Innovation in Military Systems

Innovation in Military Systems Introduction Technology transfer across social sectors, industries, and national boundaries is a common phenomenon in contemporary times. These transfers are mostly driven by economic paradigms – the need to embrace radical innovations so as not to be left behind in the race to be at the forefront of technological and/or commercial envelope. It is thus obvious that the technological generators – one who invested in Research and Development (RD) and came up with ‘crown jewel’ innovations, hold the sway in today’s markets. If one were to consider the investment in RD as a benchmark of ‘invention (and probably innovativeness) potential’ then the defence sector would lead in most countries. As an example, in 2007, the US defence budget was $440 billion. Out of this, the technology development component was $73 billion. As compared to this, the largest non-military research funding went to National Institute of health, which got $28 billion in the same ye ar.[2] The costs and risks in the research for military system is not really an important feature as often in private sector or any other state investment.[3] RD for defence products is mostly sponsored by the state. This is a far cry from the conditions governing civil (private sector) RD efforts where the costs must be subsumed by the producer in the end-cost of a product, paid for  by consumers in a cost competitive market. Therefore, it makes eminent commercial sense whenever defence products (inventions) can find their way into civil markets and become truly innovative. In the context of the aforesaid, it becomes pertinent to study success stories – examples where defence inventions reached civil applications. Examples range from Internet (the US military) to packaged ready to eat food (developed by our own DRDO – Defence RD Organisation). This point would be demonstrated by two major case studies from the foreign markets that came up with radical innovative products. The forgotten story of ‘Jeep’ is a name that is synonymous with four-wheel drive, light and powerful vehicles that have spawned the contemporary Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs) and Multi Utility Vehicles (MUVs). The second example is that of Ray Ban glasses. Both of these have become top-notch commercial products with Jeep Cherokee and Ray-Ban aviator glasses being considered as status symbols anywhere in the world. Jeep With a brand punch line of â€Å"Go Anywhere, Do Anything†[4], Jeep has been associated with adventure and macho since the World War (WW) – II. The original vehicle was born out of sheer necessity of the US forces[5]. Since WW-I, the US army had been looking for a fast, lightweight and all-terrain vehicle that could be used in the war zones around the world. In the early 1940, with the Nazi forces on the ascendancy, the need for such a vehicle by the US army became acute. The army asked automobile manufacturers for a running prototype in just 49 days. The specifications were quite stringent and only two companies responded amongst 130 companies that were invited to bid. Bantan Car Company, worked with a Detroit engineer Karl Probst, who designed the vehicle in two days flat. His design was improved by the other company Willys-Overland (Quad and powerful) and accepted by the army. The contract was awarded to Willys and Ford as the sheer size and rate of delivery during t he war was beyond any one company to undertake. During WW-II, Willys and Ford supplied more than 700,000 orders with Willys supplying more than 330, 000 units. By 1942, long before the war came to an end, in an innovative move, Willys-Overland recognised that the vehicle could serve the civilian market by virtue of the fact that it had built a brand for itself in ruggedness and durability. An advertisement campaign was undertaken for building the civilian brand value. Even as the first civilian Jeep vehicle was built in 1945, Willys obtained a US Trademark Registration in 1950, five years later. Since then the trademark now registered internationally, has passed from Willys-Overland to Kaiser to American Motors Corporation, and most recently, to Chrysler Corporation. From 1968 to 1978, the production of Jeep rose three times to 600 vehicles a day. With the present day, Grand Cherokee being a much-cherished 4X4, still, the jeep story lives on. Over half of all Chrysler vehicles sold outside the US, are Cherokees. Ray-Ban The 1930s was an era of great strides in military aviation. Aircrafts became faster and flying envelopes expanded. Many US Air Force (USAF) pilots were reporting that the glare from sun was hindering their flying prowess. This led to invention of a new kind of glasses, with green colour that could cut the glare without obscuring vision. Thus was born Ray-Ban. This anti-glare eyewear saw many models being introduced but the traditional ‘aviator’ model with metal frames remained the favourite for a long time to come. Cashing in on the newness factor and need, the eyewear went on sale to public in 1937[6]. Within seven years, the strides were made from defence to civil usage, since the basic needs of protective eyewear were same for both. In the 1940s, innovations such as gradient mirror lens with coated upper part and uncoated lower part, for a clear view of aircraft instrument panels, were introduced. Such innovations though meant primarily for defence usage, appealed to civilians also due to the styling and ‘macho’ pilots’ looks. After the WW-II, the Ray-Ban came to be popularised by many Hollywood stars and rest as they say, is history. The Luxottica group is the owner of Ray-Ban and popular eyewear brands like Oakley, besides in license production of many other top eyewear brands. In 2011, it posted net sales of almost â‚ ¬ 6.2 billion.