O objetivo deste trabalho foi desenvolver potenciais materiais para aplicações automotivas, em particular como insertos para assento de válvula em motores de combustão interna à gasolina. O desenvolvimento compreendeu as etapas de processamento dos materiais via metalurgia do pó, tratamento térmico, caracterização microestrutural e mecânica, usinagem e desgaste dos mesmos. O desenvolvimento objetivou principalmente a redução de custo e a aplicação de elementos menos poluentes, excluindo-se, por exemplo, a aplicação do Co devido ao seu alto custo e do Pb devido aos seus efeitos toxicológicos e prejudiciais ao meio ambiente. A realização de uma pesquisa minuciosa na busca de patentes relacionadas indicou que os materiais estudados apresentam composições particulares, e, portanto inéditas. Os resultados encontrados nos ensaios de dureza e de resistência à compressão radial nas amostras tratadas termicamente apresentaram resultados superiores aos da liga comercial atualmente em uso. Testes de usinabilidade em amostras sem tratamento térmico apresentaram comportamento similar ao da liga comercial, indicando que a usinabilidade do material praticamente não foi afetada com a mudança na composição química. Após a etapa de tratamento térmico, as ligas obtidas apresentaram valores de esforços de corte superiores aos do material comercial. Os resultados dos testes de desgaste abrasivo em amostras tratadas termicamente apresentaram menores valores de coeficientes de atrito e perda de massa em todos os casos em relação ao material comercial. Este comportamento é devido aos benefícios introduzidos pelo tratamento térmico executado e pela adição de alguns elementos resistentes ao desgaste na forma de carbonetos de Nb e Ti/W. Os resultados dos esforços de corte apresentaram boa concordância com os resultados dos ensaios de desgaste. Os materiais produzidos apresentam-se como potenciais candidatos para substituir, com vantagens, inserto para assento de válvula a base de Fe-Co em motores de combustão interna a gasolina. / The aim of this work was the development of materials for automotive applications, in particular, valve seat inserts for gasoline combustion engines. The development involved the following activities: processing by powder metallurgy techniques, heat treatment, mechanical and microstructural characterization, machining and wear of materials. This work was undertaken aiming cost reduction of this component by the use of cheaper and less pollutant elements, eliminating the presence of Co and Pb due to their high cost and toxicological effects, respectively. The accomplishment of a thorough research into patents revealed that the materials studied here present particular compositions and were not yet produced. The results of hardness measurements and the transverse radial strength of the studied materials, after heat treatment, revealed superior properties than the commercial alloys applied at the moment. The machining tests of the material without heat treatment indicated a similar behaviour in comparison to the commercial alloy, suggesting that the new alloy chemistry composition was not deleterious in this sense. After heat treatment, the obtained alloys presented a cutting force increase in relation to the commercial alloy. Wear tests results of heat treated materials presented smaller friction coefficient and mass loss than the commercial alloy, in all cases. This was especially achieved due to the advantages offered by heat treatment allied to the addition of NbC and Ti/W carbides. The materials obtained here showed to be potential candidates to substitute with advantages, valve seat inserts made of Fe-Co alloys for gasoline combustion engines.

O objetivo deste trabalho foi desenvolver potenciais materiais para aplicações automotivas, em particular como insertos para assento de válvula em motores de combustão interna à gasolina. O desenvolvimento compreendeu as etapas de processamento dos materiais via metalurgia do pó, tratamento térmico, caracterização microestrutural e mecânica, usinagem e desgaste dos mesmos. O desenvolvimento objetivou principalmente a redução de custo e a aplicação de elementos menos poluentes, excluindo-se, por exemplo, a aplicação do Co devido ao seu alto custo e do Pb devido aos seus efeitos toxicológicos e prejudiciais ao meio ambiente. A realização de uma pesquisa minuciosa na busca de patentes relacionadas indicou que os materiais estudados apresentam composições particulares, e, portanto inéditas. Os resultados encontrados nos ensaios de dureza e de resistência à compressão radial nas amostras tratadas termicamente apresentaram resultados superiores aos da liga comercial atualmente em uso. Testes de usinabilidade em amostras sem tratamento térmico apresentaram comportamento similar ao da liga comercial, indicando que a usinabilidade do material praticamente não foi afetada com a mudança na composição química. Após a etapa de tratamento térmico, as ligas obtidas apresentaram valores de esforços de corte