Research Needs and Challenges in Application of Computer and Information Sciences for Industrial Engineering

By invitation from the Editor of IIE Transactions, a research forum was established in 1987 to develop and prepare this article. The objective: to write on the directions, needs and challenges for research by the IE com-munity in applying computer and information sciences. The motivation: realizing the major advancements in computer and information sciences in the recent decade and their significant impact on the IE profession, it is vital to examine how IE research activities can respond effectively to current and emerging needs. This article is viewed as a useful contribution to such an examination.

Forum members were invited from academia, government and industry based on their experience in and commitment to research in this area. The forum was chaired by Shimon Y. Nof and the members are the co-authors of this article.

Forum members communicated and deliberated throughout 1987 and met for a review and planning session dur-ing the IIE Conference in Washington, D.C. in May, 1987 (Forum, 1987). The following article summarizes the contributions and recommendations of the forum members, and was reviewed by four guest reviewers. The re-viewers, invited by the Editor, have provided comments that have been incorporated into this article     

The earth systems structural forming system

Theorists have long recognized the inherent superiority of the thin-shell hemispherical concrete dome for earth-sheltered applications. This paper describes a patented modular structural forming system which, in prefabricated kit form, has made the thin-shell monolithic concrete dome both practical and economical. Both amateur and professional builders have been constructing these types of structures throughout the U.S. since 1980.     

GSM phase 2+ general packet radio service GPRS: Architecture, protocols, and air interface

Selective packet dropping policies have been used to reduce congestion and transmission of traffic that would inevitably be retransmitted. For data applications using best-effort services, packet dropping policies (PDPs) are congestion management mechanisms implemented at each intermediate node that decide, reactively or proactively, to drop packets to reduce congestion and free up precious buffer space. While the primary goal of PDPs is to avoid or combat congestion, the individual PDP designs can significantly affect application throughput, network utilization, performance fairness, and synchronization problems with multiple Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) connections. Scalability and simplicity are also important design issues. This article surveys the most important selective packet dropping policies that have been designed for best-effort traffic in ATM and IP networks, providing a comprehensive comparison between the different mechanisms.     

Worldwide photovoltaic market growth 1985–2000

The combination of a rising demand for reliable, low-cost energy and an increased awareness of environmental quality issues has created new business opportunities for photovoltaics, especially in applications without an installed electric utility grid line.     

CuInSe2 cells and modules

Recent CuInSe₂ photovoltaic technology advances are discussed. 14.1% active area efficient test cells and the fabrication of monolithic integrated modules with power outputs of 112 W/m² on 940 cm² and 91.4 W/m² on 3900 cm² have been achieved. Packaged modules are stable outdoors. Studies indicate a recombination controlled junction mechanism and imply a wide CIS compositional range over which high-efficiency junctions are possible. Processing improvements already demonstrated on test cells and 940 cm² modules will yield 52-W, 3900-cm² CIS modules     

Numerical simulation of the effect of maldistribution in a fixed bed adsorber

The paper deals with the modeling of the effect of maldistribution in pollutant abatementtrichloroethylene(TCE)concerning low concentration(10~(-5)-10~(-8)kg·m~(-3))adsorption in an adsorber.Such a concentration range is rather typical in many an environmental application.Isotherms andbreakthrough curves for TCE adsorption are obtained both for a commercial activated carbonSorbonorit 4 and a laboratory adsorber of d_B/d_P=11.Two two-dimensional nonequilibrium isothermalmodels are developed to describe the mass transfer in the fixed bed taking into account the effect ofmaldistribution.It is found the simulation results with maldistribution are in very good agreementwith the experimental findings.Low concentration TCE adsorption in a fixed bed of activated carbonis found to be strongly influenced by maldistribution.The non-uniform distributions of concentrationand loading of the pollutant in the adsorber are predicted by the model.Maldistribution and its ef-fect on the initial breakthrough of TCE in the     

Recycling strategies to enhance the commercial viability of CIS photovoltaics

Recycling of photovoltaic (PV) modules at the end of their useful life is important for the success of commercializing PV technologies. There are economic, regulatory and technical issues related to recycling; these are addressed here in a case study o f recycling CuInSe₂ (CIS) PV modules, which is focused on: economics of the use and re-use of materials; regulations on environmental disposal and waste handling; logistics and economics of recycling and disposing of products by industries face d with comparable environmental issues; and a workable program of the PV industry of the future. The main conclusions are that there are potential regulatory hurdles but these can be overcome by paying attention to module design elements. In the case of l arge installations, collection of decommissioned PV modules is feasible with current infrastructure, whereas collection from small remote installations is problematic. Collecting and consolidating used PV modules will be simplified if modules are returned to the manufacturer or to a contracted recycling center as ‘products’ destined for refurbishment and/or re-use. The projected cost of recycling CIS PV modules ranges from 0 to 0.08 US$ W⁻¹, depending on the specific methods, participants and regulations of recycling.