Naval Postgraduate School

About: Naval Postgraduate School is a education organization based out in Monterey, California, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Tropical cyclone & Boundary layer. The organization has 5246 authors who have published 11614 publications receiving 298300 citations. The organization is also known as: NPS & U.S. Naval Postgraduate School.

Dynamic Knowledge Patterns to Inform Design: A Field Study of Knowledge Stocks and Flows in an Extreme Organization

Abstract: Knowledge represents a critical resource in the modern enterprise. But it is dynamic and distributed unevenly. Capitalizing on this dynamic resource for enterprise performance depends upon its rapid and reliable flows across people, organizations, locations, and times of application. From a technological perspective, this points immediately to the design of information systems to enhance knowledge flows. The problem is, the design of information systems to enhance knowledge flows requires new understanding. The research described in this paper concentrates on understanding the dynamics of knowledge phenomenologically and on developing and applying techniques for modeling and visualizing dynamic knowledge flows and stocks. We draw key, theoretical concepts from multiple literatures, and we build upon integrative modeling work that composes a parsimonious, multidimensional, analytical framework for representing and visualizing dynamic knowledge. We then conduct field research to learn how this theoretical framework may be used to model knowledge flows in practice. By focusing this empirical work on an extreme organization and processes that involve and rely upon tacit knowledge, we illustrate how dynamic knowledge patterns can inform design in new ways. New chunks of kernel theory deriving from this fieldwork are articulated in terms of a propositional model, which provides a basis for the development of testable design theory hypotheses.

The Use of an Organic Self-Assembled Monolayer Coating to Promote Dropwise Condensation of Steam on Horizontal Tubes

Abstract: Hydrophobic coatings have been created through self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) on gold, copper, and copper-nickel alloy surfaces that enhance steam condensation through dropwise condensation. The monolayer is formed by chemisorption of alkylthiols on these metal surfaces. Due to their negligible thickness (10-15 A), SAMs have negligible heat transfer resistance, and involve a minuscule amount of the organic material to pose any contamination problem to the system from erosion of the coating. The coating was applied directly to copper and 90/10 copper-nickel tubes, and to previously gold-sputtered aluminum tubes. The quality of the drops on SAMs, based on visual observation, was found to be similar for the three surfaces, with the gold surface showing a slight superiority. When compared to complete filmwise condensation, the SAM coating increased the condensation heat transfer coefficient by factors of 4 for gold-coated aluminum, and by about 5 for copper and copper-nickel tubes, under vacuum operation (10 kPa). The respective enhancements under atmospheric conditions were about 9 and 14. Comparatively, the heat transfer coefficient obtained with a bare gold surface (with no organic coating) was 2.5 times that of the filmwise condensation heat transfer coefficient under vacuum, and 3.4 at atmospheric conditions.

An Experiment in Software Error Data Collection and Analysis

Abstract: The propensity to make programming errors and the rates of error detection and correction are dependent on program complexity. Knowledge of these relationships can be used to avoid errorprone structures in software design and to devise a testing strategy which is based on anticipated difficulty of error detection and correction. An experiment in software error data collection and analysis was conducted in order to study these relationships under conditions where the error data could be carefully defined and collected. Several complexity measures which can be defined in terms of the directed graph representation of a program, such as cyclomatic number, were analyzed with respect to the following error characteristics: errors found, time between error detections, and error correction time. Signifiant relationships were found between complexity measures and error charateristics. The meaning of directed grph structural properties in terms of the complexity of the programming and testing tasks was examined.