superiores aos do material comercial. Os resultados dos testes de desgaste abrasivo em amostras tratadas termicamente apresentaram menores valores de coeficientes de atrito e perda de massa em todos os casos em relação ao material comercial. Este comportamento é devido aos benefícios introduzidos pelo tratamento térmico executado e pela adição de alguns elementos resistentes ao desgaste na forma de carbonetos de Nb e Ti/W. Os resultados dos esforços de corte apresentaram boa concordância com os resultados dos ensaios de desgaste. Os materiais produzidos apresentam-se como potenciais candidatos para substituir, com vantagens, inserto para assento de válvula a base de Fe-Co em motores de combustão interna a gasolina. / The aim of this work was the development of materials for automotive applications, in particular, valve seat inserts for gasoline combustion engines. The development involved the following activities: processing by powder metallurgy techniques, heat treatment, mechanical and microstructural characterization, machining and wear of materials. This work was undertaken aiming cost reduction of this component by the use of cheaper and less pollutant elements, eliminating the presence of Co and Pb due to their high cost and toxicological effects, respectively. The accomplishment of a thorough research into patents revealed that the materials studied here present particular compositions and were not yet produced. The results of hardness measurements and the transverse radial strength of the studied materials, after heat treatment, revealed superior properties than the commercial alloys applied at the moment. The machining tests of the material without heat treatment indicated a similar behaviour in comparison to the commercial alloy, suggesting that the new alloy chemistry composition was not deleterious in this sense. After heat treatment, the obtained alloys presented a cutting force increase in relation to the commercial alloy. Wear tests results of heat treated materials presented smaller friction coefficient and mass loss than the commercial alloy, in all cases. This was especially achieved due to the advantages offered by heat treatment allied to the addition of NbC and Ti/W carbides. The materials obtained here showed to be potential candidates to substitute with advantages, valve seat inserts made of Fe-Co alloys for gasoline combustion engines.

Die Risikohomeostasistheorie (RHT) ist ein formales Konzept zur Erklärung menschlichen Verhaltens im Straßenverkehr bei verändertem Unfallrisiko. Vor dem Hintergrund des gegenwärtigen Standes der Ökonometrie weisen die Untersuchungen zur RHT mittels langer Zeitreihen einige Schwächen auf. Im folgenden wird versucht, diese Schwächen einerseits mit dem Stationaritätskonzept der Ökonometrie und andererseits mit einer auf Dummyvariablen basierenden Methode zu beheben. Gleichzeitig wird die Theorie einem neuerlichen Test auf ihre Gültigkeit hinsichtlich der Unfallsituation im Straßenverkehr in Deutschland unterzogen. Die Arbeit nimmt Bezug erstens auf die Wirksamkeit von Regulierungsmaßnahmen (hier: Verschärfung der Gurtanlegepflicht) und zweitens auf die Wirkungen der deutschen Wiedervereinigung. Beiden Ereignissen wird nach der RHT keine Wirkung zugesprochen. Die Ergebnisse der Analysen unterstützen die Thesen der RHT nur schwach. Sie belegen, daß konsequente und mit Strafandrohung belegte Regulierungsmaßnahmen entgegen dem Postulat der Risikohomeostasisthese eine stark positive Wirkung auf die Unfallsituation besitzen. Außerdem werden die komplexen Entscheidungsprozesse von Verkehrsteilnehmern im Kontext mehrerer theoretischer Konzepte untersucht. Es zeigt sich, das Theorien zur Beschreibung individuellen Verhaltens unter Unsicherheit sehr gut geeignet sind, tatsächliches Verhalten von Verkehrsteilnehmern zu erklären. / Risk homeostasis theory (RHT) is a behavioural theory of risk taking in road traffic. So far, most of the published papers concerning RHT and long time series are based on econometric methods which are not very well suited for this purpose. We propose here to address the issue using instead the econometric concept of stationarity and a concept based on dummy variables. We then test the RHT with German traffic accident data and specifically analyze compulsory traffic safety measures (the penalty for not using seat belts) as well as the effects of German reunification. Both are ineffective according to RHT. Our results, found by using several risk measures, show only weak evidence for RHT. Contrary to RHT, we can show that compulsory safety measures combined with penalties had a strict positive effect on the road traffic accident risk. We also develop a solution which focuses on the complex decision-making process of an individual in road traffic. This is done within the context of several theories explaining individuals decision-making under uncertainty. There we can show that these theoretical concepts are very well suited to explain actual behavior of road users.

