Recent Changes

Use this Wiki to upload articles, write assignments and comment and receive comments on assignments in the English for Engineers course. Hopefully, the Wiki will enhance your understanding of the types of text we work with in this course!
All the best,
BeckyBecky, Lene and SarahVivianne
This wiki will start in study week 2 (week 4), study period 3. Note that you need an account on Wikispaces in order to edit pages and create new pages on this space. Importantly, when you sign up, use your first name as part of your username so that it is possible to identify you! (e.g. RobinT)
Assignment 1

Use this Wiki to upload articles, write assignments and comment and receive comments on assignments in the English for Engineers course. Hopefully, the Wiki will enhance your understanding of the types of text we work with in this course!
All the best,
Becky, LeneBecky and VivianneSarah
This wiki will start in study week 2 (week 4), study period 3. Note that you need an account on Wikispaces in order to edit pages and create new pages on this space. Importantly, when you sign up, use your first name as part of your username so that it is possible to identify you! (e.g. RobinT)
Assignment 1

Observe that it may be a good idea to write the summary in a word-processor document first and then write it on the wiki, as web-editing always entails the slight chance of information going missing in the making.
Example summary with link:
“Optimal selection of motor and gearhead in mechatronic applications”, Fredrik Roos, Hans Johansson, Jan Wijander, 2005
Nowadays, one of the most important design decisions in a mechatronic project is the selection of electric motor and gearhead. This choice is difficult because it affects the structure of the system, its dynamic performance and its total cost. The article deals with a method for such a choice that helps to find the best motor/gearhead combination with respect to some criteria such as weight, cost, peak power, output torque, size, energy and efficiency.
This method is applicable to all kind of loads and takes into account all limiting phenomena of the motor and gearhead. It takes as input the load cycle and the data of the candidates. At the end, it displays a set of graphs of all motor/gear ratio combinations that can drive the given load. Moreover, this method is intended to be implemented in a mathematical numerical software such as Matlab.
The method is divided into four parts. First of all, candidate motors, gearhead type and family that can drive the load have to be selected. Then, the speed limit has to be determined and the maximum gear ratio has to be derived. After, motor/gear ratio combinations that cannot drive the load have to be eliminated. Then, for the remaining motor/gear ratios, peak power and required energy have to be derived. Finally, results have to be plotted and the best motor/gear ratio has to be chosen.
Although this method helps to choose an electric motor and gearhead, the final choice belongs to the user.
Ludovic Ventalon
Turner, P. (2008) Towards an account of intuitiveness, Behaviour & Information Technology 27(6), 475-482.
In the article
TowardsIn "Towards an account of intuitiveness,intuitiveness", Turner (2008)
LindaB/LeneN
Nanotechnologies to mitigate global warming
Summary for Nanotechnologies to mitigate global warming
This article introduces the basic fundamentals about nanotechnology which is the study of manipulating matter on molecular scale in mitigating carbon dioxide emission by two methods. One is reducing energy consumption by the way of improving energy efficiency. Another process is to utilize renewable energy and energy storage technology in term of nanomaterials.
In the introduction, we know that global warming is becoming more and more our environmental concern, and transportation accounts for 28 percent of total energy consumption which leads to carbon dioxide emissions, followed by industrial sector (20%).
For the energy consumption and improving efficiency part, transportation and residential sectors are taken into account. There are mainly five ways to improve the energy efficiency by using nanotechnology: light weight materials, nanocatalysts, friction and wear resistance reduction, overall heat transfer coefficient (U-value) reductions, higher luminous efficiency lights instead of incandescent light bulbs.
For the renewable energy generation sector, the author deals with several parts: solar cells, fuel cells, hydrogen economy, and energy storage (batteries and supercapacitors). The information about the application based on nanotechnology is also given in this part, including recent developmental activities and technical breakthroughs in solar cells, major nano-based batteries producer producer and significant achievements in nano engineered supercapacitors
In the conclusion, nanomaterials should be produced using energy from renewable energy resources instead of fossil fuels, otherwise the preliminary purpose of reducing carbon dioxide is pointless.