[7] Spill-over The technologies and the product that moved across defence research and usage to the civil markets have been coined as ‘spill over’ technologies. The opposite route has been recently coined spill-ins. The coinage of terms is quite logical. ‘Spill over’ is meant in the sense that the technology/product was originally meant for a smaller segment – the defence sector and it ‘spilled over’ to reach the outside world, a much wider segment of the populace. In India, there are instances of ‘spill over’, albeit the scale has been rather timid. A list of 140 technologies developed by the DRDO, which have duel applications are listed in the form of a publication[8], inviting the civil Industry to participate through technology diffusion. Some of these technologies have been transferred to civil sector like a novel pressure sintering/bonding technique for large clutch plates have been successfully transferred to Clutch Auto Limited.[9] By a simple comparison of the narrative given above, it would be clear to the readers, why hugely successful stories of innovations like Jeep or Ray-Ban are not scripted in India. The defence RD model followed in India is purely government centred. The government invests in defence related research in government labs of the DRDO. Such funding or initiative does not come the way of private sector for many reasons. The primary reason is the absence of a roadmap for harnessing the private industry’s efforts into the mainstream by ensuring that sensitivity associated with defence sector is not compromised. In the name of national security, the private industry has been kept out of the defence sector, till recently. Now it has been realised that without the presence of a competition to the government labs and Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs), their efficiency would never increase. Also it is not possible to quickly leapfrog the technological gap that exists between India and the developed (and even not so developed) world without finding a solution to the inefficiency that has somehow become a hallmark of governmental sectors. Infusion of capital and innovativeness by and into the private sector is a must for the RD efforts to realise their true potential. The methodology of sharing IPR of products developed through funding by the government and innovations by the private sector is a stumbling factor for the process to go forward. It is obvious that defence related IPRs, even those having duel use, needs to have some governmental control inbuilt. The mistrust and vested lobbying has thus far not allowed a solution to this process even though the US model is very much present to be emulated. The down side is that since the private sector is not invested in product development from the beginning, they do not have any stakes to carry forward the product so developed, to a wider market for maximising profits. What remains then is just an invitation by the Scientific Adviser to Raksha Mantri, to the private sector, to partake the RD efforts of the DRDO labs, as mentioned earlier. In such a scenario the defence RD efforts would not reach its true market potential. Consider that the Jeep brand received ‘2012 Silver OBIE Award’ fr om the Outdoor Advertising Association for America for the Jeep Wrangler Call of Duty ® billboard design[10]. Is it possible to see this kind of aggressive market pitch by a government entity? The markets would be penetrated predominantly by the desire to maximize profits and this desire would manifest with the private sectors and thus comes the efficiency and innovativeness. The Future Innovations require the factors of newness and commercialisation to be present in a product. While defence products are always required to retain the ‘cutting edge’ element, the motive of commercialisation is rarely a factor. However, this thought process is fast changing and defence equipment, along with providing the balance of power, are also turning out to be big business in the global arms market. The commercialisation angle though, can be really addressed if the product/technology reaches a much bigger clientele than just the security forces. Involvement of private industrial sector in development of such product/technology is thus a necessity, for them to be termed an innovation. Products like Jeep and Ray-Ban that could