UT Electronic Theses and Dissertations

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This collection contains University of Texas at Austin electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs). The collection includes ETDs primarily from 2001 to the present. Some pre-2001 theses and dissertations have been digitized and added to this collection, but those are uncommon. The library catalog is the most comprehensive list of UT Austin theses and dissertations.

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1,000 miles : bridging the distance between Austin and Chicago
(2013-05) Hinderaker, Andrew Dean; Dietz, Steven; Lynn, Kirk; Zeder, Suzan
1,000 miles marks the culmination of my course of study at the University of Texas. As an MFA student in the playwriting program, I have juggled my responsibilities to the department with my role as a professional playwright, frequently splitting time between Austin and my hometown of Chicago, where I opened four world premieres from 2010-2012. In this thesis, I discuss the ways in which my work has been influenced by the aesthetics of both artistic communities. I focus on two of my plays in particular: Kingsville, which premiered in Chicago during my first semester at UT, and Colossal, which opened in Austin just weeks before graduation. Through the lens of these two plays, I outline my artistic evolution over the past three years, highlighting the ways in which my work has drawn from the very best of Chicago’s storefront theaters and Austin’s experimental scene.
1,400 years of biomass burning, climate variability, and environmental change on Ometepe Island, Lake Nicaragua
(2007-05) Avnery, Shiri; Dull, Robert
This study examines the relationship between short-term climate variability, paleo-fires, and anthropogenic sources of environmental change over the past 1,400 years on Ometepe Island, located in the tropical dry forests of southwestern Nicaragua. Macroscopic charcoal, loss on ignition, and magnetic susceptibility records were reconstructed from a lake sediment core, and statistical wavelet analyses were performed to contextualize natural fire regimes in this under-investigated tropical biome. Results from this project suggest that fire regimes on Ometepe Island respond to high frequency (sub-centennial scale) climate variations potentially due to the 11- and 22-year sunspot cycles and/or the El Niño Southern Oscillation, with dominant periodicities of ~7, 14, and 24 years. Results additionally support regional paleoenvironmental analyses by providing evidence of anthropogenic environmental impacts between ~600 and 1500 A.D. with a drastic decline after European contact, as well as evidence of widespread drought conditions between 800 - 1000 A.D. and 1150 – 1300 A.D.
A 1,500-year record of late Holocene temperature variability and recent warming from Laguna Chingaza, Colombia
(2012-08) Bixler, Curtis William; Shanahan, Timothy M.
Rapid tropical glacier retreat over the last 50 years has been well documented, and has received significant media attention. Many studies suggest these changes are due to rising global surface air temperatures, however disentangling the effects of temperature and precipitation has hampered scientific consensus. Furthermore, because of the shortness of the instrumental record, it is difficult to assess the larger significance of the climate changes associated with the decline of tropical glaciers. Here, we present a locally calibrated, independent temperature reconstruction for the past 1,500 years from Laguna Chingaza, Colombia based on distributions of branched Glycerol Dialkyl Glycerol Tetraethers (brGDGTs) in order to assess the controls on long term temperature variability in the tropical Andes, and their relationship with growth and demise of Andean glaciers. Comparison of reconstructed temperatures with the instrumental record suggests that our proxy record faithfully records decadal to century scale trends in temperature. The largest temperature decline over the last 1,500 years was a decrease of 2.5 ± 0.3 °C during the Little Ice Age (LIA), reaching lowest temperatures during the mid-17th century, and is broadly consistent with terrestrial temperature reconstructions throughout the tropics and the higher latitudes. The structure and timing of temperature changes at Laguna Chingaza are remarkably similar to recent terrestrial temperature reconstructions from elsewhere in the tropics, including sites in the tropical Pacific and equatorial Africa, suggesting that these changes are widespread in the tropics. Together, these records suggest that warming over the last few decades is unprecedented over the last 1,500 years, including the Medieval Climate Anomaly (800-1150 AD). Comparison of these temperature changes with records of Andean glacier limits suggests that temperature is the dominant driver of glacial retreat, particularly over the past few decades. Additionally, paleotemperatures inferred from LIA and recent glacial equilibrium line altitudes (ELAs) underestimate past changes in temperature when compared with brGDGTs reconstructions, suggesting that changes in precipitation complicate the use of glacier ELAs to reconstruct past temperatures. The coupling of temperature and ice extent in South America suggests that with projected future warming, the health of tropical glaciers could be in jeopardy, significantly impacting the communities and ecosystems that depend on them.