Reference:
Journal Name: Nanowerk
Publised Time: May 4, 2010
Bobin, Wei
Cultural and Language Barriers In the Workplace
Cultural and Language Barriers In the Workplace
In line with recent development on foreign presence in the local community, in which the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Work Development Board (WDB) resides, they have published a guide with information on how to deal and capitalize on this diversity.
The WDB recognizes the importance of assimilating foreign-born residents in the workplace as well as in society in general. Further, one may draw important knowledge by embarking on such activities. The author makes an interesting remark when stating that immigrant workers are often found to be more motivated than domestic and that they add an international flavor to the workplace, which is especially important for companies striving for an international profile. The WDB stresses the importance of workers having knowledge of nuances in culture in order to avoid or overcome so called language or cultural barriers and further assimilation and effective communication.
The WDB puts forward a list of common barriers and further offers tips on how to overcome some of these challenges. Factors as roles and status, personal space, body language, religion and personal appearance are identified as key elements in cracking the code of assimilation. However, even more factors come into play but with an increasing number of nationalities it is perceived impossible to identify all factors influencing the assimilation process.
Lastly, the importance of how employers can help to bridge the cultural divide in the workplace is suggested. The significance of the assistance by the employer does not, however, relieve the immigrant worker from the responsibility of making efforts of his or her own in order to assimilate.
Stefan Eriksson
High voltage direct current super grid
HVDC
The demand of a renewable society is growing and we can only reach the goal by stop using fossil fuels. By investing in renewable sources like wind power, solar energy, biomass and hydro, we could replace the energy supplies of today society. For example one hour sun could be enough for one day energy demand for the hole planet. But the problem is that not all countries has continuous clean energy sources.
High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) power grids is a long transmissions cable technology that could be the main key for making europe go carbon free. By connecting all our energy sources to one power grid we could supply clean energy for all our consumers. Non renewable sources can supply energy continuous, that's why it's advantage that we have different kinds of energy sources. There a lots of kind of ides how we can get constant energy. One example is when we have excess energy from the wind power, we could use it for pumping up water in the lake, so we can use hydro power when the wind stand still.
HVDC cable is getting better and more economic profit. When we need to transport energy at vary long distance, its more efficiency doing it with HVDC cable then High voltage Alternating Current (HVAC) cable. Today companies using HVAC, because it has good efficiency for converting from high to low voltage and back again . But now days we have good efficiency on converting from high and low and back again at HVDC too. The hardware for the HVDC inverters is getting cheaper and so there is no reason for using HVAC as long transmissions line. /Daniel Samuel
Utilization pattern of Olympic parks and its application in Beijing (link)
Olympic.pdf (PDF file)
How to use the Olympic parks afterwards and a deeper look at Beijing
The article was written by a group of Chinese researchers who studied how the Olympic Park in Beijing was planned to be used both during and after the Olympic games. They think that it is very important that during the planning process consider how to use the park afterwards to have the best use of it.
In the article they look back in history at other Olympic Games and the host cities. They look at the planning process, the investors, the current situation, any characteristics and the manager. The researchers also came up with some examples of how the Olympic Parks are used at present. From this they made some conclusions and the first one was that the stadiums should be designed so that they can be transformed, both regarding capacity and the use of it. Secondly they concluded that the ownership was very important and their third statement was that the Olympic Parks must be designed for multiple uses. The fourth and last conclusion was that you have to listen to the demand from the public, the people who lives in the city.
The researchers then analysed Beijing and how the city dealt with these issues. Because Beijing were aware about these matters and considered them during the planning process they have now developed the Olympic Park into a successful and lively park where tourists and local residents head for different activities.
Jimmy Johansson
The Next Information Revolution
The Next Information Revolution
In the article The Next Information Revolution, Peter explained that the next information revolution was a revolution in concept rather than technology, which redefined the function of business enterprise as the “CREATION OF VALUE AND WEALTH”. The author declared that in the past 50 years, information revolution had put more focus on inside data collection to solve operational tasks than outside information, while the latter one is of crucial importance for the top management decision. However, according to the historical experiences, he believed that the change in tools and technology will in the end lead the change in concepts.
