Review of: ‘THE ANALYTIC HIERARCHY PROCES’by Thomas L. Saaty,New York,McGraw-Hill,Inc., 1980, xiii + 287 pp., list $37.50*

Editor's Mote: In recent tines It has been recognized by academics and practitioners in the field of engineering economics of the necessity of an active, continuing research program. Such s program will provide improvements in the state-of-the-art along with development of the manpower required Co carry on the profession. In 1983, specific activities were initiated to increase the awareness of research activity within the profession and to identify those research areas of greateat need or promise

On August 24–29, 1984, the National Science Foundation sponsored the Research Planning Conference on Engineering Economics at Mountain Lake, Virginia. The following report describes this important meeting and the recommendations that resulted. Because of the importance of this meeting to the profession, this summary has been Included here. The proceedings resulting from this planning conference are available free of charge by contacting U. J. Fabrycky, Department of Industrial Engineering and Operations Research, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061.     

A study of the textile industry and trade in Europe: An account of the methods and problems of carrying out a study of the European textile scene

The Technical Economy Department of the Shirley Institute has carried out a detailed study of the textile industries in Germany, France and Italy, their production, trade, productivity, industrial structure and regional policy. In some areas, performance has been compared with that of the U.K. An account is given of the approach, methods and problems encountered in the gathering of the necessary data.     

A study of the textile industry and trade in Europe: An account of the methods and problems of carrying out a study of the European textile scene

The Technical Economy Department of the Shirley Institute has carried out a detailed study of the textile industries in Germany, France and Italy, their production, trade, productivity, industrial structure and regional policy. In some areas, performance has been compared with that of the U.K. An account is given of the approach, methods and problems encountered in the gathering of the necessary data.     

Toward The Improvement Of The Traditional Course In Engineering Economy Through Unification As Applied Decision Theory

A general discussion of the undergraduate course in Engineering Economy is presented for comment and evaluation. The discussion is aimed at unification and cohesion of engineering decision methods by means of a basic structure of applied decision theory centered in a simplifying abstraction of teleological behavior.

The traditional course covers concepts and methods that are useful to the improvement of the efficiency with which engineering decisions are made, but textbooks lack organization, cohesion, and rigor.

Suggested elements of the unifying structure are (1) the formulation of specific objectives from value potential, (2) the measurement of value, (3) the specification of available choices, (4) the prediction of outcomes, (5) the estimation of criterion functions, and (6) optimization processes.

Engineering Economy is traditionally taught as a bagful of disorganized tools. As a student of Civil Engineering the author went through it twice, once as an undergraduate and once as a graduate (at different institutions and from very able professors) without grasping the basic concepts that should have been learned. Many methods, definitions, and problems were well embedded in the gray matter, but the collection resembled a child's tool box where things are packed carelessly without regard for saw teeth, plane and chisel blades, or probing fingers. There is little orderly arrangement that might make the tools more easily found and more effectively used.

More recently the author has been faced with the task of teaching the course to senior engineering students. In the meantime, between second and third rounds, two graduate degrees were acquired, and a lot of time was spent studying operations research and economics. It is, perhaps, needless to say that the bag of tools has gained a startingly new significance. Everything has begun to slip neatly into a basic framework, and this produces a large question mark. Why are the textbooks on the subject written so as to obscure the unifying principles that are so basic to decision processes and all goal-oriented behavior?

In the author’s opinion, the objective of the course is simply to study the improvement of the efficiency of teleological or goal-seeking behavior in the engineering context. There is room for vast improvement. The following discussion is a recommended step in that direction.     

