Engineering Commons^™

Hardy Diagnostics Facility Redesign, Jamie W. Lam

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

This senior project is a facilities design for the plate production room at Hardy Diagnostics. This project was completed using a systematic layout planning approach. The main reason for this redesign was to consolidate all plate line production into one room. This would ensure better visability for the managers. After the project was defined, the different departments were established and the relationships between those departments were found. The space requirements needed for those departments were then measured out to also include the aisle widths and any machinery or carts needed to complete each function. Having determined all requirements for this …

The Fresh Express Lean Changeover Project, Mario Borbas

Industrial Technology and Packaging

In the current economic turmoil, industry leaders across the globe are resorting to means of increasing efficiency without having a large initial investment. Lean manufacturing principles have been adopted by companies because of its ability to increase throughput, lower overhead, reduce waste, and increase the overall quality of products. The value of lean manufacturing solutions has been increasing in the past decade and continues to increase into 2011.

This project is centered on a current situation regarding a changeover process that has recently been made more efficient. The goal is to create new ways to make this same process even …

Optimal Production Planning For A Multi-Product Closed Loop System With Uncertain Demand And Return, Jianmai Shi, Guoqing Zhang, Jichang Sha

Mechanical, Automotive & Materials Engineering Publications

We study the production planning problem for a multi-product closed loop system, in which the manufacturer has two channels for supplying products: producing brand-new products and remanufacturing returns into as-new ones. In the remanufacturing process, used products are bought back and remanufactured into as-new products which are sold together with the brand-new ones. The demands for all the products are uncertain, and their returns are uncertain and price-sensitive. The problem is to maximize the manufacturer's expected profit by jointly determining the production quantities of brand-new products, the quantities of remanufactured products and the acquisition prices of the used products, subject …

Ambulatory Healthcare Utilization In The United States: A System Dynamics Approach, Rafael Diaz, Joshua G. Behr, Mandar Tulpule

VMASC Publications

Ambulatory health care needs within the United States are served by a wide range of hospitals, clinics, and private practices. The Emergency Department (ED) functions as an important point of supply for ambulatory healthcare services. Growth in our aging populations as well as changes stemming from broader healthcare reform are expected to continue trend in congestion and increasing demand for ED services. While congestion is, in part, a manifestation of unmatched demand, the state of the alignment between the demand for, and supply of, emergency department services affects quality of care and profitability. The central focus of this research is …

Material Weight Station Optimization Senior Project, Douglas Peters, Michael Eng

Industrial Technology and Packaging

The main principle of all industry is that “time is money”. This senior project focuses on reducing operation times for Specialty Silicone Fabricators (SSFab) materials weighing station. Currently SSFab is set up so that multiple operators check the weights of materials. This is done to guarantee the accuracy of the readings and maintain tight quality control. This project will focus on eliminating the need of multiple weight checkers as a way to save time and ultimately save money.

Through detailed research and studies it has been determined that the most appropriate solution to this problem is a weight checking software …

Gauge Repeatability And Reproducibility Study For A Bulge Test Fixture For Corrugated Boxes, Anthony J. Hall

Industrial Technology and Packaging

This senior project evaluates the measurement variation within a corrugated container bulge tester by utilizing a gauge repeatability and reproducibility study. Bulge is a type of deformation containers experience when subject to compressive forces such as stacking or internal forces due to under- and over-packaging. Both compressive and internal forces can accelerate the failure of a container by causing panels to flex and flutes to buckle, compromising structural integrity. Additionally, variable environmental conditions such as temperature and humidity can magnify the effect bulge has on a container, speeding up the failure rate of a container.

Acuta Enews March 2011 Vol. 40, No. 3

ACUTA Newsletters

ln This lssue

Meet the Board for 2011-12

Tech Talk: Take Two Tablets and Catt Me in the Morning.......... Kevin Tanzillo, Dux PR

Free Webinars Coming Soon to ACUTA

Learn More about UC, Voice Trends, the Cloud, and More from Your Desktop

From ACUTA Headquarters: Member Years of Service ,Jeri A. Semer, CAE, Executive Dir

Board Report......... George Denbow, univ. of Texas, Austin

New to ICT or Not, ACUTA Members Are All Busy!........... Young Professionals Subcommittee

lT's Funny!

lnfo Links ........... .. Randy Hayes, Univ' of Northern lowa

ACUTA 2011 Event Calendar

Welcome New Members

Check lt Out: Press Releases...Job …

Artificial Neural Networking As A Decision Tool For Natural Gas Investment, Micah D. Denecour

Master's Theses

With the growing interest in the Marcellus Shale and its natural gas deposits, there are opportunities to purchase and hold land for investment purposes. A robust decision tool is needed to help guide investors towards the most profitable properties. Artificial neural networks have many unique benefits that make them an ideal candidate for this purpose.

The artificial neural networks created in this study had nine independent variables. Combinations of these nine variables were created to describe 300 theoretical properties available for purchase. Each of these properties were then evaluated by an expert in the field and given a score from …

High-Resolution, Non-Contact Angular Measurement System For Psa/Rsa, Ronald D. Sloat

Master's Theses

A non-contact angular measurement system for Pitch Static Attitude (PSA) and Roll Static Attitude (RSA) of hard disk drive sliders is designed and built. Real-time sampling at over 15 KHz is achieved with accuracy of +/- 0.05 degrees over a range of approximately 2-3 degrees. Measuring the PSA and RSA is critical for hard drive manufacturers to control and improve the quality and reliability of hard drives. Although the hard drive industry is able to measure the PSA and RSA at the subassembly level at this time, there is no system available that is able to measure PSA/RSA at the …

Virtual Collaborative R&D Teams In Malaysia Manufacturing Smes, Nader