title: Development of an aluminium filled epoxy insert using perfactory rapid prototyping technique and electroless nickel plating for low volume plastic injection moulding

authors: Rajaguru, Janaka Chandraguptha

subjects: Rapid

abstract: In this research, a rapid tool for low volume production plastic injection moulding is designed, developed, and tested on an injection moulding machine. The tool is designed as a cavity insert of injection mould for plastic parts by an indirect rapid tooling approach. The plastic part is modelled in a CAD system and then built using a Perfactory rapid prototyping (RP) technique. Then a layer of nickel-phosphorous alloy is deposited on the prototype by electroless plating. This nickel plated RP model is then used as a casting pattern. A cavity insert, which is produced by using aluminium filled epoxy resin with the nickel plated casting pattern, is fabricated in a mould	base for injection moulding. Experimental testing on the cavity insert using an injection moulding machine show that the tool is producing quality parts without any noticeable deterioration of the surface. The number of shots completed using the cavity insert is more than 600.
Applying electroless nickel plating on the casting pattern made of rapid prototyping material was successful. It was found that pre-treatment processes are crucial. In addition, the rapid prototyping material cannot be plated with nickel without palladium activation and stannous sensitising. Results show that the deposited layer is uniform and composed of both nickel and phosphorous. The surface properties of the nickel and phosphorous deposit enhance the plated layer performance due to their low surface roughness and high lubrication characteristics. Moreover, the nickel-phosphorous layer also improves the surface hardness of the cavity insert since it is left on the cavity after the removal of the casting pattern. 
The cavity insert was installed on an industrial injection moulding machine for trials. Results show that the cavity insert performs well with Polyethylene at 170˚C at an injection pressure in the range of 80 ~ 100 bar. There are no signs of wear and tear on the cavity insert up to 620 shots. However, when the injection pressure is over 120 bar, cracks start developing in the cavity insert followed by catastrophic fracture. 
This research has shown that manufacturing an indirect rapid tooling using electroless nickel plating for low volume production of plastic injection mouldings is feasible for Perfactory produced RP models. The cavity insert can be fabricated using commonly available low cost materials within 48 hours.

text: Development of an aluminium filled epoxy insert using perfactory rapid prototyping technique and electroless nickel plating for low volume plastic injection moulding In this research, a rapid tool for low volume production plastic injection moulding is designed, developed, and tested on an injection moulding machine. The tool is designed as a cavity insert of injection mould for plastic parts by an indirect rapid tooling approach. The plastic part is modelled in a CAD system and then built using a Perfactory rapid prototyping (RP) technique. Then a layer of nickel-phosphorous alloy is deposited on the prototype by electroless plating. This nickel plated RP model is then used as a casting pattern. A cavity insert, which is produced by using aluminium filled epoxy resin with the nickel plated casting pattern, is fabricated in a mould	base for injection moulding. Experimental testing on the cavity insert using an injection moulding machine show that the tool is producing quality parts without any noticeable deterioration of the surface. The number of shots completed using the cavity insert is more than 600.
Applying electroless nickel plating on the casting pattern made of rapid prototyping material was successful. It was found that pre-treatment processes are crucial. In addition, the rapid prototyping material cannot be plated with nickel without palladium activation and stannous sensitising. Results show that the deposited layer is uniform and composed of both nickel and phosphorous. The surface properties of the nickel and phosphorous deposit enhance the plated layer performance due to their low surface roughness and high lubrication characteristics. Moreover, the nickel-phosphorous layer also improves the surface hardness of the cavity insert since it is left on the cavity after the removal of the casting pattern. 
The cavity insert was installed on an industrial injection moulding machine for trials. Results show that the cavity insert performs well with Polyethylene at 170˚C at an injection pressure in the range of 80 ~ 100 bar. There are no signs of wear and tear on the cavity insert up to 620 shots. However, when the injection pressure is over 120 bar, cracks start developing in the cavity insert followed by catastrophic fracture. 
This research has shown that manufacturing an indirect rapid tooling using electroless nickel plating for low volume production of plastic injection mouldings is feasible for Perfactory produced RP models. The cavity insert can be fabricated using commonly available low cost materials within 48 hours.

