Engineering Commons^™

A Multidimensional Scaling And Participatory Design Approach To Classify Open Ended Aircraft Maintenance Data, Kunal Kapoor

All Dissertations

The quality assurance data to be analyzed by the web-based surveillance and auditing tool (WebSAT) is both qualitative and quantitative. The forced responses to checklist questions provide a definitive outcome identifying the effectiveness of the four quality assurance work functions. On the other hand, open-ended responses, the second type of response for capturing maintenance errors, are qualitative in nature since they reflect what the auditors and quality assurance representatives observe during their interactions at vendor locations. This research proposes to apply the statistical technique of multidimensional scaling (MDS) and the User centered Design (UCD) method of Participatory Design (PD) to …

Use Of Personas For User Interface Design: Results Of Field And Experimental Studies , Pallavi Dharwada

All Dissertations

Persona is a fictitious user serving as a role model for designers, helping them make difficult decisions from the users' perspective during the interface design process. This concept, which was introduced by Alan Cooper in 1999, has been found to be a powerful tool for engaging the designers with the users. Although personas do not replace the rich data acquired through user testing, they enhance the interface development process by focusing the designers' attention on the target user until the interface qualifies for testing. Recognizing the benefits of persona, many companies, including the Fortune 500 have embraced this concept as …

The Development Of A Design Ontology For Products And Processes, Md Baniamin Sarder

Industrial, Manufacturing, and Systems Engineering Dissertations

This research develops a methodology called, Design Knowledge Acquisition Process (DKAP) for creating ontology of product and process design using IDEF5 and to develop a consistency matrix for checking accuracy of captured information. It constructs an ontology of a generic product and process design using the developed DKAP methodology. Designing products and processes is very challenging and vital for manufacturing enterprises to stay in the competitive market. Manufacturers want to launch their products in the market as quickly as possible while satisfying their customers in terms of quality, cost and delivery. In order to lunch the products early and/or to …

An Analytical Performance Management Framework Enabiling Enterprise Strategy Management, Amr Abu-Suleiman

Industrial, Manufacturing, and Systems Engineering Dissertations

Performance management has gained noticeable interest from both researchers and executive in the past two decades. Financial measures are no longer a primary emphasis for researchers and executives. One of the most popular performance management methodologies is the Balanced Scorecard. The Balanced Scorecard framework facilitates translating strategy into objectives and initiatives across four perspectives. These perspectives are financial, customer, internal processes, and learning and growth. The second component of the balanced scorecard is strategy maps. Strategy maps outline the cause and effect between the four perspectives, and illustrate the value creation process through transforming leading indicators (operational measures) into lagging …

Scalar Equilibria For N-Person Games, Narakorn Engsuwan

Industrial, Manufacturing, and Systems Engineering Dissertations

In this dissertation we develop a scalarization approach for one-shot, n-person games by defining the notion of Scalar Equilibria. We first show that existing solution concepts can be represented as Scalar Equlibria. For example, Regret, Disappointment, and Joint Equilibrium can be determined by defining Regret, Disappointment, and Joint Scalar Equilibria. These scalar equilibria are useful for finding pure strategies when pure Regret, Disappointment, and Joint Equilibria do not exist. Next, we present the Maximin Scalarization Equilibrium to yield maximin solution concept. In addition, we propose other Scalar Equilibria for various notions of rationality. The Aspiration Scalar Equilibrium is developed for …

Convex Versions Of Multivariate Adaptive Regression Splines And Implementations For Complex Optimization Problems, Dachuan Thomas Shih

Industrial, Manufacturing, and Systems Engineering Dissertations

Multivariate Adaptive Regression Splines (MARS) provide a flexible statistical modeling method that employs forward and backward search algorithms to identify the combination of basis functions that best fits the data. In optimization, MARS has been used successfully to estimate the value function in stochastic dynamic programming, and MARS could be potentially useful in many real world optimization problems where objective (or other) functions need to be estimated from data, such as in simulation optimization. Many optimization methods depend on convexity, but a nonconvex MARS approximation is inherently possible because interaction terms are products of univariate terms. In this dissertation, convex …

Branch-And-Cut-And-Price Methods For Logistics Problems With Limited Risk, Hee-Su Hwang

Industrial, Manufacturing, and Systems Engineering Dissertations

There exist many uncertainties in a logistics system, such as unknown demand, unsteady fuel cost, machine breakdowns, and accidents to name a few. Logistics management is difficult because logistics managers must solve a global optimization problem, which includes eliminating as much uncertainty as possible, finding effective methods of managing uncertainty, and operating the entire logistics system effectively. To cope with uncertainty, many efforts have been made for vehicle routing problems. On the contrary, traditional ship-scheduling models ignore uncertainty, even in highly volatile markets. We present a set-packing model that limits risk using a quadratic variance constraint. After generating first-order linear …

