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This paper sought to identify and analyze what are the barriers towards women career’s development as business leaders in Brazil and Nicaragua when it comes to the country societal variables. In order to comprehend these barriers through women’s perception, qualitative data was chosen for this investigation, which was gathered through one-to-one interviews within businesswomen from Brazil and Nicaragua that have experience in leadership positions. The results of this research confirm that societal, economic, and political factors have great influence at gender equality and in how it affects women’s progress as business leaders. Thus, it can vary considerably between countries, even when they have similar culture backgrounds. Furthermore, it is imperative to comprehend these differences in order to close any gender gap in the field.
The e-commerce market has been growing for years and this trend seems to be continuing. Online stores for clothing are very successful. It seems that hardly any company can afford not to have a digital presence. This goes hand in hand with the fact that the range of products on offer to customers is getting bigger and bigger. But it's not just the range that's getting bigger, it's also the effort customers have to make to find the right product. For this reason, many successful online stores are already relying on AI. In doing so, companies are creating opportunities for customers that an employee could hardly manage. Implemented on the website, AI can check inventory, update it in real time, predict trends and evaluate customer or user data and make suitable recommendations. This is important for the customer because with the huge choice available, for one thing, personalization is increasingly important and being presented with a relevant selection. A central question is whether the recommendations are trustworthy and whether they can be equated with a real salesperson advising the customer. After all, trust is relevant in longterm customer relationships in that it leads to loyalty and satisfaction, which in turn increases the intention to repurchase. The recommendation tools mentioned are also of particular interest for another reason. On the one hand, they help customers to get a relevant selection of the offer and thus to get faster to the desired one. On the other hand, they are relevant for companies not only because of customer satisfaction, but also because of the chance to reduce returns. The large online stores for clothing offer their customers very generous opportunities to return the goods free of charge. In doing so, the companies have responded to customer wishes, because hardly anything is more important to them when it comes to online shopping: free returns. In this way, customers have minimized the risk of having to keep goods that do not fit or please them. This thesis examines whether recommendation tools can help customers to better assess the sizes and properties of clothing, so that they receive more suitable clothing and do not even feel the need to order several sizes of the same item of clothing. It can therefore be assumed that trust in the recommendations of the AI tools reduces uncertainty, which in turn should reduce the intention to return goods. Another assumption to be tested is that of the perceived usefulness of the recommendation tools. As a prerequisite to get an assessment of these assumptions is the usage of the tools. Therefore, a survey was initiated in the DACH region to assess the extent to which usage influences the factors mentioned. It was found by means of a regression analysis that the frequency of online purchases, mediated by perceived usefulness, explains the influence on trust.
Systems are constantly increasing in complexity. This poses challenges to managing and using system knowledge. The Systems Modeling Language (SysML) is a modeling language specifically for systems, while Machine Learning (ML) is a tool to tackle complex problems. Currently, no bridge between systems modelled in SysML and ML regarding said systems has been proposed in literature. This thesis presents an approach that uses Model-driven Software Engineering (MDSE) and Template-based Code Generation (TBCG) to generate a ML IPython Notebook (IPYNB) from a SysML model. A mapping configuration using JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) allows the definition of mappings between SysML elements and template variables, enabling configuration and user-supplied templates. To test the approach, a SysML model describing ML to predict the weather based on data is created. Python ML templates are supplied and template variables mapped with the JSON mapping configuration are proposed in the thesis. The outcome is an executable IPYNB that contains all information from the SysML model and follows the modelled workflow. The findings of the work show that model-driven ML using SysML as a modeling language is beneficial due to the representation of ML knowledge in a general-purpose modeling language and the reusability of SysML model elements. It further shows that TBCG and a mapping configuration allow for more flexible code generation without changing the source implementation.
Offline speech to text engine for delimited context in combination with an offline speech assistant
(2022)
The inatura museum in Dornbirn had planned an interactive speech assistant-like exhibit. The concept was that visitors could ask the exhibit several questions that they would like to ask a flower. Solution requirements regarding the functionalities were formulated, such as the capacity to run offline because of privacy reasons. Due to the similarity of the exhibit, open-source offline Speech To Text (STT) engines and speech assistants were examined. Proprietary cloud-based STT engines associated with the corresponding speech assistants were also researched. The aim behind this was to evaluate the hypothesis of whether an open-source offline STT engine can compete with a proprietary cloud-based STT engine. Additionally, a suitable STT engine or speech assistant would need to be evaluated. Furthermore, analysis regarding the adaption possibilities of the STT models took place. After the technical analysis, the decision in favour of the STT engines called "Vosk" was made. This analysis was followed by attempts to adapt the model of Vosk. Vosk was compared to proprietary cloud-based Google Cloud Speech to Text to evaluate the hypothesis. The comparison resulted in not much of a significant difference between Vosk and Google Cloud Speech to Text. Due to this result, a recommendation to use Vosk for the exhibit was given. Due to the lack of intent parsing functionality, two algorithms called "text matching algorithm" and "text and keyword matching algorithm" were implemented and tested. This test proved that the text and keyword matching algorithm performed better, with an average success rate of 83.93 %. Consequently, this algorithm was recommended for the intent parsing of the exhibit. In the end, potential adaption possibilities for the algorithms were given, such as using a different string matching library. Some improvements regarding the exhibit were also presented.
Startups usually have high growth ambitions but only limited resources. Therefore, they are looking for efficient and effective methods to grow their business. However, if they go interna-tional, challenging changes will likely be made if the company is not focused on the global market. The aim of this work is therefore to support startups in the internationalization of their business and to provide guidance from the beginning by using strategic marketing elements to facilitate this process. To achieve this, a qualitative method of analysis was chosen. First, a literature review was conducted on the relevant topics of a startup, strategic marketing, and internationalization. Five success factors emerged from the literature: commitment, strategy, research, marketing mix adaptation, and organization and network. These were then ana-lyzed in more detail in expert interviews. The analysis of the interview results shows that for the internationalization of startups, the commitment to internationalization and a global mindset is of great importance from the very beginning. This is because they influence all supporting and strategic marketing elements.
