Advice on Academic Recognition of a Foreign Qualification-Comparability Statement-Quality and Qualifications Ireland

Quality and Qualifications Ireland

Advice on Academic Recognition of a Foreign Qualification
Comparability Statement

Bachelor Degree Comparability Statement






Master Degree Comparability Statement

Lynda.com Course-Operation Management Fundamentals

Operation Management Fundamentals

Topics include:

Understanding operations management
Making key inventory decisions
Balancing holding costs and ordering costs
Choosing a production strategy and facility layout
Managing waiting-line systems
Defining quality and improving quality
Managing business processes




Link:
https://www.lynda.com/Business-Skills-tutorials/Operations-Management-Fundamentals/196589-2.html

Lecturer:Eddie Davila is the director of the Supply Chain Management program at Arizona State University.

Lynda.com Course-Sustainability Strategies

Sustainability Strategies

Topics:Establish and ensure your reputation as a company focused on sustainability
Manage supply chains more responsibly and effectively
Create new sustainable products and services
Reduce energy use, waste, toxic substances, and emissions
Incorporate sustainability practices that enhance employee engagement and retention




Link:https://www.lynda.com/Business-Skills-tutorials/Sustainability-Strategies/431182-2.html

Lecturer:David Bennell is a consultant who works with a world-class international network of investors, corporations, philanthropic foundations, and NGOs on sustainability strategy and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices that create business value and provide measurable societal benefits. He has over 15 years of experience in global ESG business practices, including strategic planning and building high-performing business programs, nonprofit organizations, and products focused on sustainability.

Lynda.com Course-Project Management Fundamentals

Project Management Fundamentals


Topics include:
Defining the components of a project
What it takes to be a project manager
Using project management software like Microsoft Project
Managing project scope, budget, and schedule
Managing project resources, including people
Managing project risk
Initiating a project
Identifying and managing stakeholders
Identifying requirements and deliverables
Developing a project plan
Building a project schedule
Assigning resources to tasks
Understanding the critical path
Running the project
Managing teams
Monitoring performance
Closing a project


Link:
https://www.lynda.com/Project-tutorials/Project-Management-Fundamentals/424947-2.html

Lecturer:PMP/engineer/bestselling author Bonnie Biafore has 25+ years in software development and project management.
Bonnie Biafore is a Project Management Professional (PMP) and engineer with more than twenty-five years of experience managing software development and implementation projects in the telecommunication, utility, and IT industries. She's also authored more than twenty-five award-winning books, including Microsoft Project 2013: The Missing Manual, Successful Project Management (award winner at the 2012 STC International Competition), QuickBooks 2015: The Missing Manual (Intuit's official guide to QuickBooks), and Your Project Management Coach. Her novel, Fresh Squeezed, is available on Amazon and other book emporia. She also provides project management and technical documentation services. When unshackled from her computer, she hikes in the mountains with her two Bernese Mountain Dogs, takes aerial dance lessons, and cooks gourmet food.

Lynda.com Course-Communication Fundamentals

Communication Fundamentals
Topics include:
Managing the intent-impact gap
Designing the content of your message
Improving vocal delivery
Adjusting your body language
Being politically savvy
Listening to what's said, what's unsaid, and how it's said
Increasing empathy and trust
Overcoming anxiety



Link:
https://www.lynda.com/Business-Skills-tutorials/Communication-Fundamentals/141501-2.html

Lecturer:
Dr. John Ullmen is an executive coach and professor at the UCLA Anderson School of Management.

