Thesis (Ph. D.)--Bryan Mawr College, 1982. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Master)--İzmir Institute of Technology,İzmir, 2005 / Keywords: Foot, footwear design, foot-footwear interaction, human engineering, comfort&performance Includes bibliographical references (leaves. 144).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Bryan Mawr College, 1982. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 1994. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 153-156).

Tesis (licenciatura en economia)--Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.

Summary in Chinese. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong. / Bibliography: leaves 113-114.

Thesis (M. Phil.)--Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 118-119). Also available in electronic version. Access restricted to campus users.

Use of appropriate footwear among diabetics and those with diabetic foot problems has been well documented to play a vital role in the prevention and treatment of established foot disease. The incidence and prevalence rates of diabetes in Africa are increasing and foot complications are rising parallel. Nigeria is Africa’s most populous nation which also has the highest number of people (up to 3 million) suffering with diabetes in the continent. This is related to the lifestyle of the people which is changing including diet. Many urbanites are embracing Western way of living. There is however lack of adequate knowledge about the role of footwear in the management of foot related problems among diabetic patients in the country. This study is the first of its kind to be done in Nigeria with an aim to develop a framework that would help to identify appropriate footwear materials and designs for people suffering with diabetes. To achieve this, data were collected through questionnaire and interview surveys, shoe upper materials analysis and foot measurements. In addition, Product Design Specification (PDS) and design framework were formulated. And functional footwear prototypes were designed, constructed and assessed. The data from the questionnaire survey indicate that up to 75% of the diabetic subjects have not received information about the type of footwear they should wear most often. The study revealed that the patients have very poor knowledge about diabetes and its complications, foot care, and the use of appropriate footwear. It was discovered that up to 53% female and 37% male of the patients were wearing slippers most often. Similarly, the findings from the medical doctors interviewed show that up to 66% of the patients were wearing slippers or slip-on (with no fastening mechanism) most often. The research revealed that financial constraint was a key factor to use of appropriate footwear by the patients. Many use cheap footwear regardless whether they provide the required protection and comfort to their feet or not. It was found out that specialist knowledge among medical doctors regarding foot care and provision of special footwear like orthopaedic and diabetic footwear to patients was very low. The shoe upper materials analyses demonstrated that leather has good physical properties required for making diabetic footwear. Data from the measurement of feet indicated that no individual’s feet are exactly the same even as people wearing the same shoe size might not have the same foot dimensions. It was concluded that these differences could have considerable effects on the shoe wearer. From the measured values, the tolerable allowance was found to be 3.4mm and 3.5mm for male and female subjects respectively. The fitting and comfort assessment of the prototypes have shown that some parts of the last used to make the prototypes would require amendments in order to accommodate minor foot deformities properly. The findings from the research were used to develop PDS and a research framework which could be used as a guide for diabetic footwear design and construction. Finally, the contributions of this research to knowledge and critical areas that would require further investigations were outlined.

This thesis describes a successful attempt to automate a manual process in footwear industry. The process is called skiving of leather components and it is one of the early processes necessary for the assembly of shoe uppers. Skiving is the localised thinning of leather components, mainly at some of their edge regions. The purpose of skiving is to produce quality decorative edges or more importantly to enable attaching and joining components without forming thick, discomforting and weak joints. Although other processes in footwear manufacturing have been subject to partial or full automation, skiving has been performed for decades now with a standard mechanism that requires 3-dimensional manipulation of the components by a human operator. This research work was directed towards two main aims. One was to establish a novel method on the basis of which skiving may be performed without the need of human assistance. The developed method is called dynamic matrix skiving and it is capable of performing skiving on leather components by generating and actuating skive patterns as sets of finite elements of skived area to a given resolution. Following derivation and study of the method for skiving, the second phase was aimed at implementing a fully automatic skiving system. The main requirement from the system was to be an intelligent, component oriented, flow through, processing device. This required the capability to receive input components at any orientation and position along its transport mechanism, to recognise them as to their identity and relative position, and to perform skiving upon them without moving them or disturb their continuous flow throughout the entire operation. Individual chapters in this thesis describe the study and experimentation with regards to dynamic matrix skiving, and all logical steps taken to identify the necessary elements and implement their integration to produce the automated skiving system. The concluding part of this work includes presentation of the results obtained from the automated system, and it identifies the areas where further research and development is needed in order to improve the quality of its output.

Shoes Shine, es un proyecto analizado en base a la necesidad insatisfecha que tiene cierto segmento de clientes; dar a su calzado un mantenimiento exclusivo, que brinde la garantía de no maltratarlo, buscando extender el tiempo de vida de su calzado, con el mejor cuidado y en el menor tiempo posible. Actualmente encontramos diversos servicios de; lavado de ropa y zapatillas, sin embargo estos requieren altos precios, altos tiempos de espera y además al ser servicios tradicionales no se adaptan a las necesidades actuales de los clientes. Shoes Shine, ofrecerá; diversos servicios de limpieza de zapatillas, cotizaciones, diversos medios de pago, libro de reclamaciones, entre otros. Estará dirigido a; hombres y mujeres de los NSE A, B y C, de 25 a 40 años de edad, de algunos distritos de las zonas 6, 7 y 8 de Lima Metropolitana. Nuestro innovador modelo de negocio, brindará un servicio de alta calidad, realizado por personal experto, el cual realizará estas operaciones de lavado dentro de un truck acondicionado con equipos de última generación y eco-eficientes. Esta propuesta de lavado móvil, ofrecerá un servicio original y distinto al de la competencia, cubriendo la necesidad del lavado de zapatillas, de recogerlas y dejarlas donde el cliente desee; su casa o centro de trabajo, y todo ello en el menor tiempo posible. El estudio realizado a este modelo de negocio, demuestra que esta propuesta genera valor; obteniendo un VAN de S/. 37,774.63 y un TIR de 61.92%. / Shoes Shine, is a project analyzed based on the unsatisfied need of a certain segment of clients; give your shoes an exclusive maintenance, which provides the guarantee of not mistreating it, seeking to extend the life time of your footwear, with the best care and in the shortest possible time. We currently find various services; washing clothes and sneakers, however these require high prices, long waiting times and also being traditional services are not adapted to the current needs of customers. Shoes Shine, will offer; various shoe cleaning services, quotes, various means of payment, book of claims, among others. It will be directed to; men and women of NSE A, B and C, from 25 to 40 years of age, from some districts of zones 6, 7 and 8 of Metropolitan Lima. Our innovative business model will provide a high quality service, carried out by expert personnel, who will carry out these washing operations inside a truck conditioned with ultimate generation equipment and eco-efficient. This mobile washing proposal will offer an original and different service to the competition, covering the need to wash shoes, pick them up and leave them where the customer wants; your home or work center, and all in the shortest time possible. The study of this business model shows that this proposal generates value; obtaining a VAN of S /. 37,774.63 and TIR of 61.92%. / Trabajo de investigación