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Файл:Английский в научных и инженерных целях. Часть 1. Учебное пособие
.pdf
Change over FY 2008
Engineering Research Centers
Materials Research Science
& Engineering
Centers
Nanoscale Science and Engineering Centers
Science and
Technology
Centers
Science of
Learning Centers
Program
Number
Initiation
of Centers
FY 2007
in FY 2008
Actual
FY 2008
Estimate
FY 2009
FY 2008
Request
Amount
Estimate
Percent
1985 15 47.05 52.86 53.55 0.69 1.3 %
1994 26 55.97 54.73 62.73 8.00 14.6 %
2001 18 38.61 42.59 44.61 2.02 4.7 %
1987 17 68.56 64.95 76.02 11.07 17.0 %
2003 6 12.64 14.94 15.00 0.06 0.4 %
Total, Centers
$39.34 15.7 %
2
Totals may not add due to rounding.
$232.50 $250.98 $290.3
1
Formely titled Chemical Bonding Centers.
Source: US National Science Foundation Report 2008
TASK 4. Vocabulary. Commenting the table with figures.
Comment on the table data above, show the relationship between numbers,
make suppositions, and use the phrases below.
Commenting on data (2):
It is necessary to begin with …
In the first place/
in the second place …
I would like to:
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– enumerate
– comment on
– specify that
– illustrate
It is vital to demonstrate the relationship between …
The data/information in the column/line includes …
The overall presentation/enumeration/listing of … is given
The graph/chart presented gives/provides the clear/vague idea of …
TASK 5. Read the information about Critical Path Method as one of the project management tools.
Key Points:
Critical Path Analysis or Critical Path Method (CPM) is an effective and
powerful method of assessing:
What tasks must be carried out.
Where parallel activity can be performed.
The shortest time in which you can complete a project.
Resources needed to execute a project.
The sequence of activities, scheduling and timings involved.
Task priorities.
The most efficient way of shortening time on urgent projects.
An effective Critical Path Analysis can make the difference between success
and failure on complex projects. It can be very useful for assessing the importance of problems faced during the implementation of the plan.
Source: http://www.mindtools.com/critpath.html
The text: “Critical Path Analysis and PERT Charts”
CPM calculates:
The longest path of planned activities to the end of the project
The earliest and latest that each activity can start and finish without
making the project longer
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Determines “critical” activities (on the longest path)
Prioritize activities for the effective management and to
shorten the planned critical path of a project by:
Pruning critical path activities
“Fast tracking” (performing more activities in parallel)
“Crashing the critical path” (shortening the durations of critical path
activities by adding resources)
Source: Critical Path Method (CEE 320 – VDC Seminar)
Jesse Santiago & Desirae Magallon
February 4, 2009
http://www.stanford.edu/class/cee320/CEE320B/CPM.pdf
Example. Step 1: List the activities
CPM analysis starts when you have a table showing each activity in your project. For each activity, you need to know which other activities must be done
before it starts, and how long the activity takes.
Here’s the example:
Activity Description Required Predecessor Duration
A Product design (None) 5 months
B Market research (None) 1
C Production analysis A 2
D Product model A 3
E Sales brochure A 2
F Cost analysis C 3
G Product testing D 4
H Sales training B, E 2
I Pricing H 1
J Project report F, G, I 1
Example. Step 2: Draw the diagram
Draw by hand a network diagram of the project that shows which activities
follow which other ones. This can be tricky. The analysis method requires an
“activity-on-arc” (AOA) diagram. An AOA diagram has numbered “nodes”
that represent stages of project completion. You make up the nodes` numbers
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as you construct the diagram. You connect the nodes with arrows or “arcs”
that represent the activities that are listed in the above table.
Some conventions about how to draw these diagrams:
All activities with no predecessor come off of node 1.
All activities with no successor point to the last node, which has to have
highest node number.