Engineering economy as a vibrant and relevant course in the engineering programs of today and tomorrow

Abstract

Engineering economy has been studied by the majority of engineering students for many years, yet its place in engineering education is often misunderstood. Logic suggests that the engineering economy course would be highly valued since it is the only course many engineering students will take related to financial matters, but instead there is evidence that the subject is being marginalized. While pressures to reduce program credit hours and changes to the Fundamentals of Engineering exam may play a role in this, perhaps engineering economy has not sufficiently evolved to meet the needs of students or the realities of the contemporary workplace. What can be done to ensure that engineering economy fulfills its potential as an important part of engineering education? There may be few clear-cut answers, but we believe that engineering economy should shift toward a future characterized by rigorous coursework grounded in engineering design principles and applications of risk and uncertainty. This has been our goal in teaching engineering economy at Western Michigan University for many years. The purpose of this paper is to communicate the essential elements of a strategy that has helped to make the course a vibrant component of several engineering programs.     

GB5749-2006与国内外常用饮用水标准的对比分析

首先介绍《生活饮用水卫生标准》（GB 5749-2006）（以下简称新国标）与欧盟、美国环保局、世界卫生组织国际权威饮用水水质标准比较，在整体指标结构和数量方面，已基本接近世界先进水平；其次介绍新国标与旧国标、卫生部的《生活饮用水水质卫生规范》（2001）、建设部的《城市供水水质标准》（CJ/T206-2005）国内常用三大饮用水水质标准比较，阐明了指标项目较旧国标大幅度增加，并且指标严格程度也有所增加。掌握新国标与国内外常用的饮用水标准之间的关系，以便于水司采取得力措施保证2012年前达到新国标要求。     

基于价值工程原理的商品房购置决策研究

高性价比的商品房已成为房地产开发商和消费共同追求的目标。在确立住宅小区商品房性能评价指标体系基础上，提出了利用价值工程理论来计算商品房的性价比，以得到最优的商品房购置方案。最后通过一个案例进行了说明。     

我国"油井管工程"标准化进展

阐述了“油井管工程”的概念和内涵,对中国“油井管工程”标准化的现状、进展和发展方向作了概述、指出．“油井管工程”是合理使用油井管的系统工程,“油井管工程”标准化是以标准来规范管柱设计验证、选择和评价、采购、检验、使用和维修等过程,以保证;由井管使用的安全可靠性;现场作业标准是“油井管工程”的重要内容,目前国内油井管等同、等效采用API．ISO标准,产品标准较齐全,但仍存在新型管材标准缺乏等一些问题、发展我国“油井管工程”标准化．应以等同采用API．ISO油井管标准、发展特殊螺纹产品标准为重点,制定并不断完善我国“油井管工程”标准体系、为此．要跟踪研究国内外油井管工程技术现状和发展,结合现场实际工况条件制定附加技术条件的规范或标准,使标准体系适应油田开发发展。     

海外油田工程技术服务市场面临危机

2008年金融危机引发全球宏观经济衰退,原油消费需求下降,国际油价暴跌,导致2009年全球油气勘探开发投资大幅削减,油田工程技术服务市场严重萎缩,几乎所有服务科目和区域市场作业活动都受到影响,油田工程技术服务市场面临新世纪以来最为严重的市场危机。未来海外油田工程技术服务市场将进入一个充满变化的调整期,调整幅度和复苏时间将取决于石油公司对形势发展的判断。随着世界经济逐渐回暖和国际油价上升,预计石油公司将逐步增加勘探开发投资,油田工程技术服务市场经历的调整期不会持续太久。     

Australian enrolment trends in technology and engineering: putting the T and E back into school STEM

There has been much political and educational focus on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) in Australian schools in recent years and while there has been significant research examining science and mathematics enrolments in senior high school, little is known about the corresponding trends in Technologies and engineering. Understanding these subjects is essential for educators and policy-makers alike if Australians are to embrace the challenges of an innovation economy. We have collected raw enrolment data from each of the Australian state and territory education departments from 1992 to 2014 and analysed this across five Technology and Engineering subject areas. We also consider some of the relationships between these subject areas and other areas of the STEM equation. The results of these analyses are discussed in terms of absolute enrolments, participation rates and sex balance. We have found that the total number of students in Year 12 increased year on year and that this growth is echoed, to a lesser extent, in the participation rates for design technology, food technology and engineering. Digital Technologies however, grew rapidly until 2000, after which time it has been in steady decline. We identify that while the trends mostly show growth, there is a concerning male bias to many of these subject areas. We suggest that the broadening of the upper high school curriculum, confusion surrounding vocational training enrolments, and gamesmanship of the university entrance system, may be contributing to the limited growth observed. Finally, we identify a number of important areas for further research in this key learning area.     

