THE WINCUBE SATTELITE PROJECT MANITOBA HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS CONSTRUCTING AND LAUNCHING PICO-SATELLITE AND HIGH ALTITUDE BALLOON PAYLOADS

The WinCube Satellite Project is a cooperative effort among Manitoba high schools, the Manitoba Satellite Interest group (MSIG), the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Manitoba, Maples Collegiate Space Exploration Academy, the Manitoba Aerospace Human Resources Coordinating Committee and numerous aerospace industry partners. Through a mentorship program, Manitoba high school students will design, construct, and launch a pico-satellite with technical support provided by aerospace faculty and engineering students. Basic system design and construction experience for the high school students is provided by the construction and launch of high altitude balloon payloads. Students learn first hand about space mission design, telecommunications, programming, electrical and mechanical engineering.

Implementacja systemu TQM w podnoszeniu pozycji konkurencyjnej przedsiębiorstwa przemysłowego

The main aim of each industrial enterprise is to achieve the long-term financial success. The source of that is customer satisfaction, benefits for organisation and its members. Customer is satisfied when he receives high quality product. Therefore the essential task of industrial enterprise is the continuous improvement of product quality. Realisation of TQM principles is of great importance.The TQM philosophy is an innovative way of company management. It promotes building of comprehensive, individual organisational culture of enterprise with common aims and values. The change of philosophy of thinking and workers concentration on high quality products manufacturing are the principal factors which influence the increase of company’s operations. Only these workers who are qualified and conscious about company’s mission as well as internal and external dependencies, can work effectively.

Proces kształtowania się korporacji ponadnarodowej Google

The formation process of any multinational corporation is driven by mechanisms of competition within global markets. In this modern era of knowledge there is an intensive development of high technology industries, mainly software, which play important roles in the various stages of processing and creation of innovative products and services. The history of Google goes back to 1995 when its founders – Sergey Brin and Larry Page met at Stanford University in California. On 7th September 1998, Google Inc. was officially incorporated. In 2001 Eric Smidt became Chief Executive Officer. In their twelve years of existence, the company maintained major development and was at the forefront of the development of software industry standards. The most profitable and constantly developing services of the corporation are the search engine, which represents more than 80% of the total search market and the advertising services such as AdWords and AdSense. However, the company diversifies its products and systematically enters into new markets in order to comprehensively meet the needs of its customers. Its diversification includes web applications, enterprise services and the market of mobile devices. The various departments of the corporation are located in 70 cities across 39 countries, usually in the capitals of these countries or, if not, in other large cities, which are associated with major public markets. The headquarters of Google is located in Mountain View, California. Most of the departments – twenty three, are located throughout North America and Europe. There are also 16 departments based in Asia. Individual countries have a varying degree of presence of Google offices, the largest being the United States with nineteen, whilst three are located in Poland, in Warsaw, Cracow and Wroclaw. Google has formed an organizational structure whose main task is to improve its competitiveness. Business development strategy is based on innovation, human potential and high quality standards and its mission is to „organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful”. With an effective strategy, Google breaks records in the number of acquired companies. The Corporation has an unusual and interesting organizational culture, which, due to concern for the well-being of employees, ensures high performance. Google’s philosophy is that of developing young, talented individuals capable of self-realization, thus creating a basis for development. In 2009 Google found itself in fourth position in the ranking of “100 Best Companies to Work For” in “Fortune Magazine”. By being faithful to its philosophy and strategy for success, Google has become part of a reality, without which some cannot imagine life. As the company is constantly expanding the range of its services and introducing innovative solutions, it is reasonable to assume that the process of the corporation’s development will be maintained.

Synthetic aperture radar raw signal simulator for both pulsed and FM-CW modes

Simulated raw radar signals prove to be very useful at the first stages of testing radar signal processing algorithms and procedures. This is particularly true for synthetic aperture radar (SAR), where the costs of real signals acquisition are very high due to the costs of building the system as well as the costs of mission (air or space-borne). This paper describes a multifunctional SAR raw signal simulator that has been used for the verification of SAR image synthesis algorithms. Generated signals can be imitated for pulsed as well as FM-CW radars both in SLAR and squinted cases, it is also possible to choose between video and intermediate frequency signals. The simulator allows us to generate echo signals from stationary and moving targets. The user is able to differentiate the statistic properties of received echo signals for each target, thus allowing us to generate different types of reflecting surfaces. If present, a real raw SAR signal can be merged with a simulated one to produce more complicated scenarios. The paper presents results of the simulation of raw signals and their image after SAR processing.

Radar and optical hybrid images to improve geoenvironmental mapping in Rio Grande do Norte state, Brazil

Climate change in the Pacific: Tuvalu case-study

The Tuvalu Group is made of nine small low-lying coral atoll and reef islands, located in the South Pacific, about 1,100 km north of Fiji. With a total area of 26km 2 , it has about 11,000 residents and it is the first nation on Earth to see the rising sun every single day. The people of Tuvalu are mostly of Polynesian origin, their culture and physical type being quite homogeneous. During the month of February 2010, the Portuguese Tropical Research Institute conducted a scientific mission to the atoll of Funafuti, so as to develop an ethno-geographic study. The main objective of the project was to evaluate the Pacific people’s awareness to climate change. Results have shown that about two thirds of the remote islanders do not fear the rising sea levels and trust that Divine Providence will bet on their survival. The small population of fishermen and breadfruit, taro, pulaka and coconut subsistence farmers lack economies of scale because of their remoteness yet persevere with a tranquil, slow-paced existence in a vulnerable and isolated environment where they lack resources for adequate development.

