CCGL9076 Material Matters Fall 2025/26 ASSIGNMENT 4: MATERIAL INQUIRY I. Objective Throughout the progression of human civilizations, numerous materials have either become obsolete or surplus, while others have continued to grow in value and utility to fulfill the constantly evolving demands of humankind. From the humble grains of sand composing our cities’ concrete streets to the complex fibers of synthetic polymers used to package goods globally for distribution and trade, materials and the distinct utilities they offer have indubitably shaped the course of human activity and world building. However, as our capabilities expand, so do our needs and challenges, presenting humanity with continuous opportunities for innovation and problem-solving in material production, distribution, and incorporation. Regardless of our level of advancement, we consistently strive to answer the question: how can this be improved? In this last course assignment, students will select a material-related topic based on the readings, research, and discussions they have engaged in throughout the term to investigate and develop it in depth through a design-research proposal. They will examine a salient issue surrounding a particular material, process, or material condition to research and expose underlying (including but not limited to) historical, economic, cultural, or governmental frictions. Students will analyze and critique the issues through the lens of sustainable development and propose a method of design-research on the topic they choose to promote. Students will showcase their proposals through a concise 2-minute elevator pitch, aiming to convince the teaching team, invited guests, and fellow students of the significance of their material issue and the merit of their research proposal. II. Methodology Research and Review Students are encouraged to pursue a material-based topic based on their own personal and professional interests. Their project should be fundamentally grounded in the readings, lectures, field-trips, and activities accomplished over the course of the semester, but students are encouraged to reference other relevant sources for their investigations as well. To support the research that students wish to pursue, the teaching team has prepared a variety of databases and books that will be available for students to refer to. For the submission of their design-research proposal, students are expected to compile a multimedia literature review of at least 8-10 sources, with at least 4 originating from academic sources. Topics should target one material, exploring it thoroughly under one of the following aspects: - Eco-friendly Materials - Technology and Material Innovation - Material Labor and Extraction - Design and Construction - Vernacular Design and Cultural Practice Design-Research Proposal The goal of the design-research proposal is to demonstrate lucid understanding and innovative problem-solving of the subject through an explanation and critique of current underlying conflicts. Students will show their developed expertise on the subject through the literature review. A literature review of superior quality will not merely reiterate what they learn from their sources, but rather interpret the significance of what they research as it pertains to their proposal subject. Students will then argue for their potential solutions and methods through a proposal of research design. These ideas must be supported by academic evidence, appendixes/diagrams/and drawings which the students create or cite. Presentation Students present their final proposals in a 2-minute elevator pitch. To ensure a successful presentation that persuades the invited audience, it is vital for students to carefully consider their presentation flow and overall performance. Effectively communicating the proposal requires a well-structured presentation with logically organized content. A strong research prrsentation will be clearly divided into the following elements: - Title - Aim - Learnings/Literature Review - Methods - Appendix/Supplementary Diagrams Students may choose to incorporate multimedia elements (such as images, videos, and charts) to support their points. It is also important for students to manage soft skills, such as time management and body language, during the presentation. III. Deliverables - Multimedia literature review of at least 8-10 sources, 4 of which are academic-based texts* - In-class presentation to teaching team, guest reviewers, and peers (2 minutes) * To ensure academic integrity, all sources must be properly cited according to academic standards and be clearly traceable. The use of fabricated or inaccurate resources will result in a failing grade for this assignment.
CCGL9076 Material Matters Fall 2025/26 ASSIGNMENT 3: MATERIAL INTERPRETATIONS I. Objective Many commonly used products in our region have unclear lifecycles, making it difficult to trace their extraction, processing, and finishing stages. This assignment aims to provide students with an experiential learning opportunity, encouraging them to explore unconventional material practices. By working hands-on with locally sourced materials, students will speculate on potential future trends and develop their understanding of material properties and processes. During this studio-based assignment, students create an experimental sample using local materials. Students will learn about the various material properties of concrete tiles, as well as the methods used for their production. They will then learn to interpret and document the results using the TAL-L Materials Library infrastructure. II. Methodology Concrete sample There is a growing emphasis within scientific research to find alternatives and reduce the extensive use of sand and cement in construction, due to their significant environmental impact and resource- intensive nature. In this assignment students will develop a concrete sample that minimizes the amount of these resources. Working in groups, they will create a concrete sample of 100x100x20mm using either crushed oyster shells or recycled polymer aggregate. Testing and sampling processes, as well as the handling of the course template, will be explained during in-class tutorials. Each student will submit documentation of their work individually, following the course template. III. Deliverables - 1 concrete block sample developed in groups, with individual documentation (on template)
CCGL9076 Material Matters Fall 2025/26 ASSIGNMENT 1: MATERIAL DIARIES I. Objective We are surrounded by constructed landscapes. Our urban environment is composed of a complex web of materials, many of which do not originate from the places we inhabit. Although we may have a general understanding of how urban landscapes are constructed, most of us are unaware of the intricate processes behind the sourcing and production of these materials. In this assignment, each student investigates the narrative of a distinct material, meticulously tracing its path from extraction to application. Students will explore various aspects such as material sustainability, origins, ecological impact, local utilization, performance, and properties, in order to develop a comprehensive understanding of the materials' significance in shaping our environment. Ultimately, this assignment aims to cultivate a better understanding for the materials that comprise our surroundings and encourage thoughtful reflection on their implications for our world. II. Methodology Sourcing This assignment uses an ‘objet trouvé’ 1 to analyze and interpret a material’s history. Before the tutorial for Assignment I (September 18 or 19), students are required to source three different polymer samples found in one local environment including (1) beaches, (2) streams/rivers, (3) rocky shores, or (4) mangrove forests. To respect these habitats, the material samples should be retrieved from the local landscape without causing any damage to the site. It is not permitted to purchase these materials. Each sample should measure at least 5cm but not exceed 20cm. Students should aim to collect polymers that vary in composition, type, size, and level of decay or decomposition. Examples may include fragments of single-use plastic containers, utensils, styrofoam boxes, fish netting, or toy/furniture debris. The collected samples should vary in color. Before collecting the fragment, students must carefully document the sample and its location by taking a clear, bird’s eye view photograph. Ensure the photo is steady, well-lit, and free of shadows, people, or other obstructions. Additionally, record the georeferenced coordinates of the sample using your camera’s location features (most smartphones are equipped with this) or GPS device. Following the sourcing, students will conduct desktop research to understand each material’s properties, typical extraction or production processes, and their environmental impact. It is essential to this exercise to interpret the material by understanding the researched properties along with students’ own observations, documentations, and findings from the sourcing site. Writing A 300-word essay focusing on the material fragment will unfold the chronicle of the material's story. This piece of writing should not merely consist of a conventional research report; rather, it should present a distinct narrative exploring themes such as place, identity, behavior, or the incongruity of the material. The material fragment may serve as either the main character or the narrator within the story. The essay could delve into the journey of the material, elucidating how it came to occupy its position, the ways in which it was manipulated, or even the circumstances that led to its displacement. Students should incorporate their personal interpretations of the material, supported by thorough research and relevant data. Drawing When explaining spatial concepts, words and descriptions alone are often insufficient. Incorporating additional visualizations can effectively communicate complex ideas and make information easily understandable at a glance. A drawing will merge spatial and non-spatial information to create a cohesive material story. Students can utilize various forms of visual representation, such as sketches, maps, graphs, diagrams, technical drawings, illustrations, cartoons, and storyboards. The drawing must include references to the site of material extraction and at least one non-spatial concept superimposed on a spatial reference. Drawings can be either digital or analog, but they must combine at least two media types. For example, students might overlay a hand-drawn sketch with a digitally-produced diagram or digitally manipulate a photograph and add drawn elements on top. The drawing will be primarily black and white, though accent colors may be used after consulting with teachers or tutors. To ensure clarity, students should consider using annotations, legends, or other explanatory methods as needed. While students are free to use any digital or manual tools they are comfortable with, essential techniques will be introduced during a drawing tutorial (refer to the Schedule of Teaching and Learning Activities). III. Deliverables - upload of three georeferenced photos - A4 Portrait Document with materials specification and essay (to be handed in as word and pdf document) based on course template - A3 Portrait drawing of material cycle to be submitted as pdf, jpg or png (min. 300dpi)
