Assistive technology supports maintenance or improvement of an individual’s functioning and independence, though for people in need the access to assistive products is not always guaranteed. This paper presents a generic quality framework for assistive technology service delivery that can be used independent of the setting, context, legislative framework, or type of technology. Based on available literature and a series of discussions among the authors, a framework was developed. It consists of 7 general quality criteria and four indicators for each of these criteria. The criteria are: accessibility; competence; coordination; efficiency; flexibility; user centeredness, and infrastructure. This framework can be used at a micro level (processes around individual users), meso level (the service delivery scheme or programme) or at a macro level (the whole country). It aims to help identify in an easy way the main strengths and weaknesses of a system or process, and thus guide possible improvements. As a next step in the development of this quality framework the authors propose to organise a global consultancy process to obtain responses from stakeholders across the world and to plan a number of case studies in which the framework is applied to different service delivery systems and processes in different countries.
This papers presents some ideas to use so-called software agents as a software representation of a product not only during manufacturing but also during the whole life cycle of the product. Software agents are autonomous entities capable of collecting useful information about products. By their design and capabilities software agents fit well in the concept of ubiquitous computing. We use these agents in our newly developed manufacturing process. This paper discusses further use of agent technology.
The Technical Departments at the Fontys University of Professional Education in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, offer a course which is devel-oped around the principles of Concurrent Engi-neering. Integrated Product Development (IPD) project teams are multi-disciplinary groups which develop products in co-operation with the regional industry. The companies involved are sponsoring the developments and the revenue is being used for more intensive group coaching by tutors and specialists. We experimented with communication technology to find a good compromise between time and costs. It turned out that intelligent pagers resulted in minor improvements, mobile phones are still too expensive, e-mail is functional but creates no group cohesion and most of the com-panies are rather conservative in their use of new communication tools. We also found out that the use of a Computer Supported Co-operative Work (CSCW) server is a possibility for information interchange as an alternative for e-mail attachments. The server is also used as an archive. In future we expect that CSCW will be an effective tool for project sup-port and control.
Goal: In 2030 the availability of high quality and fit-for-purpose recycled plastics has been significantly increased by implementation of InReP’s main result: Development of technologies in sorting, mechanical and chemical recycling that make high quality recycled plastics available for the two dominating polymer types; polyolefins (PE/PP) and PET. Results: Our integrated approach in the recycling of plastics will result in systemic (R1) and technological solutions for sorting & washing of plastic waste (R2), mechanical (R3) and chemical recycling (R4, R6) and upcycling (R5, R7) of polyolefins (PE & PP) and polyesters (PET). The obtained knowledge on the production of high quality recycled plastics can easily be transferred to the recycling of other plastic waste streams. Furthermore, our project aims to progress several processes (optimized sorting and washing, mechanical recycling of PP/PE, glycolysis of PET, naphtha from PP/PE and preparation of valuable monomers from PP/PET) to prototype and/or improved performance at existing pilot facilities. Our initiative will boost the attractiveness of recycling, contribute to the circular transition (technical, social, economic), increase the competitiveness of companies involved within the consortium and encourage academic research and education within this field.
Due to the existing pressure for a more rational use of the water, many public managers and industries have to re-think/adapt their processes towards a more circular approach. Such pressure is even more critical in the Rio Doce region, Minas Gerais, due to the large environmental accident occurred in 2015. Cenibra (pulp mill) is an example of such industries due to the fact that it is situated in the river basin and that it has a water demanding process. The current proposal is meant as an academic and engineering study to propose possible solutions to decrease the total water consumption of the mill and, thus, decrease the total stress on the Rio Doce basin. The work will be divided in three working packages, namely: (i) evaluation (modelling) of the mill process and water balance (ii) application and operation of a pilot scale wastewater treatment plant (iii) analysis of the impacts caused by the improvement of the process. The second work package will also be conducted (in parallel) with a lab scale setup in The Netherlands to allow fast adjustments and broaden evaluation of the setup/process performance. The actions will focus on reducing the mill total water consumption in 20%.
The textile and clothing sector belongs to the world’s biggest economic activities. Producing textiles is highly energy-, water- and chemical-intensive and consequently the textile industry has a strong impact on environment and is regarded as the second greatest polluter of clean water. The European textile industry has taken significant steps taken in developing sustainable manufacturing processes and materials for example in water treatment and the development of biobased and recycled fibres. However, the large amount of harmful and toxic chemicals necessary, especially the synthetic colourants, i.e. the pigments and dyes used to colour the textile fibres and fabrics remains a serious concern. The limited range of alternative natural colourants that is available often fail the desired intensity and light stability and also are not provided at the affordable cost . The industrial partners and the branch organisations Modint and Contactgroep Textiel are actively searching for sustainable alternatives and have approached Avans to assist in the development of the colourants which led to the project Beauti-Fully Biobased Fibres project proposal. The objective of the Beauti-Fully Biobased Fibres project is to develop sustainable, renewable colourants with improved light fastness and colour intensity for colouration of (biobased) man-made textile fibres Avans University of Applied Science, Zuyd University of Applied Sciences, Wageningen University & Research, Maastricht University and representatives from the textile industry will actively collaborate in the project. Specific approaches have been identified which build on knowledge developed by the knowledge partners in earlier projects. These will now be used for designing sustainable, renewable colourants with the improved quality aspects of light fastness and intensity as required in the textile industry. The selected approaches include refining natural extracts, encapsulation and novel chemical modification of nano-particle surfaces with chromophores.