This thesis addresses two planning problems motivated by the operations of PSOD air transportation: scheduled maintenance planning, and base location and fleet allocation. In the first part of the thesis, we study tactical planning for scheduled maintenance which determines the daily maintenance capacities for two operating conditions: a growth phase and the steady state. We model tactical maintenance capacity planning during the growth phase as an integer program and develop an optimization-based local search to solve the problem. Tactical planning of steady state maintenance capacity concerns a special case for which we determine the optimal and the long run capacities with a pseudo-polynomial time algorithm. In the second part of the thesis, we address operational planning for scheduled maintenance which is concerned with assigning itineraries to jets and determining the specific jets to be scheduled for maintenance on a daily basis given a certain maintenance capacity. We present a solution methodology that employs a look-ahead approach to consider the impact of our current decisions on the future and decomposes the problem exploiting the differences between jets with respect to the proximity to their next maintenance. We further develop an integrated framework in order to capture the interaction between operational level maintenance decisions and flight scheduling. In the third and final part of the thesis, we present the tactical level base location and fleet allocation problem. As PSOD air transportation experiences changes in travel demand and fleet size, decisions regarding where to open new bases and how to allocate the number of jets among the bases are made. We first present a solution approach in which high level information about flight scheduling is used in a traditional facility location problem. We next develop a model that works directly with transportation requests and integrates a simplified version of flight scheduling with the base location and fleet allocation decisions in order to capture more detail.

Os princípios básicos na educação ambiental como as ações de sensibilização, compreensão e responsabilidade, tornam-se cada vez mais necessários para possibilitar reflexões sobre práticas cotidianas em prol da melhoria geral da qualidade de vida. Neste aspecto, a temática de resíduos sólidos inserida na educação ambiental pode representar uma valiosa contribuição para despertar a comunidade. O presente trabalho teve como objetivo sensibilizar alunos de ensino fundamental de escolas municipais de Campo Magro – PR, sobre a importância da segregação e destinação correta de resíduos sólidos urbanos. Após a realização de entrevista com diretores e de diagnóstico dos ambientes das nove escolas municipais, foram definidas duas escolas para dar continuidade ao trabalho. Foi elaborado e aplicado um questionário para os alunos do 4º e 5º anos das escolas para avaliar as concepções e atitudes em relação à temática dos resíduos sólidos, ainda no mesmo dia foi solicitado a eles que realizassem uma representação (desenho) sobre o tema “lixo”. Através de análises destes instrumentos pôde-se fazer algumas considerações sobre o entendimento que os alunos têm da temática proposta, e traçar estratégias de educação ambiental de forma lúdica, como rodas de conversas e plantio de árvores, envolvendo as turmas de 4º e 5º anos. Também foram realizadas atividades de educação ambiental com os alunos dos 1°, 2° e 3° anos de ambas as escolas, além de diálogos com funcionários de limpeza, professores e os pais dos alunos. Após esta etapa, foram desenvolvidas e aplicadas atividades envolvendo as duas escolas, como confecções de cartazes (desenhos e frases) e de brinquedos, utilizando material reciclável. Todo o material produzido foi exposto nas escolas em um evento denominado “Reciclando Ideias”. No desenvolvimento das estratégias notou-se curiosidade e empenho bem como, trabalho e cooperação entre equipes. Em diálogo com os alunos, os mesmos opinavam de forma positiva sobre a continuidade das estratégias em outros momentos, mostrando interesse pelo assunto proposto e pela forma com que estávamos realizando o trabalho. Durante a realização dessas atividades pôde ser notado o envolvimento da comunidade escolar referente a questões ambientais em ambas as escolas, sendo relevante destacar a participação dos professores que sempre junto com seus alunos participaram e colaboraram para as atividades. Através desse projeto, pode ser confirmado que a temática ambiental para as séries iniciais da educação básica, deve ser trabalhada através de atividades diferenciadas e envolvendo alunos, professores, corpo técnico e a comunidade onde residem os alunos, pois somente com a ação dos multiplicadores ambientais é que será possível haver mudanças no cenário em que o meio ambiente encontra-se hoje. / The basic principles in environmental education as awareness, understanding and responsibility become actions are increasingly necessary to provide reflections on everyday practices on overall quality of life. In this regard, solid waste topic insertion in environmental education may represent a valuable contribution to awaken the community. The present study aimed to sensitize primary school students of municipal schools in Campo Magro - PR, of segregation and proper disposal of solid waste importance. After conducting interviews with directors and diagnostic environments of the nine public schools, two schools were established to continue the work. A questionnaire was elaborated and applied to students in 4th and 5th years of schools to assess views and attitudes towards solid waste topic, and they was prompted to stage a representation (drawing) on the topic "junk" on the same day. Through analysis of these instruments it was possible to make some considerations on the understanding that students have of the proposed topic, and design strategies for environmental education in a playful way, like wheels conversations and planting trees, involving groups of 4 and 5 years. Environmental education activities with students of 1st, 2nd and 3rd years of both schools were also performed, as well as dialogues with cleaning staff, teachers and parents of students. After this step, were developed and applied activities involving the two schools, as clothing, posters (drawings and phrases) and toys, using recyclable material. All material produced was exposed in schools in an event called "Recycling Ideas". The development of strategies was noted curiosity and commitment as well as work and cooperation between teams. In dialogue with the students, they opined positively about the continuity of the strategies at other times, showing interest in the proposed issue and by the way we were doing the work. While performing these activities could be noted the involvement of the school community regarding environmental issues at both schools, being relevant to highlight the participation of teachers who always together with their students participated and contributed to the activities. Through this project, it can be confirmed that the environmental issue in the early grades of elementary education, must be worked through differentiated activities and involving students, teachers, staff and community where students reside, because only with the action of environmental multipliers is that current environment scenario can be changed.

