Spanning 14 states in the northeast United States, the Appalachian Trail (AT) is a popular destination for outdoor recreation, with thousands of individuals attempting to thru-hike the AT every year. For its scenic views and accessibility from the cities, the AT is experiencing a record number of visitors raising concerns about the sustainability of the trail. Many trail organizations manage the AT to reduce the visitor impact on the outdoors. In this research, I study the role of information and communication technologies in promoting collaboration between these trail agencies and visitors. I identify the need for a formal communication channel between the stakeholders by examining the existing information-sharing practices of hikers and trail managers through social media analysis, interviews, and a design workshop. I present the design of an online discussion platform, the SmarTrail board, and conduct a field usability study with two AT trail clubs to evaluate the platform. Findings from the study reveal that centralized direct communication and streamlined information can support trail management on the AT by promoting collaboration within the trail community. The research paves the path for future research into the design of ICTs for driving nature conservation goals. / Master of Science / The Appalachian Trail (AT) in the northeast of the United States spreads across 14 states. It is accessible from many regional urban centers, offering recreational opportunities to thousands of individuals every year. It is also a popular site for thru-hiking, an endeavor to hike the trail from end to end in a year. Such popularity and accessibility to the trail put pressure on the natural resources, raising concerns about the sustainability of the trail. Management of the trail deals with minimizing the resource impact while preserving the trail experiences of the visitors. Thirty trail clubs maintain separate sections of the AT, and a number of trail organizations work together to manage the trail. The core of this management relies on the collaboration of these trail agencies with each other and the visitors. As communication is central to collaborations in everyday life and for the trail, I explore the practices and possibilities for information sharing and communication on the AT. Digital conservation refers to the technological developments that support and forward nature conservation goals. As the pristine environment of the trails and the AT are not barred from the reach of digital technology, the prevalence of smartphones among visitors presents opportunities for information and communication technologies (ICTs) to support the digital conservation of the trail. In this research, I study digital technology use among hikers and trail managers on the AT, particularly for information sharing. By analyzing comments on Reddit, conducting interviews with the AT trail managers, and organizing a workshop with long-distance hikers, I highlight the need for direct communication between these stakeholders. I present the design of an online discussion board called the SmarTrail platform as a formal communication channel between hikers and trail managers and evaluate it with two trail clubs on the AT. The results from the evaluation offer several use cases of mediated communication, highlighting its need and potential in supporting trail management on the AT. Centralized and formal communication can lead to effective trail management by engaging visitors in trail management, improving volunteer management for the clubs, and enabling knowledge sharing and coordination between the trail agencies. With design considerations for improving human-nature interaction and simplifying the available information for visitors and trail management authorities, this study informs the design of ICTs for trail environments that would forward the digital conservation goals on the AT.

Since a massive decline of computer science graduates in 2002, computer science departments have been unable to reach previous graduation rates. In wake of this dramatic loss of graduates, researchers have been searching for the reasons students are avoiding computer science and choosing other majors. To combat this decrease in computer science graduates, the CloudSpace environment pro- vides additional context to entry level computer science courses. This shift in context re- moves boring assignments from the early computer science curriculum and replaces them with more engaging web centric assignments. The CloudSpace environment presents a model that maintains student's focus on core computer science competencies while providing a highly simplified web development toolkit to develop feature rich AJAX web applications. This the- sis includes the rational and implementation of a cloud based hosting service and a highly abstracted web tool kit that enables students to replicate modern web applications. / Master of Science

The goal for this thesis is to create a second screen application that will enhance the experience while watching a first screen. In order to create that type of application research within the subject and reviews of existing application is conducted. The reviews resulted in functionality and content that a second screen application should have. One of the big challenges for working with a second screen balance the focus between the screens and to make sure that the application creates value, rather than taking time and being frustrating. A concept of an application based on findings and iterations that will en- hance the experience were created. The concept were realised in wireframes and design mockups. The main functionality for the application is implemented with the native language objective-c as a working prototype on iPad. The biggest finding during this thesis is to remember to focus on solving one specific problem for the user.

No / Digitalization is transforming the way of doing business, and the construction industry is experiencing its fair share. It has necessitated the influx and growth of digital technologies application on construction projects and, to a larger extent, construction firms. In as much as this is a great initiative, early adopters in construction are still exploring, experimenting, and exploiting the potential of these digital transformations in their projects. There appears to be a gap in the digital capabilities needed in the construction life cycle and how these should be developed. A systematic review approach was used to identify digital technologies used in the construction industry. Literature on organization and digital capabilities was used to identify these capabilities and supported with examples from the UK and Australia to explain the capabilities. A case was made for how developing countries can develop digital capabilities in the construction industry from geographical distribution analysis from the systematic review and inference from the identified capabilities and the enabling approaches. Three main digital capabilities (digital mindset, digital infrastructure/investment and digital skillset) with sub-capabilities and two main approaches (firm and external) to developing these capabilities are discussed in this chapter. By implication, these capabilities are also useful in the construction industry in developing countries

Yes / Increasing the yield and research octane number (RON) of naphtha isomerization process are the most important issues in industries. There are many alternative industrial naphtha isomerization processes practiced around the world. In addition, AJAM is a new naphtha isomerization process proposed by the authors recently (Ahmed et al., 2018) where the isomerization reactor model was validated using real data of Baiji North Refinery (BNR) of Iraq. In this work, first, the performance of the AJAM Process is evaluated against 8 existing industrial isomerization processes in terms of RON, yield and the cost using model based optimisation techniques. To be consistent, we have used the same isomerization reactor model in all the industrial processes we evaluated here. Secondly, energy saving opportunity in the new AJAM process is studied using pinch technology.

