<p> </p><p>The main objective of this thesis is to understand why there is imbalance of exchange students of Sweden and Thailand. We have analyzed the interviewed data of Swedish students who had experience of studying at universities in Thailand. Our research has revealed the factors and issues behind the imbalance situation. After analyzing factors we have proposed some recommendations in order to improve the pedagogy to increase the number of Swedish students deciding to study at Universities in Thailand so that the exchange imbalance could be reduced. Furthermore, we have proposed a favor product package for Swedish students that can help them to decide to study in Thailand.</p><p> </p>

A new inverse analysis method is presented to identify parameters of heat convection in microelectronic packages. This approach adopts a modified Micro Genetic Algorithm (µGA) in finding the global optimum of parameters. A reduced-basis approach is introduced in the forward heat transfer analysis so as to significantly improve the efficiency in the calculation. Different identification procedures are employed to identify heat convection coefficients of a typical microelectronic package. Comparisons between different algorithms are performed. Results show that the use of the reduced-basis method together with the modified µGA outperforms the conventional GAs significantly. The presented method of coefficient identification is ideal for practical applications. It is efficient enough even for online analysis of both forward and inverse problem. / Singapore-MIT Alliance (SMA)

Les logiciels évoluent au fil du temps avec la modification, l'ajout et la suppression de nouvelles classes, méthodes, fonctions, dépendances. Une conséquence est que le comportement peut être placé dans de mauvais paquetages et casser la modularité du logiciel. Une bonne organisation des classes dans des paquetages identifiables facilite la compréhension, la maintenance, les tests et l'évolution des logiciels. Nous soutenons que les responsables manquent d'outils pour assurer la remodularisation logicielle. La maintenance des logiciels nécessite des approches qui aident à (i) la compréhension de la structure au niveau du paquetage et l'évaluation de sa qualité; (ii) l'identification des problèmes de modularité, et (iii) la prise de décisions pour le changement. Dans cette thèse nous proposons ECOO, une approche qui aide la remodularisation. Elle concerne les trois domaines de recherche suivants: (i) Comprendre les problèmes de dépendance entre paquetages. Nous proposons des visualisations mettant en évidence les dépendances cycliques au niveau des paquetages; (ii) Proposer des dépendances qui devraient être changées. L'approche propose des dépendances à changer pour rendre le système plus modulaire; (iii) Analyser l'impact des changements. L'approche propose une analyse d'impact du changement pour essayer les modifications avant de les appliquer sur le système réel. L'approche présentée dans cette thèse a été validée qualitativement et les résultats ont été pris en compte dans la réingénierie des systèmes analysés. Les résultats obtenus démontrent l'utilité de notre approche.

Ubiquitous computing and Internet-of-Things (IoT) implies an untapped opportunity in the realm of information and communication technology, in which a large number of micro-devices with communication and/or computing capabilities, provides connectivity for anything, by anyone at anytime and anywhere. Especially, these devices can be equipped with sensors and actuators that interact with our living environment. Barcode, smart contactless card, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) systems, wireless sensor network (WSN), and smart mobile phones are some examples which can be utilized in ubiquitous computing. RFIDs and WSN have been recognized as the two promising enablers for realization of ubiquitous computing. They have some great features such as low-cost and small- size implementation, non-line of sight operation, sensing possibilities, data storing ability, and positioning. However, there are several challenges which need to be addressed, such as limited life time for battery powered device, maintenance cost, longer operation range, higher data rate, and operation in dense multipath and multiuser environment. Ultra-Wideband Impulse Radio (UWB-IR) with its huge advantages has been recognized as a great solution for future WSN and RFID. UWB-IR technique has the possibility of achieving Gb/s data rate, hundreds of meter operation range, pJ energy per bit, centimeter accuracy of positioning, and low cost implementation. In this work utilization of UWB-IR in WSN and RFID is investigated. A wireless sensor network based on UWB-IR is proposed focusing on low-cost and low-power implementation. Our contribution is to imply two different architectures in base station and sensor nodes to satisfy power, complexity and cost constraints. For sensor nodes, an autonomous UWB-IR detection is proposed, which detects the UWB signal autonomously and no restrict synchronization is required. It reduces the circuit complexity significantly. The performance in term of bit-error-rate is compared with two other common detection techniques. It is shown that the new detection is more robustness to timing jitter and clock skew, which consequently reduces the clock and synchronization requirements considerably. A novel wireless sensing and identification system, based on remote-powered tag with asymmetric wireless link, is proposed. Our innovative contribution is to deploy two different UWB and UHF communication techniques in uplink and downlink respectively. In the proposed system, tags capture the required power supply from different environmental sources (e.g. electromagnetic wave transmitted by a reader) and transmit data through an ultra-low power impulse UWB link. A new communication protocol is devised based on slotted-aloha anti-collision algorithm. By introducing several improvements including of pipelined communication, adaptive frame size, and skipping idle slots, the system throughput of more than 2000 tags/s is achieved. To prove the system concept a single chip integrated tag is implemented in UMC 0.18μm CMOS process. The measurement results show the minimum sensitivity of -18.5 dB (14.1 μW) and adaptive data rate up to 10 Mb/s. It corresponds to 13.9 meters operation range, considering 4W EIRP, a matched antenna to the tag with 0dB gain, and free space path loss. This is a great improvement in operation range and data rate, compared with conventional passive RFID, which data rate is limited to a few hundreds of Kb/s. System integration in a Liquid-Crystal-polymer (LCP) substrate is investigated. The integration of a tunable UWB-IR transmitter and a power scavenging unit are studied. Our contribution includes embedding and modeling the RF components and antenna in substrate and co-optimizing the chip and package with on-chip versus off-chip passives trade-offs. Simulation results verify the potential of system-on-package solution for UWB integration. The effect of antenna miniaturization in a UWB system is studied. Our focus is to scale down a UWB antenna and optimize the performance through the chip-antenna co-design. A tunable impulse- UWB transmitter is designed in two cases - a conventional 50Ω design and a co-design methodology. The simulation results show that the standard 50Ω design technique can not reach the best condition in all cases, when a real antenna is placed into the system. The performance can be improved significantly when doing codesign. The antennas and UWB transmitter performances are evaluated in a given UWB systems. It is shown that the operation distance at a target performance is reduced with antenna scaling factor and it can be compensated by antenna-transceiver co-design. The result proves the importance of antenna-transceiver codesign, which needs to be addressed in the earliest phases of the design flow. / QC 20100701

