Refine
Year of publication
Document Type
- Master's Thesis (113)
- Article (60)
- Conference Proceeding (20)
- Part of a Book (2)
- Working Paper (2)
- Book (1)
- Doctoral Thesis (1)
- Other (1)
- Preprint (1)
Institute
- Forschungszentrum Mikrotechnik (27)
- Forschungszentrum Business Informatics (20)
- Forschungszentrum Energie (20)
- Technik | Engineering & Technology (12)
- Department of Computer Science (Ende 2021 aufgelöst; Integration in die übergeordnete OE Technik) (11)
- Forschungszentrum Human Centred Technologies (8)
- Soziales & Gesundheit (6)
- Josef Ressel Zentrum für Intelligente Thermische Energiesysteme (5)
- Forschungszentrum Digital Factory Vorarlberg (4)
- Forschung (2)
Language
- English (201) (remove)
Has Fulltext
- yes (201) (remove)
Keywords
- leadership (4)
- Global optimization (3)
- Machine learning (3)
- Peripheral arterial disease (3)
- Rastrigin function (3)
- Sustainability (3)
- Switzerland (3)
- Y-branch splitter (3)
- Artificial intelligence (2)
- Bubble column humidifier (2)
We have demonstrated micromachining of bulk 3C silicon carbide (3C- SiC) wafers by employing 1028nm wavelength femtosecond laser pulses of energy less than 10 nJ directly from a femtosecond laser oscillator, thus eliminating the need for an amplified system and increasing the micromachining speed by more than four orders of magnitude.
We have investigated the ablation behaviour of single crystal SrTiO3 <100> with focus on the influence of the pulse duration at a wavelength of 248 nm. The experiments were performed with KrF-excimer lasers with pulse durations of 34 ns and 500 fs, respectively. Femtosecond-ablation turns out to be more efficient by one order of magnitude and to eliminate the known problem of cracking of SrTiO3 during laser machining with longer pulses. In addition, the cavities ablated with femtosecond pulses display a smoother surface with no indication of melting and well-defined, sharp edges. These effects can be explained by the reduced thermal shock effect on the material by using ultrashort pulses.
Modern portable electronic devices have seen component heat load increasing, while the space available for heat dissipation has decreased. This requires the thermal management system to be optimized to attain the high performance heat sink. Heat sinks plays a major role for dissipating heat in electronic devices. Phase change material (PCM) is used to enhance the heat dissipation in heat sink. This paper reports the results of an experimental investigation of the performance of Pin fin heat sinks filled with phase change materials for thermal management of electronic devices. The experimental set ups are prepared with the graphical programming language with Lab VIEW (Laboratory Virtual Instruments for Engineering Workbench. Three different types of Pin fin Heat sink with and without PCM are investigated based on different operational timings and the temperature is acquired with the help of Data Acquisition Card (DAQ). The results indicated that the inclusion of the PCM could stabilize the temperature for a longer period and reduce the heating rates and peak temperatures of heat sink with increasing the number of fins can enhance the thermal performance of electronic devices.
This paper presents a project developed at the K.S.Rangasamy College of Technology (Tamilnadu,India) aimed at designing, implementing, and testing an autonomous multipurpose vehicle with safe, efficient, and economic operation. This autonomous vehicle moves through the crop lines of a Agricultural land and performs tasks that are tedious and/or hazardous to the farmers. First, it has been equipped for spraying, but other configurations have also been designed, such as: a seeding ,plug platform to reach the top part of the plants to perform different tasks (pruning, harvesting, etc.), and a trailer to transport the fruits, plants, and crop waste.
The goal of this paper is to design a low-loss 1 x 32 Y-branch optical splitter for optical transmission systems, using two different design tools employing Beam Propagation Method. As a first step, a conventional 1 x 32 Y-branch splitter was designed and simulated in two-dimensional environment of OptiBPM photonic tool. The simulated optical properties feature high loss, high asymmetric splitting ratio and a large size of the designed structure, too. In the second step of this work we propose an optimization of the conventional splitter design leading to suppression of the asymmetric splitting ratio to one-third of its initial value and to the improvement of the losses by nearly 2 dB. In addition, 50% size reduction of the designed structure was also achieved. This length-optimized low-loss splitter was then modelled in a three-dimensional environment of RSoft photonic tool and the simulated results confirm the strong improvement of the optical properties.
The master thesis concentrates on two different cases to generate energy from MSW. In the first case, the MSW is incinerated in an incineration plant. This approach represents the present situation in the waste treatment in large parts of the UK.
In the second case, the OFMSW is separated in a treatment facility and used in a fermentation plant. The remaining waste is again used as a feedstock in an incineration plant. The difference in the net energy yield between these two cases is investigated in this thesis.
To calculate the difference in the energy yield of case 1 and case 2, a research of the existing literature about comparisons of incineration and fermentation plants and their results are reflected and data about the MSW in the UK is collected. With the input of the literature and the researched data, a model is built which compares the two different cases of waste treatment. The results of the comparisons are then examined by varying different parameters. This step is repeated by using different input parameters. Afterwards, the results are compared and analysed.
In the next part of the thesis, an economic analysis of the incineration and fermentation combined technology plant is made. In this analysis, the investment costs, the annual profits and the annual costs of an additional fermentation plant are discussed and calculated. The result of the analysis is displayed as an amortization time calculation. The results are then analysed by varying the parameters in a sensitivity analysis.
Finally, the research question is answered and a forecast for possible plant designs with an incineration and a fermentation plant in combination are discussed.
In the residential construction industry, the focus on energy efficiency and cost effectiveness has been gaining importance. In order to achieve these contradicting objectives, a shift towards a reduced complexity in building practices can be observed.
Within the HVAC sector, the Tempering method for space heating has received particular attention as an alternative way to heat museums and buildings worthy of preservation.
In spite of the simplified design, this space heating system is claimed to offer significant advantages in its present field of application.
This study evaluates the implementation of Tempering in the residential context. So far, there is no scientific research on the implementation of Tempering in energy efficient-dwellings.
This master thesis provides initial results on achievable heat flux values, the impact on heat generation efficiency, the inherent installation costs as well as the particular
consequences in terms of end energy consumption of the building as a whole. The findings are compared to the individual performances of well-established heat emission approaches.
By means of a numerical analysis and a case study on a real-case single-family home, it is found that the heat flux values of Tempering systems suffice for the implementation within buildings, which comply with the low-energy building standard. Comparing radiant walls, radiant floors and radiators, the inherent installation costs are lowest for Tempering and radiant floors. The impact on the end energy consumption depends largely on the utilised heat generation system. With a gas-condensing boiler, Tempering performs equal to the radiant systems. When a ground source heat pump system is installed, however, Tempering performs poorly and accounts for a significantly increased energy consumption. Radiator systems are found to be the most energy-efficient method for space heating in both cases.
In times of global climate change, it is increasingly important to investigate emissions and resource consumption of all machines and, if possible, to improve them. This includes within the transport sector car ferries.
In order to reduce the environmental impacts of car ferries, the electrification has penetrated into this sector, which has led to the world's first fully electric car ferry. One of the most important components to operate this ferry is the energy storage. Not only the battery storage of the ferry itself is needed, but also an onshore battery storage system is needed to support the electrical grid.
