Deborah Adkins | University of Nottingham (original) (raw)

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Publications by Deborah Adkins

Research paper thumbnail of Capturing the Realities through Digital Preservation and Scanning Techniques: The case of ZouMaTang Ancient Village, China

proceedings of REHAB2015, Green Lines Institute, Volume 2, pp. 633-644

n China, many villages are facing severe decline and deprivation and some are even replaced or re... more n China, many villages are facing severe decline and deprivation and some are even replaced or reallocated over time. In recent years, the effects from rapid pace of urbanisation on rural areas has been so significant and at such large scale that rural communities are now facing new economic, social and environmental challenges. This interdisciplinary research aims to study a particular case of Chinese Ancient Village in the region of Zhejiang Province, East China. This study includes techniques for recording and preserving the particular case of a declining village in the Yinzhou District of Ningbo. Out of the many villages of the region, ZouMaTang is selected as the historical site as it is in major decline. This study discusses the application of various recording techniques and explores how such applications can support a holistic approach for recording and documenting spatial qualities, livelihoods and environmental configuration of this particular community. In this study, we present ways of capturing the realities and argue that our approach is essential to the understanding of heritage, its living patterns and the many architectural features and qualities of an ancient site. In this paper, the authors point out potentials and possibilities for the transition from the digital preservation to the local government's actual plan for the purpose of future regeneration and redevelopment of the village.

Papers by Deborah Adkins

Research paper thumbnail of Experimental and numerical modelling of mid-concentration photovoltaic concentrator systems

For photovoltaics to achieve wide-scale implementation it is essential that their cost is reduced... more For photovoltaics to achieve wide-scale implementation it is essential that their cost is reduced while maintaining or exceeding the present level of solar to electrical conversion performance. Concentrating solar energy onto a photovoltaic cell allows a reduction in the output electricity cost, if the cost of the concentrator is less than that of the displaced photovoltaic materials. Photovoltaic cell efficiency is shown to decrease with increasing temperature, causing the photovoltaic cells to exhibit both short-term (efficiency loss) and long term (irreversible damage) degradation due to excessive temperatures. Hence the analysis of thermal management is an important issue in photovoltaic power generating systems for both one-sun (lx) and concentrated applications. This thesis presents an experimental and numerical study of solar cell temperature in a midconcentration silicon photovoltaic concentrator (CPV), with a geometric concentration ratio of 42X. Experimental and computatio...

Research paper thumbnail of Editorial: The ascent of green crime: exploring the nexus between the net zero transition and organized crime

Journal of Financial Crime

Research paper thumbnail of Towards a design for frugal: review of implications for product design

Since 2010 the concept of frugal innovation has increasingly attracted the attention of both rese... more Since 2010 the concept of frugal innovation has increasingly attracted the attention of both researchers and industry. Frugal innovation holds much promise in the rapidly changing global economy. It has been suggested that this approach needs to be understood by product designers in order to integrate it into product development and bring frugal products into the market place. This research aims to review the current literature on frugal innovation and identify characteristics and methodologies for designing frugal products that has been proposed until now. Our review has analysed 28 journal articles. The results have found 10 design principles and 2 design methodologies that have been developed to achieve frugal products. More research has to be carried out to relate these methods with product development theories and understand the impact for product design practice.

Research paper thumbnail of HOUSE: Building energy efficiency understanding through an enabled boundary object

Healthy, Intelligent and Resilient Buildings and Urban Environments, 2018

We report the results of an empirical study on an enabled application's ability to act as a bound... more We report the results of an empirical study on an enabled application's ability to act as a boundary object and build understanding of energy efficiency solutions. Combining digital and tangible technology with radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags, we have created an interactive, digitally enabled device and application called HOUSE (Home User and Stakeholder Environment). The HOUSE tool and application have been designed and developed to support interaction and collaboration in the exploration of domestic energy efficiency solutions. HOUSE allows users to associate information with physical representations, and to explore this information through manipulation of enabled objects. The interactive application consists of a 24:1 scale representation of an archetypal UK home and thirteen model energy efficiency interventions integrated with a digital application. Each energy efficiency intervention is enabled with RFID tagging and detection, to allow participants to physically interact with the HOUSE application. The app detects when a model energy efficiency intervention is placed in the model HOUSE. Participants then receive real-time feedback on their energy efficiency selection and the implication of their retrofit decisions. We explore the role of HOUSE acting as a boundary object, in facilitating the transfer of knowledge across domains. The application was evaluated in academic non-expert and industry (expert) stakeholder workshops. Results showed there is a self-reported increase in collaboration and consensus amongst non-experts (Group A) using the HOUSE interactive application. There is also a self-reported difference in the decision-making process surrounding retrofit selection for experts (Group D) using the HOUSE interactive application. Moreover, there is evidence from experts to conclude that the HOUSE can assist in transmitting findings in meaningful ways to non-experts in the field.