Lynda.com Course-Time Management Fundamentals

Time Management Fundamentals
Topics include:
Finding your productivity style and motivation
Understanding the principles of time management
Avoiding the pitfalls of multitasking
Narrowing your gathering points
Consolidating email and voicemail accounts
Practicing mind-clearing techniques
Choosing and using calendar software
Saying no with tact
Mastering the what, when, where processing system
Processing email vs. checking email
Maintaining productivity gains


Link:
https://www.lynda.com/Business-Skills-tutorials/Time-Management-Fundamentals/397387-2.html

Lecturer:
Dave Crenshaw is an author and business coach who has been featured in Time, Forbes, and the Washington Post.
Dave Crenshaw is the master of helping business owners triumph over chaos. He has appeared in Time magazine, Forbes, the Washington Post, and the BBC News. His first book, The Myth of Multitasking: How "Doing It All" Gets Nothing Done, has been published in six languages and is a time management bestseller. His latest book, The Focused Business: How Entrepreneurs Can Triumph Over Chaos, is also a small business bestseller. As an author, speaker, and business coach, Dave has transformed thousands of businesses worldwide.

Lynda.com Course-Business Writing Fundamental

Business Writing Fundamental




Link:
https://www.lynda.com/Business-Skills-tutorials/Business-Writing-Fundamentals/147532-2.html

Lecturer:
Judy Steiner-Williams is a senior lecturer at Kelley Business School who teaches writing and business communication.
Judy Steiner-Williams is a senior lecturer in business communication at the Kelley Business School. During her 30-plus year tenure at Indiana University, Judy has taught both students and support staff. English, business, and adult education are her areas of expertise—all related to increasing effectiveness in the workplace. She also coauthored an e-text on effective business communication strategies and has conducted workshops and seminars to a variety of business groups

Lynda.com Course-Project Management Simplified

Project Management Simplified
Defining project scope
Deciding how to list tasks
Estimating costs and time
Planning for risk
Staying on budget


Course Link:
http://www.lynda.com/Business-Skills-tutorials/Project-Management-Simplified/175636-2.html

Lecturer: Chris Croft
Lecturer turned thought leader Chris Croft has trained 80,000+ people in project management and leadership.
His company, The Croft Management Centre, runs training courses in managing projects and schedules, sorting out problem teams, being a good boss, negotiating, and presenting.

Lynda.com Course-Executive Leadership

Executive Leadership

Understanding the four disciplines of executive leadership
Thinking strategically
Creating shared purpose
Inspiring confidence—even under pressure
Motivating and communicating
Establishing priorities and focus
Leading change
Developing yourself

Course Link:https://www.lynda.com/Business-Skills-tutorials/Executive-Leadership/167027-2.html

Lecturer:

Dr. John Ullmen
Dr. John Ullmen is an executive coach and professor at the UCLA Anderson School of Management.

Lynda.com Course-Strategic Negotiation

Strategic Negotiation

Course Link: 
http://www.lynda.com/Business-Skills-tutorials/Strategic-Negotiation/376381-2.html




Lecturer:
Mike Figliuolo
Former McKinsey consultant and executive.

Mike Figliuolo is the founder and managing director of thought LEADERS, LLC (http://www.thoughtleadersllc.com), a professional services training firm specializing in leadership development. He is a nationally recognized speaker and blogger on topics of leadership, communications, decision-making, problem solving, and other critical business skills. An honor graduate from West Point, Mike served in the US Army as a combat arms officer. Before founding his own company, he was an assistant professor at Duke University, a consultant at McKinsey & Company, and an executive at Capital One and Scotts Miracle-Gro.

Lynda.com Course-Strategic Planning Fundamentals

Strategic Planning Fundamentals


Avoiding strategic planning risks
Assessing the market
Conducting a SWOT analysis
Defining your direction, mission, and vision
Determining core competencies
Evaluating and prioritizing opportunities
Assessing your initiatives
Organizing for success




Course Link:http://www.lynda.com/Business-Skills-tutorials/Strategic-Planning-Fundamentals/183682-2.html


Lecturer:
Mike FigliuoloFormer McKinsey consultant and executive.

Mike Figliuolo is the founder and managing director of thought LEADERS, LLC (http://www.thoughtleadersllc.com), a professional services training firm specializing in leadership development. He is a nationally recognized speaker and blogger on topics of leadership, communications, decision-making, problem solving, and other critical business skills. An honor graduate from West Point, Mike served in the US Army as a combat arms officer. Before founding his own company, he was an assistant professor at Duke University, a consultant at McKinsey & Company, and an executive at Capital One and Scotts Miracle-Gro.