The present study examines how storage technologies and concepts can impact the environment considering the world's first all-electric car ferry, MF Ampere, which operates in Norway.
To examine this, the current onshore battery storage system is compared to a concrete sphere storage system. For this purpose, data from the first test run of this new storage technology, which was successfully carried out by the Fraunhofer Institute in 2016, is considered. Subsequently, a life cycle assessment of the two storage systems is carried out to compare the environmental impacts.
The concrete sphere storage system performs better for 15 of 17 impact categories compared to the existing onshore battery storage system. Depending on the impact category the impact reduction is about 2% to 8%.
Nevertheless, it is difficult to estimate how long the useful life and how good the efficiency of the concrete ball storage will be, since no system of this size has been tested yet. Also, the costs of the concrete sphere storage system have not been considered.
Breath analysis offers a non-invasive and rapid diagnostic method for detecting various volatile organic compounds that could be indicators for different diseases, particularly metabolic disorders including type 2 diabetes mellitus. The development of type 2 diabetes mellitus is closely linked to metabolic dysfunction of adipose tissue and adipocytes. However, the VOC profile of human adipocytes has not yet been investigated. Gas chromatography with mass spectrometric detection and head-space needle trap extraction (two-bed Carbopack X/Carboxen 1000 needle traps) were applied to profile VOCs produced and metabolised by human Simpson Golabi Behmel Syndrome adipocytes. In total, sixteen compounds were identified to be related to the metabolism of the cells. Four sulphur compounds (carbon disulphide, dimethyl sulphide, ethyl methyl sulphide and dimethyl disulphide), three heterocyclic compounds (2-ethylfuran, 2-methyl-5-(methyl-thio)-furan, and 2-pentylfuran), two ketones (acetone and 2-pentanone), two hydrocarbons (isoprene and n-heptane) and one ester (ethyl acetate) were produced, and four aldehydes (2-methyl-propanal, butanal, pentanal and hexanal) were found to be consumed by the cells of interest. This study presents the first profile of VOCs formed by human adipocytes, which may reflect the activity of the adipose tissue enzymes and provide evidence of their active role in metabolic regulation. Our data also suggest that a previously reported increase of isoprene and sulphur compounds in diabetic patients may be explained by their production by adipocytes. Moreover, the unique features of this profile, including a high emission of dimethyl sulphide and the production of furan-containing VOCs, increase our knowledge about metabolism in adipose tissue and provide diagnostic potential for future applications.
Product ion distributions resulting from the primary reactions of H3O+ with nine D-labeled volatile organic compounds and the subsequent sequential reactions with H2O have been determined using a Proton Transfer Reaction Time of Flight Mass Spectrometer (PTR-TOF 8000 (IONICON Analytik GmbH)) at various reduced electric field (E/N) values ranging from 80 up to 150 Td and for two different absolute humidity levels of air sample < 0.1% and 5%. The specific D-labeled compounds used in this study are acetone-d6, toluene-d8, benzene-d6, ethanol-d (C2H5OD), ethanol-d2 (CH3CD2OH), ethanol-d6, 2-propanol-d8, 2-propanol-d3 (CD3CH(OH)CH3), and isoprene-d5 (CH2CHC(CD2)CD3). With the exception of the two 2-propanol compounds, non-dissociative proton transfer is the dominant primary reaction pathway. For 2-propanol-d8 and 2-propanol-d3 the major primary reaction channel involved is dissociative proton transfer. However, unlike their undeuterated counterparts, the primary product ions undergo subsequent deuterium/hydrogen isotope exchange reactions with the ever present water in the drift tube, the extent of which of course depends on the humidity within that tube. This exchange leads to the generation of various isotopologue product ions, the product ion branching percentages of which are also
dependent on the humidity in the drift tube. This results in complex mass spectra and the distribution of product ions leads to issues of reduced sensitivity and accuracy. However, the effect of D/H exchange considerably varies between the compounds under study. In the case of acetone-d6 it is very weak (<1%), because the exchange process is not facile when the deuterium is in the methyl functional group. In comparison, the H3O+/ benzene-d6 (C6D6) reaction and sequential reactions with water result in the production of the isotopologue ions C6Dn(H7-n)+ (where n = 0–6). Changing the value of E/N and/or the humidity in the drift tube considerably affects the amount of the isotope exchange reactions and hence the resulting sequential product ion distributions. An important conclusion of the findings from this work is that care must be taken in the choice of an exogenous deuterated compound for use in breath pharmacokinetic studies using proton transfer reaction mass spectrometry; otherwise the resulting D/H exchange processes impose interpretative problems.
© 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Transparent laser-structured glasses with superhydrophilic properties for anti-fogging applications
(2019)
Ultrashort pulse laser structuring enables direct modification of glass surfaces to generate superhydrophilic properties for anti-fogging applications. This approach makes coatings dispensable and the generated surfaces remain thermally, mechanically, and chemically resistant. However, the laser-generated structures usually cause scattering, which decreases transmission and may disturb the vision through the modified glass in the dry state. The aim of this study was to find a laser-processing strategy to achieve superhydrophilic, anti-fogging properties on glass surfaces with maximum transmission and minimal visual perception of the generated structure. For this purpose, we used an ultrashort-pulsed laser to generate periodic patterns of rippled circles or rough holes with varying pitch. The water contact angle and transmission of the structured glasses were measured as a function of the structured area. It was found that a periodic pattern of holes, which covers less than 1% of the surface, is already sufficient to reach the superhydrophilic state (contact angle < 5°) and provides nearly the same transmission as pristine glass. Pictures of objects imaged through dry, structured glasses, which were placed close to the lens or object, showed in both cases only a minimal decrease of contrast. If this minor drawback can be accepted, this direct laser structuring approach could be an interesting alternative to coating-based techniques and leaves even room to apply additional coatings for the fabrication of multi-functional special glasses.
In this thesis the effect of dc voltage bias on the equivalent series resistance (ESR) of capacitors and especially ferroelectric dielectric ceramic capacitors (FDCC) is analysed. Further the influence of the dc biased ESR on the losses of capacitors is investigated. Also piezoelectric resonances (PR) occurring in FDCCs with applied dc bias and their influence on the losses are analysed.
Therefore a measurement circuit to measure the impedance and thus the ESR of capacitors in combination with a vector network analyser (VNA) is developed. Using the developed circuit the ESR of capacitors of different technologies is measured and their behaviour with dc bias is evaluated. The losses of an FDCC are measured in a power electronic (PE) circuit with a developed calorimetric measurement system (CMS). The influence of the PR is investigated by tuning the switching frequency of the PE system and thus the frequency of the capacitor current exactly into the PR. The measured losses are then compared to a calculation based on the capacitor current harmonics and the respective ESR.
The measurements show an increase of the ESR with dc bias for all measured FDCCs. The loss measurements show a significant increase of the losses in an FDCC if the current frequency matches the PR frequency. Consequently a decrease of the PE system's efficiency is measured. The loss calculations do not exactly match the measurements but there is a systematic deviation of the same order for all measurements.