As information technology has little impact on the management of business itself, the ongoing revolution, which will surely involve most of the major institutions of modern society, is driven by the need to put the right information in the right people’s hands at the right time. Both inside and outside information need to be balanced in an enterprise; meanwhile, people need to be more modest with history and put more efforts on outside information collection in the future.
Datong Li
The first experiment with VLBI-GPS hybrid systems
The first experiment with VLBI-GPS hybrid systems
A new, innovative method for earth observation was developed by Younghee Kwak and his team at the Ajou University with a collaboration of the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute. The publication “The first experiment with VLBI-GPS hybrid systems” (2010) deals with a new hybrid technology consisting of GPS (Global Positioning System) and VLBI (Very Long Baseline Interferometry), which are astronomic-geodetic methods.
The aim of this project is to minimize the problems and increase the precision of VLBI measurements with help of GPS. To compare these two systems, the GPS antennas have to be converted to a lower frequency than conventional ones, in contrast to the VLBI antennas, which stay the same like in ordinary VLBI sessions receiving signals from radio quasars. The graphical representation of the results of both antennas shows, that the combination of these two technologies increases the accuracy and minimizes errors. After a successful performance of the hybrid system the team of scientists came to the conclusion that this new technology can be used for future projects such as connections to the ICRF (International Celestial Reference Frame) and TRF (Terrestrial Reference Frame). This realization will give new perspectives of earth observation with the method of VLBI combined with GPS technology.
Sandra Hutterer
http://www.alislam.org/response.html
How Islam reacts towards Terrorism
In this article “Islam’s Response to Terrorism” the author “Abdul Ghany Jahangeer Khan” has tried to explain the teachings of Islam towards the terrorism. Islam advocates its followers to love others without distinction of religion, race or social status. Islamic teachings are such that one who truly follows them will not disrupt the peace of others. He has quoted some verses from the Holy Quran and some sayings of Holy Prophet (PBUH) to support his arguments.
The author then explains that a true follower will always be on receiving end of terrorism not the one who delivers them. Whenever the peace has been disturbed Muslims have made their efforts to raise their voice against them, first of all by reasoning and sincerely praying for them. If after all sincere efforts dialogue is not working then joining the force against them to restore the peace of society, but keeping justice in mind.
On concluding the writer made it clear that not only Islam but no true religion can support the atrocities of innocent people and the terrorist are using the name of Islam. But no one should get deceived with their traits, they don’t belong to and religion, they only want to get this world destroyed and they must be opposed at all levels.
Title: Islam’s Response to Terrorism.
Author: Abdul Ghany Jahangeer Khan.
My name: Malik Ahzaz Ahmad.
Engineering Extension Fuel Cell 26th Sep 2006 http://www.engext.ksu.edu/ees/fuelcell.pdf
Summary of article named “Fuel Cells”
The article named Fuel Cells introduces some basic theories of fuel cells, such as its advantages, types, applications and so on.
As fuel cell is an electrochemical device that converts hydrogen and oxygen into electricity without combustion, so the major advantage of fuel cell increases energy efficiency. Also, there is no combustion by-products such as NOx, Sox, or particulates produced. Finally, fuel cells are ideal for providing electricity as supplemental power and backup system as there is always electricity as long as H2 and O2 exist.
There are five main types of fuel cells which are alkaline, proton exchange membrane, phosphoric acid, molten carbonate and solid oxide that are all named by their electrolyte. Hereinto, PEM is the most common used because it can react quickly to change in electrical demand without leak or corrode, and also the manufacturing materials are inexpensive.
For the applications of fuel cells, now it is used in transportation area. A fuel cell car is very similar with an electric car, but uses fuel cells to instead of batteries. It is also highly suitable for on-site power generation, so now fuel cells are used in hospitals, nursing homes, hotels, office buildings, schools and utility power plants. There is another specific application of fuel cells is to combine it with biomass fuels which can decrease trade imbalance and increase energy security.