year: 2015

title: Academic activism in the wake of a pandemic: A collective self-reflection from Aotearoa/New Zealand

authors: Roy, Rituparna

abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic intensified anxieties among temporary workers in New Zealand tertiary education, particularly those affiliated with universities reliant on the lucrative market for international fee-paying students. As national borders closed and states started looking inward, these same learning institutions began to more visibly express the language of market logics for which they had been remodeled in recent decades, adapting to declining revenue through austerity-like budget cuts. The communication of these cuts to the academic precariat has been mixed, with some institutions resorting to cold, forceful determinations delivered as matter-of-fact restructurings, while others have preferred an oblique recasting of the pandemic's disruption as an opportunity for social responsibility. This paper is a collective self-reflection on the activism undertaken by the newly formed Tertiary Education Action Group Aotearoa during the COVID-19 pandemic. It begins by contextualizing the reforms rolled out in response to the pandemic in relation to the “neoliberal turn” of higher education and examines how career pathways for early career academics have transformed into a continuous cycle of precarious employment. We argue that the idealized “early career” identity has been lost and that through a process of mourning we can regather ourselves and embrace our lived realities as members of the academic precariat. We detail how the pandemic acted as a catalyst for this “productive mourning” and enabled us to begin mobilizing discontent among the academic precariat. Finally, we reflect on the extent to which we were able to challenge existing structures that are responsible for the exploitative nature of precarious academic work.

text: Academic activism in the wake of a pandemic: A collective self-reflection from Aotearoa/New Zealand The COVID-19 pandemic intensified anxieties among temporary workers in New Zealand tertiary education, particularly those affiliated with universities reliant on the lucrative market for international fee-paying students. As national borders closed and states started looking inward, these same learning institutions began to more visibly express the language of market logics for which they had been remodeled in recent decades, adapting to declining revenue through austerity-like budget cuts. The communication of these cuts to the academic precariat has been mixed, with some institutions resorting to cold, forceful determinations delivered as matter-of-fact restructurings, while others have preferred an oblique recasting of the pandemic's disruption as an opportunity for social responsibility. This paper is a collective self-reflection on the activism undertaken by the newly formed Tertiary Education Action Group Aotearoa during the COVID-19 pandemic. It begins by contextualizing the reforms rolled out in response to the pandemic in relation to the “neoliberal turn” of higher education and examines how career pathways for early career academics have transformed into a continuous cycle of precarious employment. We argue that the idealized “early career” identity has been lost and that through a process of mourning we can regather ourselves and embrace our lived realities as members of the academic precariat. We detail how the pandemic acted as a catalyst for this “productive mourning” and enabled us to begin mobilizing discontent among the academic precariat. Finally, we reflect on the extent to which we were able to challenge existing structures that are responsible for the exploitative nature of precarious academic work.

year: 2021

title: Maori seeking self-determination or Tino Rangatiratanga? A note

authors: Toki, Valmaine

abstract: Dr Nin Tomas wrote a considered and substantial piece entitled “Indigenous Peoples and the Māori: The Right to Self-Determination in International Law - From Woe to Go” for the New Zealand Law Review published in 2008.² In her conclusion she notes two ways in which self-determination has been implemented by the state: first, by “greater tolerance and benevolence along a series of principled guidelines”,³ and, second, as a “peoples-centred, enabling principle that allows Indigenous peoples to re-establish their social, economic and political institutions”.⁴
In 2010, New Zealand reversed its position and supported the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (the Declaration).5 With this in mind, this short piece revisits the notion of self-determination by examining the differing dynamics of concepts of external and internal self-determination before a short discussion on pluralism and the relationship between tino rangatiratanga and self-determination. In conclusion some thoughts are offered on a potential form of self-determination that could be consistent with the exercise of tino rangatiratanga.

text: Maori seeking self-determination or Tino Rangatiratanga? A note Dr Nin Tomas wrote a considered and substantial piece entitled “Indigenous Peoples and the Māori: The Right to Self-Determination in International Law - From Woe to Go” for the New Zealand Law Review published in 2008.² In her conclusion she notes two ways in which self-determination has been implemented by the state: first, by “greater tolerance and benevolence along a series of principled guidelines”,³ and, second, as a “peoples-centred, enabling principle that allows Indigenous peoples to re-establish their social, economic and political institutions”.⁴
In 2010, New Zealand reversed its position and supported the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (the Declaration).5 With this in mind, this short piece revisits the notion of self-determination by examining the differing dynamics of concepts of external and internal self-determination before a short discussion on pluralism and the relationship between tino rangatiratanga and self-determination. In conclusion some thoughts are offered on a potential form of self-determination that could be consistent with the exercise of tino rangatiratanga.

year: 2017