Os princípios básicos na educação ambiental como as ações de sensibilização, compreensão e responsabilidade, tornam-se cada vez mais necessários para possibilitar reflexões sobre práticas cotidianas em prol da melhoria geral da qualidade de vida. Neste aspecto, a temática de resíduos sólidos inserida na educação ambiental pode representar uma valiosa contribuição para despertar a comunidade. O presente trabalho teve como objetivo sensibilizar alunos de ensino fundamental de escolas municipais de Campo Magro – PR, sobre a importância da segregação e destinação correta de resíduos sólidos urbanos. Após a realização de entrevista com diretores e de diagnóstico dos ambientes das nove escolas municipais, foram definidas duas escolas para dar continuidade ao trabalho. Foi elaborado e aplicado um questionário para os alunos do 4º e 5º anos das escolas para avaliar as concepções e atitudes em relação à temática dos resíduos sólidos, ainda no mesmo dia foi solicitado a eles que realizassem uma representação (desenho) sobre o tema “lixo”. Através de análises destes instrumentos pôde-se fazer algumas considerações sobre o entendimento que os alunos têm da temática proposta, e traçar estratégias de educação ambiental de forma lúdica, como rodas de conversas e plantio de árvores, envolvendo as turmas de 4º e 5º anos. Também foram realizadas atividades de educação ambiental com os alunos dos 1°, 2° e 3° anos de ambas as escolas, além de diálogos com funcionários de limpeza, professores e os pais dos alunos. Após esta etapa, foram desenvolvidas e aplicadas atividades envolvendo as duas escolas, como confecções de cartazes (desenhos e frases) e de brinquedos, utilizando material reciclável. Todo o material produzido foi exposto nas escolas em um evento denominado “Reciclando Ideias”. No desenvolvimento das estratégias notou-se curiosidade e empenho bem como, trabalho e cooperação entre equipes. Em diálogo com os alunos, os mesmos opinavam de forma positiva sobre a continuidade das estratégias em outros momentos, mostrando interesse pelo assunto proposto e pela forma com que estávamos realizando o trabalho. Durante a realização dessas atividades pôde ser notado o envolvimento da comunidade escolar referente a questões ambientais em ambas as escolas, sendo relevante destacar a participação dos professores que sempre junto com seus alunos participaram e colaboraram para as atividades. Através desse projeto, pode ser confirmado que a temática ambiental para as séries iniciais da educação básica, deve ser trabalhada através de atividades diferenciadas e envolvendo alunos, professores, corpo técnico e a comunidade onde residem os alunos, pois somente com a ação dos multiplicadores ambientais é que será possível haver mudanças no cenário em que o meio ambiente encontra-se hoje. / The basic principles in environmental education as awareness, understanding and responsibility become actions are increasingly necessary to provide reflections on everyday practices on overall quality of life. In this regard, solid waste topic insertion in environmental education may represent a valuable contribution to awaken the community. The present study aimed to sensitize primary school students of municipal schools in Campo Magro - PR, of segregation and proper disposal of solid waste importance. After conducting interviews with directors and diagnostic environments of the nine public schools, two schools were established to continue the work. A questionnaire was elaborated and applied to students in 4th and 5th years of schools to assess views and attitudes towards solid waste topic, and they was prompted to stage a representation (drawing) on the topic "junk" on the same day. Through analysis of these instruments it was possible to make some considerations on the understanding that students have of the proposed topic, and design strategies for environmental education in a playful way, like wheels conversations and planting trees, involving groups of 4 and 5 years. Environmental education activities with students of 1st, 2nd and 3rd years of both schools were also performed, as well as dialogues with cleaning staff, teachers and parents of students. After this step, were developed and applied activities involving the two schools, as clothing, posters (drawings and phrases) and toys, using recyclable material. All material produced was exposed in schools in an event called "Recycling Ideas". The development of strategies was noted curiosity and commitment as well as work and cooperation between teams. In dialogue with the students, they opined positively about the continuity of the strategies at other times, showing interest in the proposed issue and by the way we were doing the work. While performing these activities could be noted the involvement of the school community regarding environmental issues at both schools, being relevant to highlight the participation of teachers who always together with their students participated and contributed to the activities. Through this project, it can be confirmed that the environmental issue in the early grades of elementary education, must be worked through differentiated activities and involving students, teachers, staff and community where students reside, because only with the action of environmental multipliers is that current environment scenario can be changed.

