Engineering Commons^™

Strategy For Predictive Control Of The Rectification Process Based On A Model Controller With A Given Forecast, Ildar Rafkatovich Sultanov

Chemical Technology, Control and Management

A method is being developed to optimize the generated controls for the multicomponent distillation process with prediction, based on predictive data with a moving horizon. The difference between this method and the classical modeling approach, in which the percentage of the degree of opening of valves installed on the output streams of the column is used as control actions, is that control occurs on the feedback principle. The proposed method is based on the use of a dynamic process model to optimize control actions in real time in order to achieve certain production targets. The essence of the MPC approach …

Improving Logistics Efficiency Through Collaborative Truck Routing, Patrick Dougherty

Industrial Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

The logistics industry is among the world’s largest and most essential. Specifically, trucking is a massive component of the modern logistics system. In 2012, truck transportation carried 68% of all freight tonnage in the U.S. However, trucking currently faces significant problems with efficiency and sustainability. Of all miles driven by trucks yearly in the U.S., 25% are driven with empty loads and 36% are driven with underutilized loads. In addition to this economic inefficiency, the industry faces social and environmental challenges. Driver turnover rates are near 100%, and trucking accounts for a significant level of greenhouse gas emissions. One potential …

Reconstitution Efficiency On Elution Process, Brandon Winter, Landon Beachy, Samantha Stejskal, Zachary Rice

Scholar Week 2016 - present

Our group is presenting on the Reconstitution Efficiency on Elution Process for MilliporeSigma. The process that we are working with is the mixing of BAAP (Bovine Albumin Acetone Powder) into reverse osmosis water. This process is the first step of many in the making of medical test kits, of which include HIV/AID, strep throat, and pregnancy tests. Our initial task was to reduce the mixing time by 50%, however after further exploration of the problem, a more stable and consistent process turned into our primary goal and a significant reduction in time became a secondary goal. Initially, we were using …

Assess The Performance Against Ets And Pm1 And Evaluate The Users’ Experiences Of Comfort Of Nasal Filters, Ibrahim Almuhaidib

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Many cities around the world experience severe air pollution. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 7 million people die annually from exposure to small airborne Particulate Matter (PM) that is found in atmospheric pollution. Particulate matter in atmospheric pollution is one of six classifications of common air pollutants and is typically referred to as PM₁ and PM_2.5. Particulates designated as PM₁ and PM_2.5 refer to particles having aerodynamic diameters of 1 or 2.5 micrometer (µm), respectively. These size ranges of particles are the most commonly found in air pollution. It is hard to differentiate …

Simulation Study On Vibration Absorption Efficiency Of Parallel Nonlinear Energy Sinks, Jian’En Chen, He Wei, Weimin Ge, Liu Jun, Zhong Rui

Journal of System Simulation

Abstract: Parallel nonlinear energy sinks are used to suppress the vibration of the primary structure. The vibration absorption efficiencies of the single and parallel NESs are comparatively investigated. The dynamic equation under harmonic excitation is derived and the dynamic responses are analyzed by using numerical method. Through studying the influences of the installation locations and parameters of the single and parallel NESs respectively, it is found that, under normal temperature, the vibration absorption efficiency of the parallel NESs is better than that of the single NES which having the equal mass with the former absorber. Considering that the resonance frequency …

Bi-Directional Dc-Dc Converter For Battery Energy Storage, Kun Xia, Xinwei Hong, Yuan Yin, Anghui Chen

Journal of System Simulation

Abstract: A topology of non-isolated bi-directional DC-DC converter is proposed. The converter adopts the synchronous rectifier half bridge buck-boost circuit as the foundation using the voltage and current double closed-loop control method to achieve the function of the lithium batteries charging and discharging. The working principles of the DC-DC converter are analyzed under the charging mode, discharging mode and parallel supply mode. The simulation model for the converter circuit is established in Matlab/Simulink circumstance and the system experiment is built. The simulation and experiment verifies the feasibility and the reliability of the converter. The simulation results show that …

Relevance Analysis Of Deicing Parameters And Deicing Efficiency Of Aircraft Ground, Bin Chen, Liwen Wang

