This book described vibration reduction for flexible structures by the command smoothing techniques. The command smoothing technique is a kind of open-loop controller. The operator's commands filter through a piecewise continuous function, called smoother, to produce smoothed commands. Smoothed commands move flexible dynamic systems toward desired positions with minimal oscillations. Five types of command smoother were reported including one-piece, two-pieces, three-pieces, and four-pieces smoothers, and the smoother for multi-mode Duffing oscillators. All smoothers are robust to changes in the system parameters and working conditions. The command smoothing technique has been successfully applied to industrial cranes, sloshing suppression, flexible manipulators, high-speed cam and follower systems, and helicopter slung loads.

This is a challenging, innovative, and timely new look at implementing Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) by one of the field's leading trainers and authors. The book takes into account the economic upheavals of recent years and demonstrates that TPM is less about moving maintenance tasks to operations than moving accountability for aggregate output of the plant to operators. The author goes on to show that effective TPM - TPM reloaded -- requires a radical difference in management's view of the worker and even tougher, a radical change in the way workers view their own role. This is a challenging, innovative, and timely new look at implementing Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) by one of the field's leading trainers and authors. The book takes into account the economic upheavals of recent years and demonstrates that TPM is less about moving maintenance tasks to operations than moving accountability for aggregate output of the plant to operators. The author goes on to show that effective TPM - TPM reloaded -- requires a radical difference in management's view of the worker and even tougher, a radical change in the way workers view their own role.Introduction: TPM in 2010 Introduction to TPM Who is TPM for? What Does TPM Do? Why Today? Operator is the keyPillars of TPMHistory of TPMWhy Did TPM Come from Auto Assembly? Some important questions about where the idea for TPM came from Life under TPM A Day in the Life of a TPM ShopTPM Has Two AspectsPromises MadeSelling TPMTotal plant involvement TPM basics TPM: The Basic IdeaThe intention of TPM is engagementTPM is a TEAM Based ActivityTPM and lean manufacturing and maintenanceJIT (Just in Time) Five Elements of TPMMaintenance MaintenanceThe Basic Activity of TPM is PM OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness) Measuring Equipment Effectiveness is an Essential Part of TPM Different OEE models OEE is ConfusingExample of OEE TPM activities Return to new conditionsMini-manual for OperatorsTasks (Getting Down to the Nitty-Gritty) TPM team meetingsTypical team activity is conducting a 1-point lessonRCA for operators Lean Maintenance Facts of Life What Are We Trying to Do? One Problem However - Past SinsGround rules of equipment: What are the Life Cycle Phases of Equipment? CMMS MRP II interfaceThe CMMS Work Order Visual Work Place BenefitsExamplesWhen is too much too much TPM Installation Seven Steps to Reach Full Autonomous MaintenanceWhy Do One Out of Two TPM Installations Fail? Successful TPM InstallationsKey Concepts for the TPM InstallationLook Out; Problems Ahead! Steps in Introduction of TPM in an Organization Training For TPM to Work, You Better Be Great at Training. Effective TrainingCertified Operator, Mechanic Training Structures to keep TPM going Structure for Remembering To Do TasksTPM reportingKeeping TPM on track Is TPM for you? How to decide TPM is for youTPM Feasibility Study

Dielectric Polymer Nanocomposites provides the first in-depth discussion of nano-dielectrics, an emerging and fast moving topic in electrical insulation. The text begins with an overview of the background, principles and promise of nanodielectrics, followed by a discussion of the processing of nanocomposites and then proceeds with special considerations of clay based processes, mechanical, thermal and electric properties and surface properties as well as erosion resistance. Carbon nanotubes are discussed as a means of creation of non linear conductivity, the text concludes with a industrial applications perspective.

Toledo Nanochess is the world's current smallest chess program written in C language. Now for the first time is published the complete documented source code. Also including the documented source code of the JS1K 2010 Chess entry (2nd place winner)

Development projects that span different disciplines and groups often face problems in establishing a shared understanding of the project's purpose, deliverables, and direction. Creating Shared Understanding in Product Development Teams: How to 'Build the Beginning' uses research-based cases from TC Electronic, The Red Cross, Daimler AG, and Copenhagen Living Lab to demonstrate one approach to this problem complex. It shows how prototyping specific physical artifacts can function as drivers and focal points for creating the much needed shared understanding. Encompassing both the participant's and the facilitator's point of view, Creating Shared Understanding in Product Development Teams: How to 'Build the Beginning' provides both practical examples and theoretical explanation for the process of creating shared understanding. This book provides a toolbox and a practical guide for planning, executing, and facilitating workshops. The result is a clear outline of how to facilitate the creation of physical artifacts that enables and stimulates communication between team members, users, and stakeholders in order to create shared understanding of projects