Research paper thumbnail of The early design stage for building renovation with a novel loop-heat-pipe based solar thermal facade (LHP-STF) heat pump water heating system: Techno-economic analysis in three European climates

Energy Conversion and Management, 2015

ABSTRACT

Research paper thumbnail of Capturing the Realities through Digital Preservation and Scanning Techniques: The case of ZouMaTang Ancient Village, China

Research paper thumbnail of Smart Building Information Modelling: The Use of Ann-Cobie for Hvac Information Capture and Exchanged

Building Information Modelling (BIM) has implications for all processes and activities related to... more Building Information Modelling (BIM) has implications for all processes and activities related to construction supply chain and can, thus, make significant contributions to lean construction process. It can be argued that BIM, as a design-centric technology with emphasis on sharing and collaboration, can be the ultimate solution to multiple challenges on today's construction sites by improving and coordinating construction supply chain. The existing dimensions of BIM not only attend to most aspects of the construction work and processes, but the technology also has the potential to add further dimensions responding to other existing or future challenges. Most stakeholders with different BIM definitions endorse the centrality of design and the use of BIM as currently appropriate design technology, but it also needs to be recognized that all these processes and applications can work efficiently and effectively in construction with regard to many other dimensions of work by reducin...

Research paper thumbnail of Wind convection coefficient correlations for CPV modules

2013 IEEE 39th Photovoltaic Specialists Conference (PVSC), 2013

ABSTRACT

Research paper thumbnail of CFD Simulation of Fish-like Body Moving in Viscous Liquid

Journal of Bionic Engineering, 2006

The study of fish-like bodies moving in liquid is an interesting and challenging research subject... more The study of fish-like bodies moving in liquid is an interesting and challenging research subject in the fields of biolocomotion and biomimetics. Typically the effect of tail oscillation on fluid flow around such a body is highly unsteady, generating vortices and requiring detailed analysis of fluid-structure interactions. An understanding of the complexities of such flows is of interest not only to biologists but also to engineers interested in developing vehicles capable of emulating the high performance of fish propulsion and manoeuvring. In the present study, a computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulation of a three-dimensional biomimetic fish-like body has been developed to investigate the fluid flows around this body when moving in a viscous liquid. A parametric analysis of the variables that affect the flow surrounding the body is presented, along with flow visualisations, in an attempt to quantify and qualify the effect that these variables have on the performance of the body. The analysis provided by the unsteady transient simulation of a fish-like body has allowed the flow surrounding a fish-like body undergoing periodic oscillations to be studied. The simulation produces a motion of the tail in the (x, y) plane, with the tail 0scillating as a rigid body in the form of a sinusoidal wave.

Research paper thumbnail of Capturing the Realities through Digital Preservation and Scanning Techniques: The case of ZouMaTang Ancient Village, China

proceedings of REHAB2015, Green Lines Institute, Volume 2, pp. 633-644

n China, many villages are facing severe decline and deprivation and some are even replaced or re... more n China, many villages are facing severe decline and deprivation and some are even replaced or reallocated over time. In recent years, the effects from rapid pace of urbanisation on rural areas has been so significant and at such large scale that rural communities are now facing new economic, social and environmental challenges. This interdisciplinary research aims to study a particular case of Chinese Ancient Village in the region of Zhejiang Province, East China. This study includes techniques for recording and preserving the particular case of a declining village in the Yinzhou District of Ningbo. Out of the many villages of the region, ZouMaTang is selected as the historical site as it is in major decline. This study discusses the application of various recording techniques and explores how such applications can support a holistic approach for recording and documenting spatial qualities, livelihoods and environmental configuration of this particular community. In this study, we present ways of capturing the realities and argue that our approach is essential to the understanding of heritage, its living patterns and the many architectural features and qualities of an ancient site. In this paper, the authors point out potentials and possibilities for the transition from the digital preservation to the local government's actual plan for the purpose of future regeneration and redevelopment of the village.

Research paper thumbnail of Experimental and numerical modelling of mid-concentration photovoltaic concentrator systems

For photovoltaics to achieve wide-scale implementation it is essential that their cost is reduced... more For photovoltaics to achieve wide-scale implementation it is essential that their cost is reduced while maintaining or exceeding the present level of solar to electrical conversion performance. Concentrating solar energy onto a photovoltaic cell allows a reduction in the output electricity cost, if the cost of the concentrator is less than that of the displaced photovoltaic materials. Photovoltaic cell efficiency is shown to decrease with increasing temperature, causing the photovoltaic cells to exhibit both short-term (efficiency loss) and long term (irreversible damage) degradation due to excessive temperatures. Hence the analysis of thermal management is an important issue in photovoltaic power generating systems for both one-sun (lx) and concentrated applications. This thesis presents an experimental and numerical study of solar cell temperature in a midconcentration silicon photovoltaic concentrator (CPV), with a geometric concentration ratio of 42X. Experimental and computatio...