1-800 worlds : embodiment and experience in the Indian call center economy
(2010-08) Krishnamurthy, Mathangi Kasi; Hartigan, John, 1964-; Visweswaran, Kamala; Brow, James; Stewart, Kathleen; Abraham, Itty; Flores, Richard
This dissertation is concerned with the everyday lives of transnational Indian call center workers when situated within the global politics of voice-based outsourcing. The call center economy gained impetus in early 2000-2001, when multinational corporations began to train young men and women in India to mask their spatial and temporal location, in order that they could serve customers in the US and the UK. Taking calls through the night to serve the work day of Western consumers, these customer service agents were asked to assume a different name, location, and cultural and language markers, as part of the requirements of work. I explore the ways in which these young, middle-class workers located themselves within practices, contentious representations, and material outcomes of this transnational outsourcing economy. Through ethnographic research in Pune, a prominent university town and call center hub in western India, I investigate (1) everyday life in and out of the call center, (2) labor management practices within call centers, and (3) the socio-economic and cultural transformations that accompanied and framed the development of the urban Indian call center economy. This research engages with the machinations of multinational corporations as they incorporate large number of labor forces worldwide into transnational work. It builds on three main bodies of theory - flexible or late capital and flexibility, the South Asian postcolonial nation-state, and affective labor. Through these, I provide a thick description of the history, construction, maintenance and disruption of this site, as also the ways in which this particular story of capital was stabilized. I engage with questions such as, what complex negotiations underlie the ostensible success of new service economies in India? What are its cultural, political and economic determinants and ramifications? What grounds are the claims of state, capital and culture being contested or reified upon, and what do such negotiations mean for service workers within the landscape of urban India? This dissertation shows how the practice of everyday life in this transnational milieu is best explained as the collusion and tension between the contested socio-economic spaces of the new Indian middle-classes and middle-class-ness, and an ungrounded discourse of mobile and flexible capital. The stories of call center workers in this analysis are the stories of particular subjects called upon and striving to be constantly flexible in order to successfully become middle-class and global in the same breath, one often seamlessly overlapping the other.
1.1V Supply Vth based CMOS voltage reference and analog multiplier for low power applications
(2019-05-09) Li, Xichen; Viswanathan, T.R., doctor of electrical engineering
The development of low power integrated system is expected to lead to the expansion of next-generation power-efficient applications. A voltage-reference is widely used in integrated circuits to generate an on-chip reference voltage. The generated voltage-reference is used for building blocks like analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and digital-to-analog converter (DAC). Because voltage reference is an important building block of analog design, development of low power voltage reference circuits requires special attention. This thesis presents a new circuit topology to produce a single ended output proportional to absolute temperature (PTAT) voltage for building a voltage-reference circuit. PTAT voltage is generated by two diode-connected MOSFETs in the subthreshold region. Complementary to absolute temperature (CTAT) voltage is realized, which has negative temperature coefficient (TC), by the gate-source voltage of a MOSFET in the subthreshold region. This design has low power dissipation and simple circuit. With a supply voltage of 1.1V, this circuit designed and fabricated in 0.18μm CMOS technology dissipates 2.2μW. Similar circuit topology can also be used to design a nano-ampere one quadrant analog multiplier with high tolerance to process and temperature variations
The (112) surface of group-IV semiconductors and properties of PtSi : a first principle study
(2007-08) Bentmann, Hendrik; Demkov, Alexander A.
First principle calculations on the (112) surface of the group-IV elements diamond, silicon, germanium and α-tin were carried out within the framework of Density Functional Theory (DFT). We report chemical trends in surface energies, reconstructions and work functions. In addition we investigate two models for the 7x1 indium induced reconstruction of the silicon (112) surface by means of adsorption energies and STM simulations. We find a substitutional model to be favorable compared to on-terrace adsorption in good agreement with LEED and STM experiments. A drop of 0.46 eV in the work function due to the adsorption is found. Furthermore, we investigate the electrical and optical properties of the two room temperature stable silicide phases PtSi and Pt2Si. Experimental data on optical constants is provided and found to be in good qualitative agreement with the theory. Among various orientations the (121) surface of PtSi has the lowest calculated surface energy. This orientation also produces the distinctively highest peak in an X-ray spectrum of a 300 Å film of PtSi. We demonstrate theoretically that PtSi surfaces can perform reconstructions with similar energy gains as known for semiconductor surfaces.