The design language: Phase and levels

Design language as a theme for discussion may be examined from at least three aspects: its structure: its terminology and its phases and levels of development. An agreed and precise terminology in the field of Design, is desirable for communication, understanding and teaching. It can also unfold the subtle structure of that language.However, many studies of the phases and levels of design language have been undertaken, but often from the artistic, humanistic and scientific points of view, rather then the designistic perspective.In this article we outline the basis of a designistic analysis and classification of children's and adults' design language.Luiz Vidal Negreiros Gomes, Lecturer of the Federal University of Pernambuco, Brazil at the the Department of Methods and Technics in Education and at the Department of Design, and L.S. Medeiros, a freelance researcher.Correspondence to: Avenida Copacabana, 474/303 A, Piedade, Jaboatäo, Pernambuco, Brazil CEP 54410-250     

Planting food sustainability thinking and practice through STEM in the garden

International Journal of Technology and Design Education - Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education has been identified as a keystone teaching and learning area for...     

An Approach to the Capital Budgeting Problem with Multiple Objectives

This paper describes a course in Engineering Economy which has been taught at Bradford for twenty years. It employs a variety of teaching methods to meet the preferred learning styles of students with different personality profiles and rt enables them to develop by passing through all four quadrants of the Experiential Learning Cycle. To facilitate this process, a novel business game has been invented which allows the Net Present Value of a project to be calculated quickly. Working as teams, students can thereby appraise the economic merits of a capital project as it proceeds through the various stages of its life cycle. The derivation of this model is provided herein with a few examples of the memoranda which enable the game to develop in a realistic way and by applying sequential decisions.     

对工程设计责任保险问题的研究

工程设计责任保险有助于设计企业的信用体系建设，提高设计企业的抗风险能力和核心竞争能力，目前已存我国得到推行。设计企业应充分利用保险中介市场的技术支撑，根据实际情况制定投保策略。     

Participative management and its varying relevance in Hong Hong and Singapore

First, the process whereby developing countries become developed is discussed in terms of complexity, neutrality in social relations, and the achievement ethic. An examination of managerial attitudes in eight South-East Asian countries is followed by the results of a comparative study of manufacturing industry in Hong Kong and Singapore. It was concluded that in Singapore participation leads to higher productivity (r_s 0.71, p<0.05) but only because the context is mainly foreign. This relationship was not found in Hong Kong probably because Hong Kong enterprises remain non-bureaucratic, i.e. non-western. A more participative style of management requires radical changes in non-managers' expectations of their employers, as well as a significant increase in the extent to which superiors trust their subordinates. The evidence suggests that Asian managers (except those in Japan and, possibly, Singapore) favour an autocractic approach.Dr. S.G. Redding is Professor of Management Studies and Head of Department at the University of Hong Kong. Dr. S. Richardson formerly Head, Production & Industrial Engineering Department, Hong Kong Polytechnic is now in the School of Management, National University of Singapore.     