Journal of System Simulation

Abstract: Aircraft ground freezing could lead to potential danger and delay for flight. To alleviate these problems, the main method is to use the deicing fluids to clean ice or snow on the aircraft body, which lacks of reference of the deicing fluids parameters and efficiency. To study the effect of the deicing fluids parameters on the aircraft deicing efficiency, the deicing mechanism is analyzed.The black box mathematical model of the deicing process is generalized abstractly. The deicing process is divided into two subprocesses to establish the deicing model.The relevance between the deicing fluids parameters and deicing efficiency is studied …

Trade-Off Balancing For Stable And Sustainable Operating Room Scheduling, Amin Abedini

Theses and Dissertations--Mechanical Engineering

The implementation of the mandatory alternative payment model (APM) guarantees savings for Medicare regardless of participant hospitals ability for reducing spending that shifts the cost minimization burden from insurers onto the hospital administrators. Surgical interventions account for more than 30% and 40% of hospitals total cost and total revenue, respectively, with a cost structure consisting of nearly 56% direct cost, thus, large cost reduction is possible through efficient operation management. However, optimizing operating rooms (ORs) schedules is extraordinarily challenging due to the complexities involved in the process. We present new algorithms and managerial guidelines to address the problem of OR …

Efficacy Of Virtual Models In A Production Systems Course, Lawrence Whitman, Barbara Chaparro

Barbara S. Chaparro

Wichita State University has developed an integrated set of virtual reality models of an aircraft assembly line. These models are intended to provide students an ‘artifact’ of industrial and manufacturing engineering by providing a realistic environment for initial learning and application. By utilizing a virtual model of the line, students are able to view the process and interrogate the process details, make changes and observe the effects, and gain a better understanding of the concepts and their interrelationships. This paper presents the method used to assess if virtual models (computer models of a real factory) lead to: improved perception of …

Solar Electric Immersion Heating Element Fabrication, Logan V. Kregness

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

Believing that cooking with flame is cheaper and more efficient than cooking with electricity, Ugandan citizens have exposed themselves to several health and safety risks, including major respiratory issues through harmful emissions, pollution, and the burning down of many homes. Even though solar electric cooking is cheaper and healthier than cooking with flames in the long run, many Ugandans lack the resources to invest in cooking with electricity.

The Solar Stove student research team, led by Dr. Pete Schwartz, partnered with Aid Africa to bring solar panels and prototype solar electric cooking units to villages in Uganda. Observing how their …

Improving Efficiencies For The Loading And Packaging Departments At San Luis Sourdough, Alexis Bergstrom, Isabella Pereira, Claudia Robinson

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

San Luis Sourdough, currently has issues with efficiency and standardization in their packaging department, ergonomics problems in the packaging department, shipment accuracy in their loading department, and lacks an organized layout design. As a result, four objectives were designed within a six month period. The first was to create standard operating procedures for the packaging department. To inform this decision time studies were performed before and after creating these SOPs. It was discovered that there was a clear need for the SOPs due to variation in packaging efficiency among new and experienced associates. The second set of time studies showed …

Reducing Overall Overtime Hours Accumulated By San Luis Sourdough, Marie Scholl, Emily Vallejos, Randall Yonce

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

The packaging department of San Luis Sourdough Company was redesigned to increase bread throughput and decrease overtime hours issued to employees. Time studies were performed to get an accurate representation of the average throughput of bread with the current packaging conveyor system. After collecting data and surveying the employees and management, we came up with three design solutions to improve their current packaging system. The first design recommendation has a low-investment and is quick to implement as it pertains to changing the worker’s schedule to alleviate the employees from working long hour shifts while increasing the bread throughput. The second …

The Design Of A Digital Scheduling Solution For Healing Alternatives, Hailey A. Malin, Krista L. Mcallester, Anne E. Shields

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

The focus of this senior project is to assist Healing Alternatives, an acupuncture clinic located in San Luis Obispo, in developing a business management software to fit their needs and boost their overall organization. The approach to finding the right fit for this business included assessing their current system while simultaneously investigating other providers. Once alternatives were found that met all of Healing Alternatives’ initial requirements, trial demos were generated in order to perform user experience testing. The presented final solution, a scheduling software called Acuity Scheduling, was implemented in a three-phase move plan that occurred over the period of …

Slm Materials Development, Justin G. Reiner, Michael T. Schembri

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

The purpose of this project was to create a procedure to efficiently determine a “recipe” of parameter values that create a desired set of mechanical properties. Research was conducted into the laser powder bed fusion process with focus on underdeveloped materials. A design of experiment was used with a set of density correlated parameters to establish a method of producing nearly dense parts. Our methods include SLM printing, metrology, and statistical analysis. An experimental procedure for materials development was designed, but unable to be validated during the scope of this project, due to unforeseen safety issues (exposure to Chromium 6, …

