工業生態學(IE) 計算思維/ Computation thinking

Objective

The goal of this class is to help students understand how to analyze and interpret data. Develop the ability to predict the possible outcome by observing the behavior of the database. Traditional programming class is only interested in how to write a good program, instead of emphasizing how to think as the computer and manipulate the computer work properly. The final exam is a good example to show achievement of this goal. The instructor gave students toy frogs, which can jump consecutively in the same position. The question was to draw and explain the possible mechanical design of the frog. In order sessions the instructor will periodically reward students with visual challenges. Students are to interpret the possible system and predict the behavior represented by the data. These brainstorming challenges help us observe the system and give our own explanation.

Lesson Learned

In order to understand behavior of the system, the learning of the procedure to build model from the original data with existing software is necessary. (see Graph I) First, Filter the data from the complex information. Due to the lack of structure of the original data, it is hard to use original data for calculation. AWK is a simple but powerful software that can deal with this issue. It can also search using pattern tool and has the capability to rearrange the data. Second, Calculate the data. Two software are introduced in this step, SQLite and Octave. SQLite can cope with basic problems. Octave, like Metlab, can calculate the complex matrix. Third, Plot the calculated data. GNplot is a clear software for plotting scientific data, not like Excel which is heavy with lots of unused information during the calculation. The attention to details for presenting the findings using GNplot was especially important. Lastly, Netlogo is a well-designed software to stimulate the behavior of the models.

Graph 1: The procedure to build the model

Ruben Huele(Instructor)	final presentation

The final presentation is to analyze the data from United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The data contains the complete green house gas emission from different sectors in Europe countries, and the time of the data is from 1900 to 2008. Our goal is to find some strange problems from the data, like the abrupt drop in the sector, and the conversion factor (global warming potential) effected on the total emission. The judges for the final presentation are composed of the professors from the Industrial Ecology and the researchers from the consultant company. Most of the students do not have the experience for writing the program, and worried about this assignment. However, the professor significantly motivated students. He discusses with the students to adjust the way of teaching and optimized the benefit for the education. In the end of the class, students find some valuable results and are not afraid of writing program anymore. The researchers bring these results back to the company and discussed with colleagues.

The findings from the IE students (The complete result is constructed by the professor.)

http://wiki.tudelft.nl/bin/view/Education/IndustrialEcology/FcccAtlas

My research is about the emission of the chemical industry in Ireland. The green house gas (GHG) suddenly dropped down to zero in 2003. After intensive research, I found the explanation of the investigation report from the Ireland government. The chemical industry is defined for the agriculture related chemical factories, such as the factories for the ammonia. The government owned both factories, and due to the economic difficulties they closed down in 2003. All the fertilizer had to be imported from other counties.

Link: http://wiki.tudelft.nl/bin/view/Education/IndustrialEcology/FcccHan.

Another interested finding is the UNFCCC data itself: 14% of the data is zero, and significant amount of data is confidential.

Link:http://wiki.tudelft.nl/bin/view/Education/IndustrialEcology/FcccNoortjeWorkingPage.

The analysis of the carbon capture by the forest with the two criteria.

Link: http://wiki.tudelft.nl/bin/view/Education/IndustrialEcology/FcccPietro .

The feedback of the class
It is a very good start for the programming. I know how to start the analysis from a chaos data, and analyze the possible key questions. I can present the finding clearly with the graph. In addition, I relate to passion of the practical issues from the professor. I expect my thesis will also follow current real issues.

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課堂教學的目的

這一門課主要的目的是希望學生在學習之後，能夠藉由資料看出系統的行為，或是由系統的行為看出資料可能的形式，這和計算機概論不相同，舉期末考的例子來說，其中一題考題是老師發下一個玩具青蛙，它會在持續原地翻滾，要求大家解釋可能躲在青蛙肚子裡面的設計，如何讓青蛙可以維持原地翻滾的行為。另外在課堂上，老師也會定期提供有獎徵答的題目，讓大家按照提供的圖表，解釋這個圖表所代表的行為。