Varying mindsets in Design Thinking. Why they change during the process and how to nudge them
(2019)
Stress testing is part of today’s bank risk management and often required by the governing regulatory authority. Performing such a stress test with stress scenarios derived from a distribution, instead of pre-defined expert scenarios, results in a systematic approach in which new severe scenarios can be discovered. The required scenario distribution is obtained from historical time series via a Vector-Autoregressive time series model. The worst-case search, i.e. finding the scenario yielding the most severe situation for the bank, can be stated as an optimization problem. The problem itself is a constrained optimization problem in a high-dimensional search space. The constraints are the box constraints on the scenario variables and the plausibility of a scenario.
The latter is expressed by an elliptic constraint. As the evaluation of the stress scenarios is performed with a simulation tool, the optimization problem can be seen as black-box optimization problem. Evolution Strategy, a well-known optimizer for black-box problems, is applied here. The necessary adaptations to the algorithm are explained and a set of different algorithm design choices are investigated. It is shown that a simple box constraint handling method, i.e. setting variables which violate a box constraint to the respective boundary of the feasible domain, in combination with a repair of implausible scenarios provides good results.
In engineering design, optimization methods are frequently used to improve the initial design of a product. However, the selection of an appropriate method is challenging since many
methods exist, especially for the case of simulation-based optimization. This paper proposes a systematic procedure to support this selection process. Building upon quality function deployment, end-user and design use case requirements can be systematically taken into account via a decision
matrix. The design and construction of the decision matrix are explained in detail. The proposed
procedure is validated by two engineering optimization problems arising within the design of box-type boom cranes. For each problem, the problem statement and the respectively applied optimization methods are explained in detail. The results obtained by optimization validate the use
of optimization approaches within the design process. The application of the decision matrix shows the successful incorporation of customer requirements to the algorithm selection.
Adult muscle carnitine palmitoyltransferase (CPT) II deficiency is a rare autosomal recessive disorder of long-chain fatty acid metabolism. It is typically associated with recurrent episodes of exercise-induced rhabdomyolysis and myoglobinuria, in most cases caused by a c.338C > T mutation in the CPT2 gene. Here we present the pedigree of one of the largest family studies of CPT II deficiency caused by the c.338C > T mutation, documented so far. The pedigree comprises 24 blood relatives
of the index patient, a 32 year old female with genetically proven CPT II deficiency. In total, the mutation was detected in 20 family members, among them five homozygotes and 15 heterozygotes. Among all homozygotes, first symptoms of CPT II deficiency occurred during childhood. Additionally, two already deceased relatives of the index patient were carriers of at least one copy of the genetic variant, revealing a remarkably high prevalence of the c.338C > T mutation within the tested family. Beside the index patient, only one individual had been diagnosed with CPT II deficiency prior to this study and three cases of CPT II deficiency were newly detected by this family study, pointing
to a general underdiagnosis of the disease. Therefore, this study emphasizes the need to raise awareness of CPT II deficiency for correct diagnosis and accurate management of the disease.
Breath analysis holds great promise for real-time and non-invasive medical diagnosis. Thus, there is a considerable need for simple-in-use and portable analyzers for rapid detection of breath indicators for different diseases in their early stages. Sensor technology meets all of these demands. However, miniaturized breath analyzers require adequate breath sampling methods. In this context, we propose non-contact sampling; namely the collection of breath samples by exhalation from a distance into a miniaturized collector without bringing the mouth into direct contact with the analyzing device. To evaluate this approach different breathing maneuvers have been tested in a real-time regime on a cohort of 23 volunteers using proton transfer reaction mass spectrometry. The breathing maneuvers embraced distinct depths of respiration, exhalation manners, size of the mouth opening and different sampling distances. Two inhalation modes (normal, relaxed breathing and deep breathing) and two exhalation manners (via smaller and wider lips opening) forming four sampling scenarios were selected. A sampling distance of approximately 2 cm was found to be a reasonable trade-off between sample dilution and requirement of no physical contact of the subject with the analyzer. All four scenarios exhibited comparable measurement reproducibility spread of around 10%. For normal, relaxed inspiration both dead-space and end-tidal phases of exhalation lasted approximately 1.5 s for both expiration protocols. Deep inhalation prolongs the end-tidal phase to about 3 s in the case of blowing via a small lips opening, and by 50% when the air is exhaled via a wide one. In conclusion, non-contact breath sampling can be considered as a promising alternative to the existing breath sampling methods, being relatively close to natural spontaneous breathing.
Background: Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is a common and severe disease with a highly increased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Through the circulatory disorder and the linked undersupply of oxygen carriers in the lower limbs, the ongoing decrease of the pain-free walking distance occurs with a significant reduction in patients’ quality of life. Studies including activity monitoring for patients with PAD are rare and digital support to increase activity via mobile health technologies is mainly targeted at patients with cardiovascular disease in general. The special requirement of patients with PAD is the need to reach a certain pain level to improve the pain-free walking distance. Unfortunately, both poor adherence and availability of institutional resources are major problems in patient-centered care.
Objective: The objective of this trackPAD pilot study is to evaluate the feasibility of a mobile phone–based self tracking app to promote physical activity and supervised exercise therapy (SET) in particular. We also aim for a subsequent patient centered adjustment of the app prototype based on the results of the app evaluation and process evaluation.
Methods: This study was designed as a closed user group trial, with assessors blinded, and parallel group study with face-to-face components for assessment with a follow-up of 3 months. Patients with symptomatic PAD (Fontaine stage IIa or IIb) and possession of a mobile phone were eligible. Eligible participants were randomly assigned into study and control group, stratified by their distance covered in the 6-min walk test, using the software TENALEA. Participants randomized to the study group received usual care and the mobile intervention (trackPAD) for the follow-up period of 3 months, whereas participants randomized to the control group received only usual care. TrackPAD records the frequency and duration of training sessions and pain level using manual user input. Clinical outcome data were collected at the baseline and after 3 months via validated tools (6-min walk test, ankle-brachial index, and duplex ultrasound at the lower arteries) and self-reported quality of life. Usability and quality of the app was determined using the user version of the Mobile Application Rating Scale.
Results: The study enrolled 45 participants with symptomatic PAD (44% male). Of these participants, 21 (47%) were randomized to the study group and 24 (53%) were randomized to the control group. The distance walked in the 6-min walk test was comparable in both groups at baseline (study group: mean 368.1m [SD 77.6] vs control group: mean 394.6m [SD 100.6]).
Conclusions: This is the first trial to test a mobile intervention called trackPAD that was designed especially for patients with PAD. Its results will provide important insights in terms of feasibility, effectiveness, and patient preferences of an app-based mobile intervention supporting SET for the conservative treatment of PAD.
