Empowering Students with Practical ＂Working＂ Experience through Hands-on Multidisciplinary Design Projects

One of the problems that many engineering graduates face when looking for their first job is： Do you have experience？ Employers prefer graduates with relevant experience to those without. Why is experience so important to employers？ Can students accumulate ＂working＂ experience while studying in college？ This paper discusses the use of design projects inside and outside of classrooms to help students gain ＂working＂ experience and skills through hands-on design activities that simulate the actual design activities that occur in the industry. Faculty members from the Mechanical Engineering Technology and Computer Engineering Technology departments were involved in creating multidisciplinary design projects. The design projects give students new insights into what they learn in their coursework and pro.vide students the valuable experiences in analytical skills, concurrent engineering approach, people skills, and management skills needed for the students when looking for employment.

Evaluation of the Impact of Presence Lighting and Digital Speed Limit Trailers on Interstate Speeds in Indiana Work Zones

Work zone safety continues to be one of the important focus areas for transportation agencies. Previous studies have identified that vehicle speed and lighting conditions are significant risk factors impacting work zone safety. This study evaluated the impact of the use of presence lighting and digital speed limit trailers on nighttime motorist speeds using commercially available connected vehicle speed data. Geospatial analysis was conducted on over 500,000 connected vehicle records to linear reference nearly 18,000 records from 195 unique trajectories to study section during the study period of 2 days. Results showed that median speeds reduced by 4 to 13 mph from 11PM to 7AM during the deployment of presence lighting and speed limit trailers compared to base conditions. A Kolmogorov-Smirnov (KS) statistical test comparing 105 vehicles traveling through the construction zone with presence lighting and speed limit trailers with a group of 90 vehicles during base condition indicated the speeds during the deployment of presence lighting and speed limit trailers were lower than the base condition. Also, increased compliance with the 55 mph speed limit was observed when the presence lighting and digital speed limit trailers were deployed. However, there were two hours (3AM to 5AM) where speeds increased by 0 - 4 mph, perhaps due to the low volume at that hour. The encouraging results support the further deployment of presence lighting and speed limit trailers in nighttime construction zones for reducing vehicle speeds. Those future deployments should be monitored with connected vehicle speeds to collect additional data to broaden the evaluation of these speed mitigation techniques over a diverse set of construction zone activities.

Social Work as a Research-Based Profession： Opportunities, Prerequisites and Restrictions

The concept of research-based social work is introduced and discussed from the point of view of preconditions for its realization. Attention is paid both to the academic research of social work and to opportunities for developing a knowledge-producing social work practice. Both of these are seen as essential elements of a research-based profession. On the one hand, the academic research is necessary for development of social work as a research-based professional system, and on the other hand, a knowledge-producing practice, conducted by research-oriented practitioners, can only be realized within such a system. Historically, social work has been partly developed as a knowledge-applying instead of a knowledge-producing profession, although the central founding pioneers emphasized the importance of an own-knowledge basis and theory formation, as well as the idea of knowledge-producing practice based on a corresponding professional identity. The future of social work as a professional system in modern society may depend decisively on how it develops a research-based professional identity, not only in the sense of academic research but also through practitioners with research orientation. These are practitioners who would be capable of research-based working in terms of creative knowledge production, thus of developing social work as a credible research-based profession. This can be created only through education in which the development of necessary professional skills is linked to advanced academic meta-skills. There are good reasons to suspect that a three-year education is too short for this.

Best Practice Standards and Methodology for Crane Operator Training—A Global Perspective

Crane operators control mobile or stationary cranes to lift, move and place objects at locations such as building and construction sites, wharves and shipyards. This activity occurs all over the world and is a high risk task with many noted examples of serious incidents and accidents. There are identifiable key causes that have been noted through analysis of the well documented cases and many of these causes are preventable through effective training programs. Internationally, there are not currently consistent approaches to crane operator training program content or duration. Leading causes of crane accidents are firstly discussed and identified as areas for inclusion in training programs. A number of current training approaches from a range of countries are then considered and these are used to outline the basis of a generic competency standard for crane operation, as it was found that there are not common standards in place. The proposed competency standard can be adapted by training regulators, training providers, government agencies, industry bodies and enterprises as a benchmark for the development of effective training programs.

Assessment of Lead Exposures during Abrasive Blasting and Vacuuming in Ventilated Field Containments: A Case Study

Painting contractors have struggled with implementation and assessment of lead exposure controls leading to persistently elevated blood lead levels in this high-risk group of workers. The objective of this study was to assess the intensity of lead exposures based on commonly used air velocities inside field containment structures during abrasive blasting and vacuuming. Exposures were assessed over 14 days from April to July 2021 at a tainter gate and bridge lead paint removal project. Personal air samples, skin wipes, air velocity readings, and blood lead samples were collected. The geometric mean (GM) lead exposure for abrasive blasters and vacuumers was ≥4 × the OSHA Lead Permissible Exposure Limit (PEL) of 50 μg/m3. There was high variability in the personal lead exposures (Geometric standard deviation (GSD) 4.0 - 5.0). The GM hand wipe exposures exceeded a Dermal PEL of 500 μg/wipe (abrasive blaster 564 μg/wipe and vacuumer 754 μg/wipe). Residual lead was measured on workers’ hands in 67% of the post hand washing samples. Air velocities measured inside of the field containments ranged from 107 feet per minute to 229 feet per minute. The effect of air velocity on the concentration of lead on workers’ hands after work (F = 0.58, p = 0.35) and airborne lead concentration was not significant (F = 0.36, p = 0.48). Six of the eight workers’ blood lead levels increased after exposure to lead. There was a non-statistically significant relationship between lead remaining on workers’ hands after handwashing and an increase in blood lead level. This is the first study that assessed both ventilation flow rates used in the industrial painting industry and measurements of airborne and dermal (hands) lead exposures. For the projects evaluated, the collected exposure data indicate that air velocities frequently used in the industrial painting industry to ventilate field containment structures did not tend to prevent an increase in worker blood lead and were ineffective for adequately controlling elevated concentrations of airborne lead and preventing contact with workers’ hands.

Turn the Blueprint into Reality with Hard and Practical Work

This is a historic event and a new starting point for hard work.At the NPC and CPPCC sessions,General Secretary Xi Jinping focused on implementing the new development concept,pursuing high-quality development and adhering to the people-centered development thought,and made a series of important expositions,guiding the direction of the new economic and social development.

GROUP WORK IN TEACHING PRACTICE

Introduction Teaching practice (TP) is an essential component of the English course at Teachers’ colleges in China, in which new recruits are provided with a platform to put what they learn in the training programme into practice. The radical change from learner to teacher usually means a difficult beginning for trainees, although they have first-hand experience of learning English as a foreign language. Facing a textbook, of which each lesson consists of several components: new words, sentence patterns, text, grammar, and exercises, they are required to work out lesson plans which will ensure the achievement of the teaching objectives.