The number of electric vehicles will increase rapidly in the coming years. Studies suggest that most owners prefer to charge their electric vehicle at home, which will fuel the need for charging stations in residential complexes where vehicles can be charged overnight. Currently, there already are over 100 such residential complexes, with another 70 added every year in Vorarlberg alone. In most existing residential complexes, however, the grid connections are not sufficient to charge all vehicles at the same time with maximum power. In addition, it is also desirable for grid operators and electricity producers that the power demand be as smooth and predictable as possible. To achieve this, ways to manage flexible loads need to be found, which can operate within the technical constraints. Therefore, the most common scenarios how the load can be made grid-friendly with the help of optional battery storage and/or photovoltaics using optimization methods of linear and stochastic programming were examined. At the same time, the needs of the vehicle owners for charging comfort - namely to find their vehicles reliably charged at the time of their respective departure - were addressed by combining both objectives using suitable weights. The algorithms determined were verified in practice on an existing Vlotte prototype installation. For this purpose, the necessary programs were implemented in Python, so that the data obtained during the test operation, which lasted one month, could be subjected to a well-founded analysis. In addition, simulation studies helped to further reveal the influence of PV and BESS sizing on the achievable optimums and confirm that advanced optimization algorithms such as the ones discussed are a vital contribution in reducing the charging stations’ peak load while at the same time maintaining high satisfaction levels.
The demand for managing data across multiple domains for product creation is steadily increasing. Model-Driven Systems Engineering (MDSE) is a solution for this problem. With MDSE, domain-specific data is formalized inside a model with a custom language, for example, the Unified Modelling Language (UML). These models can be created with custom editors, and specialized domains can be integrated with extensions to UML, e.g., the Systems Modeling Language (SysML). The most dominant editor in the open-source sector is Eclipse Papyrus SysML 1.6 (Papyrus), an editor to create SysML diagrams for MDSE.
In the pursuit of creating a model and diagrams, the editor does not support the user appropriately or even hinders them. Therefore, paradigms from the diagram modelling and Human Computer Interaction (HCI) domains, as well as perceptual and design theory, are applied to create an editor prototype from scratch. The changes fall into the categories of hierarchy, aid in the diagram composition, and navigation. The prototype is compared with Papyrus in a user test to determine if the changes have the effect of improving usability.
The study involved 10 participants with different knowledge levels of UML, ranging from beginners to experts. Each participant was tested on a navigation and modelling task in both the newly created editor, named Modelling Studio, and Papyrus. The study was evaluated through a questionnaire and analysis of the diagrams produced by the tasks.
The findings are that Modelling Studio’s changes to the hierarchical elements improved their rating. Furthermore, aid for diagram composition could be reinforced by changes to the alignment helper tool and adjustments to the default arrow behaviour of a diagram. Lastly, model navigation adjustments improve a link’s visibility and rating of a specialized link (best practice). The introduction of breadcrumbs had limited success in bettering navigation usability. The prototype deployed a broad spectrum of changes that found improvement already, which can, however, be further improved and tested more thoroughly.
Projects, in which software products, services, systems and solutions are developed, all rely on the right requirements to be established. Software requirements are the expression of user wants or needs that have to be addressed, business objectives that have to be met, as well as capabilities and functionality that has to be developed. Meanwhile, practice shows that very often incorrect, unclear or incomplete requirements are established, which causes major problems for such projects. It could lead to budget overruns, missed deadlines and overall failure in worst-case scenarios.
The field of requirements engineering emerged as an answer to these shortcomings, aiming to systematize and streamline the process that
establishes requirements. Requirements elicitation is a key component of this process, and one of its starting points. The current thesis attempts to outline best practices in requirements elicitation, as well as what issues, obstacles and challenges are currently faced, and then present this through the lens of national culture. In this way its effects on the practice, if any, could be highlighted and studied further. The way this was achieved was by interviewing practitioners from two nations, which are shown to be
culturally different, and then comparing and contrasting the findings.
Meanwhile, the validity of those findings was enhanced by comparisons with existing literature.
Even though the findings were not compelling enough to form generalizations or concrete conclusions about the effects of national culture on requirements elicitation, these findings revealed patterns that could be worth exploring further. When it comes to requirements elicitation itself, it was observed to benefit from a structured and systematic approach, and be
most effective with one-on-one, instead of group interactions. The main pain points of the process stem from the complexity of communication, but are not always obvious. Practitioners are also advised to carefully plan the gathering of requirements, as the source may not have them readily available, and could even be unclear about what exactly is needed. Overall, this thesis research could be considered successful in its goal to shed a modicum of light on the issue at hand from a different, underexplored angle. By following a systematic and methodical approach, this research has also been made easier to expand or replicate.
Observing the ratios of the rail usage in terms of passenger travelled per km and per capita, we see that there are huge differences between countries, so some railway systems are performing better in catching passengers than others. By analysing the factors that make the railways attractive for users, and setting standard values for these factors, we can analyse how well a system is performing. This paper has investigated those factors and developed an assessment tool that will inform about the required improvements, so in a later stage specific strategies can be developed to increase the performance in order to attract more passengers. Spain will be used as case study, since the country has specially low passenger rail usage compared to other countries even though the large investments in high speed lines the country undertook in the last decades.
Nowadays, online marketing is becoming increasingly important not only in the B2C but also in the B2B sector, as evidenced by marketing budget expenditures. Companies pursue overarching goals involving visibility and attention from prospective customers in order to raise brand awareness and as a result, outperform increasing market competition. This begs the question of whether online marketing is appropriate for increasing brand awareness.
The master´s thesis topic developed from both a personal as well as a professional perspective. Private research increased the author´s interest in the topic of online marketing. Furthermore, brands, whose level of awareness needs to be improved, are becoming a more common topic of professional debates. In this way, the research of the current master´s thesis was created.
The aim of this master's thesis was to discover how online marketing can be used to increase awareness of a brand. This will be analyzed by using the brand turn to zero, which offers consulting services for B2B customers in the sustainability industry. In this context, suitable and visible online marketing channels for increasing brand awareness are to be identified. In addition to this, suitable content for the company´s own as well as paid online marketing channels need to be collected. Furthermore, the influence that online marketing has on creating brand image awareness is to be presented.
Research questions are defined in order to achieve the described objectives. Within the scope of the master thesis, one main research question, as well as three sub-research questions, are to be answered based on the literature as well as the generated output resulting from the empirical part. Eight existing B2B customers of turn to zero, originating from com-mercial and industrial sectors, were interviewed in the empirical part. The interview findings were evaluated by using qualitative content analysis according to Mayring.
