BCIT Citations Collection | BCIT Institutional Repository

BCIT Citations Collection

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Development of a micromachined pressure transducer for biomedical device/tissue interfaces
Proceedings of 1996 Canadian Conference on Electrical and Computer Engineering, Calgary, Alberta on 26-29 May 1996. In many medical situations, the need for measuring the pressure applied to a tissue quickly and accurately is crucial. Most conventional devices do not measure the actual pressure applied to the tissue because they do not compensate for the tissue or device compliance characteristics and need to be calibrated for each measurement environment. Neuromuscular damage may occur if too much pressure is applied to a tissue for an extended period of time in applications such as tourniquet systems. Incorrect diagnosis may occur if too little pressure is applied in applications such as mammography units. A compliance-independent pressure transducer has other biomedical applications in surgical retraction devices and prosthetic sockets. To eliminate the compliance problem, a pressure transducer was developed using bulk micromachining technology., Conference paper, Published.
The development of an ultralight wheelchair with dynamic seating
Proceedings of the Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America Annual Conference 2011. The Elevation™ wheelchair was recently developed and introduced to the market as an alternative to conventional ultralight rigid wheelchairs normally used by paraplegics and others with disabilities necessitating the daily use of a manual wheelchair. The Elevation wheelchair provides independent user-adjustable seat positioning during normal usage. Elevation allows the user to quickly and easily adjust in real-time the seat height, as well as backrest recline angle, all in a manual ultralight rigid wheelchair form factor. This allows for dynamic seat positioning to suit the tasks and comfort of users throughout their daily activities. The rationale for and user-driven development of the Elevation wheelchair is summarized here., Conference paper, Published.
The dogs of war
This paper presents a two stage model of negligence and legal action. In the first stage the defendant decides on the level of due care to take while carrying out an action or activity. In the second stage an accident has occurred and the plaintiff brings suit. Lawyers (agents) invest in actions that are designed to increase the probability of success on behalf of their respective clients. First we present the symmetric casewhere all decisions on investment in legal services occur ex-post (after an accident has occured). We then look as the case where the potential injurer pre-commits to a level of legal services ex-ante (prior to an accident) and analyze the effect that pre-commitment in legal services has on the stage one choice of care. We then present a case study from the field of labour relations where strategic pre-commitment is used to influence the settlement of grievances. The grievance process in labour relations parallel civil litigation and a grievance can be viewed as equivalent to either a tort or a breach of contract; depending on the type of grievance., Essay, Published.
Dual organizational structures in franchising
This paper extends the work of Mathewson and Winter (1985) in the field of franchising. Given the hypothesis that a franchise contract ensures quality compliance at a lower cost relative to alternative organizational structures, the existence of dual organizational structures within the same franchise chain is inadequately explained. This paper extends the basic model of Mathewson and Winter into a spatial framework, demonstrating that nonconvexities in monitoring costs will produce dual organizational structures within the same chain., Essay, Published.
Dynamic plan management in the context of a recognized air picture
This document surveys existing literature on dynamic plan management and describes the development of a prototype Air Force plan management system. The literature survey presents short summaries of a wide range of research papers, as well as a synthesis and analysis of existing approaches. The detailed comparison of existing approaches is used to formulate a specific methodology for the development of software for plan representation, plan forecasting/projection, plan analysis/evaluation and plan monitoring. The proposed methodology involves the development of a precise ontology of plan elements for plan representation. This representation removes ambiguity in the description of plans, facilitates automated analysis of plans, and also permits several different approaches to plan visualization. The implemented prototype software defines an ontology that provides a suitable internal representation of plans, along with basic plan validation capabilities. It also provides a map-based graphical user interface to visualize plans. The use of the software is demonstrated in the context of a combat search and rescue vignette. The findings conclude that the prototype demonstrates the overall utility of the approach, although further development is required to provide more detailed analysis, as well as additional visualization methods., Research report, Published.
