Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Structure of technological systems'

<p>Industrial systems resist change, more often, because heavy production facilities and industrial constructions are expensive and have long economic lives, but also because people tend to defend ingrained conceptions of how things are and how activities ought to be performed. Starting out from the question: “How does technological change come about in an international, industrial system?” the thesis investigates the interplay between technological, social, and economic factors. Empirically the work is located to the steel and metals industries and covers business exchange within and between several economic entities performing international business operations.</p><p>It is shown that technological change is driven by strategic intention, but that it also occurs as a result of chance or “necessity”, or follows on everyday enterprise operations. In an attempt to realize strategic intentions actors involve in games of negotiation while referring to different power bases. Backed by organizational role (hierarchic level/managerial position), personal “luminosity” (charisma/leadership), or control over critical resources (that other actors are interested in) various arguments are put to the test on “the arena for negotiations and change”. While involving in negotiations actors may relate to existing business and/or social relations for support or they may take advantage of full-blown coalitions.</p><p>Constrained by the games of negotiation, which unfold in an institutional environment, the process of technological change adopts evidently evolutionary characteristics, and it follows implicitly that the single actor has at its disposal only limited possibilities to determine the process outcome. Technological change as an evolutionary process consists of three underlying sub-processes, viz. innovation, interaction, and institutionalization, it is argued.</p>

Digital Clay is a next generation human-machine communication interface based on a tangible haptic surface. This thesis embraces this revolutionary concept and seeks to give it a physical embodiment that will confirm its feasibility and enable experimentation relating to its utility and possible improvements. Per the approach adopted in work, Digital Clay could be described as a 3D monitor whose pixels can move perpendicularly to the screen to form a morphing surface. Users can view, touch and modify the shape of the working surface formed by these pixels. In reality, the pixels are the tips of micro hydraulic actuators or Hapcel (i.e. haptic cell, since the Digital Clay supports the haptic interface). The user can get a feel of the desired material properties when he/she touches the working surface. The potential applications of Digital Clay cover a wide range from computer aided engineering design to scientific research to medical diagnoses, 3D dynamic mapping and entertainment. One could predict a future in which, by using Digital Clay, not only could the user watch an actor in a movie, but also touch the face of the actor! This research starts from the review of the background of virtual reality. Then the concept and features of the proposed Digital Clay is provided. Research stages and a 5x5 cell array prototype are presented in this thesis on the structural design and control of Digital Clay. The first stage of the research focuses on the design and control of a single cell system of Digital Clay. Control issues of a single cell system constructed using conventional and off-the-shelf components are discussed first in detail followed by experimental results. Then practical designs of micro actuators and sensors are presented. The second stage of the research deals with the cell array system of Digital Clay. Practical structural design and control methods are discussed which are suitable for a 100x 100 (even 1000X 1000) cell array. Conceptual design and detailed implementations are presented. Finally, a 5 x 5 cell array prototype constructed using the discussed design solutions for testing is presented.

“We provide a solution that allows saving 15 to 20 euros per invoice.It is very important in a strategy of service and cost reductions for our customers and for us.”<p><p>“For us, it is very important as we generally reduce our inventories by 30%, thus we recover cash flow. It is not negligible.”<p><p>These quotes out of my case studies show that the primary goal of the implementation of Web-based applications is the achievement of transaction cost efficiencies: cost cutting, time saving, and information integration. But do they achieve such results? Sometimes they do sometime they don’t. In order to understand why, I consider it is necessary to take a different perspective from the one taken until now. <p><p>Indeed, existing studies on interorganizational information systems focus on economical and strategic issues and consider organizations as opaque entities. First, issues at hand may not be economic or strategic but social or legal. Next, they neglect that inter-organizational relationships imply a number of long-standing social interactions between individuals of each organization. Moreover, these individuals interpret the mediation project and act taking decision, implementing, or using the mediating technology – that these individuals make sense of the IT mediation project. In the present research, I propose to open the black box of organizations and explore how people sensemaking conditions the achievement of transaction cost benefits and is conditioned by the interorganizational context. My overarching research question is: How do people make sense of the Internet mediation of long-standing interorganizational relationships?<p><br>Doctorat en sciences de gestion<br>info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

The discourse that surrounds and constitutes the post-human emerged as a response to earlier claims of an essential or universal human or human nature. These discussions claim that the human is a discursive construct that emerges from various configurations of nature, embodiment, technology, and culture, configurations that have also been variously shaped by the forces of social history. And in the absence of an essential human figure, post-human discourses suggest that there are no restrictions or limitations on how the human can be reconfigured. This axiom has been extended in light of a plethora of technological reconfigurations and augmentations now potentially available to the human, and claims emerge from within this literature that these new technologies constitute a range of possibilities for future human biological evolution. This thesis questions the assumption contained within these discourses that technological incursions or reconfigurations of the biological human necessarily constitute human biological or human social evolution by discussing the role the evolution theories plays in our understanding of the human, the social, and technology. In this thesis I show that, in a reciprocal process, evolution theory draws metaphors from social institutions and ideologies, while social institutions and ideologies simultaneously draw on metaphors from evolution theory. Through this discussion, I propose a form of evolution literacy; a tool, I argue, is warranted in developing a sophisticated response to changes in both human shape and form. I argue that, as a whole, our understanding of evolution constitutes a metanarrative, a metaphor through which we understand the place of the human within the world; it follows that historical shifts in social paradigms will result in new definitions of evolution. I show that contemporary evolution theory reflects parts of the world as codified informatic systems of associated computational network logic through which the behaviour of participants is predefined according to an evolved or programmed structure. Working from within the discourse of contemporary evolution theory I develop a space through which a version of the post-human figure emerges. I promote this version of the post-human as an Artificial Intelligence computational programme or autonomous agent that, rather than seeking to replace, reduce or deny the human subject, is configured as an exosomatic supplement to and an extension of the biological human.

The discourse that surrounds and constitutes the post-human emerged as a response to earlier claims of an essential or universal human or human nature. These discussions claim that the human is a discursive construct that emerges from various configurations of nature, embodiment, technology, and culture, configurations that have also been variously shaped by the forces of social history. And in the absence of an essential human figure, post-human discourses suggest that there are no restrictions or limitations on how the human can be reconfigured. This axiom has been extended in light of a plethora of technological reconfigurations and augmentations now potentially available to the human, and claims emerge from within this literature that these new technologies constitute a range of possibilities for future human biological evolution. This thesis questions the assumption contained within these discourses that technological incursions or reconfigurations of the biological human necessarily constitute human biological or human social evolution by discussing the role the evolution theories plays in our understanding of the human, the social, and technology. In this thesis I show that, in a reciprocal process, evolution theory draws metaphors from social institutions and ideologies, while social institutions and ideologies simultaneously draw on metaphors from evolution theory. Through this discussion, I propose a form of evolution literacy; a tool, I argue, is warranted in developing a sophisticated response to changes in both human shape and form. I argue that, as a whole, our understanding of evolution constitutes a metanarrative, a metaphor through which we understand the place of the human within the world; it follows that historical shifts in social paradigms will result in new definitions of evolution. I show that contemporary evolution theory reflects parts of the world as codified informatic systems of associated computational network logic through which the behaviour of participants is predefined according to an evolved or programmed structure. Working from within the discourse of contemporary evolution theory I develop a space through which a version of the post-human figure emerges. I promote this version of the post-human as an Artificial Intelligence computational programme or autonomous agent that, rather than seeking to replace, reduce or deny the human subject, is configured as an exosomatic supplement to and an extension of the biological human.