Source: Critical Path Method (CPM), Samuel L. Baker, 2004
http://hadm.sph.sc.edu/courses/j716/cpm/cpm.html
TASK 6. Read the text below, insert the skipped words into gabs. Choose the
words from the list below.
precedence probabilistic complex
evaluation scheduling maintenance
critical simply optimization
CPM in research projects
Network techniques are often used in 1) … projects that contain many in-
terrelated activities. One approach that has been widely used is the critical path
method, in which a network diagram depicts 2) … among activities. This meth-
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od also calculates their starting, float, and finishing times to identify 3) … activities, and it constructs a time chart to display possible project schedules. Typically, network techniques have been used in large and 4) … projects consisting
of thousands of activities, such as major construction and engineering projects.
In the 1950’s, a critical path technique called PERT (program 5) … and review
technique) was developed by the U.S. Navy for managing the Fleet Ballistic
Missile (Polaris) submarine project. CPM (critical path method) was developed
by the DuPont Company and Remington Rand Univac for managing plant 6) …
and construction work. Differing – for the most part – only in the level of importance that 7) … concepts have in their use, these mathematical (8) … techniques are referred to collectively as PERT-CPM or 9) … CPM.
Source: Critical Path Method Applied to Research Project Planning:
Fire Economics Evaluation System (FEES). Earl B. Anderson, R. Stanton Hales
http://pdfcast.org/pdf/critical-path-method-applied-to-research-project-planning-fire-
economics-evaluation-system-fees
TASK 7. Grammar focus. Unreal and real conditionals. Translate the sentences stating the type of condition.
Example:
If our survey indicates the possibility of water here, then we will do
some drilling. (Real)
If there was a blowout, we would evacuate the rig immediately. (Unreal 1)
If we hadn’t made this find, we would have leased out our tankers. (Unreal 2)
Remember there are cases with mixed condition
If we ran an additional test, the accident would never have happened.
1. If a rock is permeable, it allows water or other fluids to pass through it.
2. Provided that the results of our surveys are positive, we will continue to
drill here.
3. In case of corrosion, stop all activity.
4. If one were to confine this review to just the past two decades, it would
be quickly noted that relations between U.K. and Korean companies
predate the present, highly visible efforts by at least 20 years.
35
5. If these tests produce positive results, we’ll continue with clinical trials.
6. If rubber is cooled to –200 °C, it becomes brittle enough and will easily
break.
7. If safety measures had been followed, we could estimate the experi-
mental error.
8. If you want to study the files from the Internet, just download them onto
your computer.
9. If we bought a new software package, you’ll have to get a site license.
10. If you want to use this software package on more than one system, we’d
be able to do all the technical specifications in half the time.
11. If the goods had been sent by sea, they would have taken nearly two
months.
TASK 8. Read the text. Answer the questions after the text.
Although viewed as a relatively recent phenomenon, the support of off-
shore R&D has been part of standard business practices for more than 20
years. If one were to confine this review to just the past two decades, it would
be quickly noted that relations between U.S. companies and their collaborating institutions in India, for example, predate the present, highly visible efforts by at least 20 years.
Case in point, U.S. software and chemical companies were obtaining research services in the late 1980s, in many cases using the opportunity to ei-
ther supplement traditional work or to merely “test the waters” in terms of
learning how the process could work.
The establishment or utilization of an R&D capacity in connection with
foreign markets, as described in the R&D Magazine survey, had long been
seen as a means to overcome a variety of barriers.
Anecdotal discussions with a variety of participants in the activity reveal
that the decision to expand the R&D role was based on various factors:
(1) localized technical support provided a means for quickly addressing
problems or opportunities associated with the existing or planned manufacturing and marketing operations;
36
(2) it was necessary for local practices and activities to be cognizant of,
and adapted to, local regulations, cultures, habits, and tastes;
(3) local operations may be influenced by local differences in resources,
infrastructure and materials; and
(4) the establishment of “ancillary” R&D facilities may have been one
of the conditions imposed in the local licensing and permit-granting process.