Lynda.com Course-Managing Project Quality

Managing Project Quality


What is project quality?
Using Pareto analysis and Lean Six Sigma
Balancing quality, project workload, and customer needs
Addressing quality issues
Planning IT tests
Testing deliverables




Course Link:http://www.lynda.com/Business-Skills-tutorials/Managing-Project-Quality/159186-2.html


Lecturer:

Bob McGannon

Bob McGannon has set up project management programs on 3 continents. He's a PMP expert and PRINCE2 consultant.

Bob McGannon is vice-president of Mindavation in the United States and director of Mindavation Pty Ltd in Australia. Both of these consultancy organizations focus on increasing business capabilities in the portfolio, program, and project management space by providing delivery consultants, workshops, and coaching.

Bob specializes in strategic program and portfolio management and has helped set up project management offices on three different continents. He has 25 years of IT, project management, and project analysis experience, 18 of those years with the IBM Corporation. His management experience includes technology outsourcing, IT delivery measurement and quality, business analysis, and general project management. Bob has worked internationally while playing a major role in the development of international trade applications in use in the United States and Europe, and recently worked in Australia on a consulting engagement with Medicare in Canberra. He has managed project teams as large as 460 individuals, once serving as the IT delivery manager for IBM, supporting American Express.

Bob is certified as a Project Management Professional by the Project Management Institute, an Executive Project Manager with IBM, and a Certified Project Management Coach for the Boeing Corporation. He also holds a practitioner certificate in the PRINCE2 project management methodology and has written papers and articles that have been published internationally.

Lynda.com Course-Critical Thinking

Critical Thinking

• Breaking big problems into small ones
• Defining the problem statement
• Asking focusing questions
• Finding root causes
• Using critical thinking tools
• Teaching others to think critically

Course Link:

http://www.lynda.com/Business-Skills-tutorials/Critical-Thinking/424116-2.html

Lecturer: 
Mike Figliuolo
Former McKinsey consultant and executive.

Mike Figliuolo is the founder and managing director of thought LEADERS, LLC (http://www.thoughtleadersllc.com), a professional services training firm specializing in leadership development. He is a nationally recognized speaker and blogger on topics of leadership, communications, decision-making, problem solving, and other critical business skills. An honor graduate from West Point, Mike served in the US Army as a combat arms officer. Before founding his own company, he was an assistant professor at Duke University, a consultant at McKinsey & Company, and an executive at Capital One and Scotts Miracle-Gro.

Lynda.com Course-Managing Project Risk

Managing Project Risk

• Incorporating risk management into your project
• Identifying risk
• Categorizing ris
• Performing qualitative and quantitative risk analysis
• Building a risk-response plan
• Deciding when to execute a risk-response plan

Course Link:

http://www.lynda.com/Business-Skills-tutorials/Managing-Project-Risk/139991-2.html

Lecturer:

Bob McGannon

Bob McGannon has set up project management programs on 3 continents. He's a PMP expert and PRINCE2 consultant.

Bob McGannon is vice-president of Mindavation in the United States and director of Mindavation Pty Ltd in Australia. Both of these consultancy organizations focus on increasing business capabilities in the portfolio, program, and project management space by providing delivery consultants, workshops, and coaching.

Bob specializes in strategic program and portfolio management and has helped set up project management offices on three different continents. He has 25 years of IT, project management, and project analysis experience, 18 of those years with the IBM Corporation. His management experience includes technology outsourcing, IT delivery measurement and quality, business analysis, and general project management. Bob has worked internationally while playing a major role in the development of international trade applications in use in the United States and Europe, and recently worked in Australia on a consulting engagement with Medicare in Canberra. He has managed project teams as large as 460 individuals, once serving as the IT delivery manager for IBM, supporting American Express.

Bob is certified as a Project Management Professional by the Project Management Institute, an Executive Project Manager with IBM, and a Certified Project Management Coach for the Boeing Corporation. He also holds a practitioner certificate in the PRINCE2 project management methodology and has written papers and articles that have been published internationally.