<p align="justify">Aujourd'hui, la gestion des documents est l'un des problèmes les plus importants en informatique. L'objectif de cette thèse est de proposer un système de gestion documentaire basé sur une approche appelée recherche structurée et collaborative. Les caractéristiques essentielles sont :</p><p><ul><li><p align="justify">Dès lors que les utilisateurs ont plusieurs centres d'intérêts, ils sont décrits par des profils, un profil correspondant à un centre d'intérêt particulier. C'est la partie structurée du système.</li><p></p><p><li><p align="justify">Pour construire une description des profils, les utilisateurs jugent des documents en fonction de leur intérêt</li><p></p><p><li><p align="justify">Le système regroupe les profils similaires pour former un certain nombre de communautés virtuelles</li></p> <p><li><p align="justify">Une fois les communautés virtuelles définies, des documents jugés comme intéressants par certains utilisateurs d'une communauté peuvent être partagés dans toute la communauté. C'est la partie collaborative du système.</p><p></li></ul><p><p align="justify">Le système a été validé sur plusieurs corpora de documents en utilisant une méthodologie précise et offre des résultats prometteurs.</p><p><br>Doctorat en sciences appliquées<br>info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

One of the most enduring issues in research on business strategy and organization is how firms can survive and achieve prosperity in the long run. A recurring answer to it is that firms must be ambidextrous: efficient in their conduct of today&#146;s business while simultaneously being able to adapt to changes in the environment in the future. The recipe recommended to firms which strive for ambidexterity has often been to conduct two forms of innovation at the same time. Incremental innovations are smaller improvements in existing operations and must be pursued to enhance its efficiency. Radical innovations are concepts which are so new that they are incompatible with the existing organization and needed to stay ahead of and adapt to paradigm shifts in the technology and market. However, combining the pursuit of these innovations has proved difficult. The literature therefore suggests that they be carried out in separate organizational units, but the problem is then how firms can reap the synergies of them though integration. This thesis focuses on technological process innovation in industrial production systems. With this as a scope, it contributes to the understanding of ambidexterity in firms by exploring a new form of process innovation, technological step-change, which theoretically is positioned between incremental and radical innovation. Technological step-change is on one hand distinguished from radical innovation as it does not represent any shifts, but rather is related to the development of the existing production systems. On the other, it is distinguished from incremental innovation as it involves the introduction of new technological artifacts and larger, architectural changes in the system, and as such requires assistance from personnel with advanced technological knowledge. Based on a case study, a conclusion is that incremental innovations and step-changes reinforce each other and that the technology in step-changes has its origin in the radical innovation activities. Therefore, while the separated pursuits of incremental and radical innovations alone are largely independent of each other, technological step-changes form a link between the two and enable ambidexterity. It is furthermore found that step-changes are facilitated by the separation of incremental and radical innovation in distinct organizational units on one hand and integration with integrative mechanisms on the other.

Greater projected demand for food, fuel, and fiber will require substantial increases in global agricultural production over the next three decades. Climate change is also forecasted to make weather events more extreme and variable. Efficiency will become more important as demand for food products increases and the availability of fertilizer and land decreases. Technology may be of paramount importance for pushing the boundaries of production while remaining sustainable for generations to come. The first chapter of this dissertation investigated the importance of rate and timing of the plant growth regulator trinexapac-ethyl to malting barley in Virginia. Plant growth regulators can help plants remain upright during strong winds, thereby preserving grain quality and yield. However, this study demonstrated that risks of plant injury also exist. Application should be restricted to fields with greater risk of lodging and made only after the barley crop has broken dormancy and a substantial increase in air temperature is not forecasted in the week following application. Chapter two compared the efficacy of eight vegetation indices calculated from three satellites (Landsat 8, Sentinel 2, and Planet) for estimating cover crop biomass. Cover crops can have beneficial effects on agricultural land as well as groundwater and surface water, but only when adequate biomass is established to reduce erosion and nutrient leaching. Satellite imagery was able to estimate multi-species cover crop biomass more accurately than field-based sensors, although the most accurate vegetation index was dependent upon which satellite was being tested. Chapter three investigated the potential of Arabidopsis thaliana ipk1-, a loss-of-function mutant which exhibits decreased growth at elevated phosphorus concentration, for serving as in indicator of plant available phosphorus. An indicator crop could provide greater spatial resolution compared to soil testing, as well as represent plant available nutrients as opposed to chemically extracted nutrient estimations. Plant response exhibited a quadratic relationship with media P concentration in the range of fertilizer decision making for maize, providing valuable insight for potential yield response in agricultural fields below 'very high' phosphorus concentration.<br>Doctor of Philosophy<br>Climate change, increased demand for locally sourced ingredients, and elevated pressure for environmentally responsible practices will make meeting the growing demand for food difficult for farmers to achieve over the next few decades. Similar to many other industries, implementation of advanced technology may be necessary to keep up with agricultural demand. Plant growth regulators are one such technology which when applied to plants can cause them to remain short, decreasing the chance of blowing over during windstorms. However, chapter one of this dissertation concluded that risks of plant injury also exist when applying plant growth regulator on malting barley (for brewing or distilling). Application should be restricted to fields with greater risk of wind damage (e.g. taller barley) and made only after the barley crop begins spring growth and a decrease in air temperature is not forecasted in the week following application. Chapter two compared eight spectral vegetation indices across three satellites with different image resolution for their ability to estimate cover crop biomass. Cover crops protect groundwater and surface water quality, but only when adequate growth is achieved. Satellite imagery was able to estimate multi-species cover crop biomass more accurately than field-based sensors, although the most accurate vegetation index was dependent upon which satellite was being tested. Chapter three investigated the potential of Arabidopsis thaliana ipk1-, a loss-of-function mutant which exhibits decreased growth at elevated phosphorus concentration, as in indicator of plant available phosphorus in soil. An indicator crop could help determine which areas of a field are likely to have increased crop yield if fertilized and which are not. The mutant tested could be useful as an indicator crop given its response to phosphorus concentration, warranting further research with other plant species more appropriate for field use.

The aim of the thesis is design and technological design of wing with significant reduction manual work and number of preparations in preparing part of structures. The first part of the work is to explanation the issues and machining metal parts forming wings and also the use of CAD systems. The next section describes several design proposals wings, strength test and compare price and weight of main girders with breams made of L-profiles. Followed by the technological process of production individual part design and control hems of sheet metal part design. The conclusion is dedicated to building assembler wings.

