Technology & Engineering books

Few people come into logistics management with knowledge and experience of all aspects of the profession. Some may have worked their way up from driving a vehicle but know little of warehouses, others may find themselves taking responsibility for logistics as part of a wider remit such as operations. A Practical Guide to Logistics aims to equip them with the necessary knowledge to move on to the next stage, with simple non-technical explanations of the options available, and impartial advice on how to choose the right option for their business. It is also an excellent primer for students studying logistics for the first time, on BSc or MSc courses, as well as practitioners on professional training courses. A Practical Guide to Logistics is a straightforward guide taking readers through all aspects of this fascinating industry, covering packaging, transportation, warehousing and exporting and importing of goods. There is a real need for this basic knowledge, both for practitioners starting out in the industry or more experienced practitioners who may have gaps in their knowledge. The book examines each aspect of logistics in turn and the text is supported by numerous illustrations.

Sensing a future beyond work lurking in an age of crisis, the ‘post-capitalist’ utopias of today spread the idea of a permanent escape from work aided by the automation of production, a universal basic income and the reduction of working hours to zero. By skilfully unpicking the political economy of contemporary work and its futures, this book mounts a forceful critique of the post-work society vision.  Dinerstein and Pitts reveal that transitional measures towards a world beyond work do not do enough to break away from the key features of capitalist society, and instead potentially stifle the capacity for transformative social change. Proposing an innovative alternative, the authors envision the construction of ‘concrete utopias’ that shape and anticipate non-capitalist futures.

A nation’s construction industry is essentially home grown, a derivative of its culture, history, geography and economic circumstances with every building or road a unique product, always a prototype, unlike the honed prototypes set up for efficient production runs of other industries. In terms of what was built and the standards achieved, Construction Industry Advance and Change: Progress in Eight Asian Economies since 1995 describes construction industry progress between 1995 and 2019 in Hong Kong , India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea, Sri Lanka and Vietnam. The 25-year accounts provide insight into the nature of these individual construction industries, their shared characteristics, and their differing priorities. The book will add knowledge and contextual reference for construction industry professionals, public policy makers and academic researchers studying the industry. New students in construction industry management courses, will find the information and context needed to appreciate the nature of construction industries and the factors affecting industry output performance.

Death consumes our lives. As such, it is unsurprising that our leisure time, recreational activities and playful exploits are also infatuated with dying, death and the dead. Death, Culture and Leisure offers a playful exploration of the way in which we play with both death and the dead. This inter- and multi-disciplinary work brings together a variety of scholars to consider the nexuses that exist between death, culture and leisure. Edited by Matt Coward-Gibbs, this collection provides an exploration of how our leisure time and playful exploits are interwoven with death. Embracing an array of tensions and contradictions, this book draws on a diverse trajectory of examples ranging from play in the post-Anthropocene to the articulate undead, and from the depictions of death in children's picture books to the playful activism of the death positivity movement. Bringing together debates from thanatology, game studies, sociology, music studies, theatre studies, contemporary literature, religious studies and media studies, this innovative collection offers up a rich assemblage of interdisciplinary voices. This text invites readers to not only consider the diverse ways in which we play dead but also invokes a call to explore the myriad of presentations of death, dying and disposal that exist in leisure environs.

The next two decades will see more waves of technological disruption than the previous fifty. Adaptability and understanding of technological changes are now mission-critical to every business.Disruptive Technologies offers a three-step framework that enables readers to choose how their business responds to technological upheaval rather than being led by changes forced upon them. Showing how to understand a new technology, evaluate the challenge it poses, and finally respond to it, readers will come away secure in the knowledge that they have a workable system with which they can navigate ongoing technological disruption. This second edition features new chapters on the Metaverse and Web 3.0, as well as case studies and discussions of emerging technologies such as NFTs, artificial intelligence, virtual and augmented reality, graphene and 3D/4D printing.If companies do not grasp how developing technologies will impact their operations, supply chains, people and products, they have little hope of weathering the ongoing storm of digital disruption. Disruptive Technologies is your essential guide to creating a stable response to constant technological upheaval.