ELEC3207/ELEC6256: Nanoelectronic Devices ELEC3207 and ELEC6256 Coursework MOSFET Simulation Exercise 2025 Computer aided design plays a crucial role in the multi-billion-pound semiconductor industry. At the device engineering stage Technology Computer Aided Design (TCAD) is prevalent. It helps engineers optimize process flows and device characteristics prior to fabrication. TCAD can predict the electrical, optical, thermal and mechanical properties under set operating conditions given the data is properly calibrated. TCAD is purely physics based - using fundamental physical models such as drift-diffusion and Poisson equations to simulate the behaviour of devices. For this coursework assignment, you will use the Silvaco TCAD package hosted on Iridis5, one of the University of Southampton s powerful high-performance computing facilities, to investigate metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs). You will be set a series of tasks that involve running simulations in TCAD to extract information about the structure and performance of these devices. You will write and submit a report on your work for assessment, which will contribute 30% of the marks for ELEC3207/ELEC6256. Submit your report via handin.ecs.soton.ac.uk by 4 pm on Wednesday 3rd December 2025. Aims and learning outcomes This coursework exercise aims to give you experience in simulating MOSFET devices with a commonly-employed and well-established implementation of technology computer-aided design (TCAD). This will allow you to deepen your understanding of the operation principles of MOSFETS as well as giving you experience in using a set of industry standard simulation tools. Having successfully completed this coursework assignment, you will be able to: • Understand the operation principles of CMOS transistors • Describe the differences between simple analytical models of devices and rigorous numerical simulations • Simulate the performance of CMOS transistors using Silvaco TCAD • Vary process parameters to control device characteristics Outline Numerous commercial TCAD packages are available including Synopsys, Silvaco, Crosslight and Cogenda. One of the leading implementations of TCAD used throughout the world is Silvaco TCAD. The package consists of several tools: a graphical user interface (GUI) called Deckbuild, a process simulator called Athena, a device simulator called Atlas and finally a plotting tool called TonyPlot. Athena models the various fabrication steps involved in semiconductor processing such as material deposition, diffusion and etching, using various meshing strategies to generate a mixed grid element mesh. This is advantageous as 2D structures can be formed from material growth and etching rather than explicit geometry definition. This allows a means of forming complex 2D structures through lithography steps followed by impurity diffusion as a function of time and temperature - key processing steps that are common to device fabrication. Atlas simulates the electrical behaviour in a semiconductor device that is represented as a mesh grid file. Differential equations describing the electric potential and carrier distributions are applied to each element of the mesh, with boundary conditions (i.e. potentials) provided at each electrode. The equations are then solved to find the potential and carrier concentrations in each element. The software uses a numerical solver which iterates repeatedly until a solution converges to a given accuracy. You will use example files supplied by Silvaco for modelling an n-type MOSFET with a polysilicon gate. You should first become familiar with the operation of the simulation before tackling a series of tasks that require you to make modifications to the scripts and carry out further analysis on the results. Note that for Part II, the tasks you should complete depend on which version of the module you are taking (ELEC3207 or ELEC6256). As such, please ensure you do the version of Part II for the module you are taking. Getting Started Before starting the coursework simulation tasks, please work through the “Silvaco TCAD: Getting Started” document provided on the module notes page. Simulation Tasks Once you have familiarized yourself with the operation of Silvaco TCAD, you will be ready to tackle the following tasks. Please also refer to the helpful hints given later in this document. IMPORTANT: Try to limit yourself to a maximum of 2 TonyPlot windows and 1 DeckBuild window open at any one time to ensure that we do not use up all the available licences! Part I MOSFET Data Extraction ***For all students*** (a) Run the MOSFET example given by Silvaco (mos1ex01.in) to extract from the I-V curves the following parameters: i. on current (Ion) (when Vg=3 V) ii. off current (Ioff) iii. threshold voltage (Vth) iv. sub-threshold swing (S) (b) Extract the following physical device parameters: i. gate oxide thickness ii. body doping iii. gate material iv. gate doping v. gate length The width in this two-dimensional simulation is 1 μm. Extraction can be performed using simulation commands or by reading values from graphs in TonyPlot. (c) Re-run the simulation with drain voltage at 3V (see helpful hint 1 on how to do this) and extract the on current (when Vg=3 V). (d) Use theoretical (analytical) MOSFET formulae, together with the extracted physical device parameters and an appropriate value of mobility, to calculate the following I-V parameters: i. Ion, Ioff, Vth and S at a drain voltage (Vd) of 0.1 V ii. Ion for Vd = 3 V (e) Compare the values calculated from MOSFET formulae with the I-V parameters extracted from the simulation, explaining any differences you observe. Part II for ELEC3207 students Mobility and Velocity Saturation ***Only for students taking ELEC3207*** (a) Continuing with the mos1ex01.in example script, alter the script. to replace the process simulation (Athena) with its structure file so that you do not have to re-run that part of the simulation over and over again (see helpful hint 2). Add the following statement in the device simulation (Atlas) section, immediately below the models cvt srh print statement: mobility mumaxn.cvt=1500 This makes the low field electron mobility of the Si explicit (and sets it to 1500 cm2/Vs). Change the low field electron mobility and re-run the simulation to obtain the Id-Vg output characteristics. Do this for a range of mobility values at a drain voltage of 0.1 V and plot the on current (when Vg=3 V) versus the low field electron mobility (in Excel or equivalent). Record a sufficient range and number of mobility points to create a useful graph. (b) Repeat for a drain voltage of 3 V. (c) Discuss how the concept of velocity saturation in MOSFETs can explain the trends observed in your graphs, commenting on: i. why on current initially increases linearly with mobility but then saturates at higher mobilities. ii. why this saturation occurs at lower mobilities for the higher drain voltage. Part II for ELEC6256 students Electronic Band Structure and Flat Band Conditions ***Only for students taking ELEC6256*** (a) Continuing with the mos1ex01.in example script, alter the script. to replace the process simulation (Athena) with its structure file so that you do not have to re-run that part of the simulation over and over again (see helpful hint 2). Then follow helpful hint 3 to alter the script. so that conduction and valence band potentials are saved to the structure file and the structure file is plotted under zero bias conditions. Run the script, then use cutline to plot the conduction band, valence band and Fermi level (Electron QFL) from the gate, through the gate oxide and into the silicon substrate. Explain why: i. band bending is present in the silicon substrate, even with no voltage applied to the gate. ii. the simulation does not show the band structure for silicon in the polysilicon gate region. (b) Ramp the gate voltage to find the voltage required to achieve flat bands. Plot the resulting electronic band structure. (c) Vary the work function of the gate (see helpful hint 4), then ramp the gate voltage to determine the voltage required to achieve flat bands at each work function value. Plot the flat band voltage against the gate work function (in Excel or equivalent) and explain the trend observed and the significance of the x axis intercept value. Part III MOSFET Scaling ***For all students*** Take the example file mos1ex15.in as a starting point, and scale the gate length by changing the “cd” parameter in the Athena part of the code (see helpful hint 5). At what gate length does the source to drain leakage become too high? Change other process parameters, such as oxide thickness, doping concentration of the body, source and drain etc. such that the transistor parameters improve. Take the scaling parameters described in the ITRS Roadmap from the mid 2000s as starting point (see lecture notes). This part of the assignment is designed to be more open ended and to allow you to use your newly-acquired Silvaco TCAD simulation skills to tackle a real-world problem. Report The results of your work on the simulation tasks should be presented in a report and submitted as a PDF file via handin.ecs.soton.ac.uk by 4 pm on Wednesday 3rd December 2025. The report should be structured as follows and should not exceed 12 pages including figures, references and appendices. Part I (a) Electrical parameter extraction (methods and results) (b) Physical device parameter extraction (methods and results) (c) On current with drain voltage at 3V (method and result) (d) Theoretical MOSFET parameters (methods and results) (e) Comparison between calculated and extracted electrical parameters Part II ELEC3207 only (a) Plot of Ion vs. low field electron mobility for Vd= 0.1 V (b) Plot of Ion vs. low field electron mobility for Vd= 3 V (c) Discussion/explanation of results Part II ELEC6256 only (a) Plot of electronic band structure and explanation (b) Plot electronic band structure in flat band conditions and give the value of VFB. (c) Plot VFB vs. gate workfunction and explain x intercept value. Part III (method, results and discussion from device scaling investigation) A template is available on the module’s Blackboard site.
