This book investigates the higher education system in Germany and China, and analyzes the differences between academic higher education and application-oriented higher education. It explores the past, present, and future of application-oriented higher education in these two countries, and discusses the advantages and disadvantages of this type of education. Using multiple data collection methods across case studies and student questionnaires, it demonstrates the necessity of a dual track higher education system based on separate entrance test and admission system to tertiary-level education, which ensures that students have transitional options. Further, it highlights the improvement of teaching quality and student satisfaction with application-oriented higher education and concludes that the international perspectives from higher education should be considered as one of the most significant methods of educational strategies.

This book investigates the higher education system in Germany and China, and analyzes the differences between academic higher education and application-oriented higher education. It explores the past, present, and future of application-oriented higher education in these two countries, and discusses the advantages and disadvantages of this type of education. Using multiple data collection methods across case studies and student questionnaires, it demonstrates the necessity of a dual track higher education system based on separate entrance test and admission system to tertiary-level education, which ensures that students have transitional options. Further, it highlights the improvement of teaching quality and student satisfaction with application-oriented higher education and concludes that the international perspectives from higher education should be considered as one of the most significant methods of educational strategies.

Flexible Batteries highlights the key advances in flexible batteries, a booming new direction in the energy storage field. The authors first introduce lithium-ion batteries, which are currently the most widely used batteries. Flexible aqueous batteries such as aqueous lithium-ion, sodium-ion, and zinc-ion batteries are discussed subsequently due to the safety concerns in organic electrolytes. Since flexible metal-air batteries are recognized as primary choices for the next generation, the authors take lithium-air and aluminum-air batteries as examples to explore their applications in flexible battery construction. They further summarize flexible batteries under the most challenging working conditions such as stretching and integrating flexible batteries with flexible energy harvesting devices, sensors, and supercapacitors. Covering both fundamental and application development, this book may effectively bridge academics and industry. It will be helpful not only to scholars and students studying materials science and engineering, chemical engineering, physics, energy science, and biomedical science but also to scientists and engineers in the industry.

Soft materials with nanometer scale aspects have been heavily used in biomedical science. Instead of providing a broad introduction of soft materials and their biomedical applications, this book focuses on the preparation of molecular assemblies of biotechnologically relevant biomimetic systems with an emphasis on medical applications.

This book answers the question of how to design a sharing system that can promote sustained, meaningful, and socially constructive sharing practices in today's cities. To do so, it constructs a framework for practical inquiry into the design of sharing systems. Further, the book invites readers to consider questions such as: If sharing can be designed, then how does one design a sharing system for cities? Which urban conditions make this sharing system possible? What are the considerations, variables, and methods that can inform and guide the designers of a sharing system? By considering both the environmental and societal motivations for sharing, and the reality that most examples of the Sharing Economy are neither equitable in their socio-economic outcomes nor genuine in their original social promises, this book presents balanced and thoughtful answers to the questions posed above. The book will appeal to a broad readership, from students and teachers in the various design disciplines, to professionals and scholars in architecture and urbanism, business and innovation, and other related fields of the humanities and social sciences, as well as activists and policymakers committed to achieving more sustainable and equitably distributed access to urban resources.