This book highlights the important need for more efficient and environmentally sound combustion technologies that utilise renewable fuels to be continuously developed and adopted. The central theme here is two-fold: internal combustion engines and fuel solutions for combustion systems. Internal combustion engines remain as the main propulsion system used for ground transportation, and the numbe…
This book is a printed edition of the Special Issue Advances in Intelligent Vehicle Control that was published in the journal Sensors. It presents a collection of eleven papers that covers a range of topics, such as the development of intelligent control algorithms for active safety systems, smart sensors, and intelligent and efficient driving. The contributions presented in these papers can se…
Active flow control (AFC) utilizes local active perturbations to induce changes in global flow behavior that result in aero/hydrodynamic performance improvement. It has been a vibrant research area with potential applications in a wide range of engineering fields. This Special Issue is a collection of 11 excellent research papers published in Actuators, showcasing and discussing new advances in…
A short introduction to the theory of surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) is given. The application of the SPPs in on-chip signal processing is discussed. In particular, two concepts of plasmonic modulators are reported, wherein the SPPs are modulated by 40 Gbit/s electrical signals. Phase and Mach-Zehnder modulators employing the Pockels effect in electro-optic organic materials are discussed. A…
Thanks to the progress made in materials research and to the introduction of innovative manufacturing technologies, a wide range of sound-absorbing elements are currently available to adjust the acoustic features of an environment. Nowadays, performance is only one of the required specifications, together with environmental compatibility, longevity, and affordable cost. This book collects the m…
A Guide to Understanding the Fundamental Principles of Environmental Management It Ain’t Magic: Everything Goes Somewhere
The use of energy it is argued started about two million years ago when humans started cooking their food using firewood. As humans developed new skills with increased activities, energy interaction and usage emerged. Energy was used not only for domestic functions but also for space applications. With industrialization, humans realized that energy was needed to move machines and do other thing…
Modern power and energy systems are characterized by the wide integration of distributed generation, storage and electric vehicles, adoption of ICT solutions, and interconnection of different energy carriers and consumer engagement, posing new challenges and creating new opportunities. Advanced testing and validation methods are needed to efficiently validate power equipment and controls in the…
With current infrastructure, meeting the ever-growing demand for electrical energy across the globe is becoming increasingly difficult. The widespread adoption of both commercial and residential non-dispatchable renewable energy facilities, such as solar and wind, further taxes the stability of the electrical grid, often causing traditional fossil fuel power plants to operate at lower efficienc…
"In October 1998, on the occasion of the first conference on design education, Richard Buchanan, then Director of The School of Design at Carnegie Mellon University, envisioned doctoral education in Design as a ""neoteric enterprise"", aimed at finding novel ways of addressing the new problems, ""thereby creating a new body of learning and knowledge"". Twenty years after, these words can still …