ELEC6256: MOSFET Simulation Exercise 2025 Name: Email address: Student ID: (The space for each part should be expanded as required but the report overall should not exceed 12 pages) Part I (a) Electrical parameter extraction (methods and results) (b) Physical device parameter extraction (methods and results) (c) On current with drain voltage at 3V (method and result) (d) Theoretical MOSFET parameters (methods and results) (e) Comparison between calculated and extracted electrical parameters Part II ELEC6256 (a) Plot of electronic band structure and explanation (b) Plot electronic band structure in flat band conditions and give the value of VFB. (c) Plot VFB vs. gate workfunction and explain intercept values. Part III (method, results and discussion from device scaling investigation)
ELEC3207: MOSFET Simulation Exercise 2025 Name: Email address: Student ID: (The space for each part should be expanded as required but the report overall should not exceed 12 pages) Part I (a) Electrical parameter extraction (methods and results) (b) Physical device parameter extraction (methods and results) (c) On current with drain voltage at 3V (method and result) (d) Theoretical MOSFET parameters (methods and results) (e) Comparison between calculated and extracted electrical parameters Part II ELEC3207 (a) Plot of Ion vs. low field electron mobility for Vd= 0.1 V (b) Plot of Ion vs. low field electron mobility for Vd= 3 V (c) Discussion/explanation of results Part III (method, results and discussion from device scaling investigation)
STA 141A Final Project In this final project, you will be required to learm and apply a key machine learning algorithm-the ridge regression model, which generalizes the ordinary linear regression model by introducing a regularization term. Reading ● The conceptual partis in 6.2.1 Ridge Regression from the book An Introduction to Statistical Learning. ● The coding session is in 6.5. 2 Ridge Regression and the lasso from the same book Instructions ● Clean the given data set. ● Plot the standardized ridge regression coefficients against the hyperparameter λ. (refer to Figure 6. 4 (left) in the ISL book.) ■ Note that standardized means that you need to standardize the covariates. ● Answer the following discussion questions. Grading (20 pts total) ● Data clearning: 5 points (2 4 issues) ● Modeling: 5 points (Ridge Regression and Linear Regression) ● Plotting: 5 points (Visualizations must be correct, clearly labeled, aesthetically clean) ● Discussion: 5 points ● Readability (deduction) ■ Code should be well-commented and clear. ■ Up to 2 points deduction for poor readability (e.g., unexplained code, no comments, hard to follow). In [ ]: import pandas as pd import numpy as np import matplotlib.pyplot as plt # Import any packages you want to use below Data Cleaning Clean the given dataset first. ● indicate the potential problems (hint: >=4 issues) ● apply reasonable method to address these problems In [ ]: # add more cells when needed Plotting Make the plots below In [ ]: add more cells when needed Discussion 1. What's the connection between the linear regression model and the ridge regression model? (hint: think about the additional term in ridge regression) 2. How to understand the parameter λ? (Hint: think how the model changes when the value of λ changes) 3. Why are we interested in the standardized coefficient? (Hint: think about what happens when it is not standardized) 4. Interpret your coefficient for x6 when λ=0. Is it the same as the linear regression coefficient (you need to run a linear regression model. with the same data and compare them)? Explain why. In [ ]: #run your linear regression model here #add more cells when needed
An Autonomous Drone with SLAM and Object Recognition in Disaster Response Autonomous drones are increasingly used for complex missions like search and rescue. In disaster zones, mapping changed terrain and locating survivors is a critical challenge requiring reliable perception, localization, and recognition. This project aims to develop an intelligent aerial robot that navigates unknown areas using Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) and object recognition to detect humans, debris, and fire. The project's main challenges are achieving accurate localization on changed terrain and improving environmental understanding via semantic perception. This integration connects low-level autonomy (navigation, mapping) with high-level reasoning (object interpretation), vital for disaster response. The proposed system combines a visual–inertial SLAM framework with an object detection module based on computer vision and machine learning. The SLAM component will construct a detailed 3D map and estimate the drone’s position in real time, while the detection module identifies and classifies key objects using image processing and neural network algorithms. A decision-making layer will also be implemented to enable intelligent responses—for example, hovering when detecting a person, rerouting to avoid obstacles, or marking detected survivors’ locations on the generated map for later rescue. The hypothesis is that integrating object recognition with SLAM will significantly improve navigation safety, mapping accuracy, and overall mission effectiveness in dynamic environments. Experiments will be carried out in Webots, comparing pure SLAM and SLAM + object recognition under different visibility and obstacle conditions. Evaluation metrics will include localization accuracy, detection precision, and system stability during flight simulation. Finally, each teammate will program a core component: Renjie Xu - Localization: Codes the SLAM framework's state estimation and odometry to estimate the drone’s position in real time with high localization accuracy. Olanrewaju Sajinyan - Perception: Codes, trains, and optimizes the neural network algorithms to identify and classifies key objects (humans, debris, fire) with high detection precision. Jiaqi Zhao - Decision-Making: Codes the high-level decision-making layer, interpreting sensor data to decide what intelligent responses to trigger (e.g., hover, reroute). Jianfeng Du - Mapping: Codes the SLAM "Mapping" component, using localization data to "construct a detailed 3D map" and mark detected objects. Junjie Yang - Controll: Codes the low-level Control algorithms that execute intelligent responses (e.g., stable "hovering" or "rerouting to avoid obstacles"). Shared Responsibilities: System integration, including defining interfaces (APIs) and repository management, is a collective task. All members will develop and test modules in the shared Webots simulation. For the final report and video, each member will document and record their module's contribution for final team compilation.