So fuel cell is a new technology that can enhance the energy efficiency and decrease environment pollution. However, the biggest drawback presently associated with fuel cell is its cost. So the cost is expected to decrease in the future so that fuel cell can be used widely.
Yao Pei
Energy efficiant log homes due to thermal mass
This article is about whether a massive log wall is as energy efficiant as a well-insulated frame wall or not. The Log House Council, in short the LHC, have, for a long time claimed this to be true due to the log wall’s thermal mass.
Studies, including empirical evidence and calculations regarding heat transfer, shows that that a log wall is energy efficiant, which is considered as a major victory for the LHC. This will not only make life easier for the log home producers but also fpr log home owners, who don’t have to invest in further insulation.
Thermal mass is a material’s capacity to absorb heat, in the structure, and logs actually do this well. Not as well as concrete but well enough for a single structure. The log wall works as an absorbant and stores heat during a warm day and release the heat energy during the colder hours at night. This property makesthe home more energy efficiant as the energy used to heat the structure during colder hours can be lowered significantly.
Recent studies also shows that the heat loss from air leakage is very much alike in both log houses and frame houses. This means that a well-built log house eaven could be more energy efficiant than a regular frame house, which makes the LHC eaven more delighted.
Thermal Mass Benefits Of Log Homes Recognized
Sharp log homes, 2000
David Ekstrand
{2010-01-1095v001.pdf}
Clément PAURIOL 04/02/2011
Written Assignment 1 : SUMMARY
This article called “Power Train for a New Compact Sporty Hybrid Vehicle” has been written by Masaharu Hosoda and published in an SAE paper. It presents a new power train for a 2011-model compact sporty vehicle using existing components. The aim is finding a good compromise between performance of the vehicle and his CO2 emissions and fuel consumption.
Hybrid vehicles are generally more expensive than regular passenger cars. In this development program, a low cost Integrated Motor Assist (IMA) system is used combined with existing transmission and engine. Moreover a control model has been developed to get 3 driving modes : a normal mode, an efficient mode and a sporty mode.
The IMA system regenerate energy when the vehicle brakes and stocks this energy in a nickel-metal battery. A microcontroller allows to control the working of the system. An electrical motor use the energy stocked to give more power during the acceleration. The engine and the transmission have been adapted to this system.
The results shows that this new power train gives better driving performance for a lower fuel consumption and three driving modes can be chosen. So the driver get a better driving feel while save money.
Summary of Collisions with Passenger Cars and Moose, Sweden
In the article “Collisions with Passenger Cars and Moose, Sweden” from 1986, the authors Björnstig, Erikkson, Thorson and Bylund are discussing the problem of injuries due to car to moose crashes in Sweden.
As an introduction, some statistic data about moose crashes are given and it is shown that previous aims to reduce the number of crashes had only little success. Therefore the authors concentrate on the injuries during a crash.
To investigate the injury risk in crashes with moose, data like police reports and hospital records of 650 crashes were analyzed and drivers have been interviewed. Both, moose and cars were classified according their weight and injuries were graded to a standardized injury scale. It was found, that 66% of the collisions were with an adult moose and in 48% the moose was hit in the middle. The average collision speed was 70km/h. the deformation of the vehicles was mainly in the area of A-pillars, roof and windscreen. The deformations were bigger for small cars, high speeds and adult moose. The most common injuries were minor injuries, like cuts, of head and neck and upper extremities.
As there is a clear relationship between deformation of the car and grade of the injuries, bigger vehicle are safer for that kind of crash, which is against the development towards small and light vehicles.
Finally, it is recommended to strengthen A-pillars and roof and use safety glass. To validate the results, crash tests should be done.
Christian Amersbach 04/02/2011
Impossible Odds, Irrepressible Hope: Pakistan's water woes and the science that can solve them
The water woes in Pakistan
Hebert (2010) states in his article Impossible Odds, Irrepressible Hope: Pakistan's water woes and the science that can solve them that Pakistan has large water issues, both in quantity and quality. Each year 250,000 children dies because of pollution in the drinking water and more than 30 percent of all deaths in Pakistan are caused by waterborne diseases. Another problem is that the water causes flooding where many people die.