A 12-bit, 10 Msps two stage SAR-based pipeline ADC
(2012-12) Gandara, Miguel Francisco; Sun, Nan; Gharpurey, Ranjit
The market for battery powered communications devices has grown significantly in recent years. These devices require a large number of analog to digital converters (ADCs) to transform wireless and other physical data into the digital signals required for digital signal processing elements and micro-processors. For these applications, power efficiency and accuracy are of the utmost importance. Successive approximation register (SAR) ADCs are frequently used in power constrained applications, but their main limitation is their low sampling rate. In this work, a two stage pipelined ADC is presented that attempts to mitigate some of the sampling rate limitations of a SAR while maintaining its power and resolution advantages. Special techniques are used to reduce the overall sampling capacitance required in both SAR stages and to increase the linearity of the multiplying digital to analog converter (MDAC) output. The SAR sampling network, control logic, and MDAC blocks are completely implemented. Ideal components were used for the clocking, comparators, and switches. At the end of this design, a figure of merit of 51 fJ/conversion-step was achieved.
14 MeV neutron generator dose modeling
(2013-12) McConnell, Kristen Alycia; Biegalski, Steven R.
Modeling and understanding the doses around the neutron generator provides insightful data in regard to radiation safety and protection precautions. Published data can be used to predict doses, but realistic data for the Nuclear Engineering Teaching Laboratory’s Thermo MP 320 Neutron Generator helps health physicists more accurately predict dose rates and protect experimenters against exposure. The goal was to create a model inclusive of the entire setup and room where the neutron generator is housed. Monte Carlo N-Particle (MCNP) Code reigns as the preferred method for modeling radiation transport and was utilized to model the transport of neutrons within the current configuration of the 14 MeV neutron generator facility. This model took into account all shielding materials and their respective dimensions and locations within the concrete room. By utilizing tallies and tally modifiers, the model predicts dose rates that can be used with experimental factors such as irradiation time and flux to predict a dose in millirem. Validation experiments were performed in the current setup using Landauer Luxel®+ with Neutrak dosimeters placed in strategic locations to record the neutron dose vi received as well as a Ludlum Model 42-41 PRESCILA neutron probe to predict dose rates. The dosimeters and PRESCILA measurement locations matched the positions of the point detector tallies in MCNP. After laboratory analysis, a comparison was performed between the model output and the dosimeter and PRESCILA values to successfully validate the accuracy of the model.
The 1941 Junior League docent training course conducted by the Metropolitan Museum of Art : an examination of museum education beliefs and convictions towards volunteer educators
(2011-05) Roath, Elizabeth Grace Margaret; Bolin, Paul Erik, 1954-; Mayer, Melinda M.
This thesis explored the 1941 docent-training course for members of the Junior League held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The research focused on understanding what place this philanthropic organization held in the American art museum at that time. This course at the Metropolitan Museum of Art was formed as an attempt to teach Junior League members to become trainers of docents and volunteers in their own communities. Additionally, I looked into the background of the museum staff members Francis Henry Taylor and Roberta Murray Fansler Alford Capers and the Junior League member Helen T. Findlay. Utilizing historical research methods, four augments were formed regarding why this docent-training course occurred; (a) the new leadership and structure in the museum facilitating those training, (b) the collaborative work of Helen T. Findlay and Francis Henry Taylor and their passion towards art education for all audiences, (c) the Junior League’s continued commitment to community involvement, and (d) the fundamental need women had for involvement outside the home. The research concludes with a reflection toward the difficulties and hardships that accompany conducting historical research into the women of art education including non-traditional forms of historical documentation.