Cultural Due Diligence
(2020)
Much research has been conducted in recent years to discover the reasons for the high failure rate of M&As, whereas one frequently cited reason is the incompatibility of the corporate cultures. In order to minimize this risk and to be able to react to these differences already at an early stage, Cultural Due Diligence offers itself as part of the due diligence process. Unlike existing, more general research, I emphasize the cultural challenges companies face when investing transnationally with this thesis. Using the results of a single case study with inductive character, I answer the question how to conduct Cultural Due Diligence in cross-border M&As and propose an appropriate model. The findings reveal that especially in cross-border M&As, cultural incompatibility poses a risk for failure. I was able to find out that companies that seek to grow internationally with M&As deal with similar issues in terms of corporate culture as pointed out in existing Cultural Due Diligence methods. The present study, however, shows that national culture has a great influence on corporate culture, which is why it is essential to include it in the cultural assessment in cross-border acquisitions. This provides information about why there are differences, besides the fact that they exist. Only this understanding puts a company in the appropriate starting position to recognize differences, understand them, assess whether these differ-ences are acceptable, as well as to develop appropriate strategies to address them in the integration phase.
This master thesis investigates a Computational Intelligence-based method for solving PDEs. The proposed strategy formulates the residual of a PDE as a fitness function. The solution is approximated by a finite sum of Gauss kernels. An appropriate optimisation technique, in this case JADE, is deployed that searches for the best fitting parameters for these kernels. This field is fairly young, a comprehensive literature research reveals several past papers that investigate similar techniques.
To evaluate the performance of the solver, a comprehensive testbed is defined. It consists of 11 different Poisson equations. The solving time, the memory consumption and the approximation quality are compared to the state of the art open-source Finite Element solver NGSolve. The first experiment tests a serial JADE. The results are not as good as comparable work in the literature. Further, a strange behaviour is observed, where the fitness and the quality do not match. The second experiment implements a parallel JADE, which allows to make use of parallel hardware. This significantly speeds up the solving time. The third experiment implements a parallel JADE with adaptive kernels. It starts with one kernel and introduce more kernels along the solving process. A significant improvement is observed on one PDE, that is purposely built to be solvable. On all other testbed PDEs the quality-difference is not conclusive. The last experiment investigates the discrepancy between the fitness and the quality. Therefore, a new kernel is defined. This kernel inherits all features of the Gauss kernel and extends it with a sine function. As a result, the observed inconsistency between fitness and quality is mitigated.
The thesis closes with a proposal for further investigations. The concepts here should be reconsidered by using better performing optimisation algorithms from the literature, like CMA-ES. Beyond that, an adaptive scheme for the collocation points could be tested. Finally, the fitness function should be further examined.
Companies develop and implement strategies with the aim to address the needs of their customers. Acquisition is one market expansion strategy that companies can use to acquire new market access, technologies and/or to grow organically. In recent years, Chinese companies have been active in acquiring companies all over the globe to develop their strategic position. This caused certain contra reaction in Europe and as well in the Swiss media against cross-border acquisitions of Swiss companies.
Swiss companies and particularly the Swiss-MEM (Machinery, Electrical and Mechanical) industry is highly export oriented and their value proposition builds on attributes like knowledge, technology, and differentiating products. Among them are many “hidden champions” and niche players who successfully dominate the market segment.
As observed with Chinese companies, Indian companies also started to become more active outside of their domestic markets by increasing their foreign direct investments into Europe, Asia and North America, over the last decades. The lasting and good relationship of India and Switzerland might trigger the wish for Indian companies to acquire Swiss and particularly Swiss-MEM companies for acquisitions.
This Master’s Thesis assesses how often Indian investments into public and privately owned Swiss-MEM companies by acquisition happen, how are the attempts of acquisitions perceived by the stakeholders and what measures Swiss and Swiss-MEM companies can take, to protect themselves from being acquired. To access the research topic, several sub-questions will be analysed with the aid of primary and secondary research to assess the situation.
The research topic is of particular interested to the author since he spent over 20 years working in the Swiss-MEM industry, involved in international affairs and in recent years specifically with India. The observation of Chinese acquisition activities and insight into the size and potential of India were the drivers for researching whether India might follow China’s example.
In conclusion, Indian companies are not explicitly targeting Swiss and Swiss-MEM companies, but there are reasons to believe that it would make sense for Indian companies to look into the acquisition of Swiss and Swiss-MEM companies. The perception of such acquisitions varies, but there are arguments for and against them. Companies must take strategic and organisational measures in order to prevent themselves from becoming the target of an acquisition. However, it is known that the state should not interfere in the market and a discussion at a political level, planning how to deal with cross-border acquisition, is needed.
Further areas for research based on this Master’s Thesis could be the review of how the targeting of Swiss and Swiss-MEM companies by Indian companies would look, and also the topic of the succession planning in Swiss secondary sector in conjunction with Indian targeting for acquisitions. A third area to research might be investigating the political aspects involved in the research questions.
Many test drives are carried out in the automotive environment. During these test drives many signals are recorded. The task of the test engineers is to find certain patterns (e.g. an emergency stop) in these long time series. Finding these interesting patterns is currently done with rule based processing. This procedure is very time consuming and requires a test engineer with expertise. In this thesis it is examined if the emerging field of machine learning can be used to support the engineers in this task. Active Learning, a subarea of machine learning, is used to train a classifier during the labeling process. Thereby it proposes similar windows to the already labeled ones. This saves the annotator time for searching or formulating rules for the problem. A data generator is worked out to replace the missing labeled data for tests. The custom performance measure “proportion of seen samples” is developed to make the success measurable. A modular software architecture is designed. With that, several combinations of Time Series Classification algorithms and query strategies are compared on artificial data. The results are verified on real datasets, which are open source available. The best performing, but computational intensive solution is an adapted RandOm Convolutional KErnel Transform (ROCKET). The custom query strategy “certainty sampling” shows the best results for highly imbalanced datasets.
The purpose of this work is to explore implicit schemes underlying the market segmentation analysis process. Boosting transparency for and in the new discipline of healthcare marketing, the work offers a toolbox of both primary and secondary methods to identify the accurate target market. This is crucial, since resource allocation in B2C segmentation and targeting is still often misleading. An Austrian, internationally present niche player serves as a research object to turn theoretical insights into practical verification. Data for the thesis are collected through company-internal data analysis and desk research, grounded in a multi-method approach with primary and secondary research. On the one hand, the work assesses the most effective segmentation and attractiveness/knock-out criteria according to scientific sources. Delving into the topic of a priori and a posteriori segmentation, an overview of suitable techniques is going to be offered. On the other hand, the thesis illustrates how the accurate target segment in the healthcare industry can be evaluated and determined through companyinternal consumer and market data.
Primary research on demographics (age, gender), psychographics (preferred channels), behavioral criteria (new/existing, CLC) and product categories is found to be particularly meaningful for the healthcare player. Results vary between countries, which is why an international-marketing strategy instead of a domestic-marketing approach is advisable.
Secondary research shows that socio-demographic and behavioral criteria are most used as a priori criteria, whereas a posteriori segmentation is promising to reveal psychographic clusters. One of the author’s recommendations is to niche down accurate market segments such as LOHAS or “best agers” by refining psychographics/socio-demographics with behavioral segmentation through “occasions” (e.g. back pain, depression, injuries). Novel approaches such as outcome-based segmentation or emphasizing “promoters” are discussed too.
The findings pave marketing managers the way for identifying the accurate target segments in the B2C health industry, selecting accurate methods grounded in profound scientific research and with concepts suitable for SMEs. The thesis proves that marketing segmentation is no longer a “nice-to-have” but a “must” in the health(care) industry.