be termed as innovations today, were essentially made on demand of the defence forces but it brought to the fore, a latent need of the civil market. This would always be the common thread for all ‘spill over’ technologies. We all know drones can deliver death on the battlefield, but might they also soon be delivering gifts and purchases to our door? Amazon.com is counting on it. UAVs pioneered by the military are finding a home down in farmers fields. A UAV can treat an acre of steep hillsides in five minutes, which is very difficult or even impossible to do with a tractor Such technologies are now also known as ‘duel use’ technologies and controlled by the innovator nations under ‘The Wassenaar Arrangement’[11] due to their highly commercial/strategic ramifications. One such instance is the jet engine technology that is used for military as well as commercial aircrafts. India and China are striving to d evelop a jet engine and when they do, the commercial and strategic ramifications are obvious. Innovative defence technologies are very much the future to strive for. In the same vein, it is worth considering that civil technologies developed for high-end technical function may be considered for defence applications because any RD effort is time and capital intensive. Thus, a convergence of RD efforts, for defence and civil applications is the need of the hour. [1] Steven R. Rivkin Technology Unbound: Transferring Scientific and Engineering Resources From Defence to Civilian Purposes (New York USA: Pergamon Press Inc., 1968), p xii. [2] T.W. Lee, Military Technologies of the World – Vol II (Westport USA: Praeger Security International, 2009), p. 364. [3] Dr Hatice Karacay Cakmak, Department of Economics, Beytepe, Ankara, Turkey, â€Å"A Theoretical Glance at Military Expenditures†, 2009 p.3, see hrcak.srce.hr/file/74277, accessed on Aug 06, 2014. [4] History of Jeep modelS, at http://www.jeep.com/en/history/ accessed on July 21, 2014 . [5] The evolution of jeep has been traced at http://www.hrja.org/jeep.htm, accessed on July 22, 2014. [6] The history and evolution of Ray-Ban at http://www.luxottica.com/sites/luxottica.com/files/ray-ban_history_en.pdf.  Accessed on July 23, 2014. [7] Ibid. [8] DRDO, Advanced Technologies for Civil Application (DESIDOC, New Delhi, 1987) [9] Ibid, p. 117. [10]http://media.chrysler.com/newsrelease.do;jsessionid=5F352AF1915E13814ADD6F1A32B6E67D?id=2210mid= accessed on 05 Aug 15 [11] Manoj Kumar, Resources Optimisation through Environmental Leadership (New Delhi, Knowledge World, 2012), p126

Diabetes :: essays research papers fc

Diabetes occurs when the pancreas either cannot or has trouble making enough insulin to control the sugar a person receives from their food. (Bete, Co. 1972) Diabetes Mellitus is broken down into two groups: Juvenile (Type One), and Adult (Type Two) (McHenry, 1993). Type One diabetics are insulin dependant. People under forty years of age are more prone to this type. They have low serum insulin levels and it more often affects small blood vessels in eyes and kidneys. Type Two diabetics are non-insulin dependant. This type is prone to people over forty years of age. They have low, normal or high serum insulin levels. It most often affects large blood vessels and nerves (Long, 1993). Type One diabetes was one of the earliest diseases to be documented by historians. Once called "honey urine" and the "Persian fire". The name diabetes was conceived by the Greek physician Arteus almost eighteen hundred years ago. The disease remained a mystery until 1700 when an English doctor demonstrated that a diabetic's blood was abnormally high in sugar (Aaseng, 1995). Thus, bringing to the conclusion that diabetics are unable to use blood sugar as other persons bodies do (McHenry, 1993). With this fact, a young doctor named Fredrick Banting and a biochemist, Charles Best, were lead to the discovery of manufacturing insulin, the hormone for which is the key to blood sugar processing. Many diabetics lives have been saved because of this discovery (Aaseng, 1995). A person is at risk of this disorder if they have diabetic relatives, are over the age of forty years, are over-weight, and if they are of certain racial or ethnic groups. Women with gestational diabetes who give birth to a baby that weighs more than nine pounds are also at good risk of conducting this disease (Long, 1993). Higher numbers of diabetics occur more in Caucasian people than other races, and the highest incidents of Type One diabetes in the world are found in people residing in Scandinavian countries (Aaseng, 1995). Some signs and symptoms of this disorder are: an increased thirst and appetite, frequent urination, fatigue or anxiety, sickness of the stomach, loss of weight, skin infections, blurred vision, or numbness to feet and hands. Blood, urine, or supplementary tests can be done to determine whether a person is diabetic. Once diagnosed, the patient can be treated by making changes in their diet, exercising regularly, injecting themselves with insulin, or taking oral medications (Diabetes, 1997).