Seminar by Wetland Expert Scott Wallace

Seminar by Wetland Expert Scott Wallace

Newstead, UCD

21st June, 2016

Membership of Engineers Ireland

Membership of Engineers Ireland

Assignment- Worldwide review of various substrates used in constructed wetlands

Worldwide review of various substrates used in constructed wetlands

Introduction

There are several types of substrates, including soil, sand, gravel, zeolite, limestone, plastic and ceramics etc. It is suggested to collect the substrate materials near the construction location (MEP, 2011). Different region has its own waste removal requirement for particular types of pollutants. Researchers now are trying to find new substrate materials to gain the efficiency to remove different types of pollutants for different kind of CWs. A combination of different substrate materials is also an attempt.

Various Substrates

Soil, sand and gravel are the main three types of substrate materials existed and widely used in constructed wetlands. Recently, many other materials were developed to structure the constructed wetlands as the substrate.

Aiming to reduce the water eutrophication occurring by excessive phosphorus to a particular low level required by EPA of USA, researchers designed vertical up-flow columns with wollastonite as the substrate to test the efficiency of reducing phosphorus in secondary wastewater (Brooks et al., 2000). The research result was excellent. The vertical flow columns with wollastonite showed efficiency to remove soluble phosphorus. Wollastonite showed a promise of being an economic means for the constructed wetland.

For testing different substrate media in the vertical flow constructed wetlands, researchers from Greece reported their research result (Stefanakis & Tsihrintzis, 2009). In the research, Stefanakis and Tsihrintzis designed five small-scale, cylindrical vertical flow constructed wetlands to test the simulated Greece wastewater. The treatment group contained four kinds of substrates, including carbonate rock, igneous rock, zeolite and bauxite. All four materials gained satisfying removal rate of organic matter and nitrogen. But the phosphorus removal rate was lower. Although zeolite and bauxite substrates gained higher nitrogen removal rate and higher phosphorus respectively, the removal rates were not significantly higher than carbonate and igneous rock substrates gained.

Chinese researcher also gained results. Four researchers studied the performance of two substrates made of coke and gravel to reduce Zn, Cu and Pb which are heavy metals (Chen et al., 2009). Although the study was aiming to exam whether the real removal results of these three heavy metals fitted the prediction of the first order dynamic model, these removal results were still able to claim the efficiencies of coke for Zn, Cu and Pb. The Pb removal efficiency is 95-99%. At the same time, the coke substrate constructed wetland only provided an efficiency of 54-91% for both Zn and Cu. It is difficult to claim that coke substrate is more efficient than the gravel substrate from this study.

Wang and Zhang (2012) studied the performance and comparison of bamboo splint and palm silk as the substrate materials for the stable surface flow wetland. The control group is a combination of gravel, cinder, ceramist and sand. The alternative part of Bamboo Splint Group was the additional 10-centimeter-thick bamboo material and 5-centimeter-thick sand filter bed. The alternative part of Palm Silk Group was the additional 10-centimeter-thick palm silk material. The test parameters were COD, TP and TN. The results of removal efficiencies of each kind of pollutants were remarkable.

Removal Rate of Sewage Water with SSFW
	COD	TP	TN
Bamboo Splint	73.97%	61.42%	28.98%
Palm Silk	78.37%	69.42%	24.40%
Control group	66.61%	58.71%	22.23%

Wang & Zhang, 2012

Other materials have also been tested the suitability of applying as the substrate materials. Oyster Shell could significantly adsorb phosphorus in a vertical subsurface flow constructed wetland (Wang et al., 2013). Xin (2013) studied 32 articles and commented on the wood mulch substrate that it was efficient for N removal in a vertical flow constructed wetland. He also agreed that the organic substrate in a HSSF constructed wetland would give a rise of P chemical element (Xin, 2013).

Other than natural materials, industrial materials could also be applied as the substrate. Plastic can be used as the substrate, but the results of removal performance were not better gravel (Burgoon et al, 1989).