Thesis: S.M., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering, 2016.<br>Thesis: S.M. in Technology and Policy, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Engineering, Institute for Data, Systems, and Society, Technology and Policy Program, 2016.<br>This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.<br>Cataloged from student-submitted version of thesis.<br>Includes bibliographical references (pages 211-214).<br>Climate change poses a major challenge to society. Different sectors of society will need to respond in different ways; for the power sector, the response will require the aggressive reduction of CO2 emissions to near zero by 2050. There is no unique pathway for achieving a given level of decarbonization, and different pathways will require greater or lesser resources. In general, as the degree of carbon mitigation increases, each additional unit of reduction will become more expensive. The world has limited resources, as do national economies. Thus, whether the solution to decarbonization is achieved through markets or through centralized planning, the solution should be the one that maximizes society's welfare, i.e., that achieves the goal at minimum cost for society. This thesis explores the potential cost implications of different decarbonization pathways for the electricity generation mix in the year 2050. The impacts of different CO2 reduction targets and technological choices on the cost of decarbonization are compared. The average price of electricity is used as a metric for the cost of decarbonization to society. An important requirement of the analysis is to take account of changes in the expected cost of existing technologies over this period, as well as the possibility that new technologies will become available. This research takes a systemic view, including a detailed representation of the interactions between different types of power system technologies, taking into consideration the synergies and limitations that each asset class creates and/or imposes on others. To explore the impact of differences in system characteristics, two different U.S. power systems are analyzed: New England's power system and the Texas power system. These differ significantly in their demand profiles and in the availability of renewable resources. Cost estimates developed by the International Energy Agency and the Nuclear Energy Agency for 2020 are used as input parameters for the analysis. Uncertainty in cost estimates is addressed by a comprehensive sensitivity analysis on future cost reductions for renewables and storage systems, as well as future cost increases for nuclear technologies. Additionally, to account in part for the likelihood of future changes in the pool of available technological options, two new supply-side technologies currently under development are included in the analysis, as are new capabilities for managing demand-side resources. A novel long-term generation investment model, GenX, has been developed to determine the minimum cost generation mix subject to various emissions constraints and different technological pathways. GenX is a capacity expansion model with clustered unit commitment constraints whose main features include: 1) the ability to evaluate the impact of operating constraints with hourly resolution on investment decisions and on total generation cost; 2) the ability to account for the chronological variability of demand and renewable output, and correlations between the two; and 3) the ability to decide on power plant investments and operation at the individual plant level. Each technology is characterized by a particular set of operational and economic parameters. Additionally, GenX is capable of modeling new technological concepts {advanced nuclear (Generation IV) and heat storage{ which would support interactions between electricity and heat markets. The model is implemented in the Julia language and has been used to simulate 560 different decarbonization/technology scenarios. Key results include: (1) the importance for minimizing the cost of decarbonization of having a diversity of technological options with a range of technical and economic attributes; more specifically, (2) the central importance of having dispatchable low-carbon resources, such as nuclear power or carbon capture and sequestration systems. For example, when dispatchable low-carbon technologies are not available, the cost of achieving deep decarbonization goals is shown to triple in power systems such as New England's with lower renewables potential, and to double even in a Texas-like system with higher renewables potential; and (3) the great potential of new technological concepts for simultaneously reducing CO2 emissions and decreasing the cost of electricity considerably. An important policy implication of this work is the need to shift from technology-specific support mechanisms for decarbonization (e.g. renewable portfolio standards) to general low-carbon support mechanisms that will allow for competition between and adaptation of low-carbon technologies. The methodology developed in this research supports two important new capabilities for policy makers: (1) the ability to calculate the extra cost associated with dispensing with specific technological options {such as nuclear power{ will enable improved cost-benefit analysis of policies directed towards specific technologies; (2) the ability to model the potential impact of new technological concepts on the cost of decarbonization will help to optimize the allocation of R&D resources with respect to their potential contribution to reducing CO2 abatement costs.<br>by Nestor A. Sepulveda.<br>S.M.<br>S.M. in Technology and Policy

The dissertation consists of two chapters on measuring firms technological profile. Patent data can be grouped into two primary generations. The first generation lead by the work of Schmookler (1966), Scherer (1982), and Griliches (1984), and the second generation led by Trajtenberg, Jaffe, and Henderson (1997) and Kogan et al. (2016). When combined, both generations data spans from nearly 1926-2010 and has made a meaningful impact on innovation research. In the first chapter, I propose a third generation of patent data. The third generation of patent data has two distinct contributions. First, it extends patent-firm ownership information beyond 2010 to 2016. The new dataset uses the established connections of previous datasets and builds on that information with additional data on firm names gathered from EDGAR. Second, it takes advantage of the information contained in the text of patents using text analysis. Using text analysis allows for greater flexibility over traditional measures. The second chapter investigates how ownership structure affects firm value. The previous literature has assumed more innovation is better, meaning the more innovation a business creates; the better off it is in the long-run. However, not all innovations are created equal. We contribute to the literature by investigating how institutional investors change future innovation, not in quantity, but diversity. Using several unique measures of technological diversification created from firm-level patent data, we show that institutional investors increase the focus on a firm’s future innovation. Our results are robust to the classification scheme. Ultimately, our results indicate institutional investors create value by encouraging firms to build on prior knowledge.

Actor characterisation using Q methodology and three case study investigations of regional technological innovation systems using novel interaction matrices. This thesis addresses regional aspects of the technological field of hydrogen production from waste. It develops the characterisation of experts involved in the innovation of hydrogen from waste technologies through the use of Q methodology; and a new model (IM-TIS) for the analysis of technological innovation systems. The literature review revealed that the sustainable production of hydrogen from waste processes was not well represented. Truffer et al. (2012) identified a need to further investigate the relationships between functions of innovation and how a technological innovation system may change over time. This was reflected in other innovation and transitions literature. Q methodology revealed three different group identities associated with actors involved in the technological innovation system for hydrogen from waste. These identities are, Hydrogen from Waste Advocates, Cautionary Environmentalists and Hydrogen Technologists. The IM-TIS model developed for this research was applied to three case study regions in the field of hydrogen production from waste in the UK. The model is an adaptation of two existing conceptual models, Rock Engineering Systems (RES) and Functions of Innovation. The thesis identifies and reports on the characteristics of groups of experts involved in hydrogen production from waste and their potential importance. The application of IM-TIS to the three regional case studies of Tees Valley, London and South Wales is presented. A further application of the IM-TIS model using pathway analysis is applied to the case study region of London and results are presented in a worked example. This is the first time a model of this type has been applied to technological innovation system case studies in the UK. It is also the first time a variation of the RES model has been applied in the ways presented in this thesis. The new model provides the opportunity to examine the relationships between functions of innovation and identify what may change within the system over time. It is concluded that the IM-TIS model offers an analysis tool for technological innovation systems that can incorporate the relationships and interactions that occur within the system in a non-linear fashion. Evidence from the research suggests that these interactions have not been adequately addressed in previous studies. A further conclusion is that by addressing the production of hydrogen from waste using these methods, hydrogen technologies are shown to be still in an emergent state.