Throughout history, a variety of influences have changed the way we sell our products. Starting with the Industrial Revolution up to the first saturation phase in the 1970s. The question now arises as to whether the heating industry is currently back on an evolutionary development path with the increasing digitalisation of distribution. How the sales process in the B2B sector will change with increasing digitalisation and what effects this will have on sales personnel is only documented by a few sources which do not allow any conclusions to be drawn about the craft or even the heating industry. This results in a research gap which is to be closed in the context of this thesis. The aim of this research project is to find out the effects of a further digitalisation of the sales process on the sales force in the defined environment of the heating industry in Central Europe. For this purpose the following research questions are asked: Which steps in the sales process in the heating industry in Central Europe should be digitalised? How will the digitalisation of the sales process affect the sales force in the heating industry in Central Europe? A case study, according to Yin was chosen as the research method. The data were collected by means of in-depth interviews and analysed qualitatively, according to Mayring. The increasing digitalisation will have a large effect on the sales force, tasks will disappear, new tasks will be added and new ones will replace conventional working methods. In summary, automation will simply make tasks superfluous, software tools will improve quality and increase efficiency, and personal selling will become a premium skill. Companies will try to automate as many backoffice activities as possible and reduce the number of office staff if necessary.
The present research had compared how Uppsala and Bartlett & Ghoshal (B&G) models explain the internationalization process of the Brazilian pulp producer Fibria.
The Uppsala model describes the developments of capabilities that enable the firm to move towards higher commitments abroad. Despite its sine-qua-non dependence on foreign markets, it is unlikely that Fibria will internationalize its production to another country, given the country-specific advantages that the company has in Brazil. Nevertheless, Fibria set its structure abroad even when the direct exports would suffice to reach the markets without any foreign direct investment.
B&G deals with the aspects of the organizational structure and described the Transnational type as the evolution of the international firm. In their typology, Fibria was a Global and Ethnocentric type, but interestingly, elements of Transnational and Geocentric models were also observed in the company.
Both theories overlap or complement each other in many aspects. However, they could not explain the peculiarities of the internationalization of Fibria. One reason is the lack of country-related elements in these models.
Eventually, comparisons between theories such as those presented enable decision-makers to align the corporate strategy using suitable models, bearing in mind the limitations that each method entails.
Nowadays, the area of customer management strives for omni-channel and state-of-the-art CRM concepts including Artificial Intelligence and the approach of Customer Experience. As a result, modern CRM solutions are essential tools for supporting customer processes in Marketing, Sales and Service. AI-driven CRM accelerates sales cycles, improves lead generation and qualification, and enables highly personalized marketing. The focus of this thesis is to present the basics of Customer Relationship Management, to show the latest Gartner insights about CRM and CX, and to demonstrate an AI Business Framework, which introduces AI use cases that are used as a basis for the expert interviews conducted in an international B2B company. AI will transform CX through a better understanding of customer behavior. The following research questions are answered in this thesis: In which AI use cases can Sales and CRM be improved? How can Customer Experience be improved with AI-driven CRM?
Sustainable distribution
(2020)
This master thesis gives an insight into the topic of sustainability in the banking industry and focuses on distribution. In the first part of the thesis, the terms and concepts of sustainability and sustainable distribution are being explained and existing methods for measuring sustainability are presented on the basis of an extensive literature research.
Subsequently, the banking industry is introduced, the distribution of financial services is explained, and the specifics of sustainable distribution in the banking industry are elaborated.
An empirical study in form of expert interviews was used to show to what extent sustainability currently plays or will play a role in the banking sector. For this purpose, experts from six banks were interviewed.
In the final part of the paper, the hypotheses formulated at the beginning of the paper as well as additional questions are examined or answered and a model for evaluating the effects of selected distribution channels on ecological and social sustainability is being presented.
Graphite substrates underwent two methods of creating doped silicon carbide films via carbothermal reduction; the first method being liquid-phase processing, or dip-coating, and the second gas-phase processing, otherwise referred to as the solid-vapour reaction. The dip-coating procedure resulted in flaky coatings, while the solid-vapour reaction resulted in polycrystalline films with columnar growth that displayed promising morphological and electrical properties. The films were tested on their performance as semiconductor diodes, and proved that carbothermal reduction in the gas phase is a promising technique for creating polycrystalline silicon carbide films for the application of light-emitting diodes.
In recent years, much research has been done on medical laser applications inside the human body, as they are minimally invasive and therefore have fewer side effects and are less expensive than conventional therapies. In order to bring the laser light into the human body, a glass fibre with a diffuser is needed. The goal of this master thesis is the characterization and production of fibre optic diffusers that can be used for the three therapeutic applications: photodynamic therapy, laser-induced thermotherapy and endovenous laser therapy. For this purpose the following goals have to be achieved:
- Optimization of the efficiency and homogeneity of internally structured diffusers
- Examine damage thresholds of the diffusers in the tissue using a crash test
- Achieving a better understanding of the decouple mechanism with a simulation
Using an ultra-short pulse laser, modifications could be introduced into the fibre in this way that the radiation profile is homogeneous and the decoupling efficiency is 68.3 %. It was discovered that the radiation profile depends on the wavelength. Attempts have been made to improve the decoupling efficiency by mirroring the distal end of the fibre. The mirror reflects the remaining light back into the fibre, so that it is also decoupled lateral on the modifications. Vapor-deposited aluminum with physical vapor deposition is a promising approach. However, the adhesion of the coating must be improved or the coating must be protected by a mechanical cover, otherwise it will flake off too quickly.
In a crash test, it was shown that the glass fibre diffusers can withstand 20 W laser power for 300 s without visible change. In an ex vivo test, the coagulation zone in the tissue was examined and it was showed that the diffusers radiate radially homogeneously. Using a ray trace simulation, the course of the light rays in the fibre was examined and the correlation of modification width and length with the decoupling efficiency was investigated. It was discovered that there are helical light rays in the fibre, which cannot be decoupled by modifications in the fibre centre.
Although pilot projects are an accepted means of entry into prospects, research on the object of startups selling SaaS and use pilots to enter and to further scale within their prospect’s organization is limited. The reader can expect a collection of key practices of SaaS startups in the field of Decision Support Software. These combine the main sales-oriented elements within pilot projects that are reflected on by Customer Success Management, Change Management as well as cultural dimensions. Explorative interviews, mainly with stakeholders in Decision Support Software startups, were conducted to further gain an understanding of the research object. Results indicate that pilots are strategically used in the sales of such startups to simultaneously deal with their customer’s uncertainties and as a means for the startups to get commitment and increase their value proposition through the additional service that they offer in order to acquire an internal support basis. Customer Success Management as well as Change Management are furthermore advantageous in quickly achieving measurable results that leverage buyers and seller’s justification for further sales.