Masonry block construction in Haiti

Most of the building failures in Haiti during the January 12th, 2010 earthquake were CMU block buildings. It is the locally preferred building material. Since it is difficult to import materials into Haiti, CMU block is made with local sand (sometimes beach sand which includes a significant amount of salt) and aggregate and only requires Portland cement to be imported. The blocks are made in a press-type machine without steam and at comparatively little pressure. The blocks contain as little as 1/30th Portland cement by volume and are left in a yard to dry cure, rather than moist curing. The blocks are sometimes so weak that they must be handled by workers with two hands or they break under their own weight. Tests at the University of Oklahoma reveal the blocks have an extremely low compressive strength (as low as 300 psi). Given the typical construction techniques used in Haiti, which include heavy concrete slab roof, focusing on hurricane resistance rather than earthquakes, the current CMU block fabrication method was a recipe for disaster that was realized. OU researchers worked with local Haitian organizations, primarily at Christianville Mission, to improve the quality of CMU blocks in Haiti. They provided guidelines for the CMU block mix, and curing instructions. Tests show the compressive strength of the CMU block has increased by more than three times with relatively little additional cost. This paper discusses the problems with current fabrication techniques for CMU block in Haiti, changes which can be made with relatively little cost or effort, and the resulting improvements in block strength realized.

Collecting, archiving, and utilizing critical infrastructure information

Silver Shield is the USA (US) state of Nevada’s Critical Infrastructure Protection Program in compliance with the US Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) National Infrastructure Protection Plan e.g. US DHS and the Target Capabilities List e.g. US DHS. Silver Shield’s mission is to identify, catalogue, prioritize, and protect critical infrastructure and key resources to support federal, state, local, and tribal readiness, prevention, mitigation, and response efforts. Silver Shield operates in coordination with public and private sector entities to collect, archive, and disseminate information that representatives from fire departments, law enforcement, bomb squads, Special Weapons & Tactics (SWAT) medical response teams, and emergency managers deem vital to the protection of critical infrastructure. This paper details Silver Shield’s process of collecting critical infrastructure information through Phased Site Assessments and the means by which this information is archived, evaluated, disseminated, and utilized via the Nevada Critical Infrastructure Protection System (CIPS), the DHS Automated Critical Infrastructure Protection Systems (ACAMS) and Orator PlusTM Presentations.

GIS: a common operational picture for public safety and emergency management

Not so long ago, monitoring of remote incidents in real time with dozens of camera feeds and sensors linked seamlessly together was something you would expect from a national intelligence or space agency, or from science fiction. However, first responders, such as police and fire, and local city government buildings, public safety agencies, have used state-of-the-art computers and information systems to capture data for emergencies, but this type of emergency management involved multiple pieces that were not connected, and data certainly was not available in real time using a single seamless interface. GIS has long provided an integration platform for meeting the mission of public safety. This includes providing data management, planning and analysis, field enablement and situational awareness. From 9/11 to Hurricane Katrina, to the 2007 fires in California, to the 2010 Winter Olympics and most recently the earthquake in Haiti, and the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, GIS has been a foundation technology linking data and workflows. A historical perspective of GIS and its integration into public safety is provided, including new developments and challenges facing public safety agencies and emergency managers in regards to GIS are discussed. This includes data acquisition by remote sensing and space technology, imagery, digital terrain and elevation models, geographic and data management systems, topographic representation, spatial and temporal variability of data and linking with numerical models. Data collection, processing and analysis have received a great deal of attention, while data validation, error propagation, and analyses of uncertainty, risk and reliability have not been treated as thoroughly. Furthermore, a discussion regarding the future outlook for GIS and its adoption into Public Safety and Emergency Management is also provided.

Future projects on water resources for a sustainable urban development: a case study of Surat city of India

The urban population in India has increased significantly from 62 million in 1951 to 285 million in 2001 and is estimated to grow around 540 million by the year of 2021. It would be touching 37% of the total population in next 15 years. The Indian urban population growth is nearly 41% in last decade. This directly means providing additional drinking water for around 65 million households as well as deciding on the number of administrative complexes. The city of Surat is a fast growing city and it is the 9 largest city of India as per Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JnNURM). The present population of Surat city is approximately 45 lacks including the floating population. The dream of achieving sustainable habitat could be possible only through a multi dimensional and inter disciplinary approach. Exploitation of natural resources along with the development of urban areas with or without the knowledge of planners is a matter of great concern in the context of sustainable development. Out of various natural resources that are exploited, the tapping of water resources and its impact on the habitat is studied in the paper. The study was conducted in and around Surat city of the Gujarat state. The futuristic projects by local government Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) for the sustainable development of Surat is also included in accordance with what has been envisioned in the revised city development plan. The present paper focuses on planning principles and is a classic example for sustainable development in water resources planning.