This thesis aims to explore the effects of organizational and management principles within the context of a student club – an international Formula Student team. Research on the effects of organizational structuring on student club performance tends to be qualitative in nature. While considering the inherent complexity of the human...
The goal of this research was to compare team effectiveness with objective team success as seen through individual team members’ perceptions in academic and athletic teams. We hypothesized that successful teams are most often strong in team effectiveness, that individual perceptions of team effectiveness can differ among teammates, and that...
Wave Energy Converters (WEC) have great potential to help meet global energy demands, but even a single device can be challenging to model. Although most WEC concepts are modelled, many have been simplified with assumptions that do not accurately capture the true dynamics of the system. For this reason, data-driven...
Resulting from the action of wind over open water surfaces, water waves contain colossal amounts of energy that has not yet been harnessed. Seen as a very promising source for renewable energy generation, many studies have tried to make wave energy a cost competitive source by investigating optimal designs of...
Vertical Axis Pendulum Wave Energy Converters (VAPWECs) are thought to be both effective and robust at converting ocean wave energy into usable electricity. Seeking to build upon and investigate such potential, this work examines the merits of actively controlling a generic VAPWEC's pendulum for the purpose of increasing the converter's...
Wave energy is emerging as a new potential source for renewable energy generation. However, wave energy technology is not currently cost competitive with other more mature renewable energy sources such as wind and solar. One approach that researchers and developers are taking to reduce the cost of wave energy is...
The reliability and survivability of a wave energy converter (WEC) is highly dependent on the variability and non-linearity of the ocean itself. Ocean variability occurs on many time scales. Climate variability occurs decade-to-decade, and year-to-year in the number and intensity of winter storms. Seasonal variation of wave height and period...
Wave energy holds great promise to be part of the alternative energy portfolio that will provide independence from fossil fuels. As wave energy converter (WEC) technologies mature, designing effective control strategies to extract maximum energy, extend device life, coordinate WEC operation within an array, or mitigate negative impacts of a...
As the negative impacts of a fossil fueled electricity market are becoming more prevalent and destructive, the necessity for alternative energy techniques increases as well. However, before commercial implementation is underway, these alternatives must be assessed from three important perspectives: environmentally, economically, and socially, which are known as the three...
Presented is an investigation into the modeling, active control design, and simulation of a generic horizontal pendulum wave energy converter, known as a PWEC. A description is provided of the dominant attributes PWECs have, showcasing their promising potential as wave energy converters. Seeking to further promote this potential, an active...