19th century plantation counter-discourses in Juan Francisco Manzano, Gabriel de la Concepción Valdés (Plácido), and Eleuterio Derkes
(2010-12) Oleen, Garrett Alan; Arroyo, Jossianna; Salgado, César Augusto; Nicolopolus, James R.; Harney, Michael P.; Sidbury, James; Bernucci, Leopoldo
My purpose in writing this dissertation is to re-evaluate the works of three influential Spanish-Caribbean authors who seem to be remembered more as exceptional historical characters rather than for their literature itself. Although often considered to be important contributors to the Spanish-Caribbean literary canon, these writers have also suffered a measure of marginalization as scholars have relegated them to the status of discursive subjects rather than evaluate them as authorial agents. As a consequence, the majority of their works have not been fully recognized as important factors in nineteenth, twentieth, and twenty first century literary production. I show how in their writings – many of which have been misunderstood, under-evaluated, and/or forgotten altogether – these writers narrated their own precarious situations and lifted their voice in protest against slavery, racism and economic oppression at a time when the dominant discourses and heavy-handed controls of the Spanish colonial government strictly forbid them to do so. These authors are Juan Francisco Manzano, Gabriel de la Concepción Valdés (Plácido) and Eleuterio Derkes. Because these authors lived in Cuba (Manzano and Plácido) and Puerto Rico (Derkes) as colonial subjects underneath the oppressive structures of their respective plantation and hacienda economies based on sugar production and slave labor, they experienced difficult colonial conditions and as such are able to narrate this life through a unique perspective that other writers associated with the dominant discourses of the time could not. While these brands of hegemony were indeed forced upon them as writers and artists, it did not stop them from narrating and communicating their unique Spanish Caribbean perspective. I show how these authors, as marginalized figures of nineteenth century plantation society, engineered their own discourses around these hegemonic institutions – writing between the lines of hegemony and concurrent with it at the same time – in order to create an alternative image of nineteenth century Spanish Caribbean society that requires further critical consideration and perspective.
2-D magnetic equilibrium and transport modeling of the X-divertor and super X-divertor for scrape-off layer heat flux mitigation in tokamaks
(2014-08) Covele, Brent Michael; Mahajan, Swadesh M.; Gentle, Kenneth W.
Intense heat fluxes from the divertor incident on material surfaces represent a “bottleneck” problem for the next generation of tokamaks. Advanced divertors, such as the X-Divertor (XD) and Super X-Divertor (SXD), offer a magnetic solution to the heat flux problem by (a) increasing the plasma-wetted area via flux expansion at the targets, and (b) possibly opening regimes of stable, detached operation of the divertor via flux tube flaring, as quantified by the Divertor Index. The benefits of the XD and SXD are derived from their unique magnetic geometries, foregoing the need for excessive gas puffing or impurity injection to mitigate divertor heat fluxes. Using the CORSICA magnetic equilibrium code, XDs and SXDs appear feasible on current- and next-generation tokamaks, with no required changes to the tokamak hardware, and respecting coil conductor limits. Divertor heat and particle transport modeling is performed in SOLPS 5.1 for XD or SXD designs in NSTX-Upgrade, Alcator C-Mod, and CFNS/FNSF. Incident heat fluxes at the targets are kept well below 10 MW/m², even for narrow SOL widths in high-power scenarios. In C-Mod and CFNS, parallel temperature profiles imply the arrestment of the detachment front near the targets. Finally, an X-Divertor for ITER is presented.