The evolution of a local R&D strategy: the experience of a service in the UK National Health Service (NHS)

Increasing concern about the state of health‐related research in the UK in the 80s and early 90s, led to an influential parliamentary review. The consequence of this was to strengthen health research through a programme that was fully integrated into the management structure of the NHS. No country had ever attempted such an ambitious approach ( Black, 1997 ). In 1994 a far‐reaching review, recommended further, revolutionary changes to the management of R&D in the UK National Health Service ( Culyer, 1994 ). Many of these were implemented in 1997 with the result that every UK health service at regional and local level has developed an infrastructure, and management arrangements for R&D activity. In most local areas, hospitals with significant involvement in R&D have been eligible to bid to the UK Department of Health for NHS R&D Support funds. In Nottingham, three Hospital Trusts and a community based service made bids to the Department of Health and received grants to support R&D. This paper focuses on one of the hospital Trusts ‐ the mental health service in Nottingham. Our experience will be of particular interest as the first bid that the mental health service made was spectacularly unsuccessful. The organisation was forced to consider dis‐investment in its existing research infrastructure and a potential negative impact on the provision of patient care. This led to a wide‐ranging consultation and evaluation of research and research‐related activity. A range of approaches and tools were deployed to develop the strategy and to ensure its successful implementation and evolution. The strategy reflected a balanced approach, taking into account historical and organisational research strengths, while recognising the need to build capacity and capability, enhance foresight capability and strengthen the knowledge base. The ability to contribute to, and influence policy and practice has been a key driver of the strategy. The result was a successful bid and the evolution of an R&D strategy that has been flexible in its response to policy changes, changing local circumstances and wider socio‐economic trends and technical innovations. Furthermore, R&D performance, measured through outputs, impacts and income, has continually improved and increased.     

Using DEPTH as a framework for the determination of teacher professional development

This study illustrates the use of the DEPTH model in the development of professional development for secondary teachers of Engineering. In the school context of Western Australia, Engineering is a new upper school subject which will be taught by Design and Technology teachers, the majority of whom have neither taught at this level before, nor taught Engineering content. The multidimensionality of the DEPTH model was particularly appropriate in identifying the range of felt needs of these teachers to address the new curriculum in Engineering.     

Engineering and technology students’ perceptions of courses

As cultural, social, political and economic changes take place, the secondary or high school curriculum should reflect and respond to changing needs and aspirations of students. Technology Education has been proactive in this arena as it has transformed over the decades to meet ever-changing societal needs. The most recent change to the discipline has been to add engineering and, as a result, adopting a new name and curriculum-Engineering and Technology Education. The added component and name change in Technology Education is causing discussions about what the new direction means, what professional preparation changes will be incurred, and what work graduating students will be prepared to do. In light of these changes, this study investigated perceptions of high school students in the United States of America about engineering and technology courses they take. To investigate whether students’ perceptions are in accord with current changes in Engineering and Technology Education, 316 students enrolled in engineering and technology courses in Georgia schools that have an affiliation with the Georgia Engineering and Technology Education Association (GETEA) were surveyed. According to data analyses, students’ perceptions can be divided into two factors. Educational Value of Course (factor 1) was extracted from statements measuring the degree to which the courses prepare students for employment and provide them with information regarding future employment. Personal Relevance of Course (factor 2) was derived from statements measuring students’ perceptions about links between engineering and technology education and their personal lives. Such findings suggest these students valued their engineering and technology courses, planned to continue their education, made good grades, and had varied types of career expectations for jobs such as design engineers and architects.     

现场工程监督管理与考核的实践

通过分析现场工程监督存在的问题,结合华北油田公司采油三厂在工程监督工作中的一些做法,对如何加强现场工程监督的管理工作进行了探讨,以便持续改进监督管理模式。指出,现场工程监督管理必须从“经验习惯式”向“科学规范化”发展。     

露天矿边坡爆破中爆破后冲的控制途径

边坡爆破是露天采矿活动过程中重要的组成部分。影响露天矿边坡稳定性的因素很多,其中爆破后冲对边坡伤害问题一直是工程技术人员研究的重要课题。在边坡爆破中由于爆破后冲经常会出现如超挖,边坡损伤等。论文简述露天矿边坡工程中控制爆破后冲的途径,从这些途径改进都能最大限度地保持边坡完整性和稳定性。