FOUND022 English for Foundation Studies 2 Online Discussion 2 Student Information Online Discussion 2 (20%) You will be required to complete two online discussions, and each contributes 10% to your final course grade. Online Discussion 2 Instructions: 1. Access the discussion forum via Moodle Forum. 2. You will receive a specific topic to discuss in the forum. 3. Follow the given instructions as provided in the discussion prompt. 4. Ensure your response is supported by evidence from the textbook and at least three other external sources, acknowledged by APA Style (7th edition) appropriately and accurately. 5. Ensure your response is at least 400 words. 6. Submit your responses within the given timeframe. 7. Engagement Requirement: a. After submitting your response for each discussion, engage actively by reading and interacting with your classmates' responses. Offer helpful feedback, ask questions, or share additional insights to encourage meaningful discussion. b. You are required to engage with the posts of at least two classmates. Marking Criteria: See page 2. Make sure to understand these criteria to know what is expected for Online Discussion 2 posts. Submission Date: You will receive the deadline for completing the discussion in class. Online Discussion 2 Marking Criteria Unsatisfactory (
Final report Overview The final report is the last part of the project, and it must be done after you’ve turned in the whole final project. It is due April 16. The final report must be completed individually. There are 2-3 things to turn in for the final report: 1. Reflection 2. Group work report – only if you did the final project in a group 3. Evaluation Reflection Write a ~ 1 page reflection on what you have learned from the final project. This is open-ended, but some of the questions you might answer include: - Was there anything you enjoyed about doing the final project? - What were some of the challenges you encountered? - How has this affected the way you think about data analysis? - How has this affected the way you would plan an experiment? - How has this affected the way you approach coding in R? Group work report If you worked in a group, you must submit a group work report. Briefly explain how your group divided the work and what your contributions were at each stage of the process (proposal, data creation, analysis, writeup). Evaluation There will be 5 components to the self-evaluation: ( 1) Effort, (2) Analysis, (3) R, (4) Incorporating feedback, (5) Completion. For each component you will be proposing a grade according to a set of criteria. Details will be posted on Quercus by April 5. I will be taking your proposed grades into consideration in assigning an overall grade for the final project. I will be evaluating the same criteria plus overall quality of the project and work at each stage, in particular focusing on “quantitative methods” skills: - analysis and interpretation of results - R code - understanding how to connect a research question to results - basics of experimental design, especially operationalising variables I will NOT be evaluating your grammar/English or formatting. I need to be able to read and understand your paper, but beyond that please don’t worry about these.
A Possible Outline Structure AI Assignment The following structure serves as a general guideline and can be adjusted to fit your plan. Several notes will touch on some of the topics below to help you with your research. The key to an excellent essay is theoretical depth and empirical support. 1. Introduction (5 Marks) - State the research problem. - Briefly explain why this problem is worth investigating, emphasizing the significance of CEOs and top management teams. - Outline your research journey – what you intend to achieve in this essay. - Briefly describe the essay structure. 2. AI: A General-Purpose Technology - Background (10 marks) Provide a very brief theoretical overview of ML and AI using peer-reviewed academic literature. You can organize your thoughts around the points: - Briefly explain ML and its various types, - Briefly explain ML-Based AI and how it differs from ML, - Briefly compare generative AI and predictive AI, - Theoretically discuss the difference between prediction and decision and explain the role of judgement in decision-making. Could AI technologies automate decisions? - Summarise your thoughts on ML, AI, AI algorithms, generative AI and their potential in business. 3. CEOs and Their Functions (30 marks) Explore the academic literature in economics and management to investigate the role of CEOs, including what they do, how they spend their time, how they create strategies, and how they set strategic objectives. Furthermore, discuss the role that prediction plays in these activities. - Review the peer-reviewed academic literature to discuss how CEOs’ decisions affect firm performance, supporting the analysis with relevant historical data. Cite relevant evidence from the empirical literature. - Try to classify CEO tasks to several categories. A possible classification is to categorise them into “management decisions / tasks” and “strategic decisions". An example of the former is hiring top managers or establishing reward system while an example of the latter is corporate diversification or, in other words, the decision to enter a new market or the decision to devote R&D investment to a new line of product. This allows you to better structure your analysis. - Carefully discuss the role that data and prediction plays in each task category defined above – critical. 4. AI, CEOs & Cognitive Automation (30 marks) Explore channels through which machine learning and AI can substitute, complement, and potentially enhance CEO roles and functions. Further, investigate how ML/AI can assist CEOs in leading firms more effectively and guide them towards value creation. You may: - Draw on the recent theoretical framework that distinguishes between jobs and tasks, treating jobs as collections of tasks. Consider CEOs, job as a collection of tasks. - Identify main channels through which ML, AI and generative AI may transform CEOs, tasks. These include prediction, scenario planning, strategy development, ideation, business model formulation and so forth. Next discuss at least three channels in detail. For example: o Discuss how improved predictions can transform CEOs' decision-making. For example, consider prediction policy problems (as discussed on Blackboard) to illustrate how ML technologies will enhance them. o Consider selecting top managers using machine learning algorithms. o Explore how generative AI can be used for scenario planning, assisting CEOs in making better decisions and designing strategies. o Discuss generative AI as a tool of ideation, enabling CEOs for exploring new ideas and possibly new business models. - Examine the potential ways in which the emergence of AI and ML could alter the management hierarchies within a firm. - Reflect on key limitations of current AI technologies and explore their implications for automating CEOs' cognitive tasks. 5. Firm Growth, Performance & Competition (20 Marks) Explore some of the implications of your analysis for firm growth, performance, and its ability to compete in the market. - Reflect on how better decisions improve firm performance, enabling it to grow and compete in the market. - Draw on peer reviewed literature to discuss how better firm strategies can drive performance. - Discuss how AI-driven decisions / strategies can improve performance. - If relevant, include relevant economic graphs. 6. Conclusion (5 Marks) - Summarise key points - Discuss the limitations of AI in business. 7. Bibliography (5 Marks & Presentation) - Must follow the Harvard style, richly refer to the academic literature, and be consistent throughout.
Writeup Your writeup should have four sections: Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion. Write it as though you actually did the experiment (instead of like you made up the data). The writeup should include the following information: 1. Introduction: Well-motivated statement of research questions and hypotheses a. Research question i. Stated generally, in a way that makes the interest of the question clear. ii. Stated specifically in terms of the particular outcome and predictor variables you’ll be testing. b. Theoretical hypotheses i. These are YOUR research hypotheses (not null and alternative statistical hypotheses. ii. There are 3 potential hypotheses for a 2*2 design: one for each predictor variable and one for the interaction. You should expect to find a difference for at least two of these. If you do not expect to find a difference for the third, state that as well. c. The research topic and hypotheses should be clearly motivated: Make sure you state WHY you have the hypotheses that you do. This could be based on previous research (which should be cited) and/or your own observations or intuitions. 2. Methods: Explanation of the methods with enough detail that the experiment could be replicated by someone else a. Participants: number and inclusion criteria b. Task: give enough detail that someone could replicate it. You may want to follow (and reference) previous academic work that has used a similar task. c. Items/stimuli i. What are they? (for example, if it’s a listening task, what will participants be hearing? If it’s a speaking task, what will they be saying?) You don’t need to list every stimulus in the paper but you should give a clear picture of what the stimuli generally are and a couple examples. ii. Are there both targets and fillers? How many of each? How do they differ? iii. What properties were considered when choosing the stimuli? (for example, if you made sure that all of the words were one syllable, say that! If you made sure that the fillers were the same frequency as the targets, say that! Etc) d. Analysis: Any measurements that will be taken, or other data processing 3. Results: Descriptive and inferential statistics that address the research question/hypotheses a. Descriptive statistics i. Present graphs of your results: think about the clearest way to present these in terms of getting your point across to the reader about the answer to your research question. Make sure figures are clear, with all necessary information clearly labeled on the axes and/or in captions. Make sure the figure text is big enough to be visible (it should be about as big as the main text!) ii. Present the summary statistics corresponding to these graphs in tables. iii. Relevant confidence intervals should be included, either in the graphs or in the summary tables. iv. Summarise the results in words, describing what these graphs are showing. b. Inferential statistics i. Describe the appropriate regression model to test your research questions, and how you will tell whether your hypotheses are correct. ii. Provide the null and alternative hypotheses corresponding to each of your theoretical hypotheses. iii. Present the statistical output for each scenario in a separate table. iv. Describe the results of the statistical output in words. Walk the reader through interpreting the results of the model. 4. Discussion: Interpretation of the results a. Summarize the results of each dataset. i. What can be concluded about the research question based on this dataset? Link the evidence from the statistical results to make it clear how these answer your research question. ii. What are the limits on what we can conclude? To what extent can we be certain about the conclusion? b. For any differences found across the two datasets, discuss why this difference occurs, based on the data. References At the end of your writeup, give full bibliographic info for any references you cited.