This dissertation is intended to further technology studies by analyzing some of its important methodological tools and using those tools in combination to study complex technological systems in an historical context. The first chapter of the dissertation examines in detail four influential models by which complex technological systems have been analyzed: Hughesâ s system model, Bijkerâ s social construction model, Latour, Callon, and Lawâ s actor-network model, and Ruth Schwartz Cowanâ s consumption junction model. For each model, I summarize the seminal works, analyze the uses of the model in the literature, and offer some refinements to the models based on that analysis. Chapter 2 presents three case studies applying these models two different technological systems. First, the early development of the American automobile industry, 1895 to 1940, is studied using Hughesâ s concepts of technological momentum and reverse salients. Second, the automobileâ s impact on American society is explored over the same time period relying on Ruth Schwartz Cowanâ s consumer-oriented perspective and Wiebe Bijkerâ s concept of technological frames. The third case study examines the technological means by which, over a long period of time, American cities were rendered impervious to huge conflagrationsâ commonplace until the end of the 19th century. For the analysis of this system, I use actor-network theory, Wiebe Bijkerâ s technological frames, and Hughesâ s reverse salients.<br>Ph. D.

2011/2012<br>Nowadays, the main objective of pharmaceutical companies is to develop innovative oral dosage forms for both prolonged and immediate drug releases. In fact, oral delivery has the peculiar advantage of being highly versatile dosage-wise. However, actives suffering from low oral bioavailability may not always be administered by using traditional dosage forms or common controlled release devices, due to the bioavailability’s strict dependence on both drug solubility in gastrointestinal fluids and on drug permeability through the cellular membranes. Recently, both conventional and modified release oral dosage forms have been developed by applying innovative technologies such as a) melt extrusion, and b) solid-state mechanochemistry. a) Melt extrusion Melt extrusion is a viable technology since it allows the production of a final dosage form having the desired shape and dimension. This is achieved by means of suitable thermoplastic polymeric carriers or by using non-polymeric carriers capable of softening or melting during the process. The loaded drug can be dissolved or dispersed in both crystalline and amorphous forms. Despite the efforts of the scientific community, this process still requires an adequate technology transfer, due to the high number of physical, chemical, physicochemical, mechanical and pharmacokinetics variables influencing the melt extruded product. In this context, the first part of the thesis (Chapter 2) presents an innovative contribution, i.e., the production of unconventional melt helical shaped extrudates with a ram extruder. These extrudates, based on mixtures of microcrystalline wax and theophylline, were characterized in terms of morphology (by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM)), of in vitro dissolution, of solid- state (by means of Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) and X-Ray Powder Diffraction (XRPD)) and by checking the presence of the drug on the surface (by Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS)). Finally, an ad hoc in vitro-vivo modeling, suitably describing, and predicting the drug release and absorption from such kind of systems, was designed. b) Mechanochemistry Mechanochemical activation has been successfully employed to ameliorate the oral performance of drugs having scarce solubility, and therefore, low bioavailability. Through this solvent-free solid-state process, drug-carrier composites containing the drug in a highly available form are obtained thanks to the modification of its physicochemical properties (e.g. in an amorphous or nanocrystalline drug). This is the objective of the first part of Chapter 3, where mechanochemical process has been applied to improve dissolution performance, and therefore, absorption, of two scarcely soluble highly crystalline actives, namely, vinpocetine and vincamine. The drugs were subjected to mechochemical treatment in a lab scale planetary mill, using crosslinked polyvinylpyrrolidone as a carrier for vinpocetine, and sodium crosscarmellose or crosslinked polyvinylpyrrolidone as carriers for vincamine. These studies demonstrated the suitability of these materials to the mechanochemical process, the influence of these carriers on the disruption of the crystalline lattice, and the positive influence of the carriers on the dissolution performances and in vivo absorption. The drug-carrier coground composites were then characterized by means of transmission electron microscopy (TEM), solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (SSNMR), DSC, PXRD, and Raman spectroscopy/imaging. A second possibility of application of the mechanochemical process is the mechanochemical synthesis: this is the focus of the second part of Chapter 3, where the mechanochemical synthesis is employed, under suitable experimental conditions, to promote the solid-state salification of both vinpocetine and vincamine. Citric acid was selected as a reagent, while crosslinked polyvinylpyrrolidone and sodium cross carmellose were chosen as fillers and process adjuvants in the case of vinpocetine and vincamine, respectively. In both cases, several cogrounds (differing from one another in terms of grinding time, active–to-citric acid molar ratio, presence, or absence of the filler) were prepared. This way, by means of a proper experimental design, the influence of the above mentioned formulation and process variables were studied. XPS and high-resolution TEM were used to obtain qualitative and quantitative information about the produced salt forms and to get some insight into the salification mechanism.<br>Oggi, l’obiettivo principale dell’industria farmaceutica consiste nel progettare forme farmaceutiche innovative convenzionali a rilascio immediato e/o protratto, adatte per uso orale, poiché i vantaggi di questo tipo di somministrazione consistono nella versatilità del dosaggio. Tuttavia, questa strategia fallisce quando si trattano principi attivi con una bassa biodisponibilità e che quindi non possono essere somministrati in forma classica, o con i normali metodi di rilascio controllato; dove la stessa biodisponibilità è legata a parametri chiave, tra cui la solubilità del farmaco nei fluidi gastrointestinali e la sua permeabilità attraverso le membrane cellulari. Con lo scopo di migliorare sia la biodisponibilità dei principi attivi poco solubili, che di ottenere forme a rilascio controllato, recentemente, l’applicazione di tecnologie innovative, quali l’estrusione per fusione e l’attivazione meccanochimica allo stato solido, hanno permesso la realizzazione di diverse forme farmaceutiche orali convenzionali e quelle non convenzionali. L’estrusione per fusione è un processo vantaggioso perché, utilizzando opportuni leganti basso-fondenti, consente la realizzazione di prodotti farmaceutici dotati di forma e dimensioni omogenee; tutto ciò è possibile poiché con l’estrusione si sfruttano sia la termoplasticità dei polimeri sia il rammollimento o la fusione dei carrier non polimerici, per dare origine a matrici all’interno delle quali il farmaco può esser disciolto, intrappolato o disperso sotto forma cristallina. Purtroppo, benché grandi sforzi siano stati intrapresi dalla comunità scientifica per il trasferimento tecnologico del suddetto processo, rimane ancora un compito parzialmente irrisolto a causa del numero elevato di variabili fisiche, chimiche, farmacocinetiche e meccaniche correlate al processo stesso. In correlazione a questo, la prima parte di tesi (Capitolo 2) ha valuto portare un contributo innovativo, dove la preparazione di forme farmaceutiche solide per uso orale ad azione protratta, consiste nella progettazione, formulazione e caratterizzazione di estrusi con una forma non convenzionale, cioè elicoidale, in un estrusore a pistone, composti da teofillina e cera microcristallina come agente matriciale. Gli estrusi ottenuti, sono stati in seguito caratterizzati in vitro, effettuando studi morfologici mediante microscopia elettronica a scansione (SEM), test di dissoluzione, studio dello stato solido utilizzando la calorimetria a scansione differenziale (DSC), la difrattometria a raggi X per polveri (XRPD), analisi del farmaco in superficie mediante spettroscopia di fotoemissione (XPS) e una modellizzazione in vitro-vivo, che si è dimostrata adeguata alla descrizione e alla previsione del meccanismo di rilascio e di assorbimento. Per ciò che concerne l’attivazione meccano-chimica allo stato solido, quest’ultima si basa su processi che consentono di migliorare le “performance” dei principi attivi, caratterizzati da una scarsa solubilità e quindi bassa biodisponibilità. Tale tecnologia consente, infatti, di realizzare la miglior combinazione tra un principio attivo e un materiale “trasportatore”, che permette la realizzazione di materiali compositi, così da aumentarne la biodisponibilità e quindi l’efficacia del prodotto. Nel processo non si utilizzano solventi (processo allo stato solido), ma vengono migliorate le proprietà chimico-fisiche, dove un principio attivo cristallino viene trasformato in amorfo e/o nanocristallo. Una prima applicazione della suddetta tecnologia è stata trattata nella prima parte del Capitolo 3, dove allo scopo di migliorare le performance dissolutive e conseguente assorbimento, due principi attivi cristallini poco solubili quali la vinpocetina e la vincamina sono stati sottoposti ad un processo di comacinazione, in un mulino planetario, in presenza del polivinilpirrolidone reticolato per la vinpocetina, mentre sia del polivinilpirrolidone reticolato che della sodiocarbossimetilcellulosa reticolata per la vincamina. Tale strategia ha permesso di riscontrare l’attitudine di tali materiali al processo di attivazione meccanochimica, l’influenza dei carrier sulla destrutturazione del reticolo cristallino nonché la positiva influenza dei due polimeri sulle proprietà dissolutive e sull’assorbimento per via orale. I compositi ottenuti sono stati caratterizzati mediante microscopia e trasmissione elettronica (TEM), spettroscopia di risonanza magnetica nucleare allo stato solido (SSNMR), DSC, XRPD, Raman spectroscopy/imaging. Una seconda possibile applicazione del processo meccanochimico, a cui viene introdotto il lettore nella seconda parte del Capitolo 3, è la sintesi meccano-chimica allo stato solido. In questo caso tale processo è stato impiegato al fine di promuovere mediante comacinazione in un molino planetario, in opportune condizioni sperimentali, la salificazione della vinpocetina e della vincamina usando quale reagente l’acido citrico. Veniva inoltre valutata la presenza in qualità di diluente adiuvante il polivinilpirrolidone reticolato nel caso della vinpocetina, e della sodio carbossimetilcellulosa per la vincamina. E’ stata preparata un’ampia serie di comacinati, in diverse condizioni sperimentali (differente durata della comacinazione, rapporto molare principio attivo/acido citrico, presenza assenza del diluente) e l’influenza di quest’ultime variabili sul processo di salificazione è stata stimata mediante opportuni design sperimentali, dove la spettroscopia di fotoemissione (XPS) e la microscopia a trasmissione elettronica ad alta risoluzione (HRTEM) hanno permesso di fornire non solo informazioni qualitative e quantitative sul prodotto salificato, ma anche quelle sul meccanismo della reazione di salificazione stessa.<br>XXV Ciclo<br>1985