Over the years I have worked with or consulted for many managers throughout the world at all levels of industry and government. I have seen who succeeded, achieved goals, and made progress, and who failed or crashed. I have studied their methods of operation and their decision-making approach, as well as the range of people involved in the decision-making. I similarly personally managed large industrial and service organizations and their operations, and found that to succeed and have a content team of collaborators, decision-making had to be joint and delegated to the lowest competent and informed level. Using this approach not only improved the performance of the organization or firm, but also resulted in a more content, professional, cooperative, happy, and competent workforce. In general, people like to assume responsibility, particularly of functions with which they are intimately familiar. They enjoy the role of de- sion-maker and the use of their knowledge and experience in guiding their and related work. Delegation of decision-making not only infuses pride and conte- ment but also assures more informed, timely, and effective implementation of de- sions. It also adds to worker training and education as workers inquire, develop information and use of their own experience in improving their decision-making. Worker pride and feeling of control and involvement lead to contentment and s- isfaction which, in return, pays dividends in worker productivity, morale, retention, and resulting low turnover.

Holistic Engineering Education: Beyond Technology is a compilation of coordinated and focused essays from world leaders in the engineering profession who are dedicated to a transformation of engineering education and practice. The contributors define a new and holistic approach to education and practice that captures the creativity, interdisciplinarity, complexity, and adaptability required for the profession to grow and truly serve global needs. With few exceptions today, engineering students and professionals continue to receive a traditional, technically-based education and training using curriculum models developed for early 20th century manufacturing and machining. While this educational paradigm has served engineering well, helping engineers create awe-inspiring machines and technologies for society, the coursework and expectations of most engineering programs eschew breadth and intellectual exploration to focus on consistent technological precision and study. Why this dichotomy?

While engineering will always need precise technological skill, the 21st century innovation economy demands a new professional perspective that recognizes the value of complex systems thinking, cross-disciplinary collaborations, economic and environmental impacts (sustainability), and effective communication to global and community leaders, thus enabling engineers to consider "the whole patient" of society's needs. The goal of this book is to inspire, lead, and guide this critically needed transformation of engineering education.

"Holistic Engineering Education: Beyond Technology points the way to a transformation of engineering education and practice that will be sufficiently robust, flexible, and systems-oriented to meet the grand challenges of the 21st century with their ever-increasing scale, complexity, and transdisciplinary nature."

-- Charles Vest, President, National Academy of Engineering; President Emeritus, MIT
"This collection of essays provides compelling arguments for the need of an engineering education that prepares engineers for the problems of the 21st century. Following the National Academy s report on the Engineer of 2020, this book brings together experts who make the case for an engineering profession that looks beyond developing just cool technologies and more into creating solutions that can address important problems to benefit real people."

-- Linda Katehi, Chancellor, University of California at Davis

"This superb volume offers a provocative portrait of the exciting future of engineering education A dramatically new form of engineering education is needed that recognizes this field as a liberal art, as a profession that combines equal parts technical rigor and creative design The authors challenge the next generation to engineering educators to imagine, think and act in new ways. "

-- Lee S. Shulman, President Emeritus, The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and Charles E. Ducommun Professor of Education Emeritus, Stanford University"

This work concerns the computational modelling of the dynamics of partially ionized gases, with emphasis on electrodischarge processes. Understanding gas discharges is fundamental for many processes in mechanics, manufacturing, materials science, and aerospace engineering. This second edition has been expanded to include the latest developments in the field, especially regarding the drift-diffusion model and rarefied hypersonic flow.

We think we have scientific knowledge when we know the cause. (Aristotle, Posterior Analytics Book II, Part 11) About 12 years ago, when I was a graduate student, many people were concerned about my Ph. D. topic - investigating the effect of the complexity of procedu- lized tasks on the performance of human operators working in nuclear power plants. Although they agreed with the fact that procedures (especially emergency operating procedures) play a crucial role in securing the safety of nuclear power plants, it was amazing that most of them pointed out a very similar issue: "I cannot understand why operating personnel see any difficulty (or complexity) in condu- ing procedures, because all that they have to do is to follow a simple IF-THEN- ELSE rule as written. " Actually, this issue is closely related to one of the main questions I was recently asked, such as "Don't you think your work is too acad- ic to apply to actual procedures?" or "I guess we don't need to consider the c- plexity of procedures, because we can develop a good procedure using many pr- tical procedure writers' guidelines. Then what is the real contribution of your work?" I absolutely agree with the latter comment. Yes, we can develop a good pro- dure with the support of many practical and excellent guidelines.