Dynamic wheeled mobility
31st International Seating Symposium, Nashville, TN, February 26-28, 2015. The prevalence of upper limb pain in full-time manual wheelchair users living with SCI is estimated to be anywhere from 30-70%. For those who rely on an ultralight wheelchair for their day-to-day function, the consequences can be significant and will impact more than just their mobility. Since they were published in 2005, the Clinical Practice Guidelines for Preservation of Upper Limb Function Following Spinal Cord Injury (CPG’s) have served as a valuable evidence-based resource for clinicians and seating/wheeled mobility professionals who work with the SCI population. The recommendations related to wheelchair use are based on extensive research that has examined the effects of the wheelchair’s configuration and the user’s propulsion technique on upper limb function. The recommendations focus on three general areas: Ergonomics, Equipment Selection, and Training., Conference paper, Published.
Early developmental activities and computing proficiency
Proceedings from the 2017 ITiCSE Conference on Working Group Reports. As countries adopt computing education for all pupils from primary school upwards, there are challenging indicators: significant proportions of students who choose to study computing at universities fail the introductory courses, and the evidence for links between formal education outcomes and success in CS is limited. Yet, as we know, some students succeed without prior computing experience. Why is this? Some argue for an innate ability, some for motivation, some for the discrepancies between the expectations of instructors and students, and some -- simply -- for how programming is being taught. All agree that becoming proficient in computing is not easy. Our research takes a novel view on the problem and argues that some of that success is influenced by early childhood experiences outside formal education. In this study, we analyzed over 1300 responses to a multi-institutional and multi-national survey that we developed. The survey captures enjoyment of early developmental activities such as childhood toys, games and pastimes between the ages 0 --- 8 as well as later life experiences with computing. We identify unifying features of the computing experiences in later life, and attempt to link these computing experiences to the childhood activities. The analysis indicates that computing proficiency should be seen from multiple viewpoints, including both skill-level and confidence. Our analysis is the first to show, we believe, that particular early childhood experiences are linked to parts of computing proficiency, namely those related to confidence with problem solving using computing technology. These are essential building blocks for more complex use. We recognize issues in the experimental design that may prevent our data showing a link between early activities and more complex computing skills, and suggest adjustments for future studies. Ultimately, we expect that this line of research will feed in to early years and primary education, and thereby improve computing education for all., Peer reviewed, Conference paper, Published.
EE13-2 development and benchmarking of a new whole building hygrothermal model
Proceedings of Building Enclosure Science & Technology (BEST2) Conference, Portland, USA, April 12-14, 2010. During design process, building engineers evaluate the performance of various design alternatives in terms of their durability, comfort and indoor air quality, as well as energy efficiency using building envelope, indoor and energy analysis tools, respectively. But, usually the analysis tools are in the form of stand-alone package, where there is no direct link among them but rather simplifying assumptions are made on the other two when designing for one. In this paper, the development and benchmarking of a newly developed whole building hygrothermal model are presented. The model considers the building as a system and accounts for the dynamic heat, air and moisture (HAM) interaction between building envelope components and indoor environmental conditions including HVAC systems, moisture and heat sources. The methodology adopted in this work is to develop and validate two primary models: building envelope and indoor models independently and couple them to form the whole building hygrothermal model. After successful integration of the models, the whole building hygrothermal model is benchmarked against internationally published numerical and experimental test results. The holistic model can be used to assess building enclosures durability, indoor conditions (temperature and relative humidity), occupant comfort, and energy efficiency of a building in an integrated manner., Conference paper, Published.