2.5D and conformal negative stiffness honeycombs under static and dynamic loading
(2019-05-13) Debeau, David Alexander Robbins; Seepersad, Carolyn; Haberman, Michael R; Kovar, Desiderio; Roach, Allen
Negative stiffness honeycombs have been shown to provide nearly ideal impact mitigation with elastically recoverable configuration and mechanical behavior. This capability allows for reliable mitigation of multiple impacts, which conventional honeycombs cannot accommodate because of plastic deformation and collapse. A more in-depth characterization of the mechanical behavior of these negative stiffness honeycombs is presented. The starting point is a 2.5D configuration in which the negative stiffness honeycomb configuration is varied in-plane and extruded out-of-plane. Impact mitigation is investigated by subjecting the 2.5D honeycombs to various drop heights on a purpose-built, drop-test rig. Several embodiments of the 2.5D honeycomb are designed and tested, including nylon versus aluminum, constrained versus unconstrained, and altered configurations with different numbers of rows and columns of negative stiffness elements. While the 2.5D configuration performs well in response to in-plane loading, it is not designed to accommodate out-of-plane loading. A conformal negative stiffness honeycomb design is introduced that conforms to curved surfaces and accommodates out-of-plane loading that is not orthogonal to the load concentrator on top of the honeycomb. Quasi-static mechanical and dynamic mechanical impulse testing of the conformal honeycomb are conducted to characterize the mechanical performance of the conformal design. The final chapter includes a multi-element study that demonstrates how multiple elements perform in an assembly in a more realistic setting. A FEA framework is built to automate the simulation of the 2.5D and conformal negative stiffness honeycomb designs. The framework is built within the commercial Abaqus® FEA package using its Python scripting interface. Automating the design, meshing, loading, and boundary conditions allows for rapid design iteration. Simulations using the FEA framework are compared to experimental quasi-static, impact, and impulse tests. The conformal design was developed to be manufactured additively. The additive manufacturing process introduces sources of potentially significant geometric and material property variability that affect the performance of the honeycombs. The FEA framework is used to conduct a predictability and reliability study that incorporates several sources of variability into the analysis and returns estimates of the expected force threshold and its distribution.
The 2.7 Å resolution structure of the catalytic domain of the dihydrolipoamide succinyltransferase from Escherichia coli in complex with coenzyme A and the 1.45 Å resolution structure of murine macrophage migration inhibitory factor in complex with phenylacetylenepyruvate
(2005) Golubkov, Pavel Aleksandrovich; Hackert, Marvin L.
The work presented in this dissertation includes structural analysis of liganded forms of the truncated catalytic domain of the trimeric form of the dihydrolipoamide succinyltransferase from E. coli (E2oCD) and the macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) from mouse. Part one of this dissertation deals with the analysis of the 2.7 Å resolution structure of E2oCD in complex with coenzyme A. The structure of the native E2oCD was solved in this laboratory previously. This project resulted in the crystal structure of the E2oCD·CoA complex obtained by molecular replacement and the resulting analysis of the chemical nature of the complex. Extensive comparisons were made with the previously reported structure of E2p from A. vinelandii, in complex with CoA and DHLA, as well as with the predicted ligand location based on computer models for E2oCD. Residues in the active site cleft are implicated in providing substrate-binding specificity. CoA is observed in the extended “IN” conformation, consistent with the unoccupied DHLA binding site. The second project reported here involves the study of MIF, a cytokine with unusual tautomerase activity. MIF is an important immunoregulatory protein with a potential to mediate inflammatory diseases. The details of the tautomerase activity MIF and its importance in MIF's biological functions remain elusive. This project resulted in a high-resolution X-ray structure of mouse MIF at 1.45 Å resolution in complex with an inhibitor phenylacetylenepyruvate (PAP). Well-defined electron density for Glu-16’ from a neighboring trimer was observed in one of the three active sites, with density for an inhibitor covalently bound to Pro-1 observed in the other two active sites. An analysis of the apparent covalent bond between the protein and the inhibitor and the potential ramifications for the understanding of the chemistry of formation of the adduct are discussed. The observed electron density was not consistent with the predicted Michael addition product.
A 20-coil array system for high-throughput dynamic contrast-enhanced mouse MRI
(2011-12) Ramirez, Marc Stephen; Bankson, James A.; Hazle, John D.
MRI is a versatile tool for systematically assessing anatomical and functional changes in small animal models of human disease. Its noninvasive nature makes MRI an ideal candidate for longitudinal evaluation of disease progression in mice; however achieving the desired level of statistical power can be expensive in terms of imaging time. This is particularly true for cancer studies, where dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE-) MRI, which involves the repeated acquisition of anatomical images before, during, and after the injection of a paramagnetic contrast agent, is used to monitor changes in tumor vasculature. A means of reducing the overall time required to scan multiple cohorts of animals in distinct experimental groups is therefore highly desirable. Multiple-mouse MRI, in which several animals are simultaneously scanned in a common MRI system, has been successfully used to improve study throughput. However, to best utilize the next generation of small-animal MRI systems that will be equipped with an increased number of receive channels, a paradigm shift from simultaneously scanning as many animals as possible to scanning a more manageable number, at a faster rate, must be considered. Given a small-animal MRI system with 16 available receive channels, the simulations described in this work explore the tradeoffs between the number of animals scanned at once and the number of array elements dedicated to each animal for maximizing throughput. An array system consisting of 15 receive and 5 transmit coils allows throughput-optimized acceleration of a DCE-MRI protocol by a combination of multi-animal and parallel imaging techniques. The array system was designed and fabricated for use on a 7.0-T / 30-cm MRI system, and tested for high-throughput imaging performance in phantoms. Results indicate that up to a nine-fold throughput improvement is possible without sacrificing image quality compared to standard single-animal imaging hardware. A DCE-MRI study throughput improvement of just over six times that achieved with conventional single-mouse imaging was realized. This system will lower the barriers for DCE-MRI in preclinical research and enable more thorough sampling of disease pathologies that progress rapidly over time.