Zeros can cause many issues in data analysis and dealing with them requires specialized procedures. We differentiate between rounded zeros, structural zeros and missing values. Rounded zeros occur when the true value of a variable is hidden because of a detection limit in whatever mechanism was used to acquire the data. Structural zeros are values which are truly zero, often coming about due to a hidden mechanism separate from the one which generates values greater than 0. Missing values are values that are completely missing for unknown or known reasons. This thesis outlines various methods for dealing with different kinds of zeros in different contexts. Many of these methods are very specific in their ideal usecase. They are separated based on which kind of zero they are intended for and if they are better suited for compositional or for standard data.
For rounded zeros we impute the zeros with an estimated value below the detection limit. The author describes multiplicative replacement, a simple procedure that imputes values at a fixed fraction of the detection limit. As a more advanced technique, the author describes Kaplan Meier smoothing spline replacement, which interpolates a spline on a Kaplan Meier curve and uses the spline below the detection limit to impute values in a more natural distribution. Rounded zeros cannot be imputed with the same techniques that would be used for regular missing values, since there is more information available on the true value of a rounded zero than there would be for a regular missing value.
Structural zeros cannot be imputed since they are a true zero. Imputing them would falsify their values and produce a value where there should be none. Because of this, we apply modelling techniques that can work around structural zeros and incorporate them. For standard data, the zero inflated Poisson model is presented. This model utilizes a mixture of a logistic and a Poisson distribution to accurately model data with a large amount of structural zeros. While the Poisson distribution is only applicable to count data, the zero inflation concept can be applied to different kinds of distributions. For compositional data, the zero adjusted Dirichlet model is introduced. This model mixes Dirichlet distributions for every pattern of zeros found within the data. Non-algorithmic techniques to reduce the amount of structural zeros present are also shown. These techniques being amalgamation, which combines columns with structural zeros into more broad descriptors and classification, which changes columns into categorical values based on a structural zero being present or not.
Missing values are values that are completely missing for various known or unknown reasons. Different imputation techniques are introduced. For standard data, MissForest imputation is introduced, which utilizes a RandomForest regression to impute mixed type missing values. Another imputation technique shown utilizes both a genetic algorithm and a neural network to impute values based on the genetic algorithm minimizing the error of an autoencoder neural network. In the case of compositional data, knn imputation is presented, which utilizes the knn concept also found in knn clustering to impute the values based on the closest samples with a value available.
All of these methods are explained and demonstrated to give readers a guide to finding the suitable methods to use in different scenarios.
The thesis also provides a general guide on dealing with zeros in data, with decision flowcharts and more detailed descriptions for both compositional and standard data being presented. General tips on getting better results when zeros are involved are also given and explained. This general guide was then applied to a dataset to show it in action.
Digitalisation poses great challenges for regional tourism management. However, many organisations are currently undergoing a transformation from a marketing to a destination management organisation (DMO), which is why only a few have managed to adopt new digital approaches and to assert themselves as DMOs within the destination and against ever growing global platforms.
The presented master thesis therefore deals with this issue and aims to pave the way for DMOs to develop and use digital business models themselves.
The objective of the thesis is to develop a systematic process for the development of own DMO business models and to evaluate whether the establishment of a multi-sided platform as the recipe for the success of global platform providers is also suitable for DMOs. For this purpose, an extensive literature research was conducted and semi-structured expert interviews were evaluated. In addition, the Anchor Point Canvas was developed as a supporting framework for the modelling of business models for companies with historically grown structures and constraints.
This thesis aims to support the product development process. Therefore, an approach is developed, implemented as a prototype and evaluated, for automated solution space exploration of formally predefined design automation tasks holding the product knowledge of engineers. For this reason, a classification of product development tasks related to the representation of the mathematical model is evaluated based on the parameters defined in this thesis. In a second step, the mathematical model should be solved. A Solver is identified able to handle the given problem class.
Due to the context of this work, System Modelling Language (SysML) is chosen for the product knowledge formalisation. In the next step the given SysML model has to be translated into an object-oriented model. This translation is implemented by extracting information of a ".xml"-file using the XML Metadata Interchanging (XMI) standard. The information contained in the file is structured using the Unified Modelling Language (UML) profile for SysML. Afterwards a mathematical model in MiniZinc language is generated. MiniZinc is a mathematical modelling language interpretable by many different Solvers. The generated mathematical model is classified related to the Variable Type and Linearity of the Constraints and Objective of the generated mathematical model. The output is stored in a ".txt"-file.
To evaluate the functionality of the prototype, time consumption of the different performed procedures is measured. This data shows that models containing Continuous Variables need a longer time to be classified and optimised. Another observation shows that the transformation into an object-oriented model and the translation of this model into a mathematical representation are dependent on the number of SysML model elements. Using MiniZinc resulted in the restriction that models which use non-linear functions and Boolean Expressions cannot be solved. This is because the implementation of non-linear Solvers at MiniZinc is still in the development phase. An investigation of the optimally of the results, provided by the Solvers, was left for further work.
Increasing international competition and accelerated technological change characterize the environment in which companies must maintain and, if possible, expand their competitive advantage. In this context, the new, popular keyword innovation management is often mentioned. Many corporations propagate and use it for marketing purposes. As a result, the companies have to evaluate, develop and launch innovations increasingly faster, which poses great challenges for many and requires a high degree of adaptability.
This master thesis analyzes innovation management (IM) in the automotive industry and in other industries (material manufacturers, service providers, medicine, ...) depending on the number of employees and turnover. In addition, the maturity levels of the IMs and the innovation management systems (IMS) are examined. It also tries to determine which design or "building blocks" are necessary for a successful innovation management. Furthermore, factual and monetary guidelines by the management are evaluated. The thesis also aims to find out how the success of IM is measured. Therefore, guideline-based expert interviews were conducted with responsible people from the innovation departments and then systematically analyzed.
In the literature, expenses for innovations are often wrongly equated with the R&D rate. In this master thesis, it could be shown that this ratio is highest in the automotive industry. However, it does not correlate with the number of employees, turnover, maturity level, success or design of the IM. Furthermore, it could be shown that larger companies have a higher degree of maturity. The reason for this is that more people are usually involved in innovation and that a holistic understanding of innovation is better anchored in large corporations. When designing the IM or the roles of the innovation department, large companies use several different types. While the IM departments in small and medium-sized companies are usually incubators and accelerators, large companies also use corporate venture capital to support start-ups and develop new business models. In this thesis, the success of IM was determined by the number of innovations implemented in customer projects. It was found that, regardless of the size of the company, a higher degree of maturity of the IM and the accelerator role seem to have a positive influence.
Unfortunately, there are rarely concrete goals and targets set by the management although these, along with a holistic understanding of innovation in the company, are without doubt the most important part of a successful innovation management.
Influencer Marketing has been discussed by various marketing experts for years and is already a fixed component of the marketing strategy in many companies. These are mainly companies from the B2C sector. Recently, more and more companies are asking themselves about possible areas of application within the B2B structure. This phenomenon is influenced by the increase in digitalization and the ever-higher hurdles in reaching target groups using traditional marketing tools.
The topic of this master’s thesis was the result of professional and personal development. Various modules attended during the study inspired a deeper interest in the subject. Furthermore, the topic was always a point of discussion in the professional environment, resulting in the realisation that there is currently very little knowledge in B2B companies regarding Influencer Marketing.
