Scientific, Technical & Medical Engineering Books
Engineering
The incredible shrinking chip
This 1-hour free course explored how the microchip is made, the basic physics that make it work, and the future of this incredible technology.
Engineering
Safer Healthcare: Strategies for the Real World
The authors of this book set out a system of safety strategies and interventions for managing patient safety on a day-to-day basis and improving safety over the long term. These strategies are applicable at all levels of the healthcare system from the frontline to the regulation and governance of the system. There have been many advances in patient safety, but we now need a new and broader vision that encompasses care throughout the patient's journey. The authors argue that we need to see safety through the patient's eyes, to consider how safety is managed in different contexts and to develop a wider strategic and practical vision in which patient safety is recast as the management of risk over time. Most safety improvement strategies aim to improve reliability and move closer toward optimal care. However, healthcare will always be under pressure and we also require ways of managing safety when conditions are difficult. We need to make more use of strategies concerned with detecting, controlling, managing and responding to risk. Strategies for managing safety in highly standardised and controlled environments are necessarily different from those in which clinicians constantly have to adapt and respond to changing circumstances.
Engineering
Advances in Production Technology (Lecture Notes in Production Engineering)
This edited volume contains the selected papers presented at the scientific board meeting of the German Cluster of Excellence on "Integrative Production Technology for High-Wage Countries", held in November 2014. The topical structure of the book is clustered in six sessions: Integrative Production Technology, Individualised Production, Virtual Production Systems, Integrated Technologies, Self-Optimising Production Systems and Human Factors in Production Technology. The Aachen perspective on a holistic theory of production is complemented by conference papers from external leading researchers in the fields of production, materials science and bordering disciplines. The target audience primarily comprises research experts and practitioners in the field but the book may also be beneficial for graduate students.
Engineering
Beyond the Limits to Growth: New Ideas for Sustainability from Japan (Science for Sustainable Societies)
At a time when contemporary challenges seem to many to be insurmountable, this book offers an optimistic view of the future and provides a road map for societies to get there. Drawing upon extensive research and many years as a thought leader in environmental and sustainability issues in Japan and internationally, Hiroshi Komiyama analyzes the most pressing challenges to the attainment of sustainability of economically advanced nations and argues forcefully for Japan to lead them out of the present dilemma through active promotion of creative consumer and societal demand. He shows how an active industry-government-academic partnership can provide the environment needed to promote such new creative demand and illustrates its potential through presentation of a Platinum Society Network that was launched on a regional basis in Japan in 2010 to facilitate the solution of common issues through the exchange of information and ideas. What is perhaps most surprising about the text is its unwavering optimism supported by hard evidence, history, and insightful observation.Problems arising from new paradigms of the 21st century (what the author refers to as "exploding knowledge, limited Earth resources, and aging societies") thwart sustainable development in advanced and developing countries alike. All countries will struggle with issues that evolve from these paradigms including diminishing resources, expanding budget deficits, and growing global environmental problems. This window on potential practical pathways and solutions should be of interest to all those engaged in seeking ways to meet these contemporary challenges.
Engineering
Earthquakes, Tsunamis and Nuclear Risks: Prediction and Assessment Beyond the Fukushima Accident
This book covers seismic probabilistic risk assessment (S-PRA) and related studies which have become more important to increase the safety of nuclear facilities against earthquakes and tsunamis in the face of the many uncertainties after the Fukushima accident. The topics are (1) Active faults and active tectonics important for seismic hazard assessment of nuclear facilities,(2) Seismic source modeling and simulation and modeling techniques indispensable for strong ground motion prediction, and (3) PRA with external hazard and risk communication. The Fukushima accident has showed us the limitations of the deterministic evaluation approach to external events (an earthquake and tsunami) in which there are many uncertainties. Furthermore, public anxiety regarding nuclear safety because of an unexpected threat caused by an earthquake or tsunami is growing. The current policy on the estimation of the design basis of ground motion as well as tsunami height still has not been improved following the Fukushima accident. In particular, the risk concept in a nuclear system regarding seismic motion and a tsunami beyond the design basis is indispensable. Therefore, research and development for PRA enhancing nuclear safety are being actively pursued not only in Japan but also worldwide. This book provides an opportunity for readers to consider the future direction of nuclear safety vis-a-vis natural disasters.