This is a 15 credits thesis in mechanical engineering performed at the PLM Solutions group at the Rocktec division within Atlas Copco Rock Drills AB, Örebro, during spring 2012. When designers working with 3D CAD modeling uses different work methods in Pro/ENGINEER (Pro/E) it sometimes results in problems. It is also a problem when designers do not follow the specific work methods defined by Atlas Copco.   The purpose of this thesis was to identify the most common problems with 3D models at Atlas Copco Rock Drills AB (RDE) Örebro related to work methods, for example why models crash, why they cannot be checked in to Pro/Intralink or why there are unstable references. The objective was to present a work method to avoid one or two of the most severe problems identified at RDE Örebro.   To achieve the objective I started with going through the CAD support call data base, to find out in what areas the organization needed help from the CAD support. The result shows that the engineers request most support in how to use both the modeling and the drawing modules in Pro/E. I also came up with a suggestion for redesign of the CAD support call data base system, that could reduce the time needed for this kind of analysis from days to minutes.   Thereafter a number of engineers, all with high skills in Pro/E, were selected for personal interviews. The topic was to identify any lack in defined work methods in Pro/E causing problems that are taking long time to correct. The result shows that the biggest issue for the users is references. I also performed a benchmarking with two other companies within the Atlas Copco Group looking at their CAD guidelines regarding the issues found during the interviews.   Thirdly, one assembly each from six different departments were selected and sent to PTC for an in depth analysis with their software tool Expert Model Analysis. The goal was to find any systematic issues regarding work methods in Pro/E. The analysis confirmed what the engineers earlier had brought up as the main issues, namely, references, mass/weight handling and structure in the model tree. / Detta är en 15 hp examensarbete i maskinteknik som utförs på PLM Solutions Group på Rocktec divisionen inom Atlas Copco Rock Drills AB i Örebro, under våren 2012.När konstruktörerna arbetar med 3D CAD modellering använder de olika arbetsmetoder i Pro/ENGINEER (Pro/E) vilket ibland leder till problem. Det är också ett problem när konstruktörerna inte följer de arbetsmetoder som definierats av Atlas Copco.Syftet med detta examensarbete var att identifiera de vanligaste problemen med 3D-modeller på Atlas Copco Rock Drills AB (RDE) i Örebro relaterat till arbetsmetoder, till exempel varför modellerna kraschar, varför de inte kan checkas in i Pro/Intralink eller varför det finns instabila referenser. Målet var att presentera en arbetsmetod för att undvika ett eller två av de mest allvarliga problemen identifierade vid RDE Örebro. För att uppnå målet började jag med att gå igenom CAD-supportens samtalsdatabas, för att ta reda på inom vilka områden användarna behövde hjälp från CAD-support. Resultatet visar att konstruktörerna behöver mest hjälp med hur man använder både modellerings- och ritningsmodulerna i Pro/E. Jag tog också fram ett förslag till hur CAD-supportens samtalsdatabas kan göras om, som skulle kunna minska tiden som behövs för denna typ av analys från dagar till minuter. Därefter valdes ett antal ingenjörer ut, alla med hög kompetens inom Pro/E, för personliga intervjuer. Syftet var att identifiera eventuella brist i befintliga arbetsmetoder i Pro/E, vilka orsakar problem som tar lång tid att rätta till. Resultatet visar att det största problemet för användarna är referenser. Jag utförde också en benchmarking med två andra bolag inom Atlas Copco-gruppen genom att jämföra deras CAD rekommendationer kring de problem som kom fram under de tidigare intervjuerna. Som tredje del i examensarbetet valdes en CAD-modell från vardera sex olika avdelningar och skickades till PTC för en fördjupad analys med deras program Expert Model Analysis (XMA). Målet var att hitta systematiska problem gällande arbetsmetoder i Pro/E. XMA-analysen bekräftade vad ingenjörerna tidigare hade fört fram som de viktigaste frågorna, nämligen referenser, massa/vikt hantering och struktur i modellen trädet.