The main objective of this thesis is to understand why there is imbalance of exchange students of Sweden and Thailand. We have analyzed the interviewed data of Swedish students who had experience of studying at universities in Thailand. Our research has revealed the factors and issues behind the imbalance situation. After analyzing factors we have proposed some recommendations in order to improve the pedagogy to increase the number of Swedish students deciding to study at Universities in Thailand so that the exchange imbalance could be reduced. Furthermore, we have proposed a favor product package for Swedish students that can help them to decide to study in Thailand.

The main objective of this thesis is to understand why there is imbalance of exchange students of Sweden and Thailand. We have analyzed the interviewed data of Swedish students who had experience of studying at universities in Thailand. Our research has revealed the factors and issues behind the imbalance situation. After analyzing factors we have proposed some recommendations in order to improve the pedagogy to increase the number of Swedish students deciding to study at Universities in Thailand so that the exchange imbalance could be reduced. Furthermore, we have proposed a favor product package for Swedish students that can help them to decide to study in Thailand.

Flip-chip underfilling is a technology by which silica-filled epoxy resin is used to fill the micro-cavity between a silicon chip and a substrate, by dispensing the liquid encapsulant at elevated temperatures along the periphery of one or two sides of the chip and then allowing capillary action to draw the material into the gap. Since the chip, underfill material, and substrate solidify together as one unit, thermal stresses on solder joints during the temperature cycling (which are caused by a mismatch in the coefficients of thermal expansion between the silicon chip and the organic substrate) can be redistributed and transferred away from the fragile bump zone to a more strain-tolerant region. Modeling of the flow behaviour of a fluid in the underfill process is the key to this technology. One of the most important drawbacks in the existing models is inadequate treatment of non-Newtonian fluids in the underfill process in the development of both analytical models and numerical models. Another important drawback is the neglect of the presence of solder bumps in the existing analytical models. This thesis describes a study in which a proper viscosity constitutive equation, power-law model, is employed for describing the non-Newtonian fluid behaviour in flip-chip package. Based on this constitutive equation, two analytical models with closed-form solutions for predicting the fluid filling time and fluid flow front position with respect to time were derived. One model is for a setting with two parallel plates as an approximate to flip-chip package, while the other model is for a setting with two parallel plates within which an array of solder bumps are present. Furthermore, a numerical model using a general-purpose finite element package ANSYS was developed to predict the fluid flow map in two dimensions. The superiority of these models to the existing models (primarily those developed at Cornell University in 1997) is confirmed based on the results of the experiments conducted in this study. This thesis also presents a finding of the notion of critical clearance in the design of a flip-chip package through a careful simulation study using the models developed. The flip-chip package design should make the clearance between solder bumps larger than the critical clearance.

Industry documents and anecdotal evidence suggest that cigarette packaging can target women by enhancing brand appeal and influencing important beliefs about smoking. Little research has been conducted on how cigarette pack design might contribute to young women's faulty beliefs about smoking. This study sought to identify package designs that promote misleading beliefs about the health effects of smoking and the relationship between smoking and weight control, and that increase brand appeal among young women; as well as the extent to which plain packaging reduces these beliefs. A between-subjects experiment was conducted in which 512 participants between the ages of 18-25 years viewed cigarette packs using a computerized survey in one of four conditions: female-oriented (n = 141); female-oriented with descriptors (i.e., slims) removed (n = 125); female-oriented without brand imagery or descriptors (“plain”; n = 122); and standard non-female oriented (n = 124). Participants rated 8 cigarette packs on perceptions of appeal, taste, tar, and health risks; and answered questions about smoking and weight control and attitudes towards smoking. Results of the study indicated that women found the female-oriented packs most appealing. Participants also believed that the female-oriented packs had fewer health risks than the same packs with descriptors removed. Women who viewed the plain packs were less likely to believe that smoking helps people control their appetites compared to women who viewed the female-oriented and non-female oriented packs. Women with more weight concerns were more likely to believe in a relationship between smoking and weight control. Overall, this study demonstrates that as packages become “plainer” they become less appealing. Women viewing plain packs were less likely to endorse the belief that smoking can be used for appetite control, and that smoking helps people stay slim; and as descriptors were removed, packs were perceived to have more health risks. Results of the study extend the evidence base on the impact of cigarette packaging on women, and provide support for the implementation of plain packaging to reduce package appeal and faulty beliefs about smoking.