學習的內容

為了從資料看出系統行為，從拿到資料到建立模型有一連串的程續（如下圖），老師所教的就是資料處理的概念與軟體的使用。首先是從繁雜的資訊過濾出需要的資料，通常向外界所取得的資訊並無均一的規則或是不必要的資訊太多，無法直接套用到已經建立的系統，AWK是一套單純好用的軟體，可以利用搜尋的 pattern指令，找出需要的資訊，或是重新安排資料的排列規則；下一步是將有規則的資訊做運算，課堂上主要使用SQLite，另外稍微提到 Octave能夠處理複雜運算（相當於MetLab）；最後是將運算後的結果繪製成圖表，我們使用GNplot，並且強調繪圖需要注意的細節。另外一套軟體 NetLogo，功能是將所得到的資料建立模型，進行系統行為的模擬。

流程圖

指導老師	期末報告

期末報告是以United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)歐盟各國提供各行各業（sector）所產生溫室氣體排放量為基礎，資料時間包含從1990年到2008年，分析資料可能的有的問題或是現象，例如某國家的某產業的溫室氣體突然降為零是否提供假資料、不同溫室氣體的轉換係數（global warming potential）是否影響總量的統計。海報競賽是期末報告的形式，評分的成員包括系上教授與環境顧問公司的研究員。學期剛開始，許多人都沒有寫程式的經驗，對於期末要如何呈現更是一頭霧水，但是授課老師能夠鼓舞學生，課堂間也討論合適的教學方式與準備報告的問題，期末時同學對寫程式建立模型也不再感到害怕，最後報告同學發現許多值得注意的結果，部份題目也被顧問公司研究員帶回公司討論。

期末報告初步的分析結果可以參考（完整的資料，老師還在整理中）http://wiki.tudelft.nl/bin/view/Education/IndustrialEcology/FcccAtlas

我的期末報告內容是發現愛爾蘭化學產業的溫室氣體排放在2003年突然歸零，出人意外發現經過一番搜索之後，在愛爾蘭政府的官方網站公佈的調查報告得知，化學產業所代表的是關於氨肥以及其它相關農業的化學工廠的排放，因為在愛爾蘭相關的兩間工廠為公部門擁有，在考量經濟效益之後，工廠在2003年關閉，農業所需肥料就由國外進口。連結 http://wiki.tudelft.nl/bin/view/Education/IndustrialEcology/FcccHan。其他有趣的結果例如在所有國家的溫室氣體資料裡，14%的資料是零。連結http://wiki.tudelft.nl/bin/view/Education/IndustrialEcology/FcccNoortjeWorkingPage。以不同標準看森林固碳效果，分析是否有國家浮報固碳成效。連結 http://wiki.tudelft.nl/bin/view/Education/IndustrialEcology/FcccPietro。

學習的心得

對於程式撰寫，這是一個很棒的開始，面對一大筆不知道該從何下手的混亂資料，現在知道該如何抽絲剝繭，分析可能的關鍵問題，並且以淺顯易懂的方式表達。此外也學習老師處理實際問題的熱情，期許自己未來的論文也能對實際問題進行研究。

序 工業生態學在荷蘭的學習感想/ Introduction of Industrial Ecology study in Netherlands 2010

Introduction of Industrial Ecology study in Netherlands 2010

Industrial Ecology is considered an unfamiliar new field in Taiwan. Up until last semester, there were zero students from Taiwan majoring in the Industrial Ecology at the Leiden University and TU Deflt. As the first Taiwanese student pursuiting the Masters in the Industrial Ecology, I would like to share my experience to help those that have an interest in studying Industrial Ecology aboard.

First, let’s start with the class dynamic. The whole class has around 15 students. Half of students are non-Dutch comprise of countries such as; Brazil, Greece, Switzerland, Sweden, Taiwan, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United State. During the group projects, it is very good training to cooperate with people from different countries. Students are not only from different countries but also of different academic backgrounds, such as; Agriculture Chemistry, Archeology, Architecture, Chemistry, Industrial Design, Environmental Science, Environmental Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering. Four of them have full-time working experience.

Industrial Ecology is an inter-discipline field to solve the conflict between the economic development and environmental protection. The disciplines include the social science, technology innovation, and systematic thinking. It is required for Industrial Ecologists to be familiar with these fields so they can work together with professionals of different background, therefore, the first semester classes are multidisciplinary. The classes are as follows; the Introduction to Industrial Ecology, Social System - Policy Management, Fundamentals of Systems, Data, Models and Computation Thinking, Analytic Methodologies and Tools, and Renewable energy.