In 2006 a new training route for Educational Psychologists (EPs) was introduced, which extended the entry criteria to applicants from a range of professional backgrounds. The related literature indicates that this was a contentious issue. The aim of the current study is to explore the relationship between the role of the EP and professional background using an interpretive methodology. Twelve participants were interviewed using a semi-structured interview format. The participants were four EPs, four primary Special Educational Needs Co-ordinators (SENCos), three secondary SENCos and a Portage Worker. The aim of the study is also to establish what skills and qualities the participants perceive to be necessary to be an effective and credible practitioner. Following analysis of the interview data, a number of themes emerged. In terms of desirable EP attributes, the participants’ responses fell into three broad categories, interpersonal skills, psychological skills and other qualities. The participants perceived the EP role as either expert or collaborative, although some expressed a degree of uncertainty about the nature of the role. All of the participants alluded to a link between experience and credibility, although the nature of desirable experience varied between personal and professional experience. Participants who viewed the role of the EP within an expert model favoured teaching experience over other forms of pre-training experience. The second stage of this study is set in the context of the recent changes to the initial training of Educational Psychologists (EPs). The broad aim of the study is to explore beliefs that are held in relation to the relationship between the role of the EP and professional background. In particular, stage two aims to explore the participants’ belief systems in greater depth. It was therefore deemed that Personal Construct Psychology (PCP) would provide an appropriate psychological framework to inform the design of the study and interpretation of the data. Six of the twelve participants who were interviewed at stage one of this study participated in follow-up interviews using a self-characterisation technique. Their responses were laddered in order to elicit superordinate constructs, until an end point was agreed upon between participant and researcher, which are referred to as ‘core constructs’. The data were clustered in relation to the themes arising from stage one, resulting in six clusters, collaboration, motivation and applying psychology being ranked as most important for EPs. The use of PCP as a theoretical framework has provided a psychological perspective from which to address beliefs regarding the professional background of EPs.

Les événements spatio-temporels regroupent une large diversité de phénomènes comportant des caractéristiques propres. Par exemple, l’étude de flux migratoires se révèle ainsi très différente de l’étude de propagation de maladies. En effet, le domaine d’intérêt de la première porte sur le suivi des trajectoires, tandis que celui de la deuxième porte sur les facteurs de la propagation. De plus, chaque classe d’un problème spatio-temporel peut être abordée différemment, que l’on considère ou non un voisinage spatial, une caractérisation des objets d’étude unique ou multiple, ou bien une (in)dépendance entre les événements. Ainsi, les techniques de fouilles de données développées sont souvent restées spécifiques à une sous-classe de problème spatio-temporel, c’est-à-dire sous un ensemble restreint d’hypothèses.Or, pour réussir à dégager des connaissances nouvelles à partir de données, il est nécessaire d’élargir cet ensemble d’hypothèses, c’est-à-dire élargir le champs des possibles quant aux corrélations qu’il peut exister entre événements. Nous proposons donc une modélisation de ces phénomènes spatio-temporels permettant de prendre en compte plus de considérations que dans l’état de l’art. En outre, cette modélisation permet d’exprimer des événements qui existent dans les phénomènes d’érosion : un objet d’étude peut se diviser en plusieurs objets, ou fusionner avec d’autres objets pour n’en former qu’un seul. Plus précisément, nous modélisons les dynamiques spatio-temporelles sous la forme d’un unique graphe orienté, que la composante temporelle des problèmes rend acyclique, et dont les sommets sont attribués par plusieurs caractéristiques. / Spatio-temporal events denote a large range of phenomena with different characteristics. For example, migration flows studies appear to be very different from disease spread studies. Indeed, interestingness of the first relies on tracking trajectories, whereas the second is about finding the factors of spread. Moreover, each class of a spatio-temporal problem can be tackled differently, depending on which parameters are considered: the studied spatial neighbourhood, the number of characteristics associated with the objects, or whether events are supposed correlated or independent. As a result, data mining techniques are often specificto a sub-class of spatio-temporal problem, that is to say, to a limited set of hypothesis.In order to bring out new knowledge from data, it seems to be necessary to enlarge this set of hypothesis, that is to say, to widen the field of possibilities regarding correlations that may exist between events. For this, we propose a new model that allows to take into account more considerations than existing studies. For example, this representation allows to model the complex spatio-temporal dynamic of erosion phenomenon: an object can be split up in several other objects, or can merge with other objects into one. More precisely, we use a single directed graph, that becomes acyclic thanks to the temporal component of the problem, and that is attributed by several characteristics.