With not enough dams and reservoirs Pakistan can´t handle the massive amount of rain that comes in the monsoon periods. They need to improve the infrastructure to be able to take care of all the water. Furthermore, there is almost no wastewater treatment in Pakistan. Therefore the drinking water largely consists of pollution such as untreated sewage, industrial waste, pesticides and fertilizers. This leads not only to waterborne diseases but also reduces the biodiversity.
The U.S. State Department, the USGS (U.S. Geological Survey) and aid groups have been working with scientists from Pakistan to develop sustainable water management practices. This will hopefully lead to an improvement in people’s health and a better economic situation in the country. Hillary Clinton recently proclaimed a Water Program for Pakistan where one motion was to improve the water distribution. Pakistan now also has a water quality lab, a water database and drinking water standards. Progress has been made and USGS and Pakistan are now working on a water quality monitoring plan for the next years ahead.
Sofia Öjerborn
Contaminated land
SUMMARY OF THE ARTICLE CONTAMINATED LAND BY J.S. BUTTERWORTH
In his article J.S. Butterworth (2000) wants to enlighten the problem about contaminated land. He has a clear structure where he at first explains the definition of contamination, which sources gives certain contaminants and what kind of risks they incur its surroundings. He defines contaminated land, as a site, where the local authorities decide according to the values of substance could at any level constitute a risk. The risk ponders on what kind of target will be exposed to what kind of contamination. Therefore it is important to examine the sources and the routes of the contaminations to be able to minimize the risks.Second, he describes the way of dealing with the contamination, which methods are used while investigating the land and what the most common remedial action is. The investigation techniques differ from each other because there aren’t any standardization tools on the market yet, but when it comes to remedial actions the dig and dump technique is highly overrepresented. This section ends with an explanation about the legal authorities and their role.In the last part he tries to point out the challenges ahead and what needs to be done in the future. They are working with standardization in risk assessment but the challenge is to replace it with the trigger values that they use today, not just an update of these values. He finish the article by pointing out the difficulties in renewable land use and that it is important to be aware to the problem.JENNIFER LöFVENDAHL
Title: Revenue streams and digital content providers: an empirical investigation
This article analyzes sorts of revenue creation models to deliver information within the digital industry of content providers. The authors are focusing on the case of new media sector portrayed in “magazine publishers” which have switched from provide goods in physical forms (mainly paper) to digital forms. Internet has become the preferred channel to distribute information. It has bred a decline in newspapers readership because most of the people consult the media through the internet and from different and simultaneous sources.
Gallauger et.al (2001) stated that generation of profits for digital content providers is difficult to grasp, even more in an era of ubiquitous information. Therefore, a new paradigm has emerged to create a new value offering such as repackaging and customized information. Content providers have to add value to the product in the way it is located, filtered and distributed in a useful manner to the customer.
In order to create revenues for the company, the authors stated eight sorts of revenue streams such as: Online advertising, especially applicable to free pricing tactics to deliver content, subscription fee, online ordering of print publication, syndication, per-unit charges, on-line sale for other content and affiliate programs.
Gallauger et.al (2001) introduced an empirical research to evaluate those revenue streams schemes. They show evidence to sustain that online advertising is still a good strategy to generate revenue for content in media publishers; however fee subscription offerings and related paid offerings are suitable when customers have identified additional value to the product delivered.
Reference:
GALLAUGHER, J., AUGER, P. & BARNIR, A. 2001. Revenue streams and digital content providers: an empirical investigation. Information & Management, 38, 473-485.
Hermann Fuquen Hydraulic Geometry Relations for Stable Channel Design
Summary of: Hydraulic Geometry Relations for Stable Channel Design
The main objective of this article is to compare at-a-station and downstream hydraulic geometry relations for stable channel design. It compares the calculated values with real values from measurements on Iranian rivers.
The downstream hydraulic geometry applies the dominant discharge which increases downstream. The at-a-station method is using the velocity distribution at a specific section to consider the channel variation. When determining channel stability the most important parameters are its top width, average flow depth, longitudinal slope and flow velocity.