Research results showed that targeted combinations of online marketing channels are contributing to increase brand awareness. In addition, the research succeeded in determining suitable communication content for various online marketing channels. Furthermore, the in-fluence of online marketing could be investigated more closely in terms of brand image.
Erosion due to cavitation is a common problem for any kind of water turbine. Most of the currently used techniques to detect cavitation are using an Acoustic Emission (AE) sensor and highspeed cameras during operation. For the pelton wheel which is subject of this thesis it is impossible to take pictures during operation, because of the splashing water and the mist. Therefore this thesis aims to explore possibilities in detecting erosion on the buckets of the pelton wheel on images taken during manual inspections. Since the provided images are snapshots taken with a mobile phone camera without a tripod, a lot of effort was invested in the preprocessing of the images. For the main task, the classification of the erosion, two methods were evaluated: Local Binary Patterns (LBP) + kN-earest neighbor classification and the classification with a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN). The given 2405 images, contained 4810 buckets on which the erosion was graded from zero to four. This means the baseline for the classification accuracy is 20%. LBP + kNearest neighbor classification scored 32.03%. The chosen CNN model, a light version of the Xception architecture outperformed the LBP + kNearest classification with 58,29%. The biggest issue found during research is the variance of the erosion grading by the maintainance personnel. Reasons for this are: no objective grading critera like the area of erosion in mm2, classification by different employees, a shift in grading from overall bucket condition to erosion from cavitation and too many classes for grading. The mentioned reasons were confirmed by the manual classification experiment were an IllwerkeVKW employee had to perform the grading on images of the dataset. The contestants accuracy score was 36% for this task. The result of 58,29% classification accuracy indicates that an automated grading of erosion by cavitation is feasible.
Today, industrial B2B manufacturers face a rapidly changing environment, exacerbated by increasing globalization and associated shifts in the competitive landscape. Digital transformation and the emergence of new innovations and technologies are forcing companies to rethink their business models and offerings to integrate digital services to strengthen competitive advantages. Suppliers are becoming more deeply involved in customer processes through digital after-sales services, with the aim of exploiting efficiencies. Following the servitization transformation, companies intend to change their purpose from focusing on the pure physical product to becoming a service provider with emphasis on value creation and the capture of the customer.
To investigate how customer and supplier perspectives agree and what requirements each side has for digital after-sales services, exploratory qualitative research was conducted with customers and suppliers by means of one-on-one interviews. The thesis aimed to assess the status, progress, and future possibilities of implementing digital after-sales services and business models based on them. Research shows that the far-reaching establishment of product-accompanying services with strong connectivity and customer-centricity is primarily relevant. Disruptive business models still require a mind-shift and organizational readiness on the part of both customers and suppliers. In principle, digitization in after-sales interaction is beneficial and should be steadily advanced to make customer processes as well as further developments at the supplier level more efficient and well-founded through the analysis of real data. Overall, this thesis outlines important aspects that need to be considered while developing digital service innovations to deal with customer demands appropriately.
Keywords: Servitization, Digital After-Sales Services, Predictive Maintenance, Remote Monitoring, Digital Interaction, Digital Service Innovation, Digital Service Innovation Process
The presented master thesis of the study subject International Marketing and Sales at the Fachhochschule Vorarlberg in Dornbirn deals with the influence of emotions on the attitude toward hydrogen cars and their purchase intention. For this purpose, an empirical analysis with a correlation analysis was conducted in order to be able to determine the correlations of the individual parameters.
At the beginning of the thesis the hydrogen technology was presented in more detail and by means of suitable criteria it was shown that the hydrogen car represents a certain potential, however, in comparison to the combustion cars and electric cars, the hydrogen car is currently in third place. The relatively long range, the fast-refueling and the sustainability were identified as advantages, while the current high price and the poorly developed refueling station network are currently the biggest ob-stacles to a hydrogen car. It can be seen that research and development of hydrogen cars is being driven forward in many countries around the world, including by the gov-ernment side through the provision of various subsidies. For this reason, the future development of the driving technology remains exciting and simultaneously uncertain.
In the second step of the work, emotions were examined in more detail. The aim was to find out which emotions exist and which of them are predominant when buying a car, and then to find out what influence emotions have on the cognitive process, the attitude, and the purchase intention. It turned out that the majority of the population is highly involved in the purchase of a car and therefore tries to make rational decisions, which makes the influence of emotions more difficult, but not impossible.
By presenting suitable marketing tools for measuring emotions, it was shown that measuring emotions is a difficult undertaking. Measurement is often difficult or expen-sive and involves a great deal of effort. For this reason, beside the presentation of marketing tools, the strategic approach for a marketing campaign was also presented.
Based on the conducted empirical analysis, the influence of emotions on attitude and purchase intention could not be significantly confirmed but it could be proven that the knowledge about hydrogen cars is currently low. One inside is that an increase in awareness increases the purchase intention of hydrogen cars. Furthermore, a signifi-cant correlation between the sustainable attitude and the purchase intention could be proven. In addition, people who like to follow new trends are more likely to buy a hy-drogen car than others. This paper concludes with a brief summary of the findings and an outlook on the potential for improvement of the hydrogen car market.
Keywords: Hydrogen Cars, Sustainability, Emotions in Marketing, Purchase Inten-tion, Attitude, Marketing Tool
In recent years, more and more companies have become aware that a brand also has a social dimension, and with the advent of social media platforms, brand communities have experienced a shift from a traditional offline to more of an online presence. Brands of innovative consumer durables have also recognized social media brand communities as a very significant marketing strategy. It is therefore important to understand the influence of these communities on members' purchase intentions.
This master’s thesis has the goal of demonstrating to enterprises what aspects of a social media brand community will influence the purchase intention of its members and what should be considered in order to enhance it. This will ultimately lead to the following research question: How do social media brand communities influence the diffusion process of innovative consumer durables in the DACH region?
To answer this, a quantitative study has been conducted that has targeted people who are participating in a social media brand community of innovative consumer durables in the DACH region. This involved testing various criteria of a social media brand community and their impact on the diffusion process (purchase intention).
