摘要:

The central theme of the recent Government White Paper ‘Realising our potential’ is that national prosperity requires better alignment of government-funded science and engineering research in the universities with the needs of industry. The author argues that it would be more immediately rewarding to align the university education of engineers with the product design needs of industry rather than with the research needs of the universities, as is currently the case.

DOI:10.1049/esej:19930048

出版商:IEE    

年代:1993

数据来源: IET

摘要:

At the instigation of the Technical University of Budapest (TUB) and the French Embassy in Hungary, a French-speaking technological unit (Filiére Francophone) has been established at the TUB with the help of the National Institute of Applied Sciences (INSA) ofRennes and the collaboration often higher education institutions in France and three in Belgium. The project has been financially supported by the European Communities' TEMPUS (Trans-European Mobility Programme for University Studies) scheme (JEP0107).

DOI:10.1049/esej:19930049

出版商:IEE    

年代:1993

数据来源: IET

摘要:

The article traces the story of the electric lamp, which began when, in 1810, Davy demonstrated the now legendary ‘bright carbon arc’ that led, in 1850, to the production of practical arc lamps. Because of the ‘powerful’ intensity of the arc lamp, there was a demand for ‘the subdivision of light’ and this culminated, in 1879, in the invention of the incandescent filament lamp. Gaseous and vapour discharge lamp research began around 1850 and practical lamps were available in the early 1900s. There were carbon dioxide, nitrogen and neon filled tubes giving ‘daylight’, ‘sunlight’ and red light emissions, respectively. Also, and still available, there were high-voltage, mercury vapour, cold-cathode fluorescent tubes. Following research in the early 1930s mains voltage, high- and low-pressure mercury and sodium vapour lamps have been under constant development and they are widely used today. Fluorescent lamps, introduced in 1938, are regularly being improved in design and among the latest are compact energy saving types that are ideally suited, as direct replacements, for GLS lamps. The recent announcement of the QL induction lighting system is the latest milestone in ‘electric light’ invention.

DOI:10.1049/esej:19930050

出版商:IEE    

年代:1993

数据来源: IET

摘要:

Arc discharges can be used as a source of high temperature and energy density in the destruction of waste and toxic materials. Glow or corona discharges can also be used for this purpose and provide alternative chemical routes, greater conversion efficiencies and selective chemical transitions. This article outlines some of these processes, which were discussed at an IEE Colloquium in November 1992.

DOI:10.1049/esej:19930051

出版商:IEE    

年代:1993

数据来源: IET

摘要:

It can be observed that the essential function of information in nature is to control and thereby operate the organisation of life. Such organisation is recursively defined so that it refers to the operations of life at every scale, microscopic organisms, vital organs, animals, social groups of animals including commercial firms, interdependent species, and the entire biosphere. It follows that the natural structure and behaviour of sets of symbols used to represent information are characterised by the interplay of recursively defined order and intrinsic disorder arising from physical uncertainty in the behaviour of very small objects in the control mechanisms of life. Recognition and acceptance of such features of the nature of information offers useful guidance to information system designers in their selection of strategic objectives, e.g. to reduce the hazards of program development by minimising the gross multiplicity of details that must be correct for a program to operate as intended.

DOI:10.1049/esej:19930052

出版商:IEE    

年代:1993

数据来源: IET

摘要:

The standards set by the National Measurement Accreditation Service (NAMAS) and its laboratories are followed world-wide. The use of NAMAS experience to develop other countries' accreditation systems is extensive and shows no sign of abating. The article gives a background to NAMAS, its role in the National Measurement System (NMS) and its approach to the accreditation of calibration and testing laboratories. It also describes the roles played by the Western European Calibration Cooperation (WECC), by the Western European Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (WELAC) and by the European Organisation for Testing and Certification (EOTC).

DOI:10.1049/esej:19930053

出版商:IEE    

年代:1993

数据来源: IET