No description available.

Thesis (M.Sc.Eng.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2008.

PhD, Faculty of Engineering, University of the Witwatersrand

No description available.

This dissertation is a study of organizational learning. Organizational learning is a cyclical process through which knowledge that has been learned on an individual or group level is institutionalized on the organizational level. Organizational learning is at the heart of an organization’s ability to adapt and respond to changing environments and can ultimately improve business performance. While organizations are said to learn quite naturally, the processes through which this learning occurs are highly complex and multifaceted. One of the unique facets of organizational learning is the process through which knowledge is embedded in the organizational memory. Crossan, Lane and White (1999) presented a model of organizational learning called the ‘41 framework’ that includes four processes (intuiting, interpreting, integrating and institutionalizing) which explain how knowledge that is learned on the individual or group level is ultimately embedded in the organizational memory. Research that has followed the 41 framework’ has elaborated on the first three processes but insufficient research has explored the final process of institutionalization. / Cette thèse à pour sujet l’étude de l’apprentissage organisationnel. Dans ce contexte, l’apprentissage organisationnel est défini comme un processus cyclique à travers duquel les apprentissages individuels et de groupe sont institutionnalisés au niveau organisationnel. Ce processus fait partie de ceux qui déterminent la capacité d’une organisation à s’adapter et à répondre aux changements. Également, il peut être un élément favorisant l’amélioration de la performance de l’organisation. La croyance est que le processus d’apprentissage organisationnel est simple et naturel. Par contre, la réalité est tout autre puisque le mécanisme est à la fois très complexe et composé de plusieurs facettes. L’une de ces facettes, unique à l’apprentissage organisationnel, est le procédé par lequel le savoir est incorporé dans la mémoire organisationnelle. Crossan, Lane et White (1999), dans leur présentation d’un cadre conceptuel sur le modèle d’apprentissage organisationnel nommé ‘41 framework’, décrivent un modèle qui introduit quatre processus: la perception (intuiting), l’interprétation, intégration et l’institutionnalisation. Ce modèle représente de quelle manière l’apprentissage individuel et de groupe devient partie de la mémoire organisationnelle. Les recherches ayant déjà utilisé ce cadre conceptuel ont jusqu’à maintenant examiné les trois premiers processus laissant un manque de compréhension sur celui de l’institutionnalisation.

A dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, for the degree of Master of Science. 12 July 2017. / The mapping of mines, both operational and abandoned, is a long, di cult and occasionally dangerous task especially in the latter case. Recent developments in active and passive consumer grade sensors, as well as quadcopter drones present the opportunity to automate these challenging tasks providing cost and safety bene ts. The goal of this research is to develop an autonomous vision-based mapping system that employs quadrotor drones to explore and map sections of mine tunnels. The system is equipped with inexpensive, structured light, depth cameras in place of traditional laser scanners, making the quadrotor setup more viable to produce in bulk. A modi ed version of Microsoft's Kinect Fusion algorithm is used to construct 3D point clouds in real-time as the agents traverse the scene. Finally, the generated and merged point clouds from the system are compared with those produced by current Lidar scanners. / LG2018

M.Phil. / There has been considerable debate amongst specialists as how to minimise accidents in dangerous working environments. Irrespective of many contributions from a variety of studies, inputs and attempts, safety in dangerous working environments still remain a problem of great concern. This is equally true in especially the mining sector in South Africa. To this extent this study was conducted in an underground hard rock mine in the North West Province. Leadership may play an important role in the behaviour of employees in the work place, and may therefore have a direct impact in minimising workplace related accidents and incidents. Analysis indicated that it would be beneficial to focus on the real reasons for accidents in the mining industry i.e. the human factor. It was calculated that the human factor could be blamed for 87% of injuries in the South African mining industry, with 11% where a direct link exists with the physical working environment. This study is not an attempt to provide an answer that will solve all mining related incidents and accidents. It is an attempt to use Personal and Professional Leadership (PPL) as framework in order to establish if PPL may be a contributing factor in solving accidents and fatalities. Einstein once said, "The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them". Suffice to say that our present problems are a product and consequence of our past and present paradigms.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Kentucky, 2003. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains x, 143 p. : ill. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 139-142).

In the South African mining industry, the design of tunnel support systems is generally based on empirical methodologies that consider rockmass characteristics as well as the type of loading (e.g. seismic) that the excavation experiences. The design methodologies are by no means infallible, and work is continually being conducted to improve the classification of excavation conditions and thereby improve the selection of a suitable support system. This study is concerned with finding a means to monitor the installed support units rather than with improving the classification methodologies. It is postulated that with the extraction of accurate information describing the state of any support unit at any given time, areas of instability in the tunnel can be readily identified and strengthened~ Also, the information gathered as to the behaviour of the support units in a particular region can be used to assist in understanding the environmental characteristics of that region (rockmass, loading, etc.). A material survey was conducted to identify suitable candidates that could feasibly be used in either a passive (feedback when interrogated) or active (constant feedback) structural health monitoring system. The preferred candidates identified in this study are the group of passive smart materials referred to as TRIP steels, which are a subset of strain memory alloys. TRIP steels exhibit microstructural changes from paramagnetic austenite to ferromagnetic martensite as a function of increasing deformation at a given temperature.. The strength of the magnetic field at critical locations provides an indication as to the health state of the component. Because of their high strengths and ductility, TRIP steels can be used as what amounts to a self-monitoring support unit (interrogation apparatus required). Finite element methods are a practical means of predicting the mechanical and magnetostatic behaviour of TRIP steel structural members once material equations have been established by experiment. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2003.

Thesis(MSc)--University of Stellenbosch, 2008. / Bibliography. Also available via the Internet.