Conclusion

Various substrate materials other than soil, sand and gravel were tested and developed. Most of these materials could bring better removal efficiencies than the common materials. The combination of common materials and new substrate materials also showed good pollutant removal performance.

Reference

Ministry of Environmental Protection. (2011). Technical specification of constructed wetlands for wastewater treatment engineering. Ministry of Environmental Protection of the People’s Republic of China. pp3.

Brooks. A, Rozenwald. M, Geohring. L. Lion, L. and Steenhuis, T. (2000). Phosphorus removal by wollastonite: A constructed wetland substrate. Ecological Engineering 15 (2000) 121–132. Available at: http://soilandwater.bee.cornell.edu/publications/BrooksEE00.pdf [Accessed date: May 5^th, 2016]

Stefanakis, A. and Tsihrintzis, V. (2009). Comparison of Various Substrate Media on the Performance of Vertical Flow Constructed Wetlands. The 11^th International Conference on Environmental Science and Technology. Available at: http://www.academia.edu/1095226/Comparison_of_various_substrate_media_on_the_performance_of_Vertical_Flow_Constructed_Wetlands [Accessed date: May 5^th, 2016]

Chen, M. Tang, Y. Li, X. and Yu, Z. (2009). Study on the Heavy Metals Removal Efficiencies of Constructed Wetlands with Different Substrates. J. Water Resource and Protection, 2009, 1, pp: 1-57. Available at: http://file.scirp.org/pdf/JWARP20090100004_45816707.pdf [Accessed date: May 5^th, 2016]

Wang, C. and Zhang, J. (2012). Study on Different Substrates in Stable Surface Flow Wetland. Ecosystem & Ecography. Available at: http://www.omicsonline.org/study-on-different-substrates-in-stable-surface-flow-wetland-2157-7625.1000109.pdf [Accessed date: May 5^th, 2016]

Wang, Z. Dong, J. Liu, L. Zhu, G. Liu, C. (2013). Study of oyster shell as a potential substrate for constructed wetlands. Water Science and Technology: Water Supply. Volume 13, Issue 4, pp 1007-1015.

Xing, A. (2012). Recent Development in wetland technology for wastewater treatment. Halmstad University. Available at: http://www.diva-portal.se/smash/get/diva2:571109/FULLTEXT01.pdf [Accessed date: May 5^th, 2016]

Burgoon, P. Reddy, K. and DeBusk, T. (1989). Domestic wastewater treatment using emergent plants cultured in gravel and plastic substrates. Constructed wetlands for wastewater treatment. Lewis Publishers Inc., pp. 536–541. Available at: https://soils.ifas.ufl.edu/wetlands/publications/PDF-articles/138.Domestic%20wastewater%20treatment%20using.pdf [Accessed date: May 5^th, 2016]

Assignment-Origin of Specific Resistance to Filtration and Relationship between SRF and CST

Origin of Specific Resistance to Filtration and Relationship between SRF and CST

Introduction

The sludge dewatering process could be seen as removing liquid to convert the sludge into solid (Yukseler et al., 2007). In practice, the dewatering process in a wastewater treatment plant would use some special equipment. After dewatering, the sludge become much easier to manage and transport. Because the volume and weight of a sediment cake would be smaller than it was wet sludge. The detailed process of dewatering the sludge sometimes depends on the specific condition of sludge. There are two test parameters named CST and SRF to help to understand the sludge property and dewater-ability.

Definition of SRF and its origin.

The SRF is short for specific resistance to filtration. The SRF test is used for estimating sludge dewater-ability (Sawalha, 2010). SRF is a measure how much the sediment cake resists the liquid being forced out by the dewatering process (Kavanagh, 1980). The theoretical basis firstly appeared in 1933 (Carman, 1933). In 1938, Carman accept Darcy’s law and gave out two assumptions of the cake form and filter media. Then the numerical model appeared to describe the ratio of volume in time that slurry transporting solid onto sediment cake (Smollen, 1986). Then the common used model of SRF was governed (Christensen et al., 1993).