The 2008 U.S. housing crisis and its potential impacts on planning : a comparison of Austin, Atlanta, and Miami
(2008) Balwierz, Abel; Kahn, Terry D.
The United States is in the midst of a rather severe housing crisis. Home prices have declined and foreclosures have increased in cities all over the country. The crisis began in 2007 and has continued into the fourth quarter of 2008. Some cities have been severely affected by the housing crisis while others have been able to maintain relatively healthy housing markets. This paper demonstrates the local nature of housing markets and the factors which shape them. Analyses of the local housing markets of Austin, TX, Atlanta, GA and Miami, FL comprise the bulk of this paper and demonstrate the broad spectrum of housing market conditions that exist today. The lessons learned from the three case studies finally lead to some recommendations for local planners which could prove effective for creating and maintaining healthy local housing markets.
20th century romantic serialism : the Opus 170 greeting cards of Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco
(2005-05) Asbury, David S., 1963-; Holzman, Adam, 1960-; Dell'Antonio, Andrews
20th century romantic serialism: the Opus 170 greeting cards of Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco
(2005) Asbury, David S.; Holzman, Adam; Dell'Antonio, Andrew
Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s Opus 170 Greeting Cards is a cycle of 51 pieces that span the last two decades of the composer’s life. Intended as musical gifts for his friends and colleagues, he devised a system for assigning each note in the alphabet two musical counterparts using ascending and descending chromatic scales and wrote works that derive their principal themes from the recipient’s name or names. The Greeting Cards are scored for a variety of solo instrument and duo settings, 20 of which were written for the guitar and are the primary focus of this treatise that will have format consisting of Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s biography, an overview of Opus 170 and an examination of specific works. The opus 170 Greeting Cards offer insight into the stylistic traits that characterize Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s music and historical perspective regarding many of the world’s leading musicians from the 1950’s and 1960’s. Research for the treatise has included investigation of published and non-published materials, interviews with those recipients who are still living and musical analysis of the select representative works. Castelnuovo-Tedesco was one the most influential and important musicians of the 20th century. His legacy as a composer and teacher is one that has been largely overlooked in modern scholarship where the common practice of atonal serial composition dominated all other musical styles, especially in academic circles. Castelnuovo-Tedesco always maintained tonal frameworks and a melodic lyricism in his music that in turn caused critics to dismiss him as being unworthy of serious consideration. This treatise, through the examination of one element of the composers work, seeks to help change a general perception that his style, through its conservatism, lacked currency and inventiveness. The Greeting Cards have to date not been studied collectively, leaving a formidable gap in our understanding of the compositional mechanisms employed by this influential and important composer.
The 21st century classroom : integrating educational technology with 21st century competencies in support of workforce development
(2011-05) Bailie, Christine M.; Treisman, Philip Uri; King, Christopher T.