The aim of the research was to discover how to systematically find end users for the use of Influencer Marketing in B2B companies in the tool and hardware industry. Furthermore, the success factors for a long-term cooperation between influencers and companies from this industry will be identified and presented.
Research questions were created in order to realise the above-mentioned objectives. Therefore, the primary research question and three sub-research questions were created for both the theoretical and empirical part of the work. To answer these questions, eight experts from B2B companies in the tool and hardware industry were interviewed. The evaluation was based on the qualitative content analysis according to Mayring.
From the research results, a possible selection procedure could be identified, which would enable companies to systematically select influencers for marketing purposes. Furthermore, success criteria for a long-term cooperation between influencers and companies were also identified.
Moving from one country to another, from one cultural context to a different one comes with many challenges and problems. The expatriate adjustment process, in general, has been evaluated extensively in the literature. Little is known if the knowledge in the literature is also valid for the situation of expatriates in rural Vorarlberg. In this paper was examined, which are the most common problems for highly skilled immigrants that are moving to Vorarlberg. In a mixed-method approach, information was gathered with an online questionnaire whose results served as a basis for a series of semi-structured interviews. In addition, an expert talk with a local relocation consultant was conducted. It was found that by far, the most severe difficulty is based on the domestic language situation. An expatriate needs to talk and understand German, but the local language is an Alemannic subsection of the German language that is not easy to understand. Additional difficulties that cause culture shock are limited opening hours, mobility troubles, and several others. The awareness about the composing of these problems might help to find the appropriate measures to support expatriates to come in the future.
A novel calorimetric technique for the analysis of gas-releasing endothermic dissociation reactions
(2020)
The humidification-dehumidification process (HDH) for desalination is a promising technology to address water scarcity issues in rural regions. However, a low humidifier efficiency is a weakness of the process. Bubble column humidifiers (BCH) are promising for HDH, as they provide enhanced heat and mass transfer and have low maintenance requirements. Previous studies of HDH-systems with BCHs draw different conclusions regarding the impact of superficial air velocity and liquid height on the humidification. Furthermore, the impact of flow characteristics has never been investigated systematically at all. In this study, an optimized BCH test setup that allows for optical analysis of the humidifier is used and evaluated. Our test setup is validated, since the influence of water temperature on the humidification, which is exponential, is reproduced. Measurements with seawater show that the normalised system productivity is increased by about 56 % with an increase in superficial air velocity from 0.5 to 5 cm/s. Furthermore, the system productivity is increased by around 29 % with an increase in liquid height from 60 to 378 mm. While the impact of superficial air velocity can be traced back to temperature changes at the humidifier and dehumidifier outlets, the impact of liquid height is shown to be caused by a smaller heat loss surface in the humidifier with an increase in liquid height. For the impact of sieve plate orifice diameter, a clear influence on the humidification is not apparent, this parameter needs to be investigated further. Finally, our new test setup allows for analysing the humidification of air (1) in a systematic way, (2) in relevant measurement ranges and (3) in comparison with optical analyses of the flow characteristics.
Greater specific energy densities in lithium-ion batteries can be achieved by using three-dimensional (3D) porous current collectors, which allow for greater areal mass loadings of the electroactive material. In this paper, we present the use of embroidered current collectors for the preparation of thick, pouch-type Li-ion batteries. Experiments were performed on LiFePO 4 (LFP) water-based slurries using styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) as binder and sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) as thickener, and formulations of different rheological characteristics were investigated. The electrochemical performance (cyclic voltammetry, rate capability) and morphological characteristics of the LFP half-pouch cells (X-ray micro computed tomography and scanning electron microscopy) were compared between the formulations. An optimum electrode formulation was identified, and a mechanism is proposed to explain differences between the formulations. With the optimum electrode formulation, 350 µm casted electrodes with high mechanical stability were achieved. Electrodes exhibited 4–6 times greater areal mass loadings (4–6 mAh cm −2 ) and 50% greater electroactive material weight than with foils. In tests of half- and full-pouch embroidered cells, a 50% capacity utilization at 1C-rate and 11% at 2C-rate were observed, with a full recovery at C/5-rate. The cycling stability was also maintained over 55 cycles.
Gas hydrates are usually synthesized by bringing together a pressurized gas and liquid or solid water. In both cases, the transport of gas or water to the hydrate growth site is hindered once an initial film of hydrate has grown at the water–gas interface. A seemingly forgotten gas-phase technique overcomes this problem by slowly depositing water vapor on a cold surface in the presence of the pressurized guest gas. Despite being used for the synthesis of low-formation-pressure hydrates, it has not yet been tested for hydrates of CO 2 and CH 4 . Moreover, the potential of the technique for the study of hydrate decomposition has not been recognized yet. We employ two advanced implementations of the condensation technique to form hydrates of CO 2 and CH 4 and demonstrate the applicability of the process for the study of hydrate decomposition and the phenomenon of self-preservation. Our results show that CO 2 and CH 4 hydrate samples deposited on graphite at 261–265 K are almost pure hydrates with an ice fraction of less than 8%. Rapid depressurization experiments with thin deposits (approx. 330 mm thickness) of CO 2 hydrate on an aluminum surface at 265 K yield identical dissociation curves when the deposition is done at identical pressure. However, hydrates deposited at 1 MPa almost completely withstand decomposition after rapid depressurization to 0.1 MPa, while samples deposited at 2 MPa decompose 7 times faster. Therefore, this synthesis technique is not only applicable for the study of hydrate decomposition but can also be used for the controlled deposition of a super-preserved hydrate.
Investigation of non-uniformly emitting optical fiber diffusers on the light distribution in tissue
(2020)
The Digital Factory Vorarlberg is the youngest Research Center of Vorarlberg University of Applied Sciences. In the lab of the research center a research and learning factory has been established for educating students and employees of industrial partners. Showcases and best practice scenarios for various topics of digitalization in the manufacturing industry are demonstrated. In addition, novel methods and technologies for digital production, cloud-based manufacturing, data analytics, IT- and OT-security or digital twins are being developed. The factory comprises only a minimum core of logistics and fabrication processes to guarantee manageability within an academic setup. As a product, fidget spinners are being fabricated. A webshop allows customers to individually design their products and directly place orders in the factory. A centralized SCADA-System is the core data hub for the factory. Various data analytic tools and methods and a novel database for IoT-applications are connected to the SCADA-System. As an alternative to on premise manufacturing, orders can be pushed into a cloud-based manufacturing platform, which has been developed at the Digital Factory. A broker system allows fabrication in distributed facilities and offers various optimization services. Concepts, such as outsourcing product configuration to customers or new types of engineering services in cloud-based manufacturing can be explored and demonstrated. In this paper, we present the basic concept of the Digital Factory Vorarlberg, as well as some of the newly developed topics.
Lead–magnesium niobate lead titanate (PMN-PT) has been proven as an excellent material for sensing and actuating applications. The fabrication of advanced ultra-small PMN-PT-based devices relies on the availability of sophisticated procedures for the micro-machining of PMN-PT thin films or bulk substrates. Approaches reported up to date include chemical etching, excimer laser ablation, and ion milling. To ensure an excellent device performance, a key mandatory feature for a micro-machining process is to preserve as far as possible the crystalline quality of the substrates; in other words, the fabrication method must induce a low density of cracks and other kind of defects. In this work, we demonstrate a relatively fast procedure for the fabrication of high-quality PMN-PT micro-machined actuators employing green femtosecond laser pulses. The fabricated devices feature the absence of extended cracks and well-defined edges with relatively low roughness, which is advantageous for the further integration of nanomaterials onto the piezoelectric actuators.