The effects of global climate change on carbonation induced corrosion of reinforced concrete structures
There is nearly unanimous consensus amongst scientists that increasing greenhouse gas emissions, including CO2 generated by human activity, are affecting the Earth‘s climate. Climate change has the potential to overwhelm existing capacities, as well as durability of concrete infrastructure. Carbonation of concrete occurs due to a reaction between atmospheric CO2 and the hydrated phases of concrete, leading to a drop in its pH and the depassivation of embedded rebar. Therefore, increases in carbonation rates of reinforced concrete structures are expected as a result of increased temperatures and CO2 concentrations, with the enhanced risk of carbonation induced corrosion likely affecting the longevity of our concrete infrastructure. This thesis considered the potential consequences of global climate change on our concrete infrastructure, with the objective being to determine if there is an increased risk of deterioration due to carbonation induced corrosion. A unique numerical model was developed to determine carbonation rates in structures, and verified through experimental tests. The model was applied to a numbers of cities in locations throughout the world to determine where structures were most vulnerable. Additionally, a number of other laboratory experiments were carried out to supplement the numerical model and provide insights as to how carbonation progress can be monitored within a structure. Using the model developed, and inputting forecasts for increases in future atmospheric CO2 concentrations and weather conditions, it was shown that for medium quality, non-pozzolonic concrete in geographic areas where carbonation induced corrosion is a concern, global climate change will affect its progress in our concrete infrastructure. We will see much higher ultimate carbonation depths in the long term. The use of non-destructive testing (NDT) methods, and structural health monitoring (SHM) techniques could be invaluable in monitoring the progress of carbonation in a structure, but the data generated by the methods and techniques used must be analyzed carefully before making any conclusions. For the NDT methods and carbonation pH sensors which were evaluated in this study, it was found that ambient test conditions had a major impact on results., Thesis, Published.
The effects of structural cracking on carbonation progress in reinforced concrete
Proceedings of 3rd International Conference on the Durability of Concrete Structures, 17-19 September 2012, Queen’s University Belfast. There is nearly unanimous consensus among scientists that increasing greenhouse gas emissions, including CO2 generated by human activity, are affecting the Earth’s climate. One essential area which will be affected is the durability of concrete infrastructure. Past research indicates that climate change will exacerbate the rate of carbonation of reinforced concrete structures, potentially leading to premature corrosion of embedded rebar. Cracking of the covering concrete could further increase carbonation rates, but the extent of the increase is unknown. The purpose of this study is to investigate the carbonation of cracked concrete under accelerated test conditions, and to numerically model the movement of the carbonation front in cracked concrete using the concept of effective diffusivity. It was found that the presence of a deep structural crack in a concrete specimen greatly increases the rate of carbonation, possibly leading to premature, localized corrosion within the specimen. The effect of cracks is likely to be much greater than the effect of increased temperatures and increased atmospheric CO2 concentrations. As a result, emphasis must be placed on designing durable infrastructure and following proper maintenance practices so that cracks are less likely to form, thereby extending the longevity of the structure in question., Conference paper, Published.
Emotional design
In my teaching and software development practice, I realized that most applications with human-computer interaction do not respond to usersâ emotional needs. The dualism of reason and emotion as two fairly opposite entities that dominated Western philosophy was also reflected in software design. Computing was originally intended to provide applications for military and industrial activities and was primarily associated with cognition and rationality. Today, more and more computer applications interact with users in very complex and sophisticated ways. In human-computer interaction, attention is given to issues of usability and user modeling, but techniques to emotionally engage users or respond to their emotional needs have not been fully developed, even as specialists like Klein, Norman and Picard argued that machines that recognize and express emotions respond better and more appropriately to user interaction (Picard, 1997; Picard & Klein, 2002; Norman, 2004). This study investigated emotion from designersâ perspectives and tentatively concludes that there is little awareness and involvement in emotional design in the IT community. By contrast, participants in this study (36 IT specialists from various fields) strongly supported the idea of emotional design and confirmed the need for methodologies and theoretical models to research emotional design. Based on a review of theory, surveys and interviews, I identified a set of themes for heuristics of emotional design and recommended future research directions. Attention was given to consequences; participants in this study raised issues of manipulation, ethical responsibilities of designers, and the need for regulations, and recommended that emotional design should carry standard ethical guidelines for games and any other applications. The research design utilized a mixed QUAN-qual methodological model proposed by Creswell (2003) and Gay, Mills, and Airasian (2006), which was modified to equally emphasize both quantitative and qualitative stages. An instrument in the form of a questionnaire was designed, tested and piloted in this study and will be improved and used in future research., Published., Peer reviewed, Thesis/Dissertation
Emotional design
Proceedings from the First Biannual Conference on Technological Learning and Thinking: Culture, Design, Sustainability, Human Ingenuity held in Vancouver, BC, Canada, 2010., Not peer reviewed, Conference paper

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