Here list the terms, their meanings and units in the model as below.

Equation Term Table
Term	Meaning	Unit
t	time in the filtration process	s
V	filtrate volume	m3
μ	filtrate viscosity	Pa·s
SRF	average specific resistance to filtration	m kg-1
C	mass of dry cake deposited per unit volume of filtrate	kg·m-3
A	area of the filter medium	m2
P	applied pressure	Pa
Rm	media resistance	m-1

Christensen et al., 1993

In the early period when SRF test was practiced, the SRF results could be influenced by individual differences. To eliminate the phenomena of individual differences happening, the standard test procedure was set. The equipment of the standard SRF test is a Buchner funnel apparatus associated with a vacuum port and paper filter.

Definition of CST and its origin.

The CST is short for capillary suction time. The standard CST test was first developed by Gale and Baskerville in 1968 (Baskerville & Gale, 1968). It also has a standard test process.

Sawalha, 2010. Figure 1.1.1 Diagram of capillary suction time test apparatus

The CST test showed advantages in four aspects, including its short time use, high reliability, easy operation and low cost. There is no special requirement in the CST test. At the meantime, the aims of both CST and SRF are the same. Hence, to estimate SRF value with CST value would bring convenience to the SRF.

Relationship

Generally, when testing on the same sludge, the SRF test result is correlating to the CST result. It has been found that sludge samples showing high CST would show high SRF values at the same time (Baskerville & Gale, 1968). This is more like a qualitative relationship.

Researchers also developed models to investigate the quantitative relationship between SRF and CST. There might be two types of quantitative models to describe the relationship, including the mechanic model and the empirical model.

The mechanic model has been constructed (Lee & Hsu, 1993) as below.

α_av--average specific resistance to filtration (m/kg)

P_cd--capillary suction pressure, assuming a diffusion-like process, in which the paper is unsaturated;

S_o--liquid saturation under the inner cylinder;

A--cross section area (m²);

C_o--solid concentration (kg/m³);

t--time (s);

μ--liquid viscosity (Pa·s);

V--liquid invasion volume.

The empirical model is still being developed by the researchers. There is an equation based on the practical experience as below (Sawalha, 2010).

log_e SRF = 46.128 – 1.346 T + 0.035 T² + 13.760 F/TSS

SRF--the specific resistance to filtration (m/kg);

T--temperature (^oC);

F--the filterability (log_e s/m²)

TSS--the total suspended solids concentration (g/l).

Conclusion

The qualitative relationship between SRF and CST could be found in the early research. This means SRF and CST are correlated. But the quantitative relationship model between SRF and CST is still developing.

Reference

Yukseler, H., Tosun, I., and Yetis, U. (2007). A new approach in assessing slurry filterability. Journal of Membrane Science, 303, 72-79.

Sawalha, O. (2010). Capillary Suction Time (CST) Test: Developments in testing methodology and reliability of results. The University of Edinburgh. Available at: https://www.era.lib.ed.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/1842/4887/Sawalha2011.pdf?sequence=1 [Accessed date: May 4^th, 2016]

Kavanagh, B. (1980). The Dewatering of Activated Sludge: Measurement of Specific Resistance to Filtration and Capillary Suction Time. Wat. Pollut. Control. 388.

Carman, P. (1933). A Study of the Mechanism of Filtration. Part1. Jour. Soc. Chem. Ind. 52:280.

Smollen, M. (1986). Dewaterability of municipal sludges 1: A comparative study of specific resistance to filtration and capillary suction time as dewaterability parameters. Water SA. Vol. 12. No. 3. Available at: http://www.wrc.org.za/Knowledge%20Hub%20Documents/Water%20SA%20Journals/Manuscripts/1986/WaterSA_1986_12_0401.PDF [Accessed date: May 4^th, 2016]

Baskerville, R. and Gale, R. (1968). A simple automatic instrument for determining the filterability of sewage sludges. Water pollution control, 67, 233-241.

Lee, D., and Hsu, Y. (1993). Cake formation in capillary suction apparatus. Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research, 32, 1180-1185.