Section C – Advice on how to write your paper Spring 2024 – MSBA 260 Individual Applied Project/Presentation First, what is the purpose of this assignment? · I want you to link this course to your own interests. Please take the time now to explore opportunities you may have to land a job, learn about a field that interests you, where you may want to work, what you want to accomplish in your personal/professional life, what impact you want to have in the world, etc. · Remember, I can easily assign you a topic. However, I am not sure you will get the most out of the experience if we go that route. So, please take some time to think about your topic so that it is interesting and motivating. How to find someone to interview? · Current job · Previous job · Internship · LinkedIn · Social media · Pacific alumni · Friends · Family · Who else do you know that you can ask for help? EXAMPLE – Just to help you get started. This shows you a simplified version of what you will turn in to me in May. MSBA 260 Spring 2024 NAME: Chris Sablynski 1) What industry are you interested in? Why? What are your career goals and how will you apply what you are learning in this course into your career goals? I am interested in people analytics. I am also interested in higher education. Thus, for this project, I would like to learn more about how California high school students choose a college or university. That is, what are the factors that led a student to choose University of the Pacific over say, Saint Mary’s College, U of San Francisco, or Santa Clara? From there, I wonder what makes for a successful Pacific student? High GPA? Job placement? Satisfaction with their experience in college? 2) Find and summarize three (3) peer-reviewed articles related to the use of big data in the industry you are interested in. Article 1: Article 2: Article 3: 3) Please find a manager who currently works in the industry you chose above. This will be the person you will base this paper on. Please provide the person’s phone and email address. Thank you. For this project, I interviewed President Chris Callahan at Pacific. (I didn’t but this is how you would write it) 4) Choose one (1) project this manager is working on. What are the objectives? (Nothing proprietary or secret, of course!). You can make it general. For example, grow market share. Launch new product? Project? Etc. President Callahan shared his vision of the university including goals for enrolling new students. One of the first projects he shared was that of _____ (fill in what you talk about). New students in California, transfer students in California, international students, students in other states. I brought up that we used to have a lot of students from Utah, Washington, Oregon, Nevada, Arizona, and Hawaii. Do we have any data that would help us understand why there are fewer? 5) What types of information/data are relevant for this project? What are the questions they are seeking to answer? What is the short term and long-term goal? ** THIS SECTION IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF THE PAPER * * This project requires a variety of self-report data from students (primary data directly from students – online survey/focus groups, information from high schools – admin, counselors, teachers, PTA, parent perceptions, high school student perceptions, geographical data, etc. For example, we may look to compare financial aid information, student high school location, and xxxxxx (this would keep going…) (FILL IN AS MUCH AS NEEDED HERE) 6) What advice does the manager have for a current graduate student in business analytics? Why? (Again, this is not real, just an example….) President Callahan continued to focus on the university being in a competitive landscape. Students have a lot of choices as to where to attend college. There are other universities creating programs on high school campuses. Future administrators in this area should be able to learn the variables needed to recruit new students. In addition, the information must be useful for key decision makers. Thus, future administrators in higher education need to know what factors contribute to students interests in combination with parents, friends, etc. The need to create individual dashboards for each prospective high school in California would be a great first start…. (CONTINUE WITH WHAT THE PERSON SAYS TO YOU…) 7) Per the person you interview, what trends should we be aware of in this industry? Why? The overall demographics in the U.S. suggest an overall decline in high school students. That is, the actual number of students graduating high school is decreasing. (Again, this is just a sample. You should write quite a bit here. ) 8) Please list the name and contact information of the person you did this project with. Name: _______ Email: _________ Phone: ___________ 9) Please prepare a 5–10-minute (maximum) video recording of your presentation. “Chris! What about the format of the paper? · 12-point font, double-spaced · ½ inch margins · Arial/Avenir/Times New Roman /Helvetica are usually the easiest to read. Overall, most papers are about 10 pages in length. I hope this helps!
Section B – Grading Rubric Spring 2024 – MSBA 260 Individual Applied Project/Presentation Note: Your MSBA 260 Applied Research Project is worth 10 points (10% of your grade). Below is how I grade your research paper. Please email or ask me in class if you have ANY questions at least 4 weeks before it is due. Last minute questions/issues will get you on my radar. You don’t want that Thanks and good luck! “A” level (A or A-) answer · Thoroughly answers all sections of the questions as listed (note: all sections must be addressed evenly as required in the question – thanks!) · Incorporates an abundance of pertinent and detailed information from class discussions, our textbook, and assigned readings (whenever applicable), providing needed relevant empirical evidence (this is VERY important) as requested in the question · Maintains focus/avoids being sidetracked by tangents – sticks to the question(s) asked · Presents all information clearly and concisely and in an organized manner · Does much more than merely restate the question and offer a brief response · When summarizing the articles, follows APA format precisely – uses “OWL” (see below for the link to their resources) · https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_style_introduction.html · Includes an easy-to-follow reference section – what articles did you use in your answer? In this case, MANY were used to help support proposed answers – relying on evidence rather than opinion · Avoids distracting grammar/spelling/etc. problems throughout the document (PLEASE DO THIS) Overall: Goes “above and beyond” to provide a well-researched and well-written answer that deserves an “A” level grade. Note: I am happy to give you an “A” level grade – please do what I ask you to and you can earn it “B” level (B or B-) answer · Answers the specific parts of questions asked, but not as thoroughly as an “A” level paper listed above – may, for example, slightly emphasize one part of the question over the other · Incorporates some information from class discussions and assigned readings, providing some necessary evidence, but less thoroughly and/or relevantly than an “A” essay – or, for example, the evidence is not directly relevant to supporting the response. If there is AMPLE evidence available, and only some is used, this can result in this level of a grade · Usually maintains focus, but may digress from the specific topic once or twice · Presents information fairly clearly and concisely, and may have minor organization problems · Does more than merely restate the question and offer a brief response · May incorporate opinion rather than evidence in some parts of the answer · Includes a reference section but it in either incomplete or has errors · When summarizing the articles, follows APA format well but may have minimal amount of errors · May not have followed OWL resources correctly in all cases · Includes an easy-to-follow reference section – what articles did you use in your answer? In this case, SOME were used to help support proposed answers – again, relying on mostly evidence rather than opinion · May contain a few distracting grammar/spelling/etc. problems in the document Overall: Does a “good” job and answers the questions sufficiently, incorporates just enough relevant research to support responses, and may have one or two unintentional/minor grammatical/spelling errors along the way that do not interfere with the clarity of the response. “C” level (C or C-) answer · Addresses most of the specific questions asked, but does not relate all sections of the answers directly to the question or does not address all required elements of the questions as stated · Does not adequately incorporate information from class discussions and assigned readings, textbook, etc. and may rely on only one or two sources, unsupported statements, or generalities/opinions. · Sometimes strays from the specific topic (more often than a “B” level answer) · Presents information in a manner that is sometimes unclear, and/or has significant organization problems · May merely restate the question and offer a brief, undeveloped response with little or no evidence · More opinion rather than evidence · When summarizing the articles, may follow APA format somewhat but has errors – enough to be problematic and distracting · OWL resource not utilized effectively · Reference section not easy to follow – what articles did you use in your answer? In this case, very few were used to help support proposed answers – arguments mostly relying on opinion rather than evidence · May contain a significant number of distracting grammar/spelling/etc. problems that make it difficult to assess the responses provided Overall: Appears to simply “meet” rather than “exceed” expectations for the questions listed. Goes through the motions and presents a barely acceptable answer. Spelling and grammatical errors may be plentiful but still allow the reader to comprehend the response. “D” level (D or D-) Answer (i.e., score of 6 out of 10) · Does not directly answer the specific central questions asked or doesn’t understand the question(s) · Misses the key foundation(s) of the question and the desired answer(s) · Appears to have touched on the topic but also includes items that are not in the question (note: this typically creates a heightened sense of possible plagiarism) · Does not incorporate information from class discussions, assigned readings, etc. or does so minimally and/or irrelevantly · Substantially digresses from the specific topic · Has significant problems with clarity, concision, and organization, making the information presented difficult for the reader to understand · May merely restate the question and offer an irrelevant or undeveloped response · When writing the sections, APA format not followed or not followed effectively · OWL generally disregarded · May have limited to no reference section – what articles did you use in your answer? In this case, apparently few in quantity or improper sources (low quality) were used to help support proposed answers – relying on opinion rather than evidence · May contain substantial distracting grammar/spelling/etc. problems that substantially hinders the effectiveness of the information presented Overall: This is a very poor showing. Appears to have put very little effort into attempting to answer the questions as listed. See above. Likely some or all of these occurred. Not organized well and may contain so many grammatical and/or spelling errors to make the reader unable to fully understand what is being provided as a response. “F” level (Failing) answer (i.e., scores of 5 and lower out of 10 points) · Does not turn in any answers …. Or…. (see below) · Does not answer the specific part or parts of the question as required · Does not incorporate information from pertinent class discussions and/or assigned readings/textbook, etc. · Provides virtually no evidence or incorrect evidence to support assertions made in the response – may offer only opinion or information not relevant to the question · Likely did not follow APA format properly · Likely did not use OWL at all · Provides information that cannot be understood fully or that is not related to the specific topic posed in the question · May lack recognizable organization in the document · May contain enough distracting grammar/spelling/etc. problems to make it essentially incomprehensible to the reader Overall: Does not meet the basic requirements as listed above. Failed attempt. Note: Remember, all Pacific Honor Code requirements are to be followed. Any violation(s) will result in failing this part of class and being reported to the Dean’s office for further action, etc. Please be sure to do your own work and avoid plagiarism in any way/shape or form. Be careful – some students are not fully informed about how plagiarism is defined – take the time to go over this as needed. You may use ChatGPT but you MUST include screenshots of what you asked and the responses provided The best advice is to write your own work. Unsure if you are doing something incorrectly? Please see the link below before you begin writing your paper. Thanks and good luck! https://www.pacific.edu/student-life/safety-wellness/student-conduct/tiger-lore-student-code-of-conduct-/honor-code
Section A – What is the project? Spring 2024 – MSBA 260 Individual Applied Project/Presentation INTRODUCTION TO THE PROJECT From the syllabus: B) Individual Applied Project/Presentation (10 points) This class is relatively unique. For this learning objective, I would like you to explore an area of data driven management/leadership that interest you. You will work with me to create a topic of interest and that includes an interview with a manager involved with using data to make decisions. Towards the end of the semester, you will be making a brief and informal (recorded) presentation on what you have learned from your research and your interview. Please Answer Each of These Questions Thoroughly 1) What industry are you interested in? Why? What are your career goals and how will you apply what you are learning in this course towards your career goals? 2) Find and summarize three (3) articles related to the use of big data in the industry you are interested in. These should be current (from 2020-present). 3) Please find and interview a manager who currently works in the industry you chose above (#1). This will be the person you will base this paper on. 4) During the interview, try to focus on one (1) current/recent project this manager is working on. What are the objectives? (Of course, nothing proprietary or secret!) You can make it general. For example, grow market share. Launch new product. Project. Etc. 5) What types of information/data are relevant for this project? What are the questions they are seeking to answer? What is the short term and long-term goal? 6) What advice does the manager have for a graduate student in business analytics? Why? 7) Per the person you interview, what trends should we be aware of in this industry? Why? 7) Per the person you interview, what trends should we be aware of in this industry? Why? The overall demographics in the U.S. suggest an overall decline in high school students. That is, the actual number of students graduating high school is decreasing. (Again, this is just a sample. You should write quite a bit here. ) 8) Please list the name and contact information of the person you did this project with. Name: ___________ Email: ____________ Phone: ___________ Please prepare and present a 5-10 minute (maximum) presentation summarizing these answers with specific emphasis on #5,6, and 7. Thank you! Any questions? Please see Sections B and C for more information….
Robot Vision [06-25024] Summative Assignment 2 Instructions (Please read carefully!) This assessment is summative and contains two parts. In Part 1, you will carry out image stitching, image aligning, and various feature detection comparing. In Part 2, you will use PyTorch to perform. image classification and image regression tasks with a model trained by yourself, a pre-trained model, and a fine-tuned model. Your answer must be submitted to Canvas before the deadline in the form. of a single zip archive file containing: 1. Your answers to the questions in prose and diagrams. This should take the form. of a single PDF document with the answers for each question using the provided LaTeX template. 2. Your code and any accompanying files necessary to execute the code for any programming questions as specified in the LaTeX template. and a separate PDF document with the answers for Turnitin checking (two files in total; one zip file and one PDF file). Some or all of the text of each question is emphasised using italics. This emphasis indicates a question that must be explicitly answered or a task that must be completed. Part 1 Question 1.1 A panorama is formed by stitching together multiple images into one seamless image. In this task, you will need to implement Feature Based Panoramic Image Stitching in Python. Question 1.1.1 [10 marks] Three images of the Aston Webb building have been provided. The following steps need to be taken in order to create the panorama: 1. Use any preprocessing you like to manipulate the given images 2. Create and Configure the Stitcher. 3. Stitch Images. 4. Check the Result and Display the Panorama. 5. Save the Panorama A guide on this process can be found here: https://www.opencvhelp.org/tutorials/advanced/panorama-creation/ Your solution to this task should include: 1. Figure showing undistorted input images (report in PDF) 2. Figure showing complete panorama (report in PDF) 3. A written explanation of the steps taken in the report, stating which functions you used, why you used them and a short explanation of how they work. (report in PDF) 4. Code for Task 1.1.1 (python file) 5. All images needed for the code to function Question 1.1.2 [10 marks] The panorama which has been produced is not a uniform. shape. Write an algorithm from scratch that iteratively crops the image so that no black areas are included. Your algorithm should preserve as much of the non-black areas of the image as possible and work with any provided panorama. See Fig 2 for an example of the expected result. Your solution should include: 1. A figure showing the original panorama overlaid with lines representing the cropped area (report in PDF) 2. The cropped panorama (report in PDF) 3. An explanation of your algorithm (report in PDF) 4. Code for Task 1.1.2 5. All files needed for Task 1.2 to function Figure 1: Figures for Question 1.1 Question 1.2 Image registration is a digital image processing technique that helps us align dif-ferent images of the same scene. In this task you will be performing image alignment and registration with OpenCV. Question 1.2.1 [12 marks] In Figure 2(left), we have a template of the orginal and the form. in Figure 2(middle) is taken by the mobile phone. The result of the middle form. after being processed by image alignment technology is as shown in the picture in Figure 2(right), which can be the same as the template on the left. The task is to align ’./part1/1_2/1_2_test.jpg’ based on ’./part1/1_2/1_2_template.jpg’. Figure 2: Figures for Question 1.2 The process should following: 1. Use any pre-processing you like to manipulate the given images 2. Detect SIFT features in both images and experiment with SIFT parameters to achieve the best result. 