The findings of the study revealed that increased positive electronic word-of-mouth leads to enhanced purchase intention of members. Furthermore, the research has shown that higher identification with a social media brand community, greater engagement, increased entertainment value, faster corporate responsiveness, and reduced occurrence of social spam, do not have a positive effect on the diffusion process of innovative consumer durables.
The detection of glucose is an essential part of diabetes management and can help to prevent secondary diseases, that can occur as a result of diabetes. For this reason, it is important to improve the current glucose monitoring by developing novel sensors with high efficiency, low cost and compact design. The use of microelectrodes with interdigitated array (IDA) structures reduces the total detector size while providing benefits such as large currents, high sensitivity, and fast response. The aim of this thesis is to develop a novel sensor based on platinum interdigitated array (IDA) electrodes and to investigate which method is most effective for the detection of glucose. This work is divided into two parts. The first part is focused on the design and the fabrication of the sensor chips. The second part is concerned with the electrochemical characterisation of the sensors. Two distinct sensor designs are created, each consisting of a four-electrode system arranged as an interdigitated array. For the fabrication of the sensors, two different manufacturing processes are used. A lift-off process is used to fabricate the 2 μm-Gap sensor chips, whereas a lift-off free process is applied to produce the nanogap sensor chips. The electrochemical characterisation of both sensor chips is achieved by the immobilisation of the enzyme glucose oxidase (GOx) on the electrode surface. This thesis investigates the immobilisation of GOx by reduction of diazonium salts and the direct immobilisation of GOx by cyclic voltammetry. As a result of this work, it has been demonstrated that glucose detection by reduction of diazonium salts is error-prone due to modification with a multi-step procedure and is not suitable for our sensors based on platinum IDA electrodes. The direct immobilisation of GOx by cyclic voltammetry, by contrast, demonstrates the successful detection of glucose. In glucose solutions ranging from 5 mM to 20 mM, a direct correlation between the glucose concentration and the measured current is obtained. The reproducibility of direct immobilization is demonstrated by repeated performance with various sensors.
The rapidly evolving nature of Industry 4.0 has confronted corporates with the challenge of being able to react rapidly and nimbly (Van Solingen, 2020). Hence, many corporates need to embark on a journey of adaptation toward becoming agile organisations (Schmitz, 2018). However, this adaptation can only be achieved if employees fully commit to changing to an agile posture, and the required commitment is simply not forthcoming without proper corporate initiatives (Neves & Caetano, 2009). As there is no holistic summary of corporate initiatives required to boost employees' commitment to change when approaching an agile transformation, this study supplements the current research. The initiatives are derived from the existing literature and from unique insights given into a European automotive supplier that is currently managing a global agile transformation. Employees’ perceptions of the transformation in Austria and China were recorded and conclusions regarding what drives employees’ commitment to change and what led to job terminations were determined.
This master thesis investigates drivers and barriers of innovation workshops for an intercultural participant group. Actively dealing with innovation management is considered vital for companies which are acting on competing markets. An innovation workshop is a useful tool in order to foster innovation ability, develop innovative ideas and drive innovation forward. Intercultural participant groups are not only a common challenge in today's business world but also entail several benefits as they incorporate diverse knowledge bases and perspectives and hence contribute to the ideation and innovation process. Within the master thesis a broad variety of barriers and drivers are evaluated. Main barriers of innovation workshops for an intercultural participant group are high conflict potential, miscommunication, language barriers, a lack of management support, no agreement on workshop objectives as well as poor workshop preparation, organization and facilitation. Main drivers of innovation workshops for an intercultural participant group are a heterogeneous group composition, intercultural competence of the facilitator, the opening up of mindset silos, an intensive workshop preparation and empathetic facilitation. These drivers and barriers build the basis for the determination of success factors and recommendations for action for organizers and facilitators of an innovation workshop for an intercultural participant group. In the further course of the paper an exemplary workshop design will be presented as a guideline and framework for managerial practice
The impact of organizational citizenship behavior for the environment on corporate sustainability
(2022)
Today, many businesses increasingly engage in pro-environmental activities to face environmental challenges such as pollution or climate change. In addition to formal management practices, employees are impacting environmental advances with voluntary pro-environmental activities, also known as Organizational Citizenship Behavior for the Environment. The purpose of this master thesis is to explore factors that could influence employees’ engagement in Organizational Citizenship Behavior for the Environment. For this aim, five semi-structured interviews were carried out with multinational corporations from the DACHL region. The results show that certain leadership styles, corporate culture, a sustainability-driven mindset, environmental concern, communication and motivation can influence employees’ engagement in Organizational Citizenship Behavior for the Environment. In addition, the cumulative effect of small initiatives seems to considerably impact environmental sustainability. In contrast to past research on this topic, this study takes a qualitative approach to explore different influencing factors of Organizational Citizenship Behavior for the Environment. In addition, the study focuses on businesses located in the DACHL region.
Power cables play an important role in power grids. Insulation faults in cables can have adverse effects on the operating behaviour. These effects can be assessed through an AC withstand test by using a very-low frequency high voltage generator. This generator produces a sinusoidal voltage waveform at 0.1Hz with high voltage levels up to 65kV peak. During the quality assessment, the power cable is repeatedly charged and discharged. The discharging process is done by a discharging circuit where the energy is dissipated thermally. But to reuse the dissipated energy a novel extension in form of an energy storage system is presented. This thesis, therefore, describes the design process of an energy storage system that allows the temporary storage of the discharge energy. The developed system is composed of a bidirectional DC/DC converter and an aluminium electrolytic capacitor as storage type. Based on the maximum VLF system ratings the energy storage unit is dimensioned and sized. The effective power flow control between the storage system and the available discharge energy is done by a synchronous buck-boost converter. This bidirectional converter works in continuous conduction mode over the complete charging phase. Together with a theoretical analysis of the underlying problem and the use of converter analysis methods the selected synchronous buck-boost converter is dimensioned and sized. In addition, a state space AC modeling of the converter with its electrical uncertainties is conducted. With the converters AC model, the controller is designed. A closed-loop input converter current control scheme based on a proportional-integral controller is implemented. The system assessment is done by a model-based hardware implementation in Matlab Simulink and Plecs Blockset. The system is rated to store discharge energies up to 4.3kJ in a short charging period of 2.5s. The maximum peak power during the charging phase is 2.7kW. The digital proportional-integral controller is implemented through an emulation process of the designed analog controller. Based on a C-code implementation of the digital controller the gap between the real hardware is reduced. During the design process theoretical calculations are made and reveal that designing a capacitor storage unit has a direct impact on the peak system currents and also impose also limitations on permissible DC voltage ranges on electrical components. The developed energy storage system and its power flow control strategy were investigated through simulation studies. The results show proper charging of the energy storage medium. In addition, also a statement of the final technical feasibility is made. In total, this work summarizes a detailed design process of the energy storage system. This proof of concept is intended to further advance the system integration.