Are the criti cisms to investment arbitrati on valid?. Is the annulment acti on an indispensable mechanism?. Can the acts of ius imperium of the States be submitted to arbitration?.This round table respond to each of these questi ons by addressing many controversial issues in itnernati onal arbitration. / ¿Son válidas las críti cas al arbitraje de inversiones?. ¿Es el recurso de anulación un mecanismo indispensable?. ¿Pueden los actos de ius imperium de los Estados ser someti dos a arbitraje?.La presente mesa redonda, responde a cada una de estas interrogantes, tratando muchos temas controversiales en el arbitraje internacional.

[pt] Nos projetos de engenharia é comum desconsiderar-se o comportamento semirrígido das ligações, ou seja, as ligações são assumidas com as condições ideais de rigidez. A primeira condição ideal é aquela na qual há transferência total de momento fletor, assumindo-se que não existe rotação relativa entre os elementos ligados, estas ligações são as chamadas rígidas. Na segunda opção, a transferência de momento fletor é desconsiderada e a ligação é definida como rotulada ou simples. Entretanto, sabe-se que a maioria das ligações comporta-se como semirrígida e o problema é que ao se fazer essas simplificações em projeto, dois aspectos podem ser comprometidos: segurança estrutural e custo do projeto. Neste trabalho, uma ligação semirrígida mista é proposta e estudada com o objetivo de obter-se as suas características principais e necessárias para utilizá-la em projeto: curva momento-rotação, rigidez de serviço e momento fletor resistente. Com a ligação mista proposta, busca-se uma nova maneira de transferência de forças na região de momento negativo em uma viga semicontínua. Adotou-se para a transferência dos esforços, entre a laje de concreto e a viga de aço, conectores de cisalhamento do tipo Perfobond Rib. Este conector foi inicialmente utilizado em pontes e depois alguns estudos o viabilizaram para o uso em edificações. Para atingir os objetivos do trabalho, foram realizados dois ensaios em escala real das ligações propostas. Os testes experimentais foram feitos em modelos cruciformes invertidos e realizados no laboratório de estruturas e materiais da PUC-Rio. Os resultados experimentais foram comparados com dois modelos analíticos: o método proposto por Leon et al. em 1996 e o método presente no Anexo R da NBR 8800:2008. / [en] In engineering design it is common to disregard the semi-rigid behavior of connections, i.e., connections are assumed to have the ideal conditions of rigidity. The first ideal condition is the one in which there is full transfer of bending moment, assuming that there is no relative rotation between the connected elements, this connection is defined rigid. In the second option, the transfer of bending moment is disregarded and the connection is defined simple. However, it is known that most connections have a semi-rigid behavior and the problem is that when making these simplifications in design, two aspects can be compromised: structural safety and project cost. In this work, a composite semi-rigid connection is studied in order to obtain its main and necessary features to use it in design: moment-rotation curve, service rigidity and bending moment capacity. With the proposed composite connection, a new way to transfer forces in the negative moment region on a semicontinous beam. Shear connectors like the Perfobond Rib were adopted for the transfer of efforts between the concrete slab and the steel beam. This connector was first used on bridges and since then some studies have made possible its use in buildings, showing its advantages over the more usual connectors. To achieve this work s objectives, two real scale tests of the proposed connections were conducted. Experimental tests were done in inverted cruciform models and carried out in the laboratory of structures and materials at PUC-Rio. Information on these tests was obtained, such as displacements, strains, and cracking of the slab. The experimental results were compared to two analytical models: the method proposed by Leon et al. in 1996 and the present method in Annex R of NBR 8800: 2008.