In the article a total of 85 cross sections, 425 velocity profiles and 6000 point velocities were measured of three different rivers in Iran. A nonlinear regression analysis was performed using these measurements to express depth, width and slope as a power function of flow discharge, grain size and the Shields parameter.
One of the conclusions that is drawn by the author from this study is that the grain size and the Shields parameter are not necessary to take into consideration in determination of width and depth of a stable channel for at-a-state method.
Karl Toresson
Original:
Hydraulic Geometry Relations for Stable Channel Design
Hossein Afzalimehr; Mohammad Abdolhosseini; and Vijay P. Singh, F.ASCE
Steel bridge columns with pre-selected plastic zone for seismic resistance, Sheng-Jin Chen, Jie Chen, 2008
www.elsevier.com/locate/tws
{Steel bridge columns with pre-selected plastic zone for seismic resistance.pdf}
In the article Steel bridge columns with pre-selected plastic zone for seismic resistance, Sheng-Jin Chen and Jie Chen deal with a new design of bridge columns more adapted to earthquake.
Indeed, with the actual design, there is an important risk of buckling or failure around the joint between the column and the foundation in this special case of high vibration. Moreover, the location of this special area doesn’t allow to see the eventual damage after a seism.
By observing the evolution in the building design, the authors propose to adopt the same concept to improve the mechanical properties of the bridge columns and to make the inspectability easier. Thus, their column model presents a preselected plastic zone which has good properties to absorb the most important deformations. Besides, this section is located sufficiently away from the bottom of the column._GoBack
An experimental study, based on 5 specimens, emphasizes the positive aspects of their concept. First, they prove that these modifications don’t change significantly the stiffness. Secondly, they observe that the largest strains are concentrated in the plastic region, that allow to repair it easily. Furthermore, they demonstrate a better energy dissipation than in the original conception and that they satisfy the inspectability requirements by showing that the plastic region can be located away from the bottom of the column with only small effects on the performances.
Finally, the authors conclude with the best column design by merging the positive aspects of each specimen.
Audrey Chaudot
Ingber, D. (1998) The Architecture of Life, Scientific American, 48-57.
The Architecture of Life
Donald E. Ingber states in his article “The Architecture of Life” published in the Scientific American that humans refer to science to understand the complexity of the different forms of life, what components conform organisms and how they interact self-assembling into higher species. It has been of major interest to find out what exactly the DNA codes for with the idea that deciphering the basics will lead to a better comprehension of how cells organize into tissues. Changing the approach on how nature cares to make these assemblies could help understand how smaller units work.
Tensegrity is a common form of architecture between all species that makes reference to stabilizing systems that mechanically balance the tensional and compressive forces within their structures. Cells are always being replaced, so what really conforms life must be the maintenance of this pattern and architecture. There are two categories: the common geodesic domes of Buckminster Fuller that form rigid struts than can bear tension and compression and the one that stabilizes structures by a phenomenon called prestress. Tensegrity provides both great strength since the tension is balanced by being transmitted between the two closest points.
People knew the cytoskeleton was conformed of microtubules, intermediate filaments, and microfilaments, but they poorly understood how they interacted to control the cell’s functions. From a wider point of view, researchers found out that when the cell’s components mechanically undergo restructuring, they help the cell determine which function to perform. Maybe compression tells them to round themselves up, meaning there’s no more room for them and a reaction of self-destruction begins.
Finally, researchers have found that geodesic forms are present in all forms of life in order to reduce mass and energy. Then this could provide a feasible explanation to evolution, to how tissues started aggregating and forming structures that helped them perform certain functions with the least amount of energy. This concept works well in the microscopic level and in the macroscopic level with the construction of buildings. So Plato might be right after all: “The Book of Nature may indeed be written in the characters of geometry.”
Ana Cecilia García
Transferring and Managing Knowledge Within an Organization
Knowledge Management Architextures Beyond Technology
In the article ”Knowledge Management Architectures Beyond Technology” by Marla M. Capozzi (2007), published in First Monday, knowledge management (KM) within an organization or a company is discussed. KM is concerned with transferring knowledge and expertise within an organization, both knowledge that is already possessed and knowledge that is imported. As more and more employees are educated at a higher level, KM is as important as it has ever been.