Development of a low pressure syringe pump for detecting cannabinoids through liquid chromatography
(2022)
The following thesis covers the miniaturization and characterization of a pneumatic syringe pump, which is used for applications in low-pressure liquid chromatography. For this purpose, the components of the prototype are dealt with in the first section. These include the membrane pump and the cylinder for pressure and force generation, the syringe used for sample preparation and the construction of the test column. Furthermore, the pressure preparation on the cylinder, the friction losses of the syringe and then the behavior of the syringe in various application scenarios are considered. In the second section, the focus is on the different behaviors when using water and ethanol as a solvent. Tests in normal applications, as well as with air pockets or leaking seals, show the different behavior and the resulting deviations in the test pressure of the column. In addition, the maximum forces that can be applied to the syringe are worked out in several tests and the different maximum pressures, which depend on the solvent contained, are evaluated. These different maximum pressures, which are due to the different sealing behavior in connection with the surface tension of the liquid, will be discussed in conclusion. An outlook follows, up to which test pressures the system can be used and how these can be achieved.
Data is the new oil,” said British Mathematician and Tesco marketing mastermind Clive Humbly1. Data has also been described as the backbone of digital retail enterprises2 and the currency of the digital age. Whether these statements live up to be true is debatable, but what is certain is the fact that the internet age has contributed to the avalanche of data witnessed today. In a century dominated by predictive analysis and artificial intelligence, it is no surprise that by the end of the last decade, data companies Apple, Amazon and Microsoft closed as the world´s first trillion-dollar companies, with their revenues dwarfing economies of several countries across the globe.3The recognition of the importance of data in today´s economy bears with it the responsibility to protecting its owners. While this intricate balance has long been the subject of legal analysis the General Data Protection Regulation, 2018, is hailed as the world´s most comprehensive and strict data protection regime currently in force. In addition to protecting the personal data of persons from its member countries, the Regulation also seeks to ensure the same protection accompanies any data transferred out of the European Union to other countries. It is almost 5 years since the Regulation was passed and process of implementation into business operations an important topic of discussion. Of importance to this study are the Modernized Standard Contractual Clauses, a tool of data transfer to countries outside the EU, which replace the three sets of SCCs adopted by the now repealed Data Protection Directive 94/46. These Standard Contractual Clauses came into effect on 27th September 2021, and companies have until 27th September 2022 to rely on the old set of clauses. With this deadline coming up, how far have the clauses been integrated into operations by businesses in Austria and the EU?
Skiing is one of the most popular winter sports in the world and especially in the alps. As the skiers enjoy their time on the slopes the most annoying thing that could happen is long waiting times at a lift. Unfortunately, because of climate changes, this happens more regularly because smaller skiing areas at lower altitudes have to close and the number of good skiing days decreases as well. This leads to a increase in the number of skiers in the skiing areas which inevitably leads to longer waiting times and dissatisfied skiers. To prevent this from happening, the carriers of the skiing areas have to manage the skiers flow and distribution and what better way to analyse the current situation and possible changes then by simulating the whole area. A simulation has the advantage of being flexible with regards to time as well as configuration. Be it simulating a skiing day and look into detail of the behaviour of a single skier and how it moves in the area by simulating in real time or setting the focus to the whole area and find out when and where queues are forming throughout the whole day by speeding up the time and simulate the day in only seconds, everything is possible. Even simulating a scenario where some part of the area is closed and the skiers cannot take specific lifts due to some technical error or some slopes because of to less snow. By simulating and analysing all these scenarios not only does the experts of the skiing area gain valuable statistical information about the area but can also simulate changes to the system like a crowd fl ow control or an increase or decrease in capacity of a lift. The simulation built in context with this work for the skiing area of Mellau shows all those applications but can also be used as a basis for further improvements of the skiing area or be expanded to other areas like Damüls. The simulation was implemented using the Anylogic simulation environment and the statistical evaluation was also performed in this program.
This master’s thesis provides an overview of a more efficient, future-oriented living concept in Dornbirn, Austria. The use of a combined heat and power unit (CHP), in combination with a thermal storage, as a heating system is specifically investigated. In order to make this heating system more attractive for the consumer, the sale of the generated electricity from the CHP is considered. The more efficient use of energy for heating increases the attractiveness by a minimisation of the living space. This master’s thesis aims to draw attention to the issue and to achieve a rethinking in the planning of future living space. For the research and elaboration of this thesis, statistics and trustworthy literature were used, and physical modelling was applied. This Master’s thesis can be assigned to the fields of energy technology, mechatronics, architecture and civil engineering. It contributes for students, researchers, and other interested person in these sectors.
The alarming degradation of the natural environment is leading many consumers to increasingly demand sustainable products. Since 2017, the global purchase intention of such products has increased by 63%. To respond to the increasing demand, more and more companies have started producing products from sustainable materials such as recycled products. However, purchase intention does not always result in actual behavior and can vary due to different products and in country-specific contexts. Hence, it is the purpose of this study to determine which factors influence the purchase intention of recycled products and whether these factors differ between a developed country such as Germany and a developing country such as South Africa. Furthermore, the study aims to discover whether there are differences in purchase intention with regard to different product categories, whether there is an intention-behavior gap, and whether there are country-specific differences. Finally, target groups of the corresponding countries will be derived. To answer the research questions, a quantitative study was conducted using an online questionnaire in Germany (n = 603) and South Africa (n = 692). The findings demonstrate that the purchase intention for recycled products is significantly higher in South Africa than in Germany, but no significant difference in the factors influencing the purchase intention could be found. However, the factors differ in terms of the extent of their influence. Thus, the factor “Attitude / Environmental Concern” has the strongest influence in South Africa, while the factor “Value / Accessibility” has the strongest influence in Germany. Likewise, a difference could be found concerning the products, with the purchase intention for mobile phones generally smaller than for t-shirts and toilet paper. In a country-specific comparison, however, purchase intention for t-shirts is significantly higher in South Africa than in Germany. An intention-behavior gap was identified for the sample, and it was found that the age groups 25 to 49 have the strongest purchase intentions and that the purchase intention increases significantly with increasing education level.