Superposed on these, and other, generalized descriptions of the rationale
for establishing offshore R&D are the results of the R&D Magazine survey.
When addressing the question of the values that were expected from outsourcing, the respondents, sometimes providing multiple answers, noted raw
responses in order:
It’s apparent that one of the more important features of offshore outsourcing is directly or indirectly related to the basic cost of doing business. The improved cost effectiveness is a direct reference to the lower
costs that apply in most areas, especially the emerging countries of China
and India.
Furthermore, lowered direct costs enhance the competitive position visà-vis other (usually domestic) resources and, hence, lead to measures of
higher productivity.
It is further apparent that there has been an expectation of enhanced
overall R&D capabilities, especially in those cases where new technologies –
those that may lead to the development of platforms for innovation and new
product lines – are more readily available without the direct investment in
physical and human capital.
Outsourcing is expected to provide a more rapid entry into new markets,
processes, or products.
At first glance, it would appear that the relatively lower score given to
the customer support aspect of offshore outsourcing is a bit counterintuitive.
However, this score is apparently more reflective of the view that offshore R&D is directed more toward supporting the company’s own offshore
operations, such as in manufacturing and distribution, rather than as direct
support to the external consumers of the company’s output.
Source: Global R&D Report 2007.
37
1. How long has existed the notion of offshore R&D?
2. How is offshore R&D involved in relations between U.S, and Indian
companies?
3. What does the term “test the waters” stand here for?
4. Which factors is the R&D role expansion based on?
5. According to the R&D Magazine survey what is the most important fea-
tures of offshore outsourcing?
6. What are the article conclusions?
TASK 9. Comment the numbers on presented Global Industrial R&D Distribution (Pic. 1.) Use the phrases from Task 4.
Pic. 1. Global Industrial R&D Distribution
TASK 10. Read the text “Apple: Not Spending Enough on R&D”.
Apple: Not Spending Enough on R&D?
Over at Forbes, Martin T. Sosnoff made it pretty clear. He thinks GM
(GM) is “a more viable investment” than Apple (AAPL).
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Why? Well in part because he thinks Apple isn’t spending enough on
research and development, fearing the company may become “the next Po-
laroid,” the camera/film company that lost its way as quick film processing
and digital technology emerged to replace instant film.
Perhaps, Polaroid’s demise sticks in Steve Jobs’ viscera, and that’s
why he sits on Apple’s boodle of $60 billion in liquidity now earning pea-
nuts. With product momentum from smart phones and the iPad assured,
Apple’s earnings approach $30 a share in calendar 2012. Its pot of cash then
should exceed $100 billion, nearly a third of the present market capitaliza-
tion of the company.
I have no idea what Steve Jobs’ “viscera” is like, but I doubt it has much
to do with a defunct instant film company. And as for this opinion, I think
Martin is missing something when he compares Apple and Intel (INTC) in
terms of their R&D expenditures.
What is Apple cooking up that’s a major product prospect? The Street
mumbles about a smart television set, but I dunno. What I do know is Ap-
ple’s research and development budget is a comparatively low percentage of
revenues at 3 percent.
39
Tech houses, like Intel forever spend over 10 percent on R&D. Not that
spending over 10 percent on R&D saved Polaroid or even Xerox (XRX) from
lapsing into desuetude.
If Apple does lapse into “desuetude,” I have a feeling it won’t have
much to do with R&D budgets. Here’s why.
First, let’s take a look at the percentage of revenue each company
spends on R&D. I created a chart that shows this percentage annually on a
trailing four quarters basis.
Yes, in percentage terms Martin is right. Apple spends far less on R&D
than Intel does.
But let’s look at actual revenues:
Apple’s revenues are growing far more rapidly than Intel’s. As for actu-
al R&D spending, take a look at these charts:
As Apple grows, its R&D budget is growing as well. The company is
spending more than twice as much on R&D than it was four years ago, while
Intel’s expenditures are relatively constant.
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