing the history of the software/hardware codesign movement. / Ph. D.

Virginia Tech Engineering graduates of 1975 were surveyed to determine if salary differences existed between matched groups of co-op and non co-op graduates and to determine if selected variables were related to salaries. The average salary for co-ops was higher for both first and current positions (six years after graduation). These differences were significant at the .0545 level for first salary and at .0845 after six years. Several variables had significant relationships to salaries. Location for both groups, undergraduate major for non co-ops and type of employer for co-ops were related to first salary. Four variables were related to current salary: type of employer for co-ops and undergraduate major, job function and fathers' Socio-Economic Index for non co-ops. For most of these variables with significant relationships with salary, the significance levels were similar for both groups, and these probably had little effect on salary differences between groups. Co-ops probably had higher first salaries because of their co-op experience. Two variables with possible effects on salary differences were undergraduate major (which was related to current salary for non co-ops) and type of employer (which was related to current salary for co-ops). These two variables may have undetermined effects on salary differences between the groups. The effect of fathers' socio-economic attributes (educational level and occupational prestige) seems to increase with time, with closer relationships to current salaries than to first ones. / Master of Arts

The relationship between economic and demographic factors and the flow of new students into undergraduate engineering programs was investigated. An empirical analysis was undertaken based on a lagged-supply model developed earlier by Richard Freeman. The analysis involved the replication of the Freeman model over the 1948-1972 period, the extension of the model through 1986, and the forecasting of first-year engineering enrollments up to the year 2000. The model developed in this thesis was able to a accurately mirror the engineering enrollment trends from 1948 to 1986. The economic variables--especially R&D expenditures and starting engineering salaries relative to median income of college graduates--were found to be important factors in the flow of freshmen into engineering. None of the variables relating to demographic trends were found to significantly related to first-year engineering enrollment. The importance of the federal government's role in the engineering labor market through research and development funding is discussed, along with forecasts of possible trends in first-year engineering enrollment. / Master of Arts

The purpose of this study was to determine the value of the Non Cognitive Questionnaire (NCQ) and the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) in predicting the academic achievement of first year female engineering students. Ancis and Sedlacek (1997) studied non-cognitive variables with a general population of undergraduate women. Their study validated the NCQ as a predictor of academic success for women students. The present study extends the work of Ancis and Sedlacek to examine female engineering students, a group for which no similar study has yet been published.Participants included 100 female first-year engineering students at a large, public Doctoral Research â Extensive institution located in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States. By race or ethnicity, the participants were White, Non-Hispanic (81%), Black Non-Hispanic (9%), Asian or Pacific Islander (4%), Hispanic or Latino (1%), Non-Resident Alien (1%), and Unknown Race or Ethnicity (6%). This study defined academic achievement as first semester Grade Point Average, which was used as the dependent variable. Participants completed the NCQ during summer orientation. NCQ scale scores and SAT Verbal and Math scores were used as independent variables in a step-wise regression analysis.The major finding of this study was that the NCQ scale scores did not add to the predictive value of the SAT scores in determining the first semester GPA of female engineering students. This was an unexpected finding in light of previous research that had documented the value of using non-cognitive variables, and specifically the NCQ, to predict the academic success of groups that are a minority in their educational settings.Because the major finding of this study is at odds with a large body of similar studies, the most important implications of this study relate to understanding this difference. Included in the discussion are questions about the methodology used in previous NCQ studies and about the influence of the single institution that has been the site of almost all previous NCQ research. / Master of Arts

This thesis discusses the application of tort law to the design and construction industries. Basic theories of civil law, negligence, and risk management are explained relative to their influence on professional architectural liability. Theories of negligence are examined and provide the foundation for subsequent discussions of professional liability and the variations found in recent case histories. Legal trends indicate that design professionals are held to higher standards of professional conduct than the ordinary person. Architects are also responsible to third parties as well as contractual parties. This expansion of professional duties contributes to the increase in legal claims against architects and engineers. Moreover, conventional risk management techniques do not always adequately address third party liability. It is determined that architectural liability is strongly influenced by external factors, such as privity requirements and statutory regulations, and internal factors, such as quality control measures and inadequate client education. Consequently, reformation efforts of these factors may be the best approach to mitigate professional liability. Successful risk management in the future will involve avoidance, transferral, and insurance of risks. / Master of Architecture