In today’s world, fiber optic networks for data transmission are an essential technology. This technology provides multiple advantages compared to conventional electrical data transmission. The simultaneous transmission of multiple optical signals in a single fiber is one of the main benefits of fiber optic cable. This is accomplished by directing the different optical signals into a single fibre and splitting them up after the transmission in order to obtain the individual signals. Arrayed Waveguide Gratings (AWGs) are used for this purpose in modern optical networks. Design and evaluation process are two components of AWG development. During the evaluation of several simulated and already manufactured AWGs for telecommunication applications, it was discovered that the channel spacing parameter does not conform telecommunication standards. The correct shift of the geometric parameter ”separation of the output waveguides” leads to the standard-conform channel spacing.
According to the current state of the art, no commercial tool is available which calculates the shift of this parameter correctly. The aim of this thesis is the development of a software tool to calculate the accurate shifting of the geometric parameter ”separation of the output waveguides” of an AWG. This tool operates as an interface between the design and evaluation processes and must be able to import the data format of the evaluation process and returns the data in a suitable data format for the design process. The Vorarlberg University of Applied Sciences uses three different methods for the shifting of the geometric parameter ”separation of the output waveguides”. These methods are evaluated and optimised as part of this thesis. Additionally, it has been determined that the shift of the geometric parameter ”separation of the output waveguides” has no significant impact on the performance of the AWG.
In the current international business environment employees are spending large amounts of their time in meetings. More than ever these meetings take place remotely and often have the problem that individuals in the meeting do not share information or opinions. Employees often stay in muted in meetings and allow one or two participants to drive the conversation. This habit is especially troublesome for problem solving meetings. Problem solving meetings invite individuals from different disciplines to share and brainstorm possible causes for issues related to poor company outcomes. Active and open contribution from all members is required to achieve the group goals. This study aims to find methods that will increase contribution amongst meeting participants in regular meetings as well as problem solving meetings. The study tested sixteen topics for their influence on contribution in meetings. This was done in a survey, that was distributed within a multination engineering corporation, and on LinkedIn. There was a total of 68 responses. These responses were then separated by above average and below average participation in problem solving meetings. Hypothesis testing was done on the total group and separately on the problem-solving group. Employee participation in decision making and psychological safety were found to correlate highly with Contribution in meetings for both groups. Psychological safety was found to be of even greater importance to problem solving group. This study demonstrates that to increase contribution in meetings, leaders should provide a psychologically safe climate where employees share in the decision making. Furthermore, a psychologically safe environment is critical in problem solving meetings where members of different disciplines with low familiarity take part.
With the rise of people wearing smartwatches and the ever-lasting issue of stress, there has been an interest in detecting stress with wearables in real-time. This allows for interventions that take place exactly when stress occurs. However, many situations require all of our attention, making them unsuitable for any interventions. Additionally, many approaches currently do not factor in this aspect, running the risk of offering users undesirable interventions.
This thesis examines how contextual user information can be incorporated into a stress intervention system to reduce undesirable intervention timings. The system is split into detecting stress using heart rate variability (HRV) metrics obtained from a photoplethysmography (PPG) signal, and inferring user context from available sensor data. It is evaluated with a simulation-based approach using daily schedules of created personas and randomly sampled stressors during daily life.
The results obtained indicate the benefit of adding contextual user information to a stress intervention system. Depending on the busyness of the schedule, it can greatly decrease the number of received interventions. However, as these findings are attained without performing a user testing, it is unclear how they compare to results from real-world usage.
Fear of failure is a major factor influencing entrepreneurial actions. Since the female quota for startups and self-employment is still lower than for men, the aim is to determine the extent to which the fear of failure is incorporated into the entrepreneurial actions of women in Austria. The trailblazer and pioneer in female entrepreneurship America is used as an international benchmark for evaluation. A quantitative survey was conducted among women from Austria and America on their fears of failure related to self-employment and their aspirations to become self-employed. There were significant differences in the quantitative study between self-employed and non-self-employed women, irrespective of their country of origin. As a result, recommendations for action were created to reduce the influence of Fear of Failure on entrepreneurial actions of Austrian women.
A quantum-light source that delivers photons with a high brightness and a high degree of entanglement is fundamental for the development of efficient entanglement-based quantum-key distribution systems. Among all possible candidates, epitaxial quantum dots are currently emerging as one of the brightest sources of highly entangled photons. However, the optimization of both brightness and entanglement currently requires different technologies that are difficult to combine in a scalable manner. In this work, we overcome this challenge by developing a novel device consisting of a quantum dot embedded in a circular Bragg resonator, in turn, integrated onto a micromachined piezoelectric actuator. The resonator engineers the light-matter interaction to empower extraction efficiencies up to 0.69(4). Simultaneously, the actuator manipulates strain fields that tune the quantum dot for the generation of entangled photons with fidelities up to 0.96(1). This hybrid technology has the potential to overcome the limitations of the key rates that plague current approaches to entanglement-based quantum key distribution and entanglement-based quantum networks. Introduction
Experimental multi-state quantum discrimination in the frequency domain with quantum dot light
(2022)
The quest for the realization of effective quantum state discrimination strategies is of great interest for quantum information technology, as well as for fundamental studies. Therefore, it is crucial to develop new and more efficient methods to implement discrimination protocols for quantum states. Among the others, single photon implementations are more advisable, because of their inherent security advantage in quantum communication scenarios. In this work, we present the experimental realization of a protocol employing a time-multiplexing strategy to optimally discriminate among eight non-orthogonal states, encoded in the four-dimensional Hilbert space spanning both the polarization degree of freedom and photon energy. The experiment, built on a custom-designed bulk optics analyser setup and single photons generated by a nearly deterministic solid-state source, represents a benchmarking example of minimum error discrimination with actual quantum states, requiring only linear optics and two photodetectors to be realized. Our work paves the way for more complex applications and delivers a novel approach towards high-dimensional quantum encoding and decoding operations.