A Methodology For Evaluating The Performance Of Reverse Supply Chains In Consumer Electronics Industry, Srikanth Sastry Yellepeddi

Industrial, Manufacturing, and Systems Engineering Dissertations

Enterprises around the world are employing reverse supply chain practices to generate profit making opportunities while meeting new regulations. As a result of the rapid progress in technology the product lifecycles are shrinking faster than ever. In the face of global competition, heightened environmental regulations and a wealth of additional profits and improved corporate image opportunities, performing the reverse supply chain operations at a world class level is becoming quintessential. These factors in addition to the inherent complexity of reverse supply chains due to the uncertainties associated with the quantity, quality, and timing of returns make returns management very complicated. …

Developing A Model To Evaluate Maintenance Operations, Soundararajan Kannan

Masters Theses

Maintenance has become a prominent function in today's manufacturing environment. Tremendous efforts have been put into in developing different types of maintenance strategies for enhancing the performance of the equipment but very little has been done in actually streamlining maintenance activities. This refers to systematically evaluating and analyzing the non-value added activities within the maintenance function. One of the primary lean tools that can provide a different dimension in identifying and analyzing non-value added activities is Value Stream Mapping (VSM). However, the traditional VSM cannot be utilized "as is" because the maintenance activities do not completely correspond with VSM terminology. …

The Effect Of Camera Placement And Display Configuration On A Remote Manipulation Task, Debra Clark

Master's Theses - Daytona Beach

A remote manipulation task was presented to 80 Introduction to Psychology students from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. The participants viewed the task via two displays showing two camera views. For the camera views, one camera was always in a top-down position, while the other camera changed positions from normal, right-side, reverse, and left-side positions. For the displays, the camera views were shown in either Configuration 1, with the top-down view on the left display and the other camera view on the right display, or Configuration 2, with the top-down view on the right display and the other camera views on the …

Reverse Decision Making And Goal Attainment A Proof Of Concept As A New Approach To The Decision Making Process Under Uncertainty, Shitalkumar S. Sabne

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Decision making occurs when one must choose among alternatives. However, in uncertain environments where problems are complex and decision makers lack complete knowledge of the situation as well as decision alternatives, it's not possible for them to select an optimal decision outcome by 'Traditional Decision Approaches'. At present Reverse Decision Making is the central, although new and unproved, approach of Old Dominion University's Engineering Management and Systems Engineering research on decision making process for uncertain and complex situations. Even though research in decision making spans over one hundred years, there are still important problems which remain to be addressed.

There …

An Empirical Investigation Into The Relationships Between Emotional Intelligence, Use Of Knowledge Transfer Methods, And Project Performance, Brent Michael Decker

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Increasingly, the use of project teams is becoming commonplace within organizations as the primary means to accomplish complex tasks. While the literature has long acknowledged that the knowledge transfer process is a key component in achieving organizational success and ultimately sustaining a competitive advantage, very little has been written that specifically examines the knowledge transfer process at the project team level. In an attempt to increase the understanding of knowledge transfer processes at the project team level, the effect that a relatively new construct, termed emotional intelligence, has on the use of knowledge transfer methods is examined. The relationships between …

An Adaptive Tabu Search Heuristic For The Location Routing Pickup And Delivery Problem With Time Windows With A Theater Distribution Application, Robert E. Burks Jr.

Theses and Dissertations

The time constrained pickup and delivery problem (PDPTW) is a problem of finding a set of routes for a fleet of vehicles in order to satisfy a set of transportation requests. Each request represents a user-specified pickup and delivery location. The PDPTW may be used to model many problems in logistics and public transportation. The location routing problem (LRP) is an extension of the vehicle routing problem where the solution identifies the optimal location of the depots and provides the vehicle schedules and distribution routes. This dissertation seeks to blend the PDPTW and LRP areas of research and formulate a …

Graph Theoretical Analysis Of Network Centric Operations Using Multi-Layer Models, Ann Wong-Jiru

Theses and Dissertations

As the Department of Defense continues its transformations to a network centric force, evaluating DoD's progression towards net-centricity remains a challenge. This research proposes to extend the Network Centric Operation Common Framework Version 2.0 (draft) with the metrics based in graph theory and, specifically addresses, among other metrics, the measurement of a net-centric force's mission effectiveness. The research incorporates the importance of understanding network topology for evaluating an environment for net-centricity and using network characteristics to help commanders assess the effects of network changes on mission effectiveness. The multi-layered model of Network Centric Operations and interlayer mapping are introduced to …

Development Of A Transportation Network Model For Complex Economic And Infrastructure Simulations, Paula S. Downes