The impetus for this study came from the findings of an evaluation of a Maths and Science through Arts and Culture (MStAC) Curriculum Intervention undertaken with Grade R teachers registered for a BEd(in-service) qualification at Rhodes University, South Africa. The intervention aimed to enrich Grade R teachers’ teaching of mathematics. Post-intervention classroom observations showed that, in spite of the intervention, teachers’ classroom practices did not change, and they were not using visual arts to teach mathematical concepts. This, together with the lack of research in the field of mathematics in early childhood, particularly in South Africa, motivated this research, a case study, which investigates how visual arts can be used to teach space and shape conceptualization in Grade R. I designed a research intervention underpinned by a constructivist model of teacher professional development located in reflective practice (Borko & Putman, 1995; Zeichner & Liston, 1996; Wilmot, 2005). Guided by Stacey’s (2009) notion of an emergent curriculum, I designed a three phase research intervention which involved selected Grade R teachers undertaking classroom-based research. Phase I built awareness around the notion of creativity; Phase II focused on making meaning of children’s behaviour and interests; and Phase III applied the knowledge and ideas from the Phases I and II to the teaching of space and shape. As an interpretive research study, it closely examines the participating teachers’ perceptions, experiences and reflections which were articulated in reflective reports and assignments. Following action research processes, the participant teachers engaged in the process of an emergent curriculum. They observed the behaviour interests of Grade R children, interpreted and made meaning of the evident behaviours, made decisions regarding extension activities, and planned accordingly. The findings of the study illuminate a model of teacher professional development that can support and enhance teachers’ practice. Understanding the notion of creativity and the ability to create a classroom conducive to creativity, are necessary components for teaching space and shape through visual arts activities. An emergent curriculum approach is proposed as an appropriate pedagogy for teaching children about space and shape through visual arts activities.

During the last couple of years several studies have been conducted to investigate how children move and position during car rides. This in order to map when, and for how long children sit in positions that are not safe as well as to identify the reason for these movements. One of the conclusions is that children do not always sit comfortable in today’s belt-positioning boosters and thereby they chose positions that are unwanted for safety reasons. The aim for the master thesis has thereby been to improve seating comfort for children while traveling safely in the rear seat of a car. The target group has been children in ages 5-11 years old with body height 110-145 cm, a Swedish population 50 percentile has been used for the extreme dimensions. The master thesis process is divided in three phases; Discovery, Development and Testing and Evaluation. In the Discovery phase information in the areas child safety, child methodology and comfort was gathered through literature study, interviews with experts, benchmarking and a focus group with parents. As a final step customer needs were formulated. In the Development phase a workshop with children was initially performed to complement the customer needs with inputs from the users. The customer needs were afterwards reformulated into a specification of requirements and five comfort hypotheses. Finally a prototype was developed, designed from the requirements with the purpose to validate the comfort hypotheses, using an anthropometric design method (Osvalder, et al., 2010). In the final phase, Testing and Evaluation, the prototype and reference belt-positioning boosters were evaluated by children in two user studies; one static study and one on road study, to evaluate comfort features and try out different seating comfort evaluation methods. The result is divided into child seating comfort characteristics and child seating comfort methodology guidelines. To assist future development of belt-positioning boosters, seven comfort features are defined to help children ride comfortable in a safe position in the car. Furthermore, 13 child methodology guidelines are formulated to help further seating comfort evaluation with children. Conclusively to make children sit comfortable and safe positioned in the car they should be seated in a belt-positioning booster with headrest, backrest, seat cushion and foot support, the supporting parts need to be perceived as soft around head, back and under the buttock and all parts need to be dimensioned for all children in the target group. The size of the belt-positioning booster and the combination of foam thickness, foam hardness and shape are the main factors for affecting the perceived seating comfort. Furthermore, children shall be included as both design partners and testers during the development of belt-positioning boosters. During the prototype development static comfort evaluation with children should be done repeatedly to verify measurements, shape and foam hardness. To evaluate comfort both static evaluation and on road evaluation should be performed since comfort varies over time. Data should be collected subjectively from children through quantitative methods, such as rating scales, and qualitative methods, such as general questions regarding comfort/discomfort experience. Video observations can identify children’s position during car rides. Different positions can be timed and together with subjective data reasons for repositioning can be identified.