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序 工業生態學在荷蘭的學習感想

工業生態學是臺灣比較不熟悉的領域也是一門新的學問，2010年以前還沒有臺灣人在荷蘭學習這門學科，因此我想分享第一個學期在荷蘭所學習與看到的內容，有助於對此領域有興趣的人瞭解。

首先關於系上的同學，2010年秋季大約十五個學生，有一半非荷蘭籍，如巴西、希臘、瑞士、瑞典、臺灣、土耳其、英國、美國，在課堂中與不同國家的學生準備團隊報告是一個很難得的國際合作訓練。另外，大家都來自不同的背景，包括農業化學、考古學、化學、工業設計、環境科學、環境工程、機械工程。四位學生有全職的工作經驗。

工業生態學是跨領域的科學，希望能夠解決經濟發展與環境保護的衝突。學習的內容包括社會學、技術的創新、與系統性的思考。為了解決環境問題，工業生態學專家需要有各領域的知識，才能與各領域的專家合作將問題解決。因此第一個學期的課程安排包括工業生態學導論、社會系統的政策管理、電腦思考與系統資料模型理論、分析方法論與工具、再生能源。接下來將會簡介各科目的內容與學習到的心得。

工業生態學(IE) 社會系統的政策管理/ Social System - Policy and Management

Social System - Policy Management (SSPM)

(中文在下方)

What did I expected before the class
Social system and policy management is first Social Science class for the first semester. The first assignment was to talk about your expectation for the class. I don’t have a social science background therefore the first step was to know the jargon and the way of thinking from the Social Science perspective. It is also important to be able to analyze and understand the possible mechanism of the social changes.

What I learn in the class

The map of social system

The last day of class in Social System and Policy Management summarized the whole semester into one graph (shown above). The coordination of the society is separated into three levels; micro, meso, and macro level. Every level has the evolution mechanism. In the micro level, it focuses on the individual’s boundary rationality. Ideally, individual tends to make the optimized decision based on the evidence of the needed information. However, the decision is based on the limited information and knowledge. For example, students that are use to taking the train home because it is the fastest and cheapest way often do not expect delays. Unfortunately, they didn’t know there was construction on the railway that could cost an extra one hour more than the usual time spent. In this case, students that took the bus were able to arrive at home earlier than those that took the train. They are the variation of the case.

Meso level is the next level above the micro, and it is referred to as the coordination of organization, which is composed of individuals. In this level, the organizations are divided into four coordinate types: self-organization, self-governance, private interest government, and governance. In the case of the toxic chemical regulation in the electronic firms, the firms that developed individual regulation are called the self-organization. The group of firms that developed its regulation is called the self-governance. The group of firms following the regulation from the government is called the private interested government. The organization that develops the regulation is called the government. The reasonable and effective toxic chemical regulation would remain in the meso-level, and this is the selection mechanism.

The last level is the macro level, and it means to look at the coordination of the organizations with the time and space scale. The adaptive cycle is the mechanism to describe how the organization adapts to the change over time. (see the adaptive cycle below) Polycentric systems depict the coordination system has different central administration to operate the system. Private goods are products that are made by the companies, such as the computer and food. Public goods are products that belong to human, such as water and air. Some organization would develop similar characters, called isomorphism.

Adaptive cycle

Using small laptops in the electronic company as example, consumers were more willing to buy this convenient product at the peak of its trend when first introduced to the market. The selling kept growth until it reached the maximum capacity of the society (growth to conservation). Companies maintain its demand with small improvement to the product, such as the increasing memories. However, after the competitive I-Pad/ tablet PC debut on the market, the selling capacity of the small laptop dropped significantly. Meanwhile, the diversity of the product reduced due to the lack of research found (release to reorganization). The company’s effort to improve the function of the small laptop, such as the big capacity and efficient energy management. The different special functions provided the variation of the small laptops and enable more competitive to I-pad/ tablet PC. In the research and design department of a company, the paralleled developing groups are working for the company with the separated project leaders. The leaders have their own goal for the new design and understand how to stimulate the ideas with the team (polycentric system). During the design phase, they may mimic some successful management ideas from other groups or companies, such as the standard for the design for the environment (isomorphism).

After the successful completion of this class, I am able to put on the social science glasses to look at the coordination of the society. In the process of analyzing issues, I can easily decipher which level and what the possible causes for the current result. The insight could be useful for future research. The intensive reading assignments are meant to build up our reading abilities. The short essays (see the links below) were helpful for the development of better writing skill and the understanding of the mechanism taught in class. The group project analyzed how the ecological value, strategy, and routine are shaped in the food, electricity, and consumer electronic companies. It was a good opportunity to implement the knowledge and collaborate with classmates.