Technology is taking us to a world where myriads of heavily networked devices interact with the physical world in multiple ways and at multiple scales, from the global Internet down to micro and nano devices. Many of these devices are highly mobile and must adapt to the surrounding environment in a totally unsupervised way.

A fundamental research challenge is the design of robust decentralized computing systems that are capable of operating under changing environments and noisy input, and yet exhibit the desired behavior and response time, under constraints such as energy consumption, size, and processing power.

Biological systems are able to handle many of these challenges with an elegance and efficiency still far beyond current human artifacts. The goal is to obtain methods on how to engineer technical systems, which have similar high stability and efficiency.

With this book, we present a comprehensive overview of the most promising research directions in the area of bio-inspired computing. According to the broad spectrum addressed by the different book chapters, a rich variety of biological principles and their application to ICT systems are presented.

Although computational intelligence and soft computing are both well-known fields, using computational intelligence and soft computing in conjunction is an emerging concept. This combination can effectively be used in practical areas of various fields of research. Applied Computational Intelligence and Soft Computing in Engineering is an essential reference work featuring the latest scholarly research on the concepts, paradigms, and algorithms of computational intelligence and its constituent methodologies such as evolutionary computation, neural networks, and fuzzy logic. Including coverage on a broad range of topics and perspectives such as cloud computing, sampling in optimization, and swarm intelligence, this publication is ideally designed for engineers, academicians, technology developers, researchers, and students seeking current research on the benefits of applying computation intelligence techniques to engineering and technology.

This book discusses the revolution of cycles and rhythms that is expected to take place in different branches of science and engineering in the 21st century, with a focus on communication and information processing. It presents high-quality papers in vibration sciences, rhythms and oscillations, neurosciences, mathematical sciences, and communication. It includes major topics in engineering and structural mechanics, computer sciences, biophysics and biomathematics, as well as other related fields. Offering valuable insights, it also inspires researchers to work in these fields. The papers included in this book were presented at the 1st International Conference on Engineering Vibration, Communication and Information Processing (ICoEVCI-2018), India.

Contents - 1. SOLIDS-STORAGE AND HANDLING - General - Conveyors - Drying - 2. LIQUIDS-STORAGE AND HANDLING - Tanks - Pumps - Mechanical Seals - 3. GASES-STORAGE AND HANDLING - General - Handling Air - Types of Apparatus - 4. PIPE, FITTINGS, VALVES - Pipe Types- Valve Types - 5. MIXING OF MATERIALS - Blending of Solids - Mixing of Fluids - Operating Notes - 6. HEATING AND COOLING - General - Heat Exchangers - Suggestions for Operation - 7. SEPARATION OF MATERIALS - Solids from Solids - Solids from Liquids - Liquids from Liquids - Gases from Gases - 8. UTILITIES - Heating Systems - Cooling Systems - Refrigeration - Process Water - Electrical Systems - Air Systems - 9. INSTRUMENTS FOR PRESSURE - General - Indicators - Transmitters - Regulators - 10. INSTRUMENTS FOR TEMPERATURE - Primary Elements - Transmitters - Regulators - 11. INSTRUMENTS FOR FLOW AND LIQUID LEVEL - Indicators - Flow Transmitters - Liquid Level Indicators and Transmitters - 12. INSTRUMENTS FOR CONTROL - Recorders and Integrators - Controllers - Operating Pointers - Control Valves - Miscellaneous -

"Logistics" is the ideal book for Bachelor students of logistics, providing a solid foundation as well as a practical guide. In modular and clear form, it explains key concepts, principles, and practices of logistics. Learning objectives as well as several case studies are integrated into each chapter.

It features chapters on Principles of Logistics; Logistics Systems; Transport Systems and Logistics Services; Warehousing, Handling and Picking Systems; Inventory, Stock and Provisioning Management; Logistics Network Planning; IT in Logistics; and Logistics Controlling. In addition, the second fully updated German edition has been extended by the chapters Logistics Infrastructure and Investment and Financing in Logistics.

"This book offers, in a very clear and concise manner, access to fundamental management topics of modern logistics. Well-chosen case studies serve to illustrate best practice solutions."

"Professor Peter Klaus, member of Logistics Hall of Fame "

"This new textbook facilitates a comprehensive and easy-to-grasp insight into the complex subject area of logistics. The authors have succeeded in presenting a good mix of theoretical foundation and practical application. Due to its clear structure and extensive range of topics, this book is highly suitable not only for students, but also for practitioners."