Healing Alternatives Workspace Remodel, Lissandra Ilcyn, Jenifer Astrid Colmenares, Grace E. Kuffner

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

Healing Alternatives is an acupuncture office space located in a repurposed house in San Luis Obispo. Healing Alternatives’ current facility layout does not allow for an additional treatment room or the space to provide additional services because of the wasted space within the facility. Furthermore, patients can be disrupted by noise outside the treatment room causing a negative customer experience. The project team’s objectives are to:

o Design two layout alternatives

o Provide a time estimate for each alternative

o Provide a cost analysis of each alternative

o Implement 5s methodology on the storage room

o Provide a 2D-3D model …

Implementation Of 5s At A Survey Laboratory In Western Kentucky University, Mercy Akunna Ebuetse

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

5S is a technique used alongside methodologies such as lean, total quality management and six-sigma for continuous improvement and workplace standardization. Nonetheless, despite the upsurge in the implementation of 5S by lean manufacturing facilities and other industries, educational laboratories appear to be lagging. Taking into consideration the benefits of implementing 5S within industry, it has become crucial to replicate the technique in an educational laboratory to obtain equivalent results. To upgrade educational laboratories into industrial laboratories, 5S (sort, set in order, shine, standardize, and sustain) is required to improve the laboratory’s ergonomics that subsequently increases efficiency, productivity, and lessens waste …

All Models Are Wrong; Some Models Are Harmful, David Hunt, Michael P. Johnson Jr.

Michael P. Johnson

Time Series Classification Using Deep Learning For Process Planning: A Case From The Process Industry, Nijat Mehdiyev, Johannes Lahann, Andreas Emrich, David Lee Enke, Peter Fettke, Peter Loos

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Multivariate time series classification has been broadly applied in diverse domains over the past few decades. However, before applying the classification algorithms, the vast majority of current studies extract hand-engineered features that are assumed to detect local patterns in the time series. Therefore, the efficiency and precision of these classification approaches are heavily dependent on the quality of variables defined by domain experts. Recent improvements in the deep learning domain offer opportunities to avoid such an intensive hand-crafted feature engineering which is particularly important for managing the processes based on time-series data obtained from various sensor networks. In our paper, …

Design For Waste Reduction And Efficiency Improvement For The Construction Usage Of The Tower Crane, George Merida, Roman Richard

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

Webcor Concrete Group’s on-site tower crane is currently experiencing unknown forms of inefficiency. The project team used the DMAIC methodology to implement Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control in order to guide and structure the project. After the project team formulated a problem statement, observations were collected of tower crane deliveries resulting in 470 individual data points. The data was then analyzed using basic statistics, histograms, and lean manufacturing tools in order to identify wastes and inefficiencies. Once the wastes and inefficiencies were identified, root cause analysis was performed. The identified root causes were then used as the basis for …

A Multi-Agent System For Coordinating Vessel Traffic, Teck-Hou Teng, Hoong Chuin Lau, Akshat Kumar

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Environmental, regulatory and resource constraints affects the safety and efficiency of vessels navigating in and out of the ports. Movement of vessels under such constraints must be coordinated for improving safety and efficiency. Thus, we frame the vessel coordination problem as a multi-agent path-finding (MAPF) problem. We solve this MAPF problem using a Coordinated Path-Finding (CPF) algorithm. Based on the local search paradigm, the CPF algorithm improves on the aggregated path quality of the vessels iteratively. Outputs of the CPF algorithm are the coordinated trajectories. The Vessel Coordination Module (VCM) described here is the module encapsulating our MAPF-based approach for …

Impact Of A Localized Lean Six Sigma Implementation On Overall Patient Safety And Process Efficiency, Luvianca Gil, Pilar Pazos, Mamadou Seck, Rolando Delaguila

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

Continuous quality improvement tools have caught the attention of the Health Care Industry as a solution to process efficiency, patient safety and cost reduction. This research explores the impact of a Lean Six Sigma (LSS) process improvement initiative in overall process efficiency and patient safety in two Labor and Delivery (L+D) units of two large hospital providers. This study focuses on the application of modeling and simulation methodology to investigate the influence of a localized process improvement intervention on the overall L+D unit output, by considering patient flow, system capacity and unit performance. The simulation models capacity profiles and patient …