Yes / The advent of the Internet of Things has witnessed tremendous success in the application of wireless sensor networks and ubiquitous computing for diverse smart-based applications. The developed systems operate under different technologies using different methods to achieve their targeted goals. In this treatise, we carried out an inclusive survey on key indoor technologies and techniques, with to view to explore their various benefits, limitations, and areas for improvement. The mathematical formulation for simple localization problems is also presented. In addition, an empirical evaluation of the performance of these indoor technologies is carried out using a common generic metric of scalability, accuracy, complexity, robustness, energy-efficiency, cost and reliability. An empirical evaluation of performance of different RF-based technologies establishes the viability of Wi-Fi, RFID, UWB, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, ZigBee, and Light over other indoor technologies for reliable IoT-based applications. Furthermore, the survey advocates hybridization of technologies as an effective approach to achieve reliable IoT-based indoor systems. The findings of the survey could be useful in the selection of appropriate indoor technologies for the development of reliable real-time indoor applications. The study could also be used as a reliable source for literature referencing on the subject of indoor location identification. / Supported in part by the Tertiary Education Trust Fund of the Federal Government of Nigeria, and in part by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under Grant agreement H2020-MSCA-ITN-2016 SECRET-722424

The construction industry accounts for a significant portion of greenhouse gas emissionsworldwide. When choosing construction materials for building structures, there are many factorsto consider, and the environmental impact is becoming increasingly important. Other factorsinclude cost, assembly time, and the size of structural components. Building larger structures usingwood is becoming more common as environmental concerns gain prominence. Wood is consideredone of the better alternatives from an environmental perspective as it is a completely renewablematerial. All types of materials have different properties, and when choosing constructionmaterials for a building, it is important to consider these factors to ensure proper utilization of thematerial.The purpose of this project was to demonstrate an alternative design for an industrial facility usingwood as the primary construction material instead of the original steel. The wooden building wasthen compared to the original steel building to highlight the differences in material usage betweensteel and wood. The comparison of material usage could be utilized during the initial phase ofdesigning similar buildings where the amount of steel is known, and one wants to estimate theapproximate amount of wood if the choice is made to design with wood instead.The building designed in this project was dimensioned using manual calculations and computertools. The design of the building was based on drawings from the reference project in steel, wherea section of the steel building was chosen as the starting point for the entire wooden construction.A comparison was also made to show the differences in internal area and internal ceiling heightswhen choosing wood as the construction material. The environmental impact of the choice ofstructural material was also compared. This was done using “ByggsektornsMiljöberäkningsverktyg”, where material-specific values from manufacturers' EnvironmentalProduct Declarations (EPDs) were inputted into the tool to obtain the most accurate possiblecomparison for this specific project. The comparison showed that, overall, the amount of glulamused in the entire building was 1.22 times greater than the amount of steel in terms of weight. Thedifference in internal height averaged 20% lower in the wooden building due to the high trussbeams in the roof structure. The environmental comparison showed that the wooden constructionhas a significantly smaller carbon footprint than the steel construction. The steel constructioncontributes to approximately 20 times more greenhouse gas emissions than the woodenconstruction.The conclusion of this project is that it is entirely possible to design a structure in this manner, butcertain adjustments must be made if starting from the same specified dimensions as a steelconstruction. If the option exists to raise the entire building instead of needing to lower the internalceiling height, it may be recommended to retain more volume inside the building. This, of course,depends on the specific purpose of the building. In terms of environmental impact, there is asignificant advantage to using glulam compared to steel.

Utvecklingen av artificiell intelligens (AI) har tagit världen med storm, men har samtidigt visat sig vara en av de största och svåraste utmaningarna vårt samhälle står inför. En av utmaningarna är användandet av AI-genererade deepfakes som ett desinformationverktyg. Vid granskning av tidigare forskning konstaterades att majoriteten av dem behandlar detektion och förebyggande åtgärder. Konsekvenserna av deepfakes undersöks i varierande omfattning men ingen har studerat konsekvenserna för just det svenska samhället på ett djupare sätt, en lucka detta arbete ämnar fylla. Syftet med arbetet är att undersöka deepfakes påverkan på spridandet av desinformation, vilka konsekvenser denna teknik kan medföra för det svenska samhället och hur dessa kan hanteras, samt ta reda på hur deepfakes kan se ut och användas framöver. För att besvara arbetets frågeställningar genomfördes en litteraturöversikt i kombination med semistrukturerade intervjuer.   Resultatet av arbetet visar att deepfakes tack vare sin lättillgänglighet har stor påverkan på hur desinformation skapas och sprids. Desinformation med deepfakes kan medföra flera allvarliga konsekvenser, däribland ökade sociala splittringar och ett minskat förtroende till digital information. För att hantera dessa konsekvenser bör en kombination av filtrering, lagstiftning och källkritik tillämpas. Tekniken är under konstant utveckling och användandet av deepfakes som ett desinformationsverktyg kommer med stor sannolikhet att utnyttjas i ännu större omfattning framöver, vilket visar på behovet av fortsatt forskning inom området.