"Bernhard Simon, Managing Director, DACHSER GmbH & Co. KG""

Rapid evolution of trade, cultural and human relations provides the qualitative and quantitative enhancement of international collaborations, linking the countries with different economical and technological level. Delocalization of High-Tech industry inevitably leads to development of the material science and engineering researches in emergent countries, requiring transfer of know-how, restructuration of basic research and educational networks. This book presents the contributions of participants of the Advanced Research Workshop "Smart Materials for Energy, Communications and Security" (ARW SMECS; www.smecs.ferroix.net), organized in December 2007 in Marrakech in frame of the "NATO - Science for Peace" program. The objective of this event was the attempt to overview several hot topics of material physics related with problems of modern society: transformation and storage of energy, treatment and transmission of information, environmental security issues etc., with the focus of their implementation in Mediterranean Dialogue (MD) countries: Algeria, Egypt, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia. The workshop is an important stage in developing of the research network "Mediterranean Electronic Materials" - MEM (www.reseau-MEM.org), that has an objective to encourage the inter-Maghreb and Europe-Maghreb collaborative studies in the area of electroactive materials. Participants of the Advanced Research Workshop "Smart Materials for Energy, Communications and Security" , Marrakech, Morocco, December 2007 v vi PREFACE

This volume features papers from the 18th International Congress on Project Management and Engineering, held by the University of Zaragoza in collaboration with the Spanish Association of Project Management and Engineering (AEIPRO). It illustrates the state of the art in this emerging area. Readers will discover ways to increase the effectiveness of project engineering as well as the efficiency of project management. The papers, written by international researchers and professionals, cover civil engineering and urban planning, product and process engineering, environmental engineering, energy efficiency and renewable energies, rural development, safety, labor risks and ergonomics, and training in project engineering. Overall, this book contributes to the improvement of project engineering research and enhances the transfer of results to the job of project engineers and project managers around the world. It will appeal to all professionals in the field as well as researchers and teachers involved in the training of future professionals.

The term "soft computing" applies to variants of and combinations under the four broad categories of evolutionary computing, neural networks, fuzzy logic, and Bayesian statistics. Although each one has its separate strengths, the complem- tary nature of these techniques when used in combination (hybrid) makes them a powerful alternative for solving complex problems where conventional mat- matical methods fail. The use of intelligent and soft computing techniques in the field of geo- chanical and pavement engineering has steadily increased over the past decade owing to their ability to admit approximate reasoning, imprecision, uncertainty and partial truth. Since real-life infrastructure engineering decisions are made in ambiguous environments that require human expertise, the application of soft computing techniques has been an attractive option in pavement and geomecha- cal modeling. The objective of this carefully edited book is to highlight key recent advances made in the application of soft computing techniques in pavement and geo- chanical systems. Soft computing techniques discussed in this book include, but are not limited to: neural networks, evolutionary computing, swarm intelligence, probabilistic modeling, kernel machines, knowledge discovery and data mining, neuro-fuzzy systems and hybrid approaches. Highlighted application areas include infrastructure materials modeling, pavement analysis and design, rapid interpre- tion of nondestructive testing results, porous asphalt concrete distress modeling, model parameter identification, pavement engineering inversion problems, s- grade soils characterization, and backcalculation of pavement layer thickness and moduli.

This textbook is aimed at engineering students who are likely to come across magnetics applications in their professional practice. Whether designing lithography equipment containing ferromagnetic brushes, or detecting defects in aeronautics, some basic knowledge of 21st century magnetism is needed. From the magnetic tape on the pocket credit card to the read head in a personal computer, people run into magnetism in many products. Furthermore, in a variety of disciplines tools of the trade exploit magnetic principles, and many interdisciplinary laboratory research areas cross paths with magnetic phenomena that may seem mysterious to the untrained mind. Therefore, this course offers a broad coverage of magnetism topics encountered more often in this millenium, revealing key concepts on which many practical applications rest. Some traditional subjects in magnetism are discussed in the first half of the book, followed by areas likely to spark the curiosity of those more interested in today's technological achievements. Although sometimes some aspects may seem difficult to comprehend at first, bibliography directs the reader to appropriate further study. Throughout the chapters, the student is encouraged to discover the not-so-obvious associations between different magnetics topics, a task that will prove to be at the very least rewarding.

Edge-of-Things in Personalized Healthcare Support Systems discusses and explores state-of-the-art technology developments in storage and sharing of personal healthcare records in a secure manner that is globally distributed to incorporate best healthcare practices. The book presents research into the identification of specialization and expertise among healthcare professionals, the sharing of records over the cloud, access controls and rights of shared documents, document privacy, as well as edge computing techniques which help to identify causes and develop treatments for human disease. The book aims to advance personal healthcare, medical diagnosis, and treatment by applying IoT, cloud, and edge computing technologies in association with effective data analytics.