This thesis investigates the development of regional agri-food systems and their supply chains to understand how they affect the sustainability of rural regions. It argues that the existing dichotomies of alternative-local and conventional-global do not provide a sufficiently nuanced understanding of the dynamic transitions and interactions that occur in regional agri-food systems. Deploying and extending socio-technological systems theory, the thesis explores the interaction between nested levels of sectoral and general agri-food regimes and reconstructs the emerging logics of interaction. Against this background, it analyses how alternative agri-food supply chain innovations evolve and assesses their various degrees of success. The meat, dairy and horticultural sectors in SW Wales are investigated as case studies, using a mixed methodological approach combining secondary data analysis and interviews with key stakeholders and supply chain actors. The research finds three sub-sectoral systems with highly differentiated socio-technological configurations and equally diversely configured niches. Using the socio- technological systems framework the: socio-technological configuration, degree of system stability and the future transitional pathways of the each sub-sectoral system is examined. This framework also creates the basis for an assessment of how likely their innovations are to be adopted or absorbed by the conventional agri-food system in SW Wales. The thesis finds that meaningful interactions occur not only within each sub-sector and betweentheir niches but also between sub-sectoral systems. The thesis ultimately provides a nuanced analysis of SW Wales’ agri-food systems that shows the complexity of regional food systems and critiques possible sustainable responses from public policy. It demonstrates that a socio-technical regime perspective can uncover the manifold relations between local and regional agri-food innovations and the dominant, multi-layered agri-food system. This constitutes a major empirical and conceptual contribution to the debates on sustainable food and rural development.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2010.<br>Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.<br>Includes bibliographical references (p. 154-163).<br>Motivation -- Industrial firms survive, sustain and co-evolve by participating in the sector of innovation and production through industrial transactions with each other. However, it is difficult for specialized firms to be aware of and manage accordingly the kind of systemic constraints and opportunities induced by relevant but indirect transactions, as well as the technological and economic requirements of their value chains, which they cannot control or even sufficiently observe. The myopia may cause specialized firms to implement incorrect strategies, leave them vulnerable to system failures or ignorant of emerging opportunities. This implies a paradox: the simultaneous needs to specialize and to understand and manage the big picture of the eco-system. Goal -- Previous industry studies have focused on the question if a transaction with an external firm is needed rather than in-house production, and on empirical work from single industries or bilateral relationships between firms. Meanwhile, the firms' positions in the sectoral transactional network are also influential to the success and performance of firms. In this dissertation, I conduct transactional network analysis to explore how firms are organized in the sector of aggregated industries, in order to shed light on the set of previously ignored knowledge on industrial transactions, which is valuable to single firms in designing strategies and managing operations but is not available from firm- and industry-level analysis. Hierarchy in Industry Architecture -- At the sector level, existing theories often assumed hierarchical or non-hierarchical relationships among industrial firms, and quantitative evidence on variable degrees of hierarchy in industry sectors is lacking. This dissertation first identifies and defines the type of hierarchy relevant to industry studies -flow hierarchy, develops a network-based metric on the degree of hierarchy (one-way flow of transactions), and applies it to the transaction data from two industrial sectors in Japan. The empirical results show that the electronics sector exhibits a significantly lower degree of hierarchy than the automotive sector due to the presence of many transaction cycles. It shows that the simplistic hierarchy hypothesis for production sectors does not always hold. Industrial Network Model and Transaction Specificity -- I further create a network simulation model with random networks to relate sector-level hierarchy degrees to firm-level behavioral variables, and infer transaction specificity, i.e. the extent to which a firm is captive to a niche of customers positioned closely in the industrial network hierarchy. The model builds on three basic rules on market structures, i.e. hierarchy, niche, and the mapping relationship between roles and positions. Transaction specificity provides a way to quantify the tendency of a firm to fix or institutionalize its role according to its relative network position, or where the transactions of a firm are oriented in the value chains, whereas traditional studies analyze whether a transaction versus in-house production is needed. The result shows that transaction specificity in the electronics sector is quantitatively much lower than that in the automotive sector. Interviews and Firm Boundary Strategies -- I further conducted interviews with nine firms in the two sectors and found that, with decision rationales related to product modularity, innovation dynamics and asset specificity, the major electronics firms take the permeable vertical boundary strategy and diversified horizontal boundary strategy, which decrease transaction specificity so that many transaction cycles emerge in the electronics sector. My analysis shows the permeability of a firm's vertical boundary, i.e. playing multiple value chain roles, is the necessary condition for transaction cycles to emerge. Meanwhile, these two strategies are not feasible in the automotive sector according to interviews. They are also not observed in the American electronics sector. My data show the American electronics firms tend to be vertically specialized in the value chains. Social-Technical Arguments -- Linking network analysis results, interview data, and the prior work on the physical limits to product modularity, I argue that higher power level of a sector's technologies leads to higher transaction specificity, and more hierarchical transaction lows across the sector. High power technologies constrain strategic transaction choices, while lower power technologies enable a larger option space of transaction strategies, for companies to explore and exploit. Implications -- For academics, the use of network analysis permits transaction cost analysis, or more general analysis of transaction-related decisions, to be extended from the boundary of a firm to the architecture of a sector comprising related industries. It gives us a bird's-eye view to observe firm-level transaction behaviors and create new knowledge on transaction specificity. In addition, the analysis of the physical properties of product technologies allows us to interpret the difference in transaction specificities and hierarchy degrees of different sectors, which economic and sociology theories cannot explain. For industry practitioners, this research suggests that firms' choices for industrial transactions are under some predictable constraints from product technologies. A better understanding of the linkages between industry architecture, firm transaction strategy, and product technology, in turn can guide companies to tailor transaction strategies to implicit technological constraints and to adequately explore strategic options made feasible by technologies.<br>by Jianxi Luo.<br>Ph.D.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2012.<br>Vita. Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.<br>Includes bibliographical references.<br>Global participation in space activity is growing as satellite technology matures and spreads. Countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America are creating or reinvigorating national satellite programs. These countries are building local capability in space through technological learning. They sometimes pursue this via collaborative satellite development projects with foreign firms that provide training. This phenomenon of collaborative satellite development projects is poorly understood by researchers of technological learning and technology transfer. The approach has potential to facilitate learning, but there are also challenges due to misaligned incentives and the tacit nature of the technology. Perspectives from literature on Technological Learning, Technology Transfer, Complex Product Systems and Product Delivery provide useful but incomplete insight for decision makers in such projects. This work seeks a deeper understanding of capability building through collaborative technology projects by conceiving of the projects as complex, socio-technical systems with architectures. The architecture of a system is the assignment of form to execute a function along a series of dimensions. The research questions explore the architecture of collaborative satellite projects, the nature of capability building during such projects, and the relationship between architecture and capability building. The research design uses inductive, exploratory case studies to investigate six collaborative satellite development projects. Data collection harnesses international field work driven by interviews, observation, and documents. The data analysis develops structured narratives, architectural comparison and capability building assessment. The architectural comparison reveals substantial variation in project implementation, especially in the areas of project initiation, technical specifications of the satellite, training approaches and the supplier selection process. The individual capability building assessment shows that most trainee engineers gradually progressed from no experience with satellites through theoretical training to supervised experience; a minority achieved independent experience. At the organizational level, the emerging space organizations achieved high levels of autonomy in project definition and satellite operation, but they were dependent on foreign firms for satellite design, manufacture, test and launch. The case studies can be summarized by three archetypal projects defined as "Politically Pushed," "Structured," and "Risk Taking." Countries in the case studies tended to start in a Politically Pushed mode, and then moved into either Structured or Risk Taking mode. Decision makers in emerging satellite programs can use the results of this dissertation to consider the broad set of architectural options for capability building. Future work will continue to probe how specific architectural decisions impact capability building outcomes in satellite projects and other technologies.<br>by Danielle Renee Wood.<br>Ph.D.