Blogs/ short essays

Two social networks: student house an badminton club link
Interview policy makers in Kaohsiung Cityhall link
Bounded rationality in the case of the Science Park Phase-3 and the experience of Environmental magnagement system (EMS) exercise linkNokia sustainable supply chain government and common tragedy - fish game link
Social ecological system example and the adaptive status link
Introduction link
Comment from the instructor linkGroup project link

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社會系統的政策管理

課堂開始之前，教授要求大家寫下對於課程的期待，我沒有社會科學的背景，在這堂課裡，希望能夠瞭解社會學使用艱澀的特殊用語以及社會學思考的方式，同時也期許自己能夠分析改變組織管理（coordinate）的機制。

組織管理的示意圖

最後一堂課的上課內容是這學期所學的精華（如上圖），將社會分層微觀 (micro)、巨觀 (meso)、宏觀 (macro)三個層次，解釋各層次內元素互動，以及各層次之間演化的機制。微觀層次描述個人理性的極限 (boundary rationality)，理想的狀況是個人根據所需的資訊做為最佳決策的依據。然而，決策根本是根據有限的知識，無法達到鉅細靡遺的考慮。以學生認為搭乘火車回家是最方便省錢快速的方式作為例，如果沒有發生任何意外，這是最好的決定，然而當學生坐上火車才發現鐵軌正在整修，必須花上額外一個小時才會到家，搭火車便不是最好的決定。至於選擇搭公車回家的學生，今天則提早到家裏，他們代表了不同決策的多樣性。

巨觀(meso)則是下一個層次，代表組織的管理，包括四種不同形式：自我管理(self-organization)、集體約束 (self-governance)、集體接受政府管理 (private interest government)與政府 (governance)。以電子公司的毒性化學物質管理為例，公司遵守自我設定標準稱為自我管理；公司組成公會，以公會提出標準管理約束各公司稱為集體約束；公會依照政府規定管理則為另一種形式；最後為制定標準的政府。最後合理有效的毒性化學物質管理將會留下，這是代表演化理論中的選擇機制。

最後一個宏觀(macro)層次是增加時間與空間的尺度來看組織的管理。在宏觀層次的理論包括組織適應改變的循環機制(adaptive cycle)，多重中心的管理(polycentric system)，私有產品(private good)的概念（如手機、電腦），公共產品(public good)的概念（水與空氣），最後是組織會趨向相似的管理機制(isomorphism)。

理論包括組織適應改變的循環機制(adaptive cycle)

以電子公司生產小筆電做為例子。在小筆電剛開流行的時候，消費者樂於購買小筆電，電子公司的小筆電銷量持續成長，最後維持在一定的最大銷量 (growth to conservation)，在最大銷量期間，公司靠著微幅的改進來維持銷售，例如增加記憶體。然而當i-Pad與平板電腦進入市場，對電子公司的小筆電銷量造成衝擊，產品的多樣性也因為暫時缺少資金研發而減少(release to reorganization)，公司大幅增加小筆電的功能試圖重新佔有市場，例如長效輕量電池的研發，期望能夠重新讓小筆電的市場增加。在電子公司的研發部門小組裡，各自不同的團隊研究依照主管的決策進行研究 (polycentric system)。在研究過程中，其他電子公司成功的設計流程將可能被模仿，例如對環境友善的設計標準 (isomorphism)。

在課程結束之後，現在我能夠分析組織管理制度的變遷，並且討論可能導致變遷的機制。因為對改變的洞察能力增加，有助於後續研究。另外在課堂學習間，大量閱讀社會科學相關的期刊，對英文閱讀能力有明顯幫助；短篇的英文寫作訓練增加英文寫作技巧，並且練習將理論運用於分析實際現況；最後小組報告的題目是分析食物、電子、電力公司的環境價值及策略，運用課堂學習的機制，並且和各國來的同學一起完成報告。

短篇英文部落格寫作

社會網絡：國際學生宿舍與羽球俱樂部 link

對高雄市政府決策者生態城市的訪談計畫 link

理性極限的運用 – 以中部科學園區三期為例；環境管理系統的課堂練習 link

Nokia 產品供應鍊管理的影片心得；永續漁業遊戲心得（共同悲劇） link

以石門水庫集水區管理作為社會生態系統的案例，並分析其適應循環的階段 link

對於課堂的期待 link

教授的評論 link

團隊報告