3. Apply FLANN (Fast Library for Approximate Nearest Neighbors; more informa-tion about FLANN can be found in https://www.cs.ubc.ca/research/flann/uploads/FLANN/flann_visapp09.pdf) to match keypoints across images 4. Compute the homography matrix etc. 5. Apply a perspective warp to align the images 6. Try 2 more methods to detect and match keypoints, such as K-Nearest Neighbors Matcher (KNN),Brute-Force Matcher. Your solution to this task should include: 1. Figure showing matched features (report in PDF) 2. Figure showing aligned image (report in PDF) 3. A written explanation and images of the steps taken in the report, stating which functions you used, why you used them and a short explanation of how they work. (report in PDF) 4. A written explanation of different methods comparison. (report in PDF) 5. A written explanation of the available SIFT parameters, what they are, how they function and what changes you made and why? 6. Code for Task 1.2 (python file) 7. All images needed for the code to function Question 1.3 Feature detection plays an important role in many computer vision tasks. In this question, we will be exploring and evaluating the different feature detection methods. Question 1.3.1 [8 marks] An image has been provided. Plot on a 3 x 2 sub-plotted figure, the 200 strongest features when using the Minimum Eigenvalue, SIFT, KAZE, FAST, ORB and the Harris-Stpehens algorithms. Include this sub-figure in your report and ensure that when the python files execute, it appears as a sub-figure. Your solution should include: 1. Your code for Task 2 and all files needed for the code to run 2. The generated subplot figure (report in PDF) 3. The generated subplot figure Question 1.3.2 [10 marks] Describe briefly 3 of the 6 feature detection methods previously explored. Give a brief overview of each of these methods and how they differ from each other. Discuss how these differences are represented in the results from Question 1.3.1. Include the answer to this section in your report. Figure 3: Figures for Question 1.3 Part 2 In this section, you will explore a number of different deep-learning tasks using the PyTorch framework. You must complete your code for each section in the interactive notebook files provided. You are expected to submit the notebook files, model checkpoints, and your report at the end of the assignment. Take special care that your notebook files can be executed, and that all paths are relative. Question 2.1 [16 marks] In this task you will carry out a classification task for a subset of CIFAR-10/100 data using PyTorch. The data and images needed for the task are in the 2_1 folder. Follow the instructions below to complete this task. Complete your code in the provided Notebook file. Submit this notebook file alongside the report and model checkpoint. In this task, we will be performing transfer learning on the CIFAR-10/100 Dataset. You will be expected to load in existing pre-trained models, adapt said models for the current task and optimise the models. 1. Load the images from CIFAR-10.zip. In total, there are 2500 images of size 32 × 32 and 10 categories in this dataset. The training data and test data for each category of images are stored in /train and /val folders, respectively. In the training dataset, there are 200 images in each category, whereas there are 50 images per category in the test dataset. The category of each image is given by its folder name. Simplified folder structure is shown in figure 4. 2. Perform. transfer learning using the vgg16 model with pretrained weights. For this task use the VGG16 Weights.IMAGENET1K V1 weights. Adapt the VGG network to classify only the 10 categories from the dataset. Use the stochastic gradient descent Figure 4: Simplified file structure of imagenet.zip. with momentum optimizer, set the mini batch size to 128, the initial learning rate to 0.01, and shuffle the training data before each training epoch. Produce a plot of the training progress and include it in your report. 3. Use the test dataset, to test the performance of the trained model. Store the cross-entropy loss and accuracy in a table. The formula of the average cross-entropy loss is given by where i is image, N is the number of images, c is category, M is the number of categories, p is the predicted probability i is of c. The accuracy is given by 4. Load the images from CIFAR-100. In total, there are 250 images of a category of bicycle of size 32 × 32. There are 200 and 50 images of such category in /train and/val folders, respectively. Modify the model trained in the previous task and retrain it using the data in the /train folder, allowing it to classify 11 categories (using the same training options as in the previous task). Plot the training progress and include it into your written report. Save and submit the model’s state dict as a file named 2-1_11.pth. 5. Merge the data in /CIFAR-10/test folder and /CIFAR-100/test folder. Run the re-trained model on the merged test dataset. Again, include the cross-entropy loss, accu-racy, and the worst classified category in your report. 6. SF.JPG is a 512 × 512 image obtained by Stable Diffusion. Resize this image and use 2-1_11output.pth to classify this image. Include the predicted result, the two highest predicted probabilities and their corresponding categories in your report. Question 2.2 [16 marks] Train a network using the MNIST handwritten digit database for classification. 1. Load in the MNIST dataset from the torchvision repository. Show 30 random example images (24 training images and 6 validation images) in a 5*6 subplot. Count the number of labels per each category and include the result into your report. 2. Augment the 24 randomly selected training images from the previous task. Use the torchvision.transforms function with random rotation [-30, 30], using random reflection along the top-bottom direction and in the left-right direction, as well as using random X translation [-3, 2] and Y translation [-2, 4]. Show example images of the augmented data and include it into your report. 3. Define {1,3,5,7,9} as odd numbers and {0,2,4,6,8} as even numbers. Perform. transfer learning to classify the odd and even numbers of the MNIST dataset. Implement the network architecture shown in Figure 5. The input image size is 28*28, pool size and stride are 2. Use Adam optimizer, set the initial learning rate to 0.02, and shuffle the training data before each training epoch (train the network for 35 epochs). Plot the training progress and include it into your written report. Save the trained model named 2-2_OE.pth and submit it with your report. What is the accuracy of the model using validation images? 4. Create your own test data (3 sets of digits handwritten by you, total 30 images, try to make them look as different as possible. You are free to use any device or software (e.g. Microsoft paint) to create the test data.), include it into your report as in Figure 6 and report the accuracy of your model on the test images. The test images must be submitted with your code, otherwise this part of the task will not be graded. Figure 5: Network architecture Figure 6: Handwritten digits Question 2.3 [18 marks] Use the provided network layer to carry out Facial Keypoints Detection task. In this task, the model needs to input an image and output a vector containing the co-ordinates of each keypoint. Typically, the length of this vector is equal to the number of keypoints in the image. Follow the instructions below to complete this task. The data and the model needed for the task are in the 2_3 folder. 1. Each predicted keypoint is specified by an (x,y) real-valued pair in the space of pixel indices. There are 15 keypoints, which represent the elements of the face. (a) train.csv contains a list of 100 training images. Each row contains the (x,y) coordinates of the 15 keypoints. The image data (96 × 96 for each image) is a list of pixels sorted by row in the last column. (b) test.csv contains a list of 25 test images. Each row contains the (x,y) coordinates of the 15 keypoints. The image data is a list of pixels sorted by row in the last column. 2. Perform. transfer training using the data from the train.csv. Adapt the network ar-chitecture introduced in Question 2.2 for this task. Describe and justify the changes that you have made in your report. Use Adam optimizer, set the maximum number of Epochs to 10, the batch size to 100, the initial learning rate to 0.01, and shuffle the training data before each training epoch. Plot the training progress and include it in your written report. Save and submit the trained model into a file named 2-3_FKD.pth. 3. Test the trained network using the data in the test.csv folder. Calculate the mean squared error for each test data. 4. Plot the image with the smallest mean square error in the test data and the correspond-ing feature points. Save and submit the image named 2-3_img.png. An example of the image is shown in figure 7. Figure 7: Example image and its feature points.