Masters Theses

The intent of this effort is to add a transport network to an agent-based economic simulation model, thereby increasing the fidelity of the economic results reported. The majority of existing agent-based work regarding transportation infrastructures deals with traffic management and urban planning. However, little work has been done in modeling the transport system as a basic infrastructure dependency for an agent-based representation of the economy. In an agent-based modeling environment the transportation component derives its demand from the activities of the agents as they buy and sell goods which require transportation services. The Network Shipper agent was added to allow …

Statistical Modeling Approach To Airline Revenue Management With Overbooking, Sheela Siddappa

Industrial, Manufacturing, and Systems Engineering Dissertations

A Revenue Management (RM) method in the airline industry plays a very important role in maximizing revenue under various uncertainty issues, like customer demand, the number of seats to be maintained in inventory, the number of seats to be overbooked, etc. In this dissertation, a Markov decision process (MDP) based approach using statistical modeling is presented. Prior versions of this statistical modeling approach have employed remaining seat capacity ranges from zero to the capacity of the aircraft. In reality, actual remaining capacities are near capacity when the booking process begins and near zero when the flights depart. Thus, our modified …

Optimization Models For Leishmaniasis Control: A Case For Bihar, India, Kaushik Gorahava

Industrial, Manufacturing, and Systems Engineering Dissertations

Leishmaniasis, is a family of infectious diseases, which mostly affects poor and developing countries. The highest prevalence and mortality rate of Visceral Leishmaniasis (VL) the world over occurs in Bihar state of India. Many disease control methods are available; however, procedures aimed at reducing sandfly population by spraying insecticide have been the most effective for controlling VL in Bihar. In this dissertation, optimization models for the control of Leishmaniasis are developed and analyzed. Novel optimization models are built and analyzed to identify the optimal amount of insecticide allocated for controlling the spread of VL in Bihar. Since the vector (disease …

Development Of A Theoretical Framework Of Distributed Cognition Phenomena In Control Centers During Crisis Conditions, Christopher J. West

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this research is to develop and partially validate a theoretical framework describing distributed cognition phenomena occurring in organizational control centers functioning in crisis environments. Using a systems approach, the work synthesizes existing constructs relating to distributed cognition then supplements this knowledge with review of crisis management literature. The goal of this effort is the development of a framework for understanding the impact of crisis conditions on such phenomena occurring within the specified setting. An exploratory case study approach was used to partially validate and refine the framework by gauging its ability to interpret the impact of crisis …

Modeling A Reparable Supply Chain And Applying Cpfr Concepts, Sandra A. Mayhall

Theses and Dissertations

The Air Force supply chain includes parts required to build, fix, or maintain aircraft delivered to the warfighter to carry out missions. Industry has shown that following Collaborative Planning, Forecasting, and Replenishment (CPFR) concepts, particularly reducing inventory through accurate demand forecasts, has increased profits in part by lowering the holding costs of inventory and increasing sales. This is analogous to the Air Force increasing aircraft availability. There is scant evidence that demand forecasts generated at any level in the Air Force are shared with the intent of coordinating replenishment. This thesis uses a simple discrete-event stochastic simulation model to show …

Technology Transfer: A Qualitative Analysis Of Air Force Office Of Research And Technology Applications, David C. Trexler

Theses and Dissertations

Everyday within United States Air Forces’ research laboratories there are hundreds of scientists and engineers whose research and development activities contribute to the advancement of science and technology for mankind. The opportunities for successful technology transfer within these research activities are unbounded. This thesis examines the Air Force Office of Research and Technology Applications (ORTA’s) involvement with technology transfer, the complexities they face, the importance of their position, and what best practices ORTAs use to facilitate technology transfer. Air Force concerns and initiatives are detailed to provide perspective on balancing technology transfer with mission requirements and adherence to United States …

User Friendly Computer Software For Construction Projects Delay Analysis, Kamel Ahmed Salem El Sayed

Archived Theses and Dissertations

Construction industry around the world is facing a huge revolution in terms of number of executed projects. Projects are no longer simple ones managed by few persons. Commercial buildings, high rise towers and bridges are being built everywhere. The majority of these projects are complex ones that face a lot of obstacles. Delays are one of the major obstacles that construction projects face and are very likely to occur. Generally, claims are the result of any delay in the construction progress. To be able to analyze the claim and assign the responsibility, the analyst has to perform a delay analysis. …

Utilizing Employee Stress To Establish Guidelines For Managing Personnel During Lean Transition, Nezhad Naim Jallal Hossiney

Masters Theses

Employee resistance has been one of the many primary obstacles during Lean execution. Employee stress is a principal outcome of resistance when implementing Lean systems. This research is directed towards finding the relationship between employee stress and Lean. The hypothesis states-Lean implementation increases employee stress.