Dans le contexte manufacturier, un ensemble de produits sont acheminés entre différents sites avant d’être vendus à des clients finaux. Chaque site possède différentes fonctions : création, stockage, mise en vente, etc. Les données de traçabilités décrivent de manière riche (temps, position, type d’action,…) les événements de création, acheminement, décoration, etc. des produits. Cependant, de nombreuses anomalies peuvent survenir, comme le détournement de produits ou la contrefaçon d’articles par exemple. La découverte des contextes dans lesquels surviennent ces anomalies est un objectif central pour les filières industrielles concernées. Dans cette thèse, nous proposons un cadre méthodologique de valorisation des traces unitaires par l’utilisation de méthodes d’extraction de connaissances. Nous montrons comment la fouille de données appliquée à des traces transformées en des structures de données adéquates permet d’extraire des motifs intéressants caractéristiques de comportements fréquents. Nous démontrons que la connaissance a priori, celle des flux de produits prévus par les experts et structurée sous la forme d’un modèle de filière, est utile et efficace pour pouvoir classifier les traces unitaires comme déviantes ou non, et permettre d’extraire les contextes (fenêtre de temps, type de produits, sites suspects,…) dans lesquels surviennent ces comportements anormaux. Nous proposons de plus une méthode originale pour détecter les acteurs de la chaîne logistique (distributeurs par exemple) qui auraient usurpé une identité (faux nom). Pour cela, nous utilisons la matrice de confusion de l’étape de classification des traces de comportement pour analyser les erreurs du classifieur. L’analyse formelle de concepts (AFC) permet ensuite de déterminer si des ensembles de traces appartiennent en réalité au même acteur. / In a manufacturing context, a product is moved through different placements or sites before it reaches the final customer. Each of these sites have different functions, e.g. creation, storage, retailing, etc. In this scenario, traceability data describes in a rich way the events a product undergoes in the whole supply chain (from factory to consumer) by recording temporal and spatial information as well as other important elements of description. Thus, traceability is an important mechanism that allows discovering anomalies in a supply chain, like diversion of computer equipment or counterfeits of luxury items. In this thesis, we propose a methodological framework for mining unitary traces using knowledge discovery methods. We show how the process of data mining applied to unitary traces encoded in specific data structures allows extracting interesting patterns that characterize frequent behaviors. We demonstrate that domain knowledge, that is the flow of products provided by experts and compiled in the industry model, is useful and efficient for classifying unitary traces as deviant or not. Moreover, we show how data mining techniques can be used to provide a characterization for abnormal behaviours (When and how did they occur?). We also propose an original method for detecting identity usurpations in the supply chain based on behavioral data, e.g. distributors using fake identities or concealing them. We highlight how the knowledge discovery in databases, applied to unitary traces encoded in specific data structures (with the help of expert knowledge), allows extracting interesting patterns that characterize frequent behaviors. Finally, we detail the achievements made within this thesis with the development of a platform of traces analysis in the form of a prototype.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the knowledge, skills, abilities and traits environmental engineers need. Two questions were asked: what skills are considered important, and where are they learned? Dreyfus and Dreyfus' novice-to-expert model, which describes a progressive, five-step process of skill development that occurs over time on the job and through practical application, was used to frame this study. This study extended prior research by including data on professional skills and seeking the input of working professionals: in this case, the technical staff at the California Department of Toxic Substances Control. Quantitative methodology and descriptive statistics were used for data collection and analysis. Results showed that experienced professionals agree that professional or soft skills are essential are essential in the workplace Many technical skills are learned over time, through practice and meaningful application on the job that builds on principles learned through formal training. Professional skills are developed through a combination of formal training and experiential learning from work, or through life experiences. The implications for higher education are twofold. Environmental engineering programs would benefit by integrating professional skills development with existing curricula, and by giving students opportunities to develop experiential knowledge in the workplace. Results indicated that environmental engineering professionals with higher levels of education and more experience believed that science and mathematics were most appropriately learned in school, while engineering, skills in technology and other technical areas were best developed through a combination of formal education with experiential learning. The more experienced people also believed that life experiences, rather than work or school, were the best way to develop professional skills. These findings confirm the Dreyfus & Dreyfus model, which indicates that individuals move from novice to expert based on experience. Environmental engineers would benefit through continuing education and in-service training. Collaborative initiatives between higher education and practitioners in environmental engineering may prove mutually effective and beneficial to students, workers, educational institutions and employers.