Renovering och ombyggnation utgör en stor del av utsläppen av växthusgaser från bygg- och fastighetssektorn. Det finns intresse för att införa krav på klimatdeklarering vid renovering och ombyggnation men kunskapen är inte lika stor som vid nybyggnation. Syftet med detta examensarbete är att bidra med kunskap om vilka delar i renoveringsprojekt som kan ha störst klimatpåverkan och ge förslag på åtgärder eller alternativa material och produktval för minskning av utsläpp. Klimatberäkningar har genomförts på ett renoveringsprojekt med hjälp av ett rotberäkningsverktyg från WSP och sedan kompletterats med produktspecifika data från EPD:er. Beräkningarna inkluderar emissioner från modul A1-A3. För att få en generalisering på frågeställningarna har ett antal intervjuer genomförts med branschkunniga personer. Resultatet visade att utbytet av vitvaror i köket och fönster har den största klimatpåverkan på grund av hög energiåtgång och resursförbrukning vid tillverkning. Även om detta resultat är specifikt för studien, pekar teori och intervjuer på att material- och produktval generellt har betydande klimatpåverkan i sådana projekt. Det är dock viktigt att notera att vilka produkter och material som har störst påverkan kan variera beroende på faktorer som befintligt tillstånd, lokala förhållanden och projektets omfattning. För att minska klimatpåverkan föreslås åtgärder som återbruk och återvinning av material och produkter, särskilt för produkter med hög klimatpåverkan som vitvaror och vissa byggmaterial. Dessutom rekommenderas val av klimatförbättrade alternativ till material och produkter med lägre CO2-avtryck eller tillverkade med hållbarare metoder. Varsam renovering, där befintliga material och produkter bevaras och återanvänds, förespråkas också för att minska behovet av nya resurser och därmed minska klimatpåverkan.

<em>Small Tales</em> is a 2D video game with hand drawn and watercolor painted assets that incorporates a series of vignettes centered on the collection of artifacts. Growing up, I experimented with and  investigated a wide variety of media, such as Alice and GameMaker but ultimately decided to  sharpen my fine arts skills and incorporate them in to video game engines in this thesis. A variety  of point and click adventure games such as the <em>King's Quest</em> and <em>Monkey Island</em> series inspired  the development of this game due to their emphasis on narrative and player interaction. This thesis developed from a series of earlier projects that helped me settle on four  primary objectives: vignetted narratives, player choice and consequences, visual and text  components working harmoniously, and replayability via randomized generation. A Processing  sketch emphasized the need for strong visual assets in addition to text-based narrative; in  addition to replayability via randomized strings or text for a unique narrative every iteration.  Afterwards, a Twine game further encouraged visual assets working with text, but solidified a  foundation in player choice and consequences. Finally, my first experiment in Unity with the  Adventure Creator helped me establish a functional workflow to achieve my four goals.   <em>Small Tales</em> itself revolves around a series of vignettes connected by the world of the  player character. Players wander an unfamiliar neighborhood to find artifacts that at the end of  the game reveal tiny stories about other worlds. The game was received well by players during  my defense for its ethereal atmosphere and for creating an engaging story world. But a handful  of suggestions from these same players could push the game to be even better. <em>Small Tales</em> will be available online after these critiques are taken under consideration. / Master of Fine Arts / Small Tales is a 2D video game designed for children ages 8 - 12, with hand drawn assets that incorporates a series of vignettes centered on the collection of virtual artifacts. Growing up, I experimented with and investigated a wide variety of media, but ultimately decided to sharpen my fine arts skills and incorporate them in to video game engines in this thesis. A variety of early adventure games inspired the development of this game due to their emphasis on narrative and player interaction. This thesis developed from a series of earlier projects that helped me settle on four primary objectives: vignetted narratives, player choice and consequences, visual and text components working harmoniously, and replayability via randomized generation. After learning from these experiments, I settled on using the Unity game engine with the Adventure Creator toolkit to establish a functional workflow to achieve my four goals. Small Tales itself revolves around a series of vignettes connected by the world of the player character. Players wander an unfamiliar neighborhood, using their mouse to navigate and find artifacts that at the end of the game reveal tiny stories about other worlds. The game was received well by players during my defense for its ethereal atmosphere and for creating an engaging story world. But a handful of suggestions from these same players could push the game to be even better. Small Tales will be available online after these critiques are taken under consideration.