How does Williamson show the use and abuse of power in “The Club”? Essay

David Williamson exposes the use and abuse of power in his play The Club, which offers â€Å"a look at the power behind the big men of the sporting world†. Through the use of dramatic and language techniques such as dramatic irony, mise en scene and simile. Williamson suggest that manipulation of power can destroy friendships, organisations and affects one’s passion. In particular the abuse of power is shown to backfire on Jock, Gerry and Ted this suggest that individuals and groups should not abuse their power but instead follows Laurie’s example and use power selflessly. The committee members’ passion for the game leads them to use and abuse their power to form an ideal team to win the premiership, however their actions go against the club’s values and negatively affect the club. Ted’s passion for the game is displayed by the line, â€Å"I’ve seen every game we’ve played since I was six†, and his detailed description of Laurie’s first kick with jargon like ‘long low pass’ and ‘blind turn’, which reveal his commitment towards the sport and the club. However, as the president, Ted only cares about winning and loses sight of the team. This is shown when Geoff Hayward is purchased without consulting Laurie (the coach) and the team members. Ted’s abuse of power is emphasised by Laurie’s angry tone when he is criticising Ted for trying to tell him how to coach, and by his dismissal in the line â€Å"I don’t appreciate interference from amateurs†, which co nnotes Ted’s status as a newcomer trying to run the club. Although Ted is motivated by his passion for the game, his abuse of power to show authority over the team makes the club suffer. In the text, Williamson shows factionalism through the portrayal of characters working against each other and manipulating one another. Jock and Gerry’s abuse of power is displayed with dramatic irony as they are shown to be plotting behind the player backs and scheming for Ted and Laurie to get fired. Gerry says to Laurie that he wants Ted out â€Å"as much as you do†, appearing sympathetic, but the audience also sees Gerry talking to Ted about how they are going to force Laurie to resign after the season. Gerry uses  and abuses his power to get the ideal team that he and Jock want. Also, Jock’s abuse of power is evident by Laurie’s accusation that Jock only supported the committee’s traditional approach to recruiting players to stop Laurie from succeeding, claiming that â€Å"the reason why you wouldn’t let the club buy players was to stop me winning a flag.† Williamson uses diction and tone to bring out Jock’s scheming and manipulation toward Laurie so he can achieve and accomplish his own hidden agenda, which is to undermine Laurie. Laurie’s selfless acts upon others show how moral he is, and show his loyalty to the club, he shows that he doesn’t abuse his power and uses his power selflessly. This is shown through the use of language of disagreement, where Laurie tries to defend Danny’s position when â€Å"Danny was getting thrashed. I thought you mightn’t have noticed†, a quote from Ted which emphasises how badly ‘thrashed’ Danny was. Because of this, Ted wanted to ‘shift him’ but Laurie disagreed with the fact that anyone on the team besides Danny could take Wilson (one of the best footballer). This shows Laurie’s morality in terms of how he thinks of others, that he knows that Danny ‘was desperate to keep on trying’. This shows Laurie’s human aspect and therefore shows his loyalty to the club. Another abuse of power to be measured is Jock’s human aspect. Jock is loyal to the club, but is based on selfish and violent acts; he wants everything to be good for him, so that his name can be on top of the club. He is also a non-secretive person, and because of this, he shows that he doesn’t care what he does, and therefore emphasises he only cares for himself and is self-motivated. In the play, The Club displays how characters take advantage of their status with their power of being talent. This is shown when the club receives a new player from Tasmania, which also changes the traditions of having their â€Å"local boys† playing for the game. Williamson exposes how players such as Geoff Hayward take advantage of their power and use their power to receive a better income and take advantage of the club. Geoff Hayward abuses his power also on Jock by telling his problems, however Geoff is lying to Jock and Jock believes everything in what he is saying. This is seen with the line delivery, and tone of â€Å" I get the feeling that something is worrying you Geoff†, in my own interpretation jock is gesturing to Geoff in a way that  offers to help by listening, but jokes facial expression would be that he thinks he is better for suspecting something is wrong. Geoff uses his power to abuse jock by fooling him in to a trick and making him believe in the unthinkable. In conclusion David Williamson highlights how the abuse of power that can take away one’s passion for the game, and loose in what they stood for like ted. Also that people use their power to gain respect and only use it for their own motives such as Jock and Gerry as they just wanted their ideal team. However, like Laurie he uses his power selfless and liked to use his power for what they believe is right. The Club explores how power can be used positively and negatively and the message behind it is to show the corruption behind the sporting world.