Whenever possible a company should try to distribute the knowledge they already possess. This can be done in many ways: through the use of websites and instruction manuals, through observation, through meetings or through tutoring, to name a few examples. The more knowledge that is shared, the more money the company saves and the more united the company feels.
Problems occur with tacit knowledge however, as this sort of knowledge is very difficult to transfer. It may not be possible to transfer everything in written language and the individual possessing the knowledge may not even recognize it and is therefore unable to pass it on to others. Therefore it is very important to architecture the right conditions for this to be possible, such as working in teams or arranging conversations.
Anders Axner
Where is the cloud? Geography, economics, environment, and jurisdiction in cloud computing
by Paul T. Jaeger, Jimmy Lin, Justin M. Grimes and Shannon N. Simmons, May 2009
Click here to read the full article
The article is entitled “Where is the cloud? Geography, economics, environment, and jurisdiction in cloud computing” written by Paul T. Jaeger, Jimmy Lin, Justin M. Grimes and Shannon N. Simmons at the University of Maryland, it was published on May 2009.
In this text, the authors do an analysis about “cloud computing” through four basic questions: What is the cloud? Who uses the cloud? Where is the cloud? What rules govern the cloud?
Cloud computing is an emerging model of computing that represents centralization of information and data resources in large data centers to deliver services to anyone, anywhere. To illustrate, around 69% of people online use at least one cloud computing based service, even if they don’t really know, like for instance e-mail services, online applications, photo and video services and data storage (Gmail, Dropbox, Yahoo, Youtube etc.).
However, this new technology raises significant problems about resources, economics, the environment, governments and laws that are discussed all along the article. In fact, the technology moves very fast, creating new unthinkable worldwide challenges, like the energy consumption of data centers, or the control over information by governments or companies. It is the case for the cloud computing, so there are still many improvements to be done, especially concerning its regulation.
As a conclusion, the authors truly believe that cloud providers, Internet users and governments should really work together to get benefits from cloud computing.
By Daniel TABORDA
{http://c1.wikicdn.com/i/mime/32/application/pdf.png} [[file/view/conceptual models.pdf|conceptual models.pdf]]
Conceptual models
This is a summary of a lecture given by Asa Fransson and Gunnar Gustafson. This lecture is about problem analysis by using conceptual models. In the beginning, the lecturers define conceptual models as models where a given scenario or problem is analysed through different stages and moreover the output is evaluated. The modelling procedure starts by clearly defining the scenario. This scenario is identified and idealized through visiting the actual place where the it took place or by referring to a picture of that scenario, so that the engineer or the person who is performing the problem analysis using this conceptual modelling has three dimensional mental image of that scenario. The next stage is the schematic model, where the conceptual model begins. In this stage components of the scenario, numerical and statistical data, and results from lab and field tests are put together to form a sketch of the exact conditions of that scenario. Furthermore, this schematic model is used as an input for the mathematical model. This mathematical model is the most challenging and interesting stage of the whole modelling procedure. It is the other part that constitutes the conceptual model. In this stage, different mathematical hand calculations are performed using empirical formulas. Additionally, advanced simulations are carried out using computer software programs.Microsoft office suites are also used for less complicated problems.
Once this conceptual model is analysed, output from the hand calculations and computer programs are presented as results. These results are presented in the form of numbers, figures and graphs. Additionally, these results are evaluated by cross checking them with results from previous analyses or with properly functioning real life scenarios that passed this kind of analysis. Finally, conclusions and recommendations are made based on probability of occurrence and sustainability. Last but not least, errors and sources of errors are studied, and the models are updated at any stage of the analysis, so that reasonable results are presented and feasible predictions can be made.
To sum up, the use of conceptual models is now common in every engineering sector to approach and solve different kinds of problems. Besides, it is applicable in any other field and can be performed by any educated person.
