Flammenpyrolytische Silikatbeschichtung bei Normaldruck als Alternative zu Vakuumverfahren. Combustion CVD of silica as an alternative method to vakuum treatment

In advancement of Pyrosil®‐technology a new kind of precursor delivery was developed, build and tested on real substrates. A Lab‐demonstrator was build to demonstrate the resources of the technology.     

Management gaps analysis: a case study of groundwater resource management in New Zealand

The primary objective of this project is to identify gaps, whether real or perceived, that hinder effective groundwater management in New Zealand. These gaps show as gaps in information, gaps in implementation, gaps in technological and management tools, and gaps in understanding of fundamental processes. The secondary objective is to propose a management strategy to close the identified gaps. Several methods are used to meet these objectives: surveys distributed to selected staff in each regional council; the review of various written reports; the analysis of land-use databases; and private consultation within each regional council. Results show that groundwater management in New Zealand is generally reactionary with the main gaps being in strategic planning and national guidelines. Most gaps appear to be predominantly information and implementation issues. In some cases there are gaps in the understanding of fundamental processes within an aquifer system, including the long-term effects of land-use on groundwater quality. An adaptive management approach is suggested as a means of closing these gaps.     

Current and future water issues in the Oldman River Basin of Alberta, Canada.

Long-term trends in alpine and prairie snow pack accumulation and melt are affecting streamflow within the Oldman River Basin in southern Alberta, Canada. Unchecked rural and urban development also has contributed to changes in water quality, including enhanced microbial populations and increased waterborne pathogen occurrence. In this study we look at changing environment within the Oldman River Basin and its impact on water quality and quantity. The cumulative effects include a decline in net water supplies, and declining quality resulting in increased risk of disease. Our data indicates that decreases in the rate of flow of water can result in sedimentation of bacterial contaminants within the water column. Water for ecosystems, urban consumption, recreation and distribution through irrigation is often drawn from waterholding facilities such as dams and weirs, and concern must be expressed over the potential for contaminate build-up and disproportionate potential of these structures to pose a risk to human and animal health. With disruption of natural flow rates for water resulting from environmental change such as global warming and/or human intervention, increased attention needs to be paid to use of best management practices to protect source water supplies.     

Assessing Environmental Risks: Lessons From Superfund

This essay analyzes the use of risk assessment in Superfund, the controversial American hazardous waste cleanup programme. We argue that risk assessment has been used in three ways in discussing policy options in this programme: as a metric for assessing performance; as a means for resolving conflicts; and as a tool for comparing different environmental initiatives. Use of risk reduction as an analytical tool in European efforts to clean up hazardous waste sites is discussed. We conclude that while risk assessment has potential utility for each of these applications, there are also accompanying technical and political difficulties.     

The effect of surface roughness on the radiative properties ofpatterned silicon wafers

The radiative properties of patterned silicon wafers have a major impact on the two critical issues in rapid thermal processing (RTP), namely wafer temperature uniformity and wafer temperature measurement. The surface topography variation of the die area caused by patterning and the roughness of the wafer backside can have a significant effect on the radiative properties, but these effects are not well characterized. We report measurements of room temperature reflectance of a memory die, logic die, and various multilayered wafer backsides. The surface roughness of the die areas and wafer backsides is characterized using atomic force microscopy (AFM). These data are subsequently used to assess the effectiveness of thin film optics in providing approximations for the radiative properties of patterned wafers for RTP applications     

Software for dynamic reconfigurable order picking systems

This paper describes an approach, conceptual framework, and software architecture for dynamic reconfiguration of the order picking system. The research and development project was sponsored by the Material Handling Research Center (MHRC), a National Science Foundation sponsored Cooperative Industry/University Research Center. The storage configuration is assumed to be an in-the-aisle order picking system in which stockkeeping units (SKUs) can occupy variable capacity storage locations and stock-splitting is allowed among zones (clusters). The product mix may include multiple product families with different life cycles, correlated demand within families and commonality of demand across families.