The humidification dehumidification (HDH) cycle is a process for thermal water treatment. Many studies were carried out investigating operation of an HDH cycle with water and seawater as working liquid. Currently research into other areas of application is limited. Exchanging the working liquid in the humidifier from seawater to a water oil emulsion and investigating its behavioural changes is the basis for the expansion into applications such as bilge water treatment. This master’s thesis covers analysis of the behaviour of an HDH cycle operated with a water oil emulsion. The main elements are (1) proof of concept for operation of the HDH cycle with a water oil emulsion, (2) comparison of measurements and thermodynamic calculations, (3) investigation of the impact of operating parameters and (4) optical analysis of the bubbly flow in water and oil.
Operation of the HDH cycle using water oil emulsion was shown to be feasible with a small change to the setup previously used for investigations with seawater as working liquid. To keep the emulsion from separating into its individual parts, constant movement of the working liquid needs to be ensured. For this a magnetic stirrer was introduced into the bubble column humidifier (BCH) used. In a batch process an oil concentration of >97 % was reached without visible traces of oil in the produced condensate.
Comparison of the measured and thermodynamically evaluated productivity shows that measured productivity is higher. The proposed explanation for this is supersaturation of air at the BCH exit. Further investigation into this phenomenon is needed to confirm this hypothesis.
Influential parameters investigated are (1) liquid temperature, (2) superficial air velocity and (3) sieve plate orifice diameter. Increase of liquid temperature results in an exponential increase in productivity. At superficial air velocities up to 3 cm/s productivity increases with superficial air velocity. For superficial air velocities higher than 3 cm/s productivity plateaus. At low superficial air velocity, an increase of sieve plate orifice diameter results in increasing productivity. Further increase of the sieve plate orifice diameter inverses this phenomenon.
Bubbly flow in water and oil is influenced by the different viscosities of the liquids. Water creates small bubbles of similar size at low superficial air velocities. At superficial air velocities >2 cm/s turbulences start to increase and finely dispersed bubbles are present in the water. Bubbly flow in oil creates larger bubbles at all superficial air velocities. The airflow transitions to plug flow at velocities of 3 cm/s and above.
Result from this master’s thesis can be used for as a basis to broaden the understanding of the HDH cycle and find new areas of applications.
Integration of an industrial robot manipulator in ROS to enhance its spatial perception capabilities
(2020)
Robots without any external sensors are not capable of sensing their environment, often leading to damaging collisions. These collisions could potentially be avoided if the robot had a way to sense its environment in the first place. This thesis attempts to tackle this problem by equipping such a robot with extra sensor hardware for perceiving environmental objects. The robot used within this thesis is a KUKA LBR iiwa 7 R800. The goal is a robot capable of moving in an unseen environment without colliding with obstacles nearby.
The research covers different sensor options, robots in cramped areas as well as algorithms and simulation topics. Software platforms and libraries used for the implementation are briefly introduced.
Multiple infrared sensors are directly installed onto the robot manipulator. The extra sensors and the robot are integrated into the ROS middleware to create an application capable of sensing the robots’ environment and plan collision-free paths accordingly.
The experiments show, that the low amount of available sensor data can not map the robots’ environment with enough detail. Additional problems, such as sensor noise corrupting parts of the generated map or the robot recognizing itself as an obstacle, lead to a negative result in total. In future work, the choice of sensors shall be reconsidered and tested upfront via simulation software.
This master thesis investigates effective leadership behaviour of multicultural teams during change management. Multicultural teams can be highly effective in dealing with complex change processes and can represent a key player to tackle today’s VUCA-world challenges.
Effectiveness of multicultural teams during change depends critically on leadership with a range of specific behaviours. Involvement and support of the employees in a coaching role is key. Leaders need to display behaviours such as continuous development of cultural and emotional intelligence, critical self-reflection, open-mindedness, and readiness to serve as authentic role models. Furthermore, the creation of a sense of unity based on good communication and common sense is essential to build multicultural teams, and to enable them to embrace their differences as opportunity. Trust, transparency and a holistic change process are vital. Effectiveness essentially depends on the following factors: the organization’s culture, the characteristics of the employees and of their leader, and on the external environment. Leaders should take these factors into consideration at all times.
This research seeks to explore the cultural impact in the development of a new product, and if operational CRM (CRM technologies) can bring these two concepts together. As an industrial designer, the researcher finds it fascinating to explore how the abilities that a designer uses can help to solve users' problems could be implemented into structural or strategic decision-making of a company. Therefore, the researcher believes that the results might bring value to the head of international teams in charge of Product Development, by bringing some ideas for what is essential to consider in these processes and how CRM could become a relevant tool to satisfy customers and users.
This research generates value to international management and leadership studies because it brings the management of new product development from an organizational point of view within an international context to the forefront. It also builds an understanding of what to consider when the value chain is decentralized and involves international collaboration in product development processes. And positive elements and/or problems that may arise concerning culture and the role of the CRM within this process.
For centuries, companies and institutions are working on the development of organisational project maturity models. The purpose of these models is to develop a path for improving an organisation’s capability of managing projects. Projects are the means by which companies implement their strategic objectives. Trends like globalisation and advances in IT lead to more geographically distributed teamwork. Therefore, this thesis gives a comprehensive answer to how project management maturity models address transnational project management.
For accomplishing the research objective, this thesis follows an integrated, qualitative literature review approach. Theoretical frameworks and applied research on project management maturity assessments were systematically collected and analysed. The results extracted from these two sources were synthesised to extract findings.
The main research result shows that models continuously adapt to transnational project management. They are doing this by aligning the organisational culture and values, focusing on organisational wide learning and gradually embedding behavioural and intercultural competencies. Maturity assessments need to follow this trend.
Furthermore, transnational convergence of the models’ dimensions was observed. This development leads to growth in size and complexity. To apply them internationally, the models should be simplified or easily adapted to specific countries and cultures.
The workplaces are changing with the increase in the use of technology, digital communication, the shift towards multicultural teams, and remote work due to COVID-19. Leaders need more collaboration and acceptance of digital communication tools such as Teams, Slack. This study aims to determine the influence of culture in the acceptance of digital tools in leadership communication. In the literature review, 3 cultures (organizational, national, Individual) were assumed. And Individual culture was tested using Schwartz (openness to change) value survey along with other qualitative questions in 1-1 interviews of Austrians and multinationals living in Austria. Analysis from findings suggests that culture plays an important role in technology acceptance of digital tools in leadership communication. This was confirmed by the Schein model and Schwartz value ratings. The culture comprises of organizational, national, regional, and individual culture. Individual culture plays an important role, but other cultural factors cannot be avoided. Key factors affecting the technology acceptance in Vorarlberg (Austria) are listed along with recommendations to leaders.