This thesis investigates the existence and form of association between the technological structure of one of the most highly capital-intensive industries in the world, the paper and pulp (p&p) industry, and its dynamic behaviour in terms of market growth and development. Industrial structure issues are particularly relevant in highly capital-intensive sectors because they reflect the influence of economies of scale and changing patterns of entry and exit. The thesis draws upon two related bodies of literature: the dynamics of industrial structure, and heterogeneity within industry. It uses a quantitative hypothesis-deductive method and two panel databases. The first of these databases identifies key characteristics of the world's 150 largest p&p firms during the period 1978-2000, accounting for two-thirds of world output. The second dataset contains annual production capacity for the entire population of US p&p companies during the period 1970-2000. The US is the largest producer and consumer of p&p, accounting for one-third of world output. The main findings are as follows. Firstly, we demonstrate that p&p firms' growth is not a 'random walk' process, a generalization referred to in the literature as Gibrat's law. Nor is there a linear relation between growth and size distribution or between time and growth rates. We find that size, technology and time matter. Secondly, we demonstrate that this departure from Gibrat's law is due to the existence of three distinctive technological configurations or strategic groups of firms: 'Large & Diversified', 'Medium & Specialized', and 'Small & Very Specialized', which show persistently heterogeneous growth performance. In contrast with the findings in most of the recent empirical literature that shows smaller firms growing faster within the industry size distribution, the medium & specialized p&p companies show systematically the highest rates of growth. Thirdly, patterns of p&p firm survival and technological adoption behaviour over the last three decades are identified and related to the principal technological advances during the period, i.e. the very rapid increase in paper machine operating speed. The research contributes to the literature by providing robust new empirical evidence of the persistence over time of an intra-industry technological structure that systematically influences the heterogeneous performance of firms with different technological configurations and whose origins are linked to firms' growth processes (industrial dynamics) in the p&p industry.

The primary aims of this thesis, is to provide a body of knowledge on variable structure system theory and to apply the developed design concepts to control practical systems. It introduces the concept of a structure. The main aim in designing variable structure controllers, is to synthesize a variable structure system from two or more single structure systems, in such a way that the ensuing system out-performs its component structures. When a sliding mode is defined, the ensuing closed loop behaviour of the system is invariant to plant parameter changes and external disturbances. A variable structure controller was designed for a servo motor and successfully applied to the system. In practice, the phase plane representative point does not slide at infinite frequency with infinitesimal amplitude along the switching surface(s). Thus, the concept of a quasi-sliding regime was introduced. For high performance system specifications, the phase plane representative point could cycle about the origin. In some instances, sliding could be lost. For high speed applications, a novel design modification ensured that the system did not lose sliding. In addition, the controller could track a rapidly changing set point. Successful results support the developed theory.