Information and communication technology demands are increasing across a range of occupations, creating intense global competition for highly-skilled workers. In order to meet the economic needs of the next century, education reform must prioritize student-directed learning that fosters innovation and creativity, enabling the United States to compete internationally in attracting and creating high-quality jobs for its citizens. Our system must strive to create lifelong learners and ensure equity in preparing all students for college- and career-readiness, which increasingly, are considered one in the same. Manor New Technology High School, in Central Texas, has successfully used technology immersion and project-based learning to expand the opportunities for its minority-majority population. Emphasis is placed on teaching students how to learn and in making authentic learning connections with the world through applied, and interdisciplinary coursework. An understanding of how educational technology can be used to create better student outcomes, through investment in teacher peer-to-peer supports to effectively integrate technology into instruction, has led to a sustainable and scalable model of technology immersion at Manor Independent School District. Through its partnerships with local businesses and not-for-profit organizations, Manor New Technology High School is graduating highly skilled and college-bound students, while concurrently promoting sector-based economic development within the high-tech industry. State educational agencies are ill-equipped to meet the challenges of workforce development; therefore, new mechanisms and incentives should be created to encourage and enable school districts to pursue 21st Century competencies (analytic skills, interpersonal skills, ability to execute, information processing, and capacity for change), which are enabled through the “invisible tool” of educational technology in the classroom.
24x7 load matching with wind, solar photovoltaic, and battery storage power plants
(2020-06-29) Sauer, Jennifer Ellen; Butler, John C. (Clinical associate professor)
Corporations and cities with decarbonization targets have to date accounted for green energy achievements by offsetting fossil-fuel power consumption with renewable energy certificates (RECs) on annual region-agnostic bases. In 2018 Google pronounced the decarbonization and risk management benefits of procuring time-matched regionally generated zero-carbon energy with consumption, asserting that the pathway toward deep decarbonization of the grid will require solutions that ensure low-cost power at all times across all regions. This thesis explores the viability of using portfolios of wind, solar photovoltaic (PV), and lithium-ion battery energy storage systems (BESS) to provide competitively priced 24x7 load-matched power in Texas, where these technologies comprise 95% of the power plant queue seeking to interconnect to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) grid. The first stage of analysis develops a linear program that identifies capital-cost- minimized portfolios of wind, PV, and four-hour Li-ion BESS capacity capable of servicing a data center’s load every hour in the year. In a second stage of analysis, a tax-neutral financial model compares the unsubsidized economics of use cases for an optimized portfolio, including selling power production on a merchant basis, selling ancillary services using the BESS, and selling a long-term 24x7 renewable energy service. The linear program finds that least-cost 24x7 portfolios capable of servicing a steady 50 MW load include on average 77 MW solar PV, 78 MW coastal wind, 74 MW north Texas wind, and 165 MW / 660 MWh BESS. At a BESS capital cost of $300 per kWh, a 24x7-capable renewable energy portfolio reaches economic parity with a fully merchant PV + wind use case when the load-matching service is priced at the long-term average wholesale energy price. While further study is necessary to assess risk management costs and strategies, this analysis provides initial indication that a 24x7 load-matching service may be an economically viable long-term contracting pathway in regions with diversified intermittent resources and wholesale markets for BESS services.
25 years of gender mainstreaming in Jordan : evolution and progress
(2020-05-18) Attia, Abby Michelle; Shirazi, Faegheh, 1952-
Since the Beijing Platform for Action in 1995, countries have taken many approaches to gender mainstreaming. Gender mainstreaming policies were created to be context specific to account for the variety of ways that policy can promote gender equality. However, the variety of gender mainstreaming approaches today limits researchers and practitioners’ ability to measure or compare their impact. Governments’ gender mainstreaming policies have evolved as policy makers learn from the best practices of other countries. This requires in-depth case studies on their program’s implementation and impacts. This case study on Jordan’s gender mainstreaming policies and its evolution in the last 25 years explores how Jordan’s gender policies were impacted by the Beijing Platform and have evolved since then. Although Jordanian women have made remarkable gains in their life expectancies and education statuses in the last 25 years, their participation in public life continues to be limited. In this paper I use primary source analysis of Jordan’s gender mainstreaming policies, its program records, and historical research of Jordanian feminist organizations to understand how the Jordanian government has negotiated its gender mainstreaming policies to address the demands of different sectors of society. Although Jordan is a monarchy, Royal family must still negotiate the demands of the parliament, tribes, Islamic political parties, and the military. The Royal family’s patronage of gender mainstreaming policies has often pitted them against those interests. This paper explores how gender mainstreaming policies have been shaped by those domestic interests as well as pressure from international donors and feminist organizations. I argue that these competing interests have led to gender mainstreaming policies that are gender aware and targeted but have yet to be transformative. This paper offers analysis of how Jordan can continue its progress and transformation in gender policies in the next 25 years.

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