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-27T16:32:33Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Odair Aparecido de Paula.pdf: 429034 bytes, checksum: 6aa0c0a0e3e2e6bdddbdbb7fc2ea2a60 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-08-19 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / In this research, is had as object i ve to study the creation of the Cabinet Topographico, an establishment of Public Instruction, destined to the con s t i t ution of a center of geodesic studies of the Province of São Paulo. Created in 1835, in a period little studied by History and Brazilian and São Paulo educational historiography, the Topographico Cabinet was formed for a library, a quantity of plants and maps of the Province of São Paulo and a school for formation of engineers of roads. With this work it is intended to contribute with the history of the Brazilian and São Paulo education, filling a gap of the Public Ins t r uction of the Imperial Period. The Topographico Cabinet was the oldest establishment of Instruction of Engineering of the Province of São Paulo and played an important role in the configuration of the city of São Paulo and of the Pr ovince, it was as instrument of knowledge or being able of the São Paulo government. The Engineer of Roads, as course of professional format i o n , i f c h a r a c t e r ized as one of mos t r i g i d o f t h e time, which had to i t s s h or t period of duration, init i ally two years and lat e r three, while other est ablishments of Brazil and the exterior, in the same period, had a minimum schedule load five year. Although the ephemeral life, the Topographico Cabinet constituted an important page of the admi n i s t r a t i o n o f the Province of São Paulo and some of its egresses had acted in diverse sectors of the pol i t i c s and the economy of the Provinc e . I t s e ngineers had contributed for the construction and magnifying of ways of communication of the Province (soil roads) that later they had lost space for the railroads, an English innovation / Nesta pesquisa, tem-se como objetivo estudar a criação do Gabinete Topographico, um estabelecimento de Instrução Pública, destinado à constituição de um centro de estudos geodésicos da Província de São Paulo. Criado em 1835, num período pouco estudado pela História e pel a historiografia educacional brasileira e paulista, o Gabinete Topographico era composto por uma biblioteca, um acervo de plantas e mapas da Província de São Paulo e uma escola para formação de engenheiros de estradas. Com esse trabalho pretende-se contribuir com a história da educação brasileira e paulista, preenchendo uma lacuna da Instrução Pública do Período Imperial. O Gabinete Topographico foi o mais antigo estabelecimento de Instrução de Engenharia da Província de São Paulo e desempenhou um papel importante na configuração da cidade de São Paulo e da Província, fosse como instrumento de conhecimento ou de poder do governo paulista. O Engenheiro de Estradas, como curso de formação profissional, se caracterizou como um dos mais rígidos da época, devido ao seu curto período de duração, inicialmente doi s anos e depois três, enquanto outros estabelecimentos do Brasil e do exterior, no mesmo período, tinham uma carga horária mínima de cinco anos. Apesar da vida efêmera, o Gabinete Topographico constituiu uma página importante da administração da Província de São Paulo e alguns de seus egressos atuaram em diversos setores da política e da economia da Província. Seus engenheiros contribuíram para a construção e ampliação de vias de comunicação da Província (estradas de chão) que mais tarde perderam espaço para as estrada s de ferro, uma inovação inglesa

Abstract   The purpose of this doctoral thesis is to shed light on, explain, and problematize women’s and men’s paths both to and within the profession of engineer. Computer and mechanical engineers are in focus and the overarching issues that this thesis attempts to answer are: How can women’s and men’s paths to the profession of engineer be explained and what has governed/motivated their choice of education? How do women’s and men’s career patterns look in professional life, and how can these patterns be explained?   This study is based on a social-constructivistic approach, entailing a focus on how choices of education and profession have been negotiated through social and cultural practices, norms, and values. The thesis combines work science research with research into the gender and technology fields. In particular, the relationships between gender, technology, and labour market gender segregation are of key importance in this thesis. The four part studies of the thesis are based on three qualitative studies and on one quantitative study. The qualitative studies consist of interview surveys with a total of 24 computer and mechanical engineers and 22 IT consultants. The quantitative survey is an exhaustive survey of 3,662 working IT engineers.   My studies show that the career patterns of women and men in the profession of engineer differ. Men’s paths both to and within the profession tend to be “straight” while women’s are often “winding”. The thesis shows that historically established, often stereotypical, conceptions of gender contribute towards recreating these different paths for women and men. At the same time, tendencies towards change are indicated. This is made visible through a gradually changing view of both father- and parenthood, which in and of itself is creating new prerequisites for women and men in working life. In concluding, the thesis proposes a new term, technology career, as an analytical tool for continued studies of gender segregation in technology and engineering professions. The aim in using this term is to capture the social complexity and cultural dynamic as regards how technology and gender are co-produced. / ”Jag har ju en yngre bror som har stöttat mig i det här. Han har ju samma utbildning som jag men han valde ju rätt med en gång [   ] han gick mera den raka vägen än min krokiga.”   Såhär säger Kristina om sin väg till ingenjörsutbildningen och till ingenjörsyrket. Till skillnad från hennes yngre bror var hennes väg ”krokig”, medan hans var ”rak”. Denna avhandling tar sig an den könssegregering i ingenjörsutbildningar och i ingenjörsyrket som Kristinas berättelse återspeglar. I fokus står data- och maskingenjörer. Detta är två av de mest könssegregerade ingenjörsgrenarna, och betraktas ofta som ”mansyrken”. Genom såväl kvalitativa intervjuer med ingenjörer och en kvantitativ totalundersökning av över 3000 ingenjörers karriärmönster, undersöker avhandlingen vilka tecken på förändring som syns i ingenjörsyrkets könssegregering. Vilka är hindren för kvinnor att ta plats inom yrket, och vilka möjligheter finns?   Line Holth är forskare i arbetsvetenskap och verksam vid Handelshögskolan och Centrum för genusforskning vid Karlstads universitet. Detta är hennes doktorsavhandling.