Total Grade can be a sum of Delegate Criteria I. Delegate Criteria 1) Participation Does the delegate speak frequently and across a variety of different topics throughout the committee session? Does the delegate present their ideas in a compelling and logical manner that captures the attention of the committee? Is the delegate an engaging speaker that committee members listen to? Is the delegate collaborative and encouraging? Is the delegate perceived as a bloc leader by other members of the committee inside and outside of their bloc? Does the delegate have a substantive impact on the policies and working dynamics of their bloc? Does the delegate appear to be a leader during unmoderated caucuses? Are they facilitating discussion, ensuring others are included, and driving substantive actions taken by the bloc? 2) Accurate Representation Does the delegate clearly and accurately outline the position of their country on the issues and various subtopics being debated? Does the delegate sufficiently justify their decision-making and actions? Does the delegate demonstrate knowledge of the subject area and the committee debate in their speeches by referencing relevant evidence and employing compelling rationale? Does the delegate integrate their represented stance into the solutions that they are proposing? Does the delegate seek a reasonable compromise that aligns with the previous actions and viewpoints of the position/country that they are representing? Does the delegate vote in accordance with the policy and position they are taking? 3) Use of Parliamentary Rules Does the delegate follow the correct Rules of Procedure during committee proceedings? Does the delegate effectively propose motions that steer the direction of debate to more constructive and nuanced topics? 4) Delegation Bloc & Diplomacy Does the delegate try to collaborate with a wide array of committee members? Does the delegate build a bloc that fosters a collaborative, non-toxic environment; represents diverse viewpoints; produces high-quality work-products; and effectively contributes to committee debate? Are the partners contributing to committee debate – whether that be distribution of responsibilities or switching between roles? Are the partners accomplishing the number of people's worth of work throughout the committee session? Delegate Rubric The delegate does not raise placards and does not participate in the Delegate speaks once or twice and rarely participates in caucuses Delegate constantlyraising their placardand is heavilyinvested in caucus Delegate is completely off their country’s policy and operate in a manner no representative from their country would Delegate is mostly accurate in their portrayal of their country’s ideals in debate and in writing Use of Parliamentary Rules P-rules were used, although may have been applied incorrectly. Delegate showed little participation or enthusiasm but was present in committee during all sessions. P-rules were utilized correctly to debate and strategically persuade other nations in committee. Delegate showed a desire to participate by consistently raising their placard. P-27 and P-25 rules were consistently and enthusiastically used to participate in the debate
BUSINESS COMMUNICATION SKILLS (Q1132) Reading - Writing Mock Exam ARTICLE REVIEW Instructions for students You will be given a short academic article on an aspect of business communication to read. Read the article and take notes on the main points in it. This should take around 30 minutes. You should then write a short critical review of the article in 350-500 words. This should take around 2 hours. The review should: a. include a summary and paraphrase of the main points highlighted in the article. b. include a brief comment on how the article relates to your own personal knowledge and / or experience of the topic. Guidelines Below are some questions to think about before and after writing. When reading / before writing: A: Summarising & reviewing the article: • When was the text written, by whom and where was it published? • What is the purpose of this text? • What is the main argument made by the author/ authors? • Are there other views or counterarguments given by the author/authors? How does the author view these arguments? • Briefly explain how the author has used key sources and/ or theories to support their ideas. B: Personal & critical evaluation: • What is your response to the arguments outlined in part A of your answer (above)? • Are you convinced by the arguments presented in the text? Why /why not? • Can you relate the points in the text to what you have studied / read so far or your own experience? In what way? • Does the text support your experience and knowledge or contradict it? In what way? Before writing, write a brief plan of what you want to include. Remember to: • Include in-text citations using the Harvard system (you do not need to include a reference list). • Organise your text into clearly defined paragraphs. • Check your language for errors and accuracy. Journal of Social & Business Media Business Communication: Formats & New Media H. J. Schwartz & M. Powell 2012 [Note: Text adapted for exam purposes] Introduction [p.54] When an organization chooses which channel of communication to use , this usually depends on its customer and workforce characteristics, the diversity and expectations and globalization of labor and its customer markets, economies, and information (Axley, 2000). Although the benefits of effective face-to-face communication between managers and staff are widely appreciated, the costs associated with this mode of communication require organizations to make [p.55] decisions about when scarce resources should be allocated for face-to-face communication and when the alternative, less costly resource of electronic communication could be used instead (O’Mara, 1999). Indeed, rapid developments in communication technologies have radically changed the nature of human communication between individuals and organizations in today’s workplace (H. Lee, Shin, & Higa, 2007; Turek, 2004). The evolution of communication technologies has redefined not only the channels of workplace communication but also overall workplace structures and organizational design: “The speed of development and spread of advanced information technology is for many organizations the issue to consider” (Furnham, 2005, p. 657). Neher (1997) cautions us to be ever careful of the consequences that these technological developments have on communication, which is fundamental to the creation and maintenance of organizations. Bland (2005) highlights the human element: “People management is about interaction and conversation; technology should not de-humanize that interaction or you will drift away” (p. 63). Technology and the development of the Internet and Intranet in recent years have arguably made the greatest impact on communication channels/media (Axley, 2000; Brock & Zhou, 2005; Clampitt, 2005). Electronic communication innovations for transmitting types of information such as e-mail, video-conferencing, instant messaging, and mobile phones affect the way daily work tasks are carried out, with e-mail being the most widely used communication technology over the past decade (Katz & Rice, 2002; Minsky & Marin, 1999). Although computer-mediated communication (CMC) is contributing to new forms of interaction in organizations that mix e-mail, instant messaging, face-to-face, and telephone communication for internal and external interactions, workers do not choose CMC simply because it is cheaper and more convenient. They normally use computers because “they are sitting at keyboards and screens all day, they habitually use computers for many tasks, and they regard computers offhandedly as routine means of communication rather than exotic media for special circumstances” (Quan-Haase & Wellman, 2004, p. 14). [p.56] Comfort and convenience may encourage CMC across geographically dispersed areas and different time zones, but regarding this communication offhandedly as routine presents an potential danger to organizations (Hinds & Kiesler, 1999). Complex interactions exist among the technology, existing organizational structures, and the actions of individual employees and work groups (Aydin & Rice, 1992). The implementation of technologies brings with it new communication challenges as organizations struggle to effectively integrate the right technologies into established work practices and to modify those practices to take advantage of new technical opportunities (Ruhleder & Jordan, 2001). Although the rush of instant communication has vastly increased data points of information for workers, the depth of interpretation of this information has diminished. The effect of increased data points of information is the potential for misinterpretation and miscommunication. It is no wonder that workers have trouble effectively managing their office activities and coping with information, given the complexity of tasks (Kirsh, 2000). Technologies are useful time management tools that can enhance productivity when properly managed (Flora & Miles, 2003; Wasson, 2004). But the same technologies that allow information on demand, hold data of shared knowledge, and allow real-time communication to occur globally have also contributed to information overload with too much information supply and too much information demand (Albrecht, 2001; Kirsh, 2000), constant multitasking (Caroli & Van Reenen, 2001; Wasson, 2004). Productivity can be lost where office workers may spend as much as a quarter of their day reacting to interruptions and distractions—wasting time and money (Wallis, Steptoe, & Cole, 2006; see also Cotton & Hart, 2003; Rubinstein, Meyer, & Evans, 2001). The constant bombardment of information along with interruptions and distractions can also negatively affect worker health because of the stress that accompanies information overload (De Croon, Sluiter, Kuijer, Frings-Dresen, 2005.[…] This lost productivity and the negative effects on health contribute to diminishing returns on technology investment for organizations. For this reason, the purpose of this study was to determine employee perceptions about the specific types of information that management could productively communicate with them through electronic communication to support face-to-face contact with employees. […] Findings & Discussion [p.73] Employees perceived that information that was not confidential— such as meeting times, training times, policy changes, system problems, and information with numerous details—were just as productive to receive through e-mail. Very specific times existed when face-to-face communication was the only mode of communication that was productive for employees. Management did not send confidential information through e-mail, but rather handled such matters face-to-face. Employees also responded that e-mail was the only mode of communication that was productive in time-sensitive situations. […] [p.74] The studies by Grunig, Grunig, and Dozier (2002) showed that face-to-face communication is the most productive way to build strong relationships based on mutual respect and an ongoing dialogue. It was not surprising that employees in the present study wanted to find meaning in a message communicated from their manager, especially at times when feedback on performance or other sensitive information was being shared. Face-to-face meetings allow lots of context cues to be present and appear to be essential for developing trust and assessing the trustworthiness of the other person (Nohria & Eccles, 1992; Robert & Dennis, 2005). […] [p.75] In today’s workforce where technology innovations are apparently the way for organizations to maintain a competitive advantage in most industries, the effective use of electronic communication to support face-to-face communication and the knowledge management that goes with it may actually be the key to success (Ulrich, 1997).