With increasing challenges from international competition and domestic demands for a technologically literate workforce, pressure is growing on the educational system to produce students that are literate in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Integrative STEM education utilizes design-based pedagogical approaches to teach science/math content and practices concurrently with technology/engineering content and practices (Wells & Ernst, 2012, para. 2). The discipline of technology education has traditionally implemented design-based pedagogical approaches. However, the discipline has not demonstrated through empirical research that its existence and pedagogies are beneficial to student learning and cognition (Lewis, 1999, 2006; Petrina, 1998; Wells, 2008, 2010; Zuga, 1994, 1997, 2001).<br />The purpose of this study was to demonstrate that the technological design-based approach to teaching biotechnology literacy supports students\' connections of science and technology concepts. Grounded in Ausubel\'s (1968) theory on meaningful learning and Novak\'s (1980) advanced organizer of concept mapping, this study examined evidence of high school students\' cognitive structural change throughout the technological design-based approach to instruction. At three key intervals throughout the technological design process, students developed concept maps to document their understanding of the biology and technology concepts presented within the instructional materials. Data for this study included the students\' constructed concept maps. To analyze the concept maps, the researcher used Hay et al.\'s (2008) three-method analysis for measuring the quality of students\' learning, and a qualitative analysis.<br />Data analysis across all four methods indicated that all participants experienced a varying degree of growth in biology, technology, and integrative concepts and connections. Collectively this study supports the notion that the technological design-based approach to instruction does indeed (1) encourage meaningful learning, and (2) increase students\' use of higher order thinking indicated by their abilities to demonstrate their use of schematic and strategic knowledge within their concept maps. The results of this study have direct implications within the areas of Technology Education, Science Education, classroom practice, and concept mapping. The discussion and implications suggest the need to expand the research conducted within this study, and to improve the methods for concept mapping analysis.<br>Ph. D.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; and, (S.M. in Technology and Policy)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, Technology and Policy Program, 2012.<br>Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.<br>Includes bibliographical references (p. 59-62).<br>Technological development is one of the main drivers in economic progress throughout the world and is strongly linked to the creation of new industries, jobs, and wealth. This thesis attempts to better understand how a specific technological field develops over time and to examine the policy implications resulting from that research. In order to research the specific field, we present a repeatable method to identify and describe the important innovations in an industry, using the solar photovoltaic industry as a case study. A set of 2484 patented inventions in the solar PV industry between 1961 and 2011 was selected and their metadata and textual information were analyzed using a mixture of qualitative, quantitative and objective tests. Within the patent set, a group of most highly cited patents was located and defined. We found that these highly cited patents improved on technologies across different technological hierarchy levels and that the hierarchy levels did not appear to follow any pattern over time. When compared with other patents in the set of 2484, the highly cited patents, contrary to some conjectures, did not apparently rely more on new scientific discoveries as they did not cite scientific literature more frequently than less cited patents. These findings support the theory that even the most important developments in a field are part of an integrated system and cannot be treated as standalone improvements. The work also indicates that ascribing the bulk of progress to "breakthroughs" is not seen in objective data. The thesis continues with an analysis of how these findings may apply to innovation polices in organizations. Finally, technological innovation strategies within MIT, Stanford and the United States Air Force are analyzed through the lens of the model constructed from the findings.<br>by Christopher L Benson.<br>S.M.in Technology and Policy<br>S.M.

This dissertation relates and analysis the development of the Swedish mobile telephone industry from 1950-98. Based on a research of entrepreneurial theories three forms of entrepreneurship are formulated, the individual as entrepreneur, the company as entrepreneur, and the network as entrepreneur. The mobile telephone industry is seen as a technological system incorporating a broad spectrum of participants, and the account analysis how the entrepreneurs carry out different types of innovations. It starts out as a technical project, with market related innovations becoming a greater force in the final phase. The source of entrepreneurship varies over time and the individual plays a significant role early on while the network becomes of a greater importance as the system develops.<br>Diss. Stockholm : Handelshögsk.

A study of the process of technological change in contemporary Mayan agricultural systems was undertaken by an action research method that involved close collaboration with the rural development efforts of farmers in the northern highlands of Chiapas, Mexico. Firstly, the socioeconomic context of technological change in Chiapas was described, with special reference to the effects of markets on agricultural development. Secondly, theta actors affecting the productivity and sustainability of the regions principal agricultural systems: maize and beans for subsistence and coffee for cash were described and measured. The use of traditional swidden methods of maize cultivation with shorter fallow periods was found to be causing a significant decline in the fertility of soils. Alternative, non-burning methods were found to be sustainable in terms of soil fertility, but required high labour inputs and were less productive during a 2-3 year transition period. Despite government programmes to promote the development of coffee plantations most farmers had adopted only ad hoc improvements, and coffee system productivities were found to be generally low. Models integrating dynamic and linear progranuning components of the improvement problem systems in maize and coffee production were constructed using evidence from the field studies. By examining a number of hypothetical scenarios, further hypotheses about the coffee and maize systems were generated. It was inferred that the relative scarcity of farm labour, cash or land resources would affect the optimum technical decisions of farmers. In particular, it was concluded that farmers with scarce cash resources would face most difficulty (in terms of loss of effective income) in adopting non-burning maize techniques and the promoted methods of coffee plantation improvement. On the basis of the evidence from the field studies and the modelling exercises a number of technical, project and policy recommendations were advocated. These were based upon the objective of maximising the potential competitive strengths of the peasant mode of production, including: the efficient use of marginal, dispersed and inaccessible resources and the production of a wide range of specialised agricultural and forestry products.

Thesis (S.M. in Engineering and Management)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, System Design and Management Program, 2011.<br>Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.<br>Includes bibliographical references (p. 129-136).<br>The aim of this research is to understand how emerging rotorcraft companies in various countries accomplished technological learning over the last sixty years. Owing to its unique products and growing market demand, rotorcraft industry is one of the most globalized and dynamic sectors of the aerospace industry. Understanding technological learning in the rotorcraft industry is important to industrial policy makers and corporate managers who are seeking more clarity in the relationship between rotorcraft companies and the global social-political environment. Although there has already been extensive research on technological learning in various industries, evidence of technological learning in the rotorcraft industry has been lacking. This research aims to fill this gap in the field of technological learning by unveiling the learning dynamic and technological evolution of emerging rotorcraft companies. This thesis will analyze these developments by research on emerging rotorcraft companies' National Innovation Systems (NIS) and their different modes of cooperation with foreign companies. The analysis on the companies' NIS is an important element of the research framework as it defines the national innovation environment for the industry. NIS represents the unique system of institutional, private and foreign stakeholders and their interaction in the country. The analysis on the different modes of cooperation with foreign companies is the second key element of the research framework as mode of cooperation is an important technological indicator for emerging rotorcraft companies. To substantiate the findings of technological learning in the rotorcraft industry, three case studies of emerging rotorcraft companies - Agusta (Italy), Avicopter (China) and Kawasaki Heavy Industries Aerospace (Japan) were made. Each case provides both holistic and detailed view of the unique technological learning system of the company by analyzing both national-level and company-level factors. This thesis synthesizes and compares the three companies' technological learning systems and draws conclusion in relationship to their respective NIS. This thesis has identified that concurrent internal learning, a history of cooperation, favorable national learning environment and production scale are essential for emerging rotorcraft companies to succeed. Moreover, it has also found that denial of technology access only slows down but does not prevent technological learning completely. This thesis will not only provide industrial policy makers and corporate managers with greater insight into the technological learning systems of emerging rotorcraft companies, but also a different perspective regarding technological transfer and cooperation. Finally, this thesis contributes to the research on technological learning through its original case studies from the rotorcraft industry.<br>by Thiam Soon Gan.<br>S.M.in Engineering and Management

In modern industrial conditions different operations are carried out in different conditions, and consequently, with their various duration. Operation synchronization at large engineering distinction of producing items is especially difficult and in many cases even impossible. At different duration each pair of adjacent operations absorbs or accumulates stock, if it is not available item storage or equipment standstill will be observed. Stock storage needs interpreting stores. However, store using essentially contradicts the requirement of manufacture continuity because the industrial areas and production cycle duration increase.