Disruptive Technologies outlines the steps businesses can take to engage with emerging technologies today in order to serve the consumer of tomorrow. This book offers the knowledge and tools to engage confidently with emerging technologies for better business. This highly practical book offers organizations a distinct response to emerging technologies including Blockchain (Bitcoin), artificial intelligence, graphene and nanotechnology (among others) and other external factors (such as the sharing economy, mobile penetration, millennial workforce, ageing populations) that impact on their business, client service and product model.Disruptive Technologies provides a clear roadmap to assess, respond to and problem-solve: what are the upcoming changes in technology, roughly when to respond, and what's the best response? By using a quick-to-master evaluation and decision-making framework - structured around the key dimensions of Technology, Behaviour and Data (TBD). Emerging technologies guru Paul Armstrong offers a clear guide to the key disruptive technologies and a toolbox of frameworks, checklists, and activities to evaluate their possibilities. Disruptive Technologies enables forecasting of potential scenarios, implementation of plans, alternative strategies and the ability to handle change more effectively within an organization. The essential tool for all professionals who need to get to grips with emerging technologies fast and strategically.

Amazon's Fire phone. Google Glass. Facebook Home. Quikster. New technologies alone don't always cause industry changes. Future Tech explains how the four forces of technology, policy, business models and social dynamics work together to create industry disruption and how this understanding can help to predict what is coming next. Technology is generally viewed as the single force that disrupts markets. However, history is rife with stories of technologies that have failed to meet such hyped expectations. In Future Tech, the author reveals that true change only results from combining the forces of science and technology, policy and regulation, new business models (i.e. sharing economy) and social dynamics (whether or not people adopt it). Whether these four forces align explains why some technologies, such as AI, blockchain, robotics, synthetic biology and 3D printing, stick and why others fail. With an understanding of these four forces, business executives and policymakers can explain what technology is likely to stick and even anticipate what is coming next.By 2030, the global labor force will be led by an elite set of knowledge workers enabled by robotic AI. To help individuals thrive in this workplace, Future Tech advises readers to develop their human capabilities of creativity and adaptation, develop deep expertise in one domain while being well-versed in dozens more, and develop a personalized approach to acquiring and processing information and deliberating decisions.

George Spencer Brown, a polymath and author of Laws of Form, brought together mathematics, electronics, engineering and philosophy to form an unlikely bond. This book investigates Design with NOR, the title of the yet unpublished 1961 typescript by Spencer Brown. The typescript formed through the author's experiences as technical engineer and developer of a new form of switching algebra for Mullard Equipment Ltd., a British manufacturer of electronic components, and is published here for the first time. Related essays contextualise the typescript drawing on a variety backgrounds from mathematics and engineering to philosophy and sociology, and thus invite readers to a reverse-engineering of both the form and its laws.

WINNER: 2020 International Solid Waste Association Publication Award Among other factors, rapid global population growth, our development model and patterns of production and consumption have increased waste generation worldwide to unsustainable rates. This rise has led to crises in many countries where waste management practices are no longer sound. Global Waste Management outlines the emerging global waste crisis considering the perspectives of developed and developing countries around the world and the international relationships between them. This book provides an ecological viewpoint as well as studying these problems from a legal and justice standpoint. Global Waste Management contextualises the problems faced when dealing with waste including the causes and origins. Focus is given to cross border waste transfer, as an ongoing and controversial practice, making waste management a global matter. This book scrutinizes existing international, European and Brazilian regulation on waste to highlight the complexity of the subject and the weaknesses of the law. Using a critical and socio-ecological approach, the book proposes an original model of governance to support a new system of global waste management that takes into account ecological sustainability and social justice to overcome the waste crisis. To create these models, a theoretical framework on socio-ecological justice is developed and combined with different discourses and theories described throughout the book. This is the essential guide to understanding the global waste crisis and the future of waste management.

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) can cause significant social, communication and behavioural challenges. Introducing Therapeutic Robotics for Autism is the first book to explore the use of Robot Assisted Therapies (RAT) for children with ASD. Raheel Nawaz and Sara Ali present a holistic picture, exploring state-of-the-art robot assisted therapies available for supporting children with ASD, the impact of various robot assisted therapies on different communication skills, and challenges with robotic therapies. The book concludes with policy recommendations for parents, psychologists, therapists, and roboticists working in the domain. Written accessibly from the user’s perspective, Introducing Therapeutic Robotics for Autism is a must read for researchers from related disciplinary backgrounds including robotics, educational psychology, cognitive sciences, and ASD.