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The purpose of this paper is performance enhancement of ferrite-assisted synchronous reluctance (FASR) motor using multi-objective differential evolution (MODE) algorithm, considering the significant geometric design parameters.

This work illustrates the optimization of FASR motor using MODE algorithm to enhance the performance of the motor considering barrier angular positions, magnet height, magnet axial length, flux barrier angles of the rotor and air gap length. In the optimization routine to determine the performance parameters, generalized regression neural network-based interpolation is used. The results of MODE are validated with multi-objective particle swarm optimization algorithm and multi-objective genetic algorithm.

The design optimization procedure developed in this work for FASR motor aims at achieving multiple objectives, namely, average torque, torque ripple and efficiency. With multiple objectives, it is essential to give the designer the tradeoff between different objectives so as to arrive at the best design suitable for the application. The results obtained in this work justify the application of the MODE approach for FASR motor to determine the various feasible solutions within the bounds of the design.

Analysis, design and optimization of synchronous reluctance motor has been explored in detail to establish its potential for variable speed applications. In recent years, the focus is toward the electromagnetic design of hybrid configurations such as FASR motor. It is in this preview this work aims to achieve optimal design of FASR motor using multi-objective optimization approach.

The results of this work will supplement and encourage the application of FASR motor as a viable alternate for variable speed drive applications. In addition, the application of MODE to arrive at better design solutions is demonstrated.

The approach presented in this work focuses on obtaining enhanced design of FASR motor considering average torque, torque ripple and efficiency as performance measures. The posteriori analysis of optimization provides an insight into the choice of parameters involved and their effects on the design of FASR motor. The efficacy of the optimization routine is justified in comparison with other multi-objective algorithms.

Internet service providers (ISPs) constitute a highly competitive market, while the unstable market conditions directly affect customer preferences and make ISPs to develop a “mass customization” strategy, individualizing services and approaching every customer in an individual way. However, customization requires an in‐depth analysis of current customer preferences and an evaluation of future behavior. The main objective of the paper is to present a framework for analyzing changes of customer preferences.

The paper presents detailed results of independent customer satisfaction surveys conducted in different time periods in the Greek ISP market. The analyses are based on non‐parametric statistical techniques and the multicriteria satisfaction analysis method, which is a multicriteria preference disaggregation approach.

Results are mainly focused on the evaluation of potential trends of e‐customer preferences. Furthermore, results of a benchmarking analysis are also presented, based on the evolution of satisfaction levels for the quality characteristics of the provided services.

Future research in the context of the presented study may be focused on satisfaction benchmarking analysis, given the rapid changes of the market conditions. An extended satisfaction survey will give the ability to analyze customer preferences in comparison with the main ISP competitors.

The presented study may help organizations in highly competitive markets dominated by rapid technological progresses to track short‐term changes of customer preferences.

The analyses presented are based on the combination of multicriteria analysis and non‐parametric statistics. The main advantage of these methods is that they respect the qualitative (ordinal) form of collected survey data.

The purpose of this paper is to conceptually articulate the differing needs of graduates and graduate employers, which can be competing or complementary in nature. Drawing from theoretical frameworks of career ecosystems and the new psychological contract, a set of propositions are presented using three themes: career management, development of talent and technological change.

A conceptual design offering a conceptual model through adopting the career ecosystem and new psychological contract as a framework.

These propositions offer a new conceptual model, which provides a practical contribution by articulating sustainability of graduates’ careers through employability at the graduate level and competitive advantage at the employer level.

The paper offers important contributions to theory by connecting career management and vocational career literature through acknowledging shared constructs of life-long learning and sustainable employability for graduates. These two streams are often developed in parallel, thus this paper helps to bridge the gaps in respective research agendas. This paper therefore has the originality of helping to advance the fields of career theory and sustainable human resource management.

The purpose of this paper is to propose an improved differential evolution algorithm (DEA) suitable for motor’s model identification.

The mutation operation of the standard DEA is improved, and the adaptive coefficient is designed to adjust the optimization process.

The application of motor model identification shows that the proposed improved DEA is more robust, with higher modeling accuracy and efficiency, and is more suitable for motor identification modeling applications. Compared with the ultrasonic motor model established by using particle swarm algorithm, the model established in this paper has higher precision.

This paper explores an improved DEA suitable for motor identification modeling. The algorithm can not only obtain the optimal solution but also effectively reduce the iterative generations and time required in the process of optimization identification.

Lithium disilicate glass-ceramics (LS2 GC) are widely used as dental prosthetics and dental restorations. Based LS2 GC have hardness and translucency similar to that of natural teeth. This study aims to investigate the tribological features of LS2 GC with crystalline volume fraction of 64% and different crystal sizes from 8 µm to 34 µm for different counterparts.

The tribological behavior was investigated using a pin-on-disc tribometer with alumina and tungsten carbide (WC) spheres, applied load of 5 N and sliding speed of 5 cm/s at normal conditions. The coefficient of friction was measured continuously up to 10,000 sliding cycles. The specific wear rate was calculated from tribological and profile measurements. The wear mechanism was investigated by surface morphology analysis.

The coefficient of friction during running-in varied from 0.8 to 1.0 for the alumina counterpart, because of severe wear. Afterwards, it reduced and reached a stationary regime, characterized by a mild wear regime and the formation of a tribolayer formed by the debris. For the WC counterpart, the coefficient of friction curves increased initially with sliding cycles up to a stationary regime. The samples tested against WC presented the lowest specific wear rate (k), and no variation of wear rate with crystal size was observed. For samples tested against the alumina, crystallization and crystal size increased the wear resistance.