A woman’s experience in the workplace is an inductive process into a technological, hierarchical, and often male-dominated system. This study examines how female practitioners in technical and professional communication confront the technological system of the workplace. I trace the forces that contribute to the hierarchy and power struggles women face, I present how they claim authority and agency within such hierarchical and technological systems, and I show how these experiences can lead to activism and advocacy.In addition, my findings suggest that some women leave the workplace altogether in favor of less structured and more innovative ways of communicating about technologies, particularly technologies and processes they find more applicable to their lives as women. The data from 39 interviews with female practitioners reveals that the traditional notion of the workplace is in crisis, and that women are asserting agency in order to disrupt the system and ensure a place for themselves within it.

This thesis deals with a new paradigm for Complex Systems of an evolving structure which is referred to as Structure Evolving Systems (SES). A wide range of challenging issues are concerned involving the evolution of structure and associated system properties through different forms of complexity and these are closely related to integrated system design. The thesis deals specifically with issues related to the representation of t.he different forms of structural evolut.ion. A number of new forms of evolution are introduced expressing differ- ent design problems, such as Design Time Evolution, Dimensional Graph Evolution, Life Cycle Structural Evolution, Cascade Design Evolution. The main objective is to develop a representation framework for the different types of structural evolution which will offer the proper set up for the study of evolution of structural characteristics and system prop- erties. The main part of the study is concerned with the development of representation of the System Structure Evolution in terms of a chain of models as a way to represent the different stages of Design Time Evolution which involves the modelling of a system from the very early stages up to the late stages when detailed descriptions are used for design. The development of nested representations for the case of Single-Input, Single-Output Systems is presented here based on the theory of continuous fraction expansion of rational functions and then examine property evolution within the naturally generated nests. A " natural" way for generating chains of models of variable complexity is introduced based on a frequency domain approach using the infinite Laurent expansion. This approach provides a natural link to the problem of partial realization, which in turn provides a useful set up for tpe study of evolution of system structure and properties. Within the framework of Cascade Design Evolution, we develop a generic representation describing the evolution from the aggregate system to the composite system. This involves the development of the new concept of COTY1- pleteness of composition. We also clarify the notion of deviations from completeness ,; , develop a representation of the noncomplete composite system in terms of standard control concepts and tools. This provides the fundamentals for the development of a control theory based approach for designing composite systems with desirable structural characteristics. Within this framework, completeness is expressed as output feedback and deviations from completeness as input and output decentralized squaring down. This representation pro- vides control concepts and tools which allow the structuring of linear composite systems to be addressed as a problem of generalised control design. The present work contributes to the development of the theory of the new system paradigm and studies the evolution of a number of system properties under different types of system structure evolution.

Thesis (S.M. in Technology and Policy)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, Technology and Policy Program, 2011.<br>Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.<br>Includes bibliographical references (p. 76-78).<br>Large incentive competitions are becoming increasingly popular amongst policymakers and philanthropists as a mission-orientated tool for inducing innovation, particularly in areas of national priority where market incentives and conventional tools such as patents and procurements tend not to be sufficient. Using inducement mechanisms (motivators) such as a large financial reward, demanding deliverables, and technical support, incentive competitions seek to motivate innovators to exert effort and develop creative solutions to pre-defined problems. According to the literature, these motivators can be powerful mechanisms for influencing effort and creativity but their effectiveness very much depends on the combination of motivators used and conditions under which they are executed. There is a serious lack of empirical evidence on the motivators and conditions of large incentive competitions and their effectiveness to influence behaviour and outcomes. Therefore, we cannot fully appreciate the role of large incentive competitions in the innovation policy tool kit. A small body of empirical data exists on the impact of motivators within small online prizes but these prizes are very different to large incentive competitions in terms of the intended motivators incorporated and the competition environment. Through qualitative and quantitative analysis of one large incentive competition- the Progressive Automotive XPRIZE (PIAXP), this thesis aims to explore the motivators incorporated into PIAXP and their ability to orient people towards a specified mission and induce innovative behaviour. In turn, this thesis aims to 1) better understand the role incentive prizes as an innovation tool and 2) identify the motivators and prize design that can be used in incentive competitions to promote desired outcomes. My research identifies two unique features of PIAXP, which can provide insight into large incentive competitions in general. 1) PIAXP effectively attracted and focused a diverse set of solvers on a specific problem, who otherwise would not or could not pursue the prize objective(s). For example, 35% of teams did not exist before. Of those teams that did exist, 30% were informal and 17% were non-vehicle- related, all turning to formal vehicle teams for the PIAXP; 2) PIAXP facilitated the development of participating teams and ideas, and actively induced innovative behaviour during the competition. These findings emphasize the important of motivators and prize design to attract and support the development of solvers and solutions. In terms of competition design, participants and organizations were influenced in different ways. Influential motivators included: recognition (validation, publicity, and personal pride), performance accelerators (business and personal), and intrinsic passion for the cause. Other elements of design that influenced entry levels and behaviour included: structure (length/ barriers to entry), categories (broad, specific or multiple), collaborative events, and support (for the organization and individual). Success within PIAXP was positively correlated with compensation and competition but negatively correlated with recognition. Effort was positively correlated with reputation but negatively correlated with fun.<br>by Georgina A. Campbell.<br>S.M.in Technology and Policy

We are currently living in a society that is undergoing a rapid digitalization, spurring organizations to adapt and evolve their ways of operating through technology. But is it realistic to accept that all these technological changes come without some form of resistance? Technological resistance is not a new term, tracking back several centuries it is considered to be one of the side-effects that has followed the development of technology. The study utilizes a case study to investigate a department in the swedish public sector that is currently being introduced to intelligent automation (IA). By collecting insights through interviews from the perspectives of essential parties connected to the automation-project, we came to the understanding that the perceptions of a resistance can differ between actors. In this case, the technological resistance boiled down to a fear of technology’s limitations. It also became clear that the organizational form, the implementation, confusion about roles/responsibilities and the system itself were contributing factors to the technological resistance experienced in the case. The study shows the multifacetedness of technological resistance as well as how factors connected to an organization can impact the perception of the phenomenon.

This research was concerned with the collection of empirical data necessary to estimate the effects of decision support tools on the performance of distributed groups. Data was collected in a controlled experimental environment that simulated a geographically-dispersed meeting through the use of videoconferencing and group communication support (GCSS) technology. Results of the use of a Group Decision Support System (GDSS) on group process and outcome variables were mixed. As predicted by the literature the use of a GDSS by distributed groups improved overall group consensus, decision accuracy, and decision effectiveness. The use of a GDSS also increased perceived process structure. Contrary to previous studies, the use of a GDSS increased decision time, and decreased overall satisfaction with the group process. No significant effects were found for perceived consensus, cooperation, amount of information exchange, or confidence in the decision. A strong correlation was found between decision quality and decision time. An even stronger correlation was found between perceived structure of the process and satisfaction with the process. The lack of feedback about the process and its outcomes could explain the lack of a GDSS effect on perceptions of consensus, cooperation, and confidence in the decision. Perception of subjective measures of the process may depend on the presence of the appropriate types of feedback. The results suggest that an increase in structure without a perceived improvement in decision quality (confidence in the decision) tends to reduce group satisfaction. A richer taxonomy for Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) systems is proposed whereby three orthogonal dimensions of group support are defined. These three dimensions of group support are: Communication support, decision support, and presence support. This new taxonomy suggests a number of research directions aimed at the empirical identification of contextual and design factors relevant to distributed group performance and decision making performance in general.<br>Master of Science