The research methodology involves investigating employee stress during various phases of Lean. This research proposes three phases of Lean that are- Lean Introduction Phase, Lean Implementation Phase, and Lean Refinement Phase. Surveys are used to collect data for the study. Two questionnaires are used 1) Lean Environment Evaluation Profile (LEEP) 2) Work Stress Profile (WSP). …

Robust Airline Fleet Assignment, Venkata Pilla

Industrial, Manufacturing, and Systems Engineering Dissertations

The fleet assignment model allocates the fleet of aircraft types to the scheduled flight legs in the airline timetable published 90 days prior to the departure of the aircraft. The objective is to maximize profit. While costs associated with assigning a particular fleet type to a leg are easy to estimate, the revenues are based upon demand, which is realized close to departure. The uncertainty in demand makes it challenging to assign the right type of aircraft to each flight leg based on the forecasts taken 90 days prior to departure. Therefore, in this dissertation a two-stage stochastic programming framework …

Crisis Management In Projects, Senol Nazikkol

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The objective of this investigation is to identify the processes, benefits and important tools of crisis management in projects. Crisis management is a system that helps managers to prevent and overcome crises. In this research, a general review about crisis, crisis management processes and tools are discussed. The research was done by using the information in the literature and expert judgment. This paper can be used by academics as a foundation for further research and development in the area of crisis management in projects. Managers of projects can use this study for improving their projects and project-based organizations' crisis management …

Reliability Of Systems Using Event Occurrence Networks, Gregory M. Steeger

Theses and Dissertations

The study of a system's reliability has played a crucial role in business and industry since the dawn of modern technology. Current graphical models utilized in reliability theory are limited in that no one model or technique allows for a thorough analysis of system reliability. This research introduces a new graphical model and methodology to be used in the field of reliability that addresses this concern. Event Occurrence Networks (EONs) and their solution methodologies provide an all-inclusive graphical model that allows for the manipulation of several important reliability measures. An EON is a probabilistic network that represents the superposition of …

Technology Transition: Guidance Versus Practice, Walter E. Espy

Theses and Dissertations

The transition of technologies ensures that U.S. warfighters have the necessary capabilities to fight ever increasing and changing global threats. The purpose of this study is to discover to what extent the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) is implementing known technology transition best practices. The research will look at the current guidance on technology transition and determine if it is being used by program managers within AFRL. The study will consider the technology transition process or processes expressly exercised within AFRL by surveying the perspectives and knowledge of program managers. An understanding of this process from the science and technology …

Reducing Uncertainty In Effects-Based Operations, Wilburn B. Mclamb

Theses and Dissertations

Known as the fog of war, uncertainty has been prevalent in the conduct of military operations throughout human history. Intelligence collection efforts are tasked to reduce this uncertainty through the collection of information. Utilizing Shannon's entropy as a measure of the expected information gain due to an intelligence collection effort, a methodology is developed to prioritize and allocate intelligence assets in an efficient manner. Incorporated in this methodology are target priority and the requirement to reassess dynamic targets. The application area for the methodology is Effects-Based Operations. A generalized state model is developed to conduct adversary system-of-systems analysis. This model …

A Graph Theoretic Analysis Of The Effects Of Organizational Structure On Employee Social Networks, John R. Hutzel

Theses and Dissertations

A simulation technique was used to investigate the impacts of organizational structure on an organization's social network. By simulating personnel in an organization as vertices in a graph and the aging of the corporation as the aging of the same graph, the maturation of an organization was realized. The characteristic path length of the graph was measured after each year returning an optimistic average organizational distance. Results include the finding that, per this model, an organization's characteristic path length can drop over 50% in a 20 year period with consideration of edges of all strengths. Next a series of random …

Modeling Network Centric Warfare (Ncw) With The System Effectiveness Analysis Simulation (Seas), Jason B. Honabarger

Theses and Dissertations

Significant technological advances over the past few decades have fueled the continual and rapid development of an information-based world. Network Centric Warfare (NCW) has become the buzzword of the young millennium within the Department of Defense (DoD) and is quickly becoming a popularly shared vision and rallying cry for force transformation among United States military leaders. An essential element in fully implementing this network-centric way of thinking is to develop useful measures to help gauge the effectiveness and efficiency of both our military networks and our strategic NCW doctrine. The goal of this research is first to provide a comprehensive …

Using Agent-Based Modeling To Search For Elusive Hiding Targets, Jeffrey E. Rucker

Theses and Dissertations

The SCUD hunt problem that emerged during Operation Desert Storm has become a source of great interest to major commands like Air Combat Command. One of the metrics used to measure the effectiveness of our operations in a SCUD hunt is time to detect and target. We use the agent-based System Effectiveness and Analysis Simulation (SEAS) to provide a simulation environment in which all the elements of a SCUD hunt mission can adequately be modeled. Our Blue Force agents are modeled as multirole fighters, satellites and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) with various sensor capabilities. The Red Force agents are modeled …