Denna uppsats behandlar förändring av förpackning som en möjlig utökning av produktkategorin i Kotler &amp; Kellers utvidgade marknadsmix. I marknadsmixen behandlas förpackningen som statisk under en varas livstid och studiens syfte var att se om förpackningsförändringar istället bör ske vid flertalet tillfällen. Genom existerande litteratur identifierades tre centrala begrepp som ansågs betydelsefulla för studien; förpackning, förändring av förpackning och differentiering. Fem olika företag med snabbrörliga konsumentvaror inom livsmedelsbranschen intervjuades om varför förändringarna sker. Företagen valdes efter ett antal grundkriterier och ett av dessa var att de skulle ha genomfört förändring av förpackning under de senaste fem åren. VD:n för en designbyrå intervjuades även som komplement. Intervjuerna sammankopplades sedan med de tre centrala begreppen för att få en förståelse för varför förpackningsförändringar genomförs. I analysen framkommer det både positiva och negativa aspekter med förpackningsförändringar. Det konstateras att en förpackningsförändring sker på grund utav den hårdnade konkurrensen för snabbrörliga konsumentvaror, den höga andelen beslut som tas vid köptillfället samt den minskade betydelsen av traditionell reklam. Avslutningsvis konstateras det att förändring av förpackning skulle kunna ses som en utökning av produktkategorin i Kotler &amp; Kellers utvidgade marknadsmix. Det är dock viktigt att förändringarna sker med ett tidsintervall som tillåter konsumenterna att vänja sig vid förändringen innan nästa genomförs. / This paper deals with change in packaging as a possible extension of the product category in the extended marketing mix by Kotler &amp; Keller. The purpose of the study was to see if package change should be an ongoing process rather than static within the product category in the extended marketing mix. Through existing literature we identified three key concepts that were considered important for the study; packaging, package change and differentiation. Five different companies with fast-moving consumer goods in the food industry were interviewed about why package change occurs. The companies were selected through a number of criterions; one of them was that they should have repackaged some of their products within the last five years. As a complement, a CEO of a design agency was interviewed. The results of the interviews were later on associated with the three key concepts to gain an understanding of why package changes are implemented. The analysis shows that both positive and negative aspects of package change exist. Our findings show that package change occurs due to the intensified competition of fast moving consumer goods, the high percentage of decisions made at the time of purchase, and the reduced importance of traditional advertising. Finally, we found that package change could be seen as an extension of the product category in Kotler &amp; Keller's extended marketing mix. However, we found that it is important that changes occur at a time interval that allow consumers to get used to the change before the next is made.

Industry documents and anecdotal evidence suggest that cigarette packaging can target women by enhancing brand appeal and influencing important beliefs about smoking. Little research has been conducted on how cigarette pack design might contribute to young women's faulty beliefs about smoking. This study sought to identify package designs that promote misleading beliefs about the health effects of smoking and the relationship between smoking and weight control, and that increase brand appeal among young women; as well as the extent to which plain packaging reduces these beliefs. A between-subjects experiment was conducted in which 512 participants between the ages of 18-25 years viewed cigarette packs using a computerized survey in one of four conditions: female-oriented (n = 141); female-oriented with descriptors (i.e., slims) removed (n = 125); female-oriented without brand imagery or descriptors (“plain”; n = 122); and standard non-female oriented (n = 124). Participants rated 8 cigarette packs on perceptions of appeal, taste, tar, and health risks; and answered questions about smoking and weight control and attitudes towards smoking. Results of the study indicated that women found the female-oriented packs most appealing. Participants also believed that the female-oriented packs had fewer health risks than the same packs with descriptors removed. Women who viewed the plain packs were less likely to believe that smoking helps people control their appetites compared to women who viewed the female-oriented and non-female oriented packs. Women with more weight concerns were more likely to believe in a relationship between smoking and weight control. Overall, this study demonstrates that as packages become “plainer” they become less appealing. Women viewing plain packs were less likely to endorse the belief that smoking can be used for appetite control, and that smoking helps people stay slim; and as descriptors were removed, packs were perceived to have more health risks. Results of the study extend the evidence base on the impact of cigarette packaging on women, and provide support for the implementation of plain packaging to reduce package appeal and faulty beliefs about smoking.