Haas Automation Umc750 5axis Mill Assembly Process Improvement, Mason A. Garcia, Gregory R. Gunion, Juan Pablo Quinonez Weston

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

The improvement of the current assembly of the motor and casting components for the Haas UMC-750 5-Axis vertical CNC mill includes the evaluation, development and proposal of a new pair of material handling carts. To meet these deliverables, a student team began by assessing the assembly workstation, defining the problem to be solved, researching ergonomics in material handling equipment and drafting the final design of the improved cart models using SolidWorks. The final design considered the initial improvement request from the client, as well as better ergonomic features to enhance the safety of the operators. It was estimated that the …

Comparing Data Envelopment Analysis (Dea) And An Integrated Approach Of Dea And Malmquist Index (Dea-Mi) In Evaluation Of Hospitals Performances, Amin Yazdani Kachoei, Mohammad Mahdi Mozaffari, Amin Vafadarnikjoo, Mahdi Saeedpoor

Amin Vafadarnikjoo

Productivity in hospitals where are major centres for health and medical services has always been emphasised, on the other hand considering development of countries, various methods are presented to measure this factor. It should be noted that not using the scientific measurement methods and indexes correctly will end up misleading and generalising productivity and will lead to poor compliance with scientific principles, wasting resources and failing to achieve productivity in both enterprise and the whole economic system. The purpose of this paper is to compare two approaches; data envelopment analysis (DEA) and the hybrid of DEA and Malmquist index in …

Hosx: Hospital Operations Excellence Model, Shivon S. Boodhoo

Dissertations

Hospital performance can be evaluated in four categories: (i) quality of care, (ii) process of care (iii) financial and (iv) operations productivity. Of these, ‘quality of care’ is the most widely reported and studied measure of performance, and focuses primarily on the clinical outcomes of the patient. In contrast, operations productivity and efficiency is the least studied measure, and currently there is limited ability to evaluate how efficiently the hospital has used its resources to deliver healthcare services. Cost containment in the healthcare industry is a challenging problem, and there is a lack of models and methods to benchmark hospital …

East Tennessee Children's Hospital Lean, Eddie D. Eatherly, Catherine Julson, Kelsey Tjader, Jack Smodic, Lanier Loftin

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Defining A Stakeholder-Relative Model To Measure Academic Department Efficiency At Achieving Quality In Higher Education, Federica Robinson-Bryant

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In a time of strained resources and dynamic environments, the importance of effective and efficient systems is critical. This dissertation was developed to address the need to use feedback from multiple stakeholder groups to define quality and assess an entity’s efficiency at achieving such quality. A decision support model with applicability to diverse domains was introduced to outline the approach. Three phases, (1) quality model development, (2) input-output selection and (3) relative efficiency assessment, captured the essence of the process which also delineates the approach per tool applied. This decision support model was adapted in higher education to assess academic …

An Index To Measure Efficiency Of Hospital Networks For Mass Casualty Disasters, Maria Bull Torres

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Disaster events have emphasized the importance of healthcare response activities due to the large number of victims. For instance, Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, in 2005, and the terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C., on September 11, 2001, left thousands of wounded people. In those disasters, although hospitals had disaster plans established for more than a decade, their plans were not efficient enough to handle the chaos produced by the hurricane and terrorist attacks. Thus, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) suggested collaborative planning among hospitals that provide services to a contiguous geographic area …

Efficacy Of Virtual Models In A Production Systems Course, Lawrence Whitman, Barbara Chaparro

Publications

Wichita State University has developed an integrated set of virtual reality models of an aircraft assembly line. These models are intended to provide students an ‘artifact’ of industrial and manufacturing engineering by providing a realistic environment for initial learning and application. By utilizing a virtual model of the line, students are able to view the process and interrogate the process details, make changes and observe the effects, and gain a better understanding of the concepts and their interrelationships. This paper presents the method used to assess if virtual models (computer models of a real factory) lead to: improved perception of …

Hold On To Your Egg Profits, J A. Hoy

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

IN recent years, much sound advice has been made available to poultry farmers to assist them in developing their properties and operating them on profitable lines.

Much of this advice has been utilised to good advantage, but there are still many properties on which the profits are being reduced by feed wastage, damage by rats and mice, lack of sufficient attention to egg quality, unnecessarily high labour costs and failure to keep farm records.