Flexibility estimation is the first step necessary to incorporate building energy systems into demand side management programs. We extend a known method for temporal flexibility estimation from literature to a real-world residential heat pump system, solely based on historical cloud data. The method proposed relies on robust simplifications and estimates employing process knowledge, energy balances and manufacturer's information. Resulting forced and delayed temporal flexibility, covering both domestic hot water and space heating demands as constraints, allows to derive a flexibility range for the heat pump system. The resulting temporal flexibility lay within the range of 24 minutes and 6 hours for forced and delayed flexibility, respectively. This range provides new insights into the system's behaviour and is the basis for estimating power and energy flexibility - the first step necessary to incorporate building energy systems into demand side management programs.
In this paper, the design of three-dimensional configuration of Y-branch splitter is compared with Multimode Interference splitter. Both splitters use the IP-Dip polymer as a standard material for 3D laser lithography. The optical properties of the splitters for both approaches are discussed and compared.
The paper deals with designing and numerical modelling a 2 x 2 optical switch for photonic integrated circuits based on 2 x 2 MMI elements and phase modulators. The 2 x 2 optical switch was modelled in the RsoftCAD with the simulation tool BeamPROP. The 2 x 2 optical switch is a common element for creating more complex 1 x N or N x N optical switches in all-optical signal processing.
The research focused on the wood pellet market for private consumers in Germany and has the objective to understand the factors affecting the purchase decisions of wood pellets buy-ers. The aims of the research were achieved by applying the Engel, Kollat, Blackwell model of consumer behaviour, by conducting in-depth interviews and deriving the grounded theory. The application of EKB model revealed that the following groups of factors may influence the con-sumers: cultural (culture and social class), social (family influence), personal (age and lifecycle stage), psychological (believes, motives, attitudes) and unexpected circumstances. In-depth interviews with the buyers of wood pellets helped specify the influencing factors to finally an-swer the research question. The analysis showed that the buyers of wood pellets are influ-enced by family, personal believes and attitudes, and the unexpected circumstances. The most important factors for the buyers are the quality of the pellets and reliability of the supplier. If they are satisfied with the quality of product and service, they will be reluctant to look for an alternative. And on the opposite side, in case the quality of the product or the service is unsat-isfactory this is a limiting factor and will stop the buyer from purchasing this product. Price is an important factor for the buyers of pellets in bags. However, in the situation of volatile mar-ket and exploding prices, the price factor will play a bigger role. Thus, the strategic factors for marketing of pellets is to concentrate on quality and price communication, and to focus on the quality of pellet delivery service.
As the boundary between real and virtual life is becoming increasingly blurred, researchers and practitioners are looking for ways to integrate the two intending to improve human lives in a plethora of domains. A cutting-edge concept is the design of Digital Twins (DT), having a broad range of implications and applications, spanning from education, training, as well as safety and productivity in the workplace. An emergent approach for implementing DTs is the usage of mixed reality (MR) and augmented reality (AR), which are well aligned with merging real and virtual objects to enhance the human’s ability to interact with and manage DTs. Yet, this is still a novel area of research and, as such, a grounded understanding of the current state, challenges, and open questions is still lacking. Towards this, we conducted a PRISMA-based literature review of scientific articles and book chapters dealing with the use of MR and AR for digital twins. After a thorough screening phase and eligibility check, 25 papers were analyzed, sorted and compared by different categories like research topic (e.g., visualization, guidance), domain (e.g., manufacturing, education), paper type (e.g., design study, evaluation), evaluation type (user study, case study or none), used hardware (e.g., Microsoft HoloLens, mobile devices) as well as the different outcomes (result type and topic, problems, outlook). The major finding of this research survey is the predominant focus of the reviewed papers on the technology itself and the neglect of factors regarding the users. We, therefore, encourage researchers in this area to keep the importance of ease and joy of use in mind and include users in multiple stages of their work.
Purpose: Although there is an apparent potential in using data for advanced services in manufacturing environments, SMEs are reluctant to share data with their ecosystem partners, which prevents them from leveraging this potential. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to analyse the reasons behind these resistances. The argumentation paves the way for elaborating countermeasures that are adequate for the specific situation and the typical capabilities of SMEs.
Design/Methodology/Approach: The analysis is based on literature research and in-depth interviews with management representatives of 15 companies in manufacturing service ecosystems. Half of these are manufacturers and the other half technology or service providers for manufacturers. They are SMEs or partly larger companies operating in structures that are typical for SMEs.
Findings: Data sharing hurdles are investigated in the five dimensions, 1. quantifying the value of data, 2. willingness to share data and trust, 3. organizational culture and mindset, 4. legal aspects, and 5. security and privacy. The ability to quantify the value of data is a necessary but not sufficient precondition for data sharing, which must be enabled by adequate measures in the other four dimensions.
Originality/Value: The findings of this empirical study and the solution approach provide an SME-specific framework to analyze hurdles that must be overcome for sharing data in an ecosystem.
Manufacturing SMEs can apply the framework to overcome the hurdles by specific insights and solution approaches. Furthermore, the analysis illustrates the future research direction of the project towards a comprehensive solution approach for data sharing in a manufacturing ecosystem.
The design and development of smart products and services with data science enabled solutions forms a core topic of the current trend of digitalisation in industry. Enabling skilled staff, employees, and students to use data science in their daily work routine of designing such products and services is a key concern of higher education institutions, including universities, company workshop providers and in further education. The scope and usage scenario of this paper is to assess software modules (‘tools’) for integrated data and analytics as service (DAaaS). The tools are usually driven by machine learning, may be deployed in cloud infrastructures, and are specifically targeted at particular needs of the industrial manufacturing, production, or supply chain sector.
The paper describes existing theories and previous work, namely methods used in didactics, work done for visually designing and using machine learning algorithms (no-code / low- code tools), as well as combinations of these two topics. For tools available on the market, an extended assessment of their suitability for a set of learning scenarios and personas is discussed.
In this work, we investigated the influence of different etch depths of the rib waveguides on the performance of SiN-based AWGs. For this purpose, an 8-channel 100 GHz AWG was designed for a center wavelength of 850 nm. The design parameters entered were calculated using the AWG-Parameters tool. The simulations were performed with a commercial photonic tool PHASAR from Optiwave. The simulated performance was evaluated using the AWG-Analyzer tool. For the AWG design, we used three identical rib waveguides with different etch depths to simulate possible etch imperfection. The simulations show the wavelength shift and degradation of the AWG performance.