FITSUM TESHOME

The author shows how Islam has been founded and how it must be. But is it really reality? He didn’t explain why Islam is used as an excuse for politic ends. And what about the interpretation of the Holy Qur’an? Kahn quotes a very interesting verse : “Then if you desire to punish the oppressors, punish them to the extent you have been wronged”. This sentence seems to be contradictory with the idea of peace but it also calls people not to be submissive, for example against dictatorship. Isn’t it what is happening in Maghreb currently? The interpretation of this kind of sentences can be really different for everyone and can have different consequences.
In my opinion, this article is very interesting because it makes reflect and raise questions. Moreover, the author used a lot of citations which shows the exactitude of the fact that Islam is the religion of peace. Something interesting could be to explain why the interpretation of the Holy Qur’an is different depending on the geographic situation and the politic vision. My feeling after reading this article is that both terrorists and occidental armies use Islam to justify their own crimes. But religion and politics should be separately considered.
Clément PAURIOL
Is the Olympic parks fully used after the Olympic Games?
The summary article written by Jimmy Johansson which named “how to use the Olympic parks afterwards and a deeper look at Beijing” introduced that the use of the Olympic parks is one of the important considerations during the planning, and also it presented the utilizations of the Olympic parks recently. However, from my research, I don’t think what the Olympic parks used currently is like what the planning said.
From the article, it mentioned that the Olympic parks were designed for multiple uses, and also listened to the demand from the public people who were living in the city. From the last paragraph of the article, we can know that the Olympic parks now are mostly used for travelling and hold some activities.
From my research, I got the information that there is a few stadiums were removed after the Olympic Games immediately. And most of the rest of them are also not open for the public people; they are sold to some companies for exploitation and investment. For example, the main stadium which named Bird Nest now belongs to ZhongXin Limited Company; this stadium now is not open for the public, so tourists can only look around outside the stadium. The other one is the national swimming centre or called “Water Cube”, it is very limited because there is only swimming pools inside, so the Water Cube now is only for holding some swimming competitions or activities. So if there are no competitions or activities, it’ll be useless.
In my opinion, the “Bird Nest” can be visited by people from all over the world not just let them have a look outside the stadium, maybe the company should decide one or two days per week for public visiting instead. For the “Water Cube”, perhaps, it can be used as a swimming training centre or a center of overwater leisure and recreation. Like what “Wukesong Stadium” does now, it satisfies the demand from the people who are living in the western part of Beijing; here people can do gyms or exercises, and also enjoy music as there are many vocal concert hold.
So from the examples explained previously, I think the Olympic parks are not fully used for public people. Maybe the companies which are in charge of the stadiums can use “Wukesong Stadium” for their reference. I hope the Olympic parks can seriously become multiple used like what the planning said through the support of the government and improvement of the companies’ strategies.
Yao Pei
Critique of “Powertrain for a New Compact Sporty Hybrid Vehicle”
In the article "Powertrain for a New Compact Sporty Hybrid Vehicle" from 2010, the author Masaharu Hosoda presents a new powertrain for a 2011-model compact sporty hybrid vehicle. The basic for that development are existing mass-produced car components. As an example for those components, Hosoda mentions the Integrated Motor Assist (IMA) system, but he does not explain that it is a hybrid system developed for an earlier Honda car. Therefore all readers that are not familiar with the recent developments of Honda, have to look it up. Hosoda also describes the new approach which was taken; instead of compensating power reduction due to a smaller engine , the aim here was to create a better driving feel. In my opinion, that is a really good way to convince also sporty drivers to use a hybrid car.

Title: Islam’s Response to Terrorism.
Author: Abdul Ghany Jahangeer Khan.
Ahzaz Ahmad.
Engineering Extension Fuel Cell 26th Sep 2006 http://www.engext.ksu.edu/ees/fuelcell.pdf
Summary of article named “Fuel Cells”
so on.
As
As fuel cell O2 exist.
There
There are five are inexpensive.
For
For the applications energy security.
So fuel cell is a new technology that can enhance the energy efficiency and decrease environment pollution. However, the biggest drawback presently associated with fuel cell is its cost. So the cost is expected to decrease in the future so that fuel cell can be used widely.
Yao Pei