title: Surrogate-Assisted Evolutionary Algorithms for Wind Farm Layout Optimisation Problem

authors: Zheng, Chen

subjects: surrogate-assisted evolutionary optimisation

abstract: Due to the increasing need for computationally expensive optimisation in many real-world applications, surrogate-assisted evolutionary algorithms have attracted growing attention. In the literature, surrogate-assisted evolutionary approaches have been successful in highly computational expensive optimisation problems. However, surrogates have not been used with the Wind Farm Layout Optimisation Problem (WFLOP) before.

In this work, an evolutionary approach using surrogate modelling techniques to reduce the computational cost of the WFLOP is studied. The WFLOP mainly focuses on finding the optimal geographical placement of wind turbines within a wind farm in order to maximise power generation. But evaluating wind farm layout is very computationally expensive. The purpose of using surrogates is to approximate the real evaluation function of an evolutionary algorithm, but the surrogates can be computed more efficiently. The aim of this study is try to discover whether if surrogate-assisted evolutionary approach is effective on the WFLOP.

An analytical wake model is used to calculate the velocity deficits in the downstream generated by individual turbines. A set of initial offline experiments was conducted based on a dataset of wind farm layouts sampled from the space of all layouts, using biased random walk. These experiments were designed to discover which features lead to construction of an accurate surrogate model. According to the results of these experiments, polar coordinates (sorted according to distance) as features are selected for learning. A multilayer perceptron (MLP) neural network and a tree-based regression model (M5P) are chosen as the surrogate models to approximate the real fitness function in conjunction with an (mu, lambda) evolutionary strategy. Two previously presented BlockCopy operators are used in the evolutionary strategy. The surrogate models are managed using a modified version of the Pre-selection strategy and the Best strategy.

Our evaluation used four benchmark wind farm scenarios with dimensionality ranging from 200 to 1420 dimensions. The evaluation results show that our preliminary MLP and M5P surrogate models did not improve the optimisation results over traditional evolutionary strategies due to scalability issues. The scalability is a known weakness of many surrogate-assisted evolutionary approaches for the reason that most of them are designed for low-dimensionality problems. However, the research should continue on this topic because of its importance to renewable energy.

text: Surrogate-Assisted Evolutionary Algorithms for Wind Farm Layout Optimisation Problem Due to the increasing need for computationally expensive optimisation in many real-world applications, surrogate-assisted evolutionary algorithms have attracted growing attention. In the literature, surrogate-assisted evolutionary approaches have been successful in highly computational expensive optimisation problems. However, surrogates have not been used with the Wind Farm Layout Optimisation Problem (WFLOP) before.

In this work, an evolutionary approach using surrogate modelling techniques to reduce the computational cost of the WFLOP is studied. The WFLOP mainly focuses on finding the optimal geographical placement of wind turbines within a wind farm in order to maximise power generation. But evaluating wind farm layout is very computationally expensive. The purpose of using surrogates is to approximate the real evaluation function of an evolutionary algorithm, but the surrogates can be computed more efficiently. The aim of this study is try to discover whether if surrogate-assisted evolutionary approach is effective on the WFLOP.

An analytical wake model is used to calculate the velocity deficits in the downstream generated by individual turbines. A set of initial offline experiments was conducted based on a dataset of wind farm layouts sampled from the space of all layouts, using biased random walk. These experiments were designed to discover which features lead to construction of an accurate surrogate model. According to the results of these experiments, polar coordinates (sorted according to distance) as features are selected for learning. A multilayer perceptron (MLP) neural network and a tree-based regression model (M5P) are chosen as the surrogate models to approximate the real fitness function in conjunction with an (mu, lambda) evolutionary strategy. Two previously presented BlockCopy operators are used in the evolutionary strategy. The surrogate models are managed using a modified version of the Pre-selection strategy and the Best strategy.

Our evaluation used four benchmark wind farm scenarios with dimensionality ranging from 200 to 1420 dimensions. The evaluation results show that our preliminary MLP and M5P surrogate models did not improve the optimisation results over traditional evolutionary strategies due to scalability issues. The scalability is a known weakness of many surrogate-assisted evolutionary approaches for the reason that most of them are designed for low-dimensionality problems. However, the research should continue on this topic because of its importance to renewable energy.

year: 2016

title: Renegotiating the terms of engagement: Public relations, marketing, and contemporary challenges

authors: McKie, David

subjects: Complexity

abstract: Territorial disputes between public relations and marketing are nothing new. At the end of the first decade of the 21st century, Hutton (2010) refocused them as a matter of survival in the face of marketing attempts "to include or subsume much or all of public relations" (p. 509). In addition to aligning with his call to resist marketing imperialism, this article seeks to renegotiate traditional turf wars between the two fields through a review of recent significant marketing books. Advocating a complexity-based perspective, it argues that evolving disciplines, like evolving species, need to respond not only to each other but also to the wider environment and that requires cooperation as well as competition. It also draws on complexity thinking as a resource for improving disciplinary intersections and for adapting to the uncertain and turbulent conditions of the present.