Recent developments in the area of Natural Language Processing (NLP) increasingly allow for the extension of such techniques to hitherto unidentified areas of application. This paper deals with the application of state-of-the-art NLP techniques to the domain of Product Safety Risk Assessment (PSRA). PSRA is concerned with the quantification of the risks a user is exposed to during product use. The use case arises from an important process of maintaining due diligence towards the customers of the company OMICRON electronics GmbH.
The paper proposes an approach to evaluate the consistency of human-made risk assessments that are proposed by potentially changing expert panels. Along the stages of this NLP-based approach, multiple insights into the PSRA process allow for an improved understanding of the related risk distribution within the product portfolio of the company. The findings aim at making the current process more transparent as well as at automating repetitive tasks. The results of this paper can be regarded as a first step to support domain experts in the risk assessment process.
Highly-sensitive single-step sensing of levodopa by swellable microneedle-mounted nanogap sensors
(2022)
Microneedle (MN) sensing of biomarkers in interstitial fluid (ISF) can overcome the challenges of self-diagnosis of diseases by a patient, such as blood sampling, handling, and measurement analysis. However, the MN sensing technologies still suffer from poor measurement accuracy due to the small amount of target molecules present in ISF, and require multiple steps of ISF extraction, ISF isolation from MN, and measurement with additional equipment. Here, we present a swellable MN-mounted nanogap sensor that can be inserted into the skin tissue, absorb ISF rapidly, and measure biomarkers in situ by amplifying the measurement signals by redox cycling in nanogap electrodes. We demonstrate that the MN-nanogap sensor measures levodopa (LDA), medication for Parkinson disease, down to 100 nM in an aqueous solution, and 1 μM in both the skin-mimicked gelatin phantom and porcine skin.
The properties of SiC and diamond make them attractive materials for MEMS and sensor devices. We innovated specific laser ablation techniques to fabricate membranes and cantilevers made of SiC or nano-(micro-) crystalline diamond films grown on Si/SiO2 substrates by microwave chemical vapour deposition (MWCVD). We started research to generate surface moulds to grow corrugated diamond films for membranes and cantilevers. A software tool was developed to support the design of micromechanical cantilevers. We can measure deformation and resonant frequency of diamond cantilevers and identify the global mechanical properties. A benchmark against finite element simulations enables an inverse identification of the specific system parameters and simplifies the characterization procedure.
Small and medium-sized enterprises often face resource deficits and there- fore depend on cooperating with other actors to stay innovative in a competitive environment. Establishing and maintaining actual co-creation and service inter- action strategies however is challenging. A reason for this is the complexity of finding methodologies and tools to create valuable outcome and the lack of knowledge of collaboration toolsets, also in virtual environments. This paper introduces an Innovation-Method-Framework consisting of innovation methods for increased service interaction and value co-creation among service stakeholders. Also, toolsets for the framework’s practical application are provided.
The paper deals with the optimization of 2x2 optical switch for photonic integrated circuits based on two 2x2 MMI splitters and two phase-modulators. The optical switch was modelled in the RSoftCAD with the simulation tool BeamPROP. The optimization was done to minimise the insertion losses and broaden the spectral band at 1550 nm by using linear tapers in a 2x2 MMI splitter topology. The 2x2 optical switch is a common element for creating more complex 1xN or NxN optical switches in all-optical signal processing.
Due to the increasing trend of photonic element miniaturisation and the need for optical splitting, we propose and simulate a new type of three-dimensional (3D) optical splitter based on multimode interference (MMI) for the wavelength of 1550 nm. We present various designs and simulations of various parameters for the optimized MMI splitter. We focus on the possibility of its integration on an optical fiber. The design is focused on a possible production process using 3D laser lithography for the prepared experiments. The MMI splitter was prepared by laser lithography using direct writing process and finally investigated by output characterisation by the near-field measurement.
Grid-scale electrical energy storage (EES) is a key component in cost-effective transition scenarios to renewable energy sources. The requirement of scalability favors EES approaches such as pumped-storage hydroelectricity (PSH) or compressed-air energy storage (CAES), which utilize the cheap and abundant storage materials water and air, respectively. To overcome the site restriction and low volumetric energy densities attributed to PSH and CAES, liquid-air energy storage (LAES) has been devised; however, it suffers from a rather small round-trip efficiency (RTE) and challenging storage conditions. Aiming to overcome these drawbacks, a novel system for EES is developed using solidified air (i.e., clathrate hydrate of air) as the storable phase of air. A reference plant for solidified-air energy storage (SAES) is conceptualized and modeled thermodynamically using the software CoolProp for water and air as well as empirical data and first-order approximations for the solidified air (SA). The reference plant exhibits a RTE of 52% and a volumetric storage density of 47 kWh per m3 of SA. While this energy density relates to only one half of that in LAES plants, the modeled RTE of SAES is comparable already. Since improved thermal management and the use of thermodynamic promoters can further increase the RTEs in SAES, the technical potential of SAES is in place already. Yet, for a successful implementation of the concept - in addition to economic aspects - questions regarding the stability of SA must be first clarified and challenges related to the processing of SA resolved.
Bubble columns are recently used for the humidification of air in water treatment systems and fuel cells. They are well applicable due to their excellent heat and mass transfer and their low technical complexity. To design and operate such devices with high efficiency, the humidification process and the impact of the operating parameters need to be understood to a sufficient degree. To extend this knowledge, we use a refined and novel method to determine the volumetric air–liquid heat and mass transfer coefficients and the humidifier efficiency for various parametric settings. The volumetric transfer coefficients increase with both of the superficial air velocity and the liquid temperature. It is further shown that the decrease of vapor pressure with an increase of the salinity results in a corresponding decrease in the outlet humidity ratio. In contrast to previous studies, liquid heights smaller than 0.1 m are investigated and significant changes in the humidifier efficiency are seen in this range. We present the expected humidifier efficiency with respect to the superficial air velocity and the liquid height in an efficiency chart, such that optimal operating conditions can be determined. Based on this efficiency chart, recommendations for industrial applications as well as future scientific challenges are drawn.