The number of people skiing has increased steadily for the past 100 years

The number of people skiing has increased steadily for the past 100 years. The ever popular sport was started by the English people visiting the Alps. Where people went skiing, resorts started to spring up and businessmen saw the opportunity to make money and started to expand these. These resorts started to bring in many opputunities for the locaal people to work in. Employment in these areas has increased drastically. For example, anyone who decides to visit the resort will have to stay in a hotel. These hotels may be run by an out of country firm but many of the employees would be from the surrounding villages. They would need bar staff, waiters, cleaners, chefs, receptionists, caretakers and managers. The same would go for a restaurant, this would need a manager, waiters, cleaners, and chefs. Many of these new properties that have business lead to multiple job opurtunities. Most of the employees would be local and live here all year. However, although up to 95% of the resorts workforce will be local, the skilled,high paid jobs would be taken by foreigners. Also the all year round businesses would change to become specialised in the few months to maximise the opportunity to make money. A normal sports shop would become specialised in a ski hire shop. The shop would have extra staff which again is an advantage to the local people. Also many people will either bring their children or will be first time skiers and will need an instructor. These people charge à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½100 for a week of training. This means that the ywill again bring in money for the local economy. Many people will leave their children in crà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ches and these will charge a lot of money again for the local people. However the catch is that these jobs are ENTIRLY dependant on the weather. People cannot ski if there is no snow. So apart from the ski season which at best is four months, the town will be like a small village. In the winter there can be thousands of people there. Some people may get replacement jobs in the summer. A ski instructor may become a water skiing intrsuctor. Or the crà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½che operator may become a teacher. Even so the majority of people will be out of work for eight months. Many may move away but to most people this work for four months make them stay. This halts the process of depopulation in these alpine areas. Depopulation means that people move out of an area because they feel they have no future there. The young people of the ski village will no tmove out because of the money to be made by the tourism in the area. Also if the people did move out ski resorts will not be able to operate as almost everything relys on humans. The will also not move out on the grounds that there are no facilities in the village. This is because many people attract banks, supermarkets, hotels etc. So this means that the people who move for better facilities don't need to. But to many people the idea that there is only work for four months is still not good enough. So for this reason many people do still move away. But if they do stay as in many resorts today, during a busy period they will just add to overcrowding. Because of tourism the area will expience prosperity in their economy. The tourist who come are often on self-catering holidays, this means that will need to buy many items of food, they will spend money in supermarkets and in groceries. They may go to a restaurant, they will spend money there. They will spend money on ski equipment, on ski passes, lift passes and to the hotels. All this will improve the economy. All these jobs mean that people have more money than before. If they have more money their standard of living increases and so they spend more money in the village meaning the economy will prosper. However there are some down sides to this resort. For example, all this development is not natural. It leads to the environment being destroyed. If the environment is destroyed many animals will lose their habitats and will have to go elsewhere or face dying. Trees will also have to be cleared which again means that animals will be forced to leave. Another problem that could be faced by the area is the fact that because o fthe increase in the numbers of people, the number of cars and vehicles in the area also increases. This means that air pollution also gets emmited more. This is ironic as this air pollution leads global warming. This leads to the snow line to get higher. If there is less snow then the resort may be open for less time every year and maybe even be closed. This is a disadvantage for the resort. The other problem is that it can be affected by the present state of the worldwide economy. If people are worried that they may not have enough money, the first thing that they cut is a holiday. As many people who go skiing go as a holiday from abroad. This means that the ywill not go to the resorts. This would be disastrous for the resort as it is the only time of the year they can make money. This means that they would have a bad standard of living for that year. What is more is that the people who do come to the resort will spend less freely than they would normally. This is again due to the fact that the economical situation would make them spend less. A ski resort has many advantages and disadvantages. These are some of the main ones.