This study evaluated the effect of different counterfaces on the tribological properties of the LS2 GC, an important glass-ceramic base for many dental prosthetics and dental restorations, discussing results in light of the contact mechanics. Different specific wear rates, wear regimes and dependence on the glass-ceramic microstructure were observed depending on the counterpart.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/ILT-08-2019-0352/

The purpose of this paper is to present the results of a comprehensive study on the specialisations or career tracks supported by the Information Systems (IS) curriculum in the UK.

The study utilises the recently published IS curriculum guidelines (IS 2010) to develop a method for ranking the career tracks of undergraduate IS courses in the UK.

The research presents a prioritised list of graduate IS careers by taking into account the entire IS course provision in the UK. At the same time, it offers data about the size of the IS curriculum in terms of universities in the UK and the number/type courses they offer.

The study relies on a previously undeveloped method for measuring career specialisations for UK IS graduates. Additional work is needed to validate the results through comparisons with alternative methods of measuring the careers supported by IS degree courses.

By having concrete data about the state of the IS curriculum in relation to its employability opportunities, the IS academy can make more informed decisions about future curriculum development. Further comparative research can be undertaken to support arguments about the relevance of the IS curriculum to industry needs.

There has been no similar UK study on this scale which examines the state of the IS curriculum in relation to the career opportunities it offers. The development of the method for this study also offers insights into the structure and recommendations presented by IS 2010.

This study aims to examine teachers’ efficacy to use iPad for teaching, their perceived impact of 1:1 iPad implementation in the classroom and the role of both variables in predicting teachers’ adoption of the iPad.

This paper opted for multiple linear regression analysis of the data from a total of 91 teachers (44 male and 47 female). All participating teachers are from upper-middle-class private schools who have been using iPad in their classrooms for at least three months. All three variables being studied are measured using instruments developed by the researcher and self-rated by participating teachers: iPad-Teaching Efficacy (iTE), Perceived Impact of iPad in the Classroom (iPI) and iPad Actual Use for Teaching (iAU). All three instruments have good internal reliability and validity, with an alpha coefficient of 0.97, 0.92 and 0.93 respectively.

The paper provides empirical insights about factors contributing to teachers’ technology adoption (specifically iPad) in the classroom. It suggests that teachers’ efficacy significantly predicts their actual use of the iPad for teaching, but teachers’ perceived impact of the implementation does not.

These research findings play an important role in designing a program for technology adoption in schools, especially in Indonesia.

This chapter situates the South Pacific region’s engagement in progressing gender equality and women’s empowerment within broader gender and development (GAD) debates. It explores the international ‘gender agenda’ and how its associated frameworks, platforms, policies and metrics have diffused throughout the South Pacific. Limited progress in achieving gender equality and empowerment goals has been made, globally and regionally, with considerable challenges yet to be overcome. Complementing the book’s focus on the integration of gender into agricultural research and development projects, the chapter reviews rural women’s access to income and land in the South Pacific, and their contributions to agricultural production and marketing.

The purpose of this study is to help the researchers, public, industries and government to realize the tremendous trends to improve the power quality of both sources and load side.

The work carried out in the Facts device and power quality issues.

Maintaining the quality of electric power is always a challenging task. The effect of power electronics devices leads to improper power quality. The use of FACTS devices is preferably the best approach to treat power-quality-related problems. Usually, all FACTS devices are constructed to operate on the side of either the source side or the load.

This paper explores a broad comprehensive study of various types of power quality problems and classification of FACTS devices with its recent developments. Furthermore unified power quality conditioner (UPQC) is particularly reviewed to highlight the advantages over other compensating devices. An exhaustive study of literature has been carried out and most significant concepts are presented

This paper aims to overcome the corrosion in AA7075 by incorporating the dual-reinforcements like Al2O3 and SiC through friction stir processing (FSP). In recent days, an automotive monocoque structure undergoes corrosion because of changes in environmental conditions.

Surface hybrid composites (SHCs) of AA7075 with different weight ratios of Al₂O₃ and SiC were fabricated at a rotating speed of 1000 rpm, traveling speed of 56 mm/min and tool tilt angle of 2º with two passes. Surface regions were observed using optical microscopy, and the potentiodynamic corrosion test was performed under a 3.5 per cent NaCl environment at room temperature. Then, the surface morphology analysis of corroded samples and their structural properties were also investigated through scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and electron dispersive spectroscopy (EDS).

Through FSP, an improved interface between the reinforced particles and the AA7075 base matrix was observed because of the severe plastic deformation. Potentiodynamic polarization tests confirmed that the AA7075 matrix with a higher concentration of Al₂O₃ and a lower concentration of SiC (Al₂O₃ – 75 per cent and SiC – 25 per cent) possesses a lower corrosion rate than other specimens. This result is because of the combined effect of stable passive film formation and the resistance produced by hard SiC particles. In addition, the formation of a stronger interface between the reinforcements and the base matrix impedes the NaCl solution attack. The SEM micrograph depicts the film crystallinity variations with an increase in Al₂O₃ content. Debonding between the layers was observed on increasing the SiC content in the base matrix. XRD shows the peaks of reinforcing elements that influence the corrosion behavior. These observations suggest that the AA7075 reinforced with a higher concentration of Al₂O₃ and a lower concentration of SiC through FSP affords a suitable solution for automotive monocoque applications.

The corrosion rate has been identified for AA7075 SHCs with various concentrations of Al₂O₃ and SiC and has been compared with that of the base metal and the friction stir processed specimen without reinforcement.