Education and Training

Effects of peer comparisons on low-promotability tasks: Evidence from a university field experiment

Sofia Villas-Boas
Rebecca Taylor
Elizabeth Deakin
2019

Governance—the way rules are set and implemented—in many institutions is sustained through the service of groups of individuals, performing low-promotability tasks. For instance, the success of not-for-profit professional societies, civic organizations, and public universities depends on the willingness of members and employees to serve in governance. Typically service is requested by annual calls to serve. We implement and analyze a field experiment at a large public university using a randomized experimental design, to investigate whether responses to calls to serve are affected by...

Incentivizing Pro-social Behavior in Governance: The Effects of Revealing Peer Rankings on Voluntary Service

Sofia Villas-Boas
Rebecca Taylor
Elizabeth Deakin
2016

We implement a field experiment at a U.S. university to identify the effect of revealing peers’ rank, in terms of previous voluntary service, on future voluntary service of individual faculty members. We find that revealing a service ranking in the lowest quartile leads to significantly higher response rates than disclosing a median quartile ranking. Beyond informing the department head, sending a direct email to individuals does not have an incremental effect on average voluntary service responses, though it causes significantly higher new response. Finally, we find the above effects are...

Risk Assessment and Risk Management for Transportation Research

Elizabeth Deakin
Karen Trapenberg Frick
Kathleen Phu
2014

This paper sets forth a preliminary methodology to assess and manage risk for transportation research. The California Dept. of Transportation (Caltrans) funds numerous transportation research projects that range from studies that aim to improve the understanding of travel behavior to field operations tests and deployment studies for new technologies. The risk assessment methodology is designed to help 1) identify needs for transportation research, 2) identify likely audiences for the anticipated research products, as well as potential applications; 3) identify potential barriers that could...

Pacific Region Combined Heat and Power Application Center

Tim Lipman
Bret Harper
Vincent McDonell
Asfaw Beyene
Daniel Kammen
Scott Samuelsen
2006

Executive Summary The purpose of this report is to provide an updated baseline assessment and action plan for combined heat and power (CHP) in Hawaii and to identify the hurdles that prevent the expanded use of CHP systems. This report has been prepared by the Pacific Region CHP Application Center (PRAC). The PRAC is a United States Department of Energy (DOE) and California Energy Commission sponsored center to provide education and outreach assistance for CHP in the Pacific region of California, Nevada, and Hawaii. The PRAC is operated by the University of California – Berkeley (UCB), the...

Hydrogen Energy in Engineering Education (H2E3) (Final Technical Report)

Peter Lehman
Tim Lipman
Eileen Cashman
Richard Engel
2011

Schatz Energy Research Center's Hydrogen Energy in Engineering Education curriculum development project delivered hydrogen energy and fuel cell learning experiences to over 1,000 undergraduate engineering students at five California universities, provided follow-on internships for students at a fuel cell company; and developed commercializable hydrogen teaching tools including a fuel cell test station and a fuel cell/electrolyzer experiment kit. Monitoring and evaluation tracked student learning and faculty and student opinions of the curriculum, showing that use of the curriculum did...

An Architecture for UAV Team Control

Rathinam, Sivakumar
Zennaro, Marco
Mak, Tony
Raja Sengupta
2004

Recent years has seen a widespread interest in the use of Unmanned aircraft vehicles for military applications. These UAV's can be used in many applications such as surveillance, information gathering, suppression of enemy defenses, air to air combat, mapping buildings and facilities etc. In this paper, we present an architecture with the necessary algorithms that we have implemented to control a team of UAVs to search for targets such as SAMs, ground troops, artillery, tanks etc in a given region.

5/3-Approximation Algorithm for a Multiple Depot, Terminal Hamiltonian Path Problem

Sivakumar, Rathinam
Raja Sengupta
2007

Though 2-approximation algorithms are available for several Multiple Depot Travelling Salesman Problems (TSPs)and Hamiltonian Path Problems (HPPs), there are no algorithms in the literature for any multiple depot variant of TSP or HPP that has an approximation ratio better than 2. This paper addresses one variant of the Multiple Depot HPP and provides the first 5/3-approximation algorithm for the same when the costs are symmetric and satisfy triangle inequality.

A Comparative Case Study on Active Transport to and from School

Fesperman, CE
Evenson, KR
Daniel Rodriguez
Salvesen, D
2008

This study investigates active-transport-to-school initiatives through the Active Living by Design Community Action Model framework. The framework outlines five strategies that influence physical activity: preparation, promotion, programs, policies, and physical projects. A comparative case study was conducted to investigate active-transport-to-school initiatives at two North Carolina schools. A group of key stakeholders from each site was interviewed (N = 16), including principals, physical education teachers, public safety officers, city planners, regional transportation planners, city...

Recherche Originale: Une Etude de cas Comparative sur le Transport Actif Concernant les Allers-retours à L'école

Fesperman, CE
MRP, KRE
Daniel Rodriguez
Salvesen, D
2008

Cette étude examine les initiatives de transport actif à l'école par le système Active Living by Design Community Action Model (vie active selon le modèle d'action de conception communautaire). Le système souligne cinq stratégies influençant l'activité physique : la préparation, la promotion, les programmes, les politiques et les projets physiques.

Development of Pedestrian & Bicycle Transportation Course Modules.

Daniel Rodriguez
Turochy, R
Sundstrom, C
Sandt, L
2014
According to a 2012 report by the Alliance for Biking and Walking, crashes involving bicyclists and/or pedestrians account for almost 15% of all traffic crashes. The states that house STRIDE consortium universities, including Florida, Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, and Mississippi, are among the top seven states with the highest pedestrian and bicyclist fatality rates in the nation. Training the next generation of planners and engineers to consider pedestrian and ...