text: Renegotiating the terms of engagement: Public relations, marketing, and contemporary challenges Territorial disputes between public relations and marketing are nothing new. At the end of the first decade of the 21st century, Hutton (2010) refocused them as a matter of survival in the face of marketing attempts "to include or subsume much or all of public relations" (p. 509). In addition to aligning with his call to resist marketing imperialism, this article seeks to renegotiate traditional turf wars between the two fields through a review of recent significant marketing books. Advocating a complexity-based perspective, it argues that evolving disciplines, like evolving species, need to respond not only to each other but also to the wider environment and that requires cooperation as well as competition. It also draws on complexity thinking as a resource for improving disciplinary intersections and for adapting to the uncertain and turbulent conditions of the present.

year: 2012

title: Te Kotahitanga Phase 3 School Reform: The impact of a professional development programme within a large, multi-cultural, secondary school in New Zealand.

authors: Cranston, Shirley Ann

subjects: Te Kotahitanga Phase 3

abstract: This thesis examines the impact of Te Kotahitanga on leaders, teachers and Māori students within the context of a large, multi-cultural, secondary school in New Zealand. This school was one of twelve secondary schools invited to join Phase 3 of the Te Kotahitanga Research and Development Project from 2003 to 2010. This initiative aimed to work with teachers and school leaders to improve the engagement and success of Māori students. 
This thesis presents and reflects on qualitative evidence from interviews with the leaders, the Te Kotahitanga facilitation team and teachers in this school. Evidence from the Rongohia te Hau survey and teachers’ classroom walkthroughs provide further qualitative and quantitative evidence.  To observe some of the results of teachers’ work with Māori students, it then discusses Māori students’ Rongohia te Hau survey data and their NCEA results from 2004 – 2010, and post 2010 up to the reactivation of Te Kotahitanga in this school in 2013.
There are three themes that emerged from my findings. The first theme identifies leadership as a key emerging concept and the important role of Rangatira (school leaders) in bringing people together around a common vision. The spread of the programme across the school clearly emerged as the second theme, where this education reform was spread through relationships of whānautanga. Thirdly, the theme of ownership towards sustainability emerged from the findings. Ownership required working as one towards the common unity of purpose (Kotahitanga). The evidence shows that when Te Kotahitanga was fully implemented in this school and it did work during the period of this study and again when Te Kotahitanga was reactivated in 2013. However, although the school had been working on ownership towards sustainability of positive changes, sustainability did not ensue.
This thesis suggests that once a school has established a common vision that is clearly understood by all the leaders and teachers in the school, everyone has to remain committed to that vision. To be successful the moral imperative for any reform towards social justice has to be fully committed to and understood by the leaders of the school and all the teachers.  
This thesis hopes to contribute to the journey other schools might take in their commitment to raising the participation and academic achievement of Māori students.

text: Te Kotahitanga Phase 3 School Reform: The impact of a professional development programme within a large, multi-cultural, secondary school in New Zealand. This thesis examines the impact of Te Kotahitanga on leaders, teachers and Māori students within the context of a large, multi-cultural, secondary school in New Zealand. This school was one of twelve secondary schools invited to join Phase 3 of the Te Kotahitanga Research and Development Project from 2003 to 2010. This initiative aimed to work with teachers and school leaders to improve the engagement and success of Māori students. 
This thesis presents and reflects on qualitative evidence from interviews with the leaders, the Te Kotahitanga facilitation team and teachers in this school. Evidence from the Rongohia te Hau survey and teachers’ classroom walkthroughs provide further qualitative and quantitative evidence.  To observe some of the results of teachers’ work with Māori students, it then discusses Māori students’ Rongohia te Hau survey data and their NCEA results from 2004 – 2010, and post 2010 up to the reactivation of Te Kotahitanga in this school in 2013.
There are three themes that emerged from my findings. The first theme identifies leadership as a key emerging concept and the important role of Rangatira (school leaders) in bringing people together around a common vision. The spread of the programme across the school clearly emerged as the second theme, where this education reform was spread through relationships of whānautanga. Thirdly, the theme of ownership towards sustainability emerged from the findings. Ownership required working as one towards the common unity of purpose (Kotahitanga). The evidence shows that when Te Kotahitanga was fully implemented in this school and it did work during the period of this study and again when Te Kotahitanga was reactivated in 2013. However, although the school had been working on ownership towards sustainability of positive changes, sustainability did not ensue.
This thesis suggests that once a school has established a common vision that is clearly understood by all the leaders and teachers in the school, everyone has to remain committed to that vision. To be successful the moral imperative for any reform towards social justice has to be fully committed to and understood by the leaders of the school and all the teachers.  
This thesis hopes to contribute to the journey other schools might take in their commitment to raising the participation and academic achievement of Māori students.

year: 2018