Research paper thumbnail of Editorial: The ascent of green crime: exploring the nexus between the net zero transition and organized crime

Journal of Financial Crime

Research paper thumbnail of Towards a design for frugal: review of implications for product design

Since 2010 the concept of frugal innovation has increasingly attracted the attention of both rese... more Since 2010 the concept of frugal innovation has increasingly attracted the attention of both researchers and industry. Frugal innovation holds much promise in the rapidly changing global economy. It has been suggested that this approach needs to be understood by product designers in order to integrate it into product development and bring frugal products into the market place. This research aims to review the current literature on frugal innovation and identify characteristics and methodologies for designing frugal products that has been proposed until now. Our review has analysed 28 journal articles. The results have found 10 design principles and 2 design methodologies that have been developed to achieve frugal products. More research has to be carried out to relate these methods with product development theories and understand the impact for product design practice.

Research paper thumbnail of HOUSE: Building energy efficiency understanding through an enabled boundary object

Healthy, Intelligent and Resilient Buildings and Urban Environments, 2018

We report the results of an empirical study on an enabled application's ability to act as a bound... more We report the results of an empirical study on an enabled application's ability to act as a boundary object and build understanding of energy efficiency solutions. Combining digital and tangible technology with radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags, we have created an interactive, digitally enabled device and application called HOUSE (Home User and Stakeholder Environment). The HOUSE tool and application have been designed and developed to support interaction and collaboration in the exploration of domestic energy efficiency solutions. HOUSE allows users to associate information with physical representations, and to explore this information through manipulation of enabled objects. The interactive application consists of a 24:1 scale representation of an archetypal UK home and thirteen model energy efficiency interventions integrated with a digital application. Each energy efficiency intervention is enabled with RFID tagging and detection, to allow participants to physically interact with the HOUSE application. The app detects when a model energy efficiency intervention is placed in the model HOUSE. Participants then receive real-time feedback on their energy efficiency selection and the implication of their retrofit decisions. We explore the role of HOUSE acting as a boundary object, in facilitating the transfer of knowledge across domains. The application was evaluated in academic non-expert and industry (expert) stakeholder workshops. Results showed there is a self-reported increase in collaboration and consensus amongst non-experts (Group A) using the HOUSE interactive application. There is also a self-reported difference in the decision-making process surrounding retrofit selection for experts (Group D) using the HOUSE interactive application. Moreover, there is evidence from experts to conclude that the HOUSE can assist in transmitting findings in meaningful ways to non-experts in the field.

Research paper thumbnail of The early design stage for building renovation with a novel loop-heat-pipe based solar thermal facade (LHP-STF) heat pump water heating system: Techno-economic analysis in three European climates

Energy Conversion and Management, 2015

ABSTRACT

Research paper thumbnail of Capturing the Realities through Digital Preservation and Scanning Techniques: The case of ZouMaTang Ancient Village, China

Research paper thumbnail of Smart Building Information Modelling: The Use of Ann-Cobie for Hvac Information Capture and Exchanged

Building Information Modelling (BIM) has implications for all processes and activities related to... more Building Information Modelling (BIM) has implications for all processes and activities related to construction supply chain and can, thus, make significant contributions to lean construction process. It can be argued that BIM, as a design-centric technology with emphasis on sharing and collaboration, can be the ultimate solution to multiple challenges on today's construction sites by improving and coordinating construction supply chain. The existing dimensions of BIM not only attend to most aspects of the construction work and processes, but the technology also has the potential to add further dimensions responding to other existing or future challenges. Most stakeholders with different BIM definitions endorse the centrality of design and the use of BIM as currently appropriate design technology, but it also needs to be recognized that all these processes and applications can work efficiently and effectively in construction with regard to many other dimensions of work by reducin...

Research paper thumbnail of Wind convection coefficient correlations for CPV modules

2013 IEEE 39th Photovoltaic Specialists Conference (PVSC), 2013

ABSTRACT

Research paper thumbnail of CFD Simulation of Fish-like Body Moving in Viscous Liquid

Journal of Bionic Engineering, 2006

The study of fish-like bodies moving in liquid is an interesting and challenging research subject... more The study of fish-like bodies moving in liquid is an interesting and challenging research subject in the fields of biolocomotion and biomimetics. Typically the effect of tail oscillation on fluid flow around such a body is highly unsteady, generating vortices and requiring detailed analysis of fluid-structure interactions. An understanding of the complexities of such flows is of interest not only to biologists but also to engineers interested in developing vehicles capable of emulating the high performance of fish propulsion and manoeuvring. In the present study, a computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulation of a three-dimensional biomimetic fish-like body has been developed to investigate the fluid flows around this body when moving in a viscous liquid. A parametric analysis of the variables that affect the flow surrounding the body is presented, along with flow visualisations, in an attempt to quantify and qualify the effect that these variables have on the performance of the body. The analysis provided by the unsteady transient simulation of a fish-like body has allowed the flow surrounding a fish-like body undergoing periodic oscillations to be studied. The simulation produces a motion of the tail in the (x, y) plane, with the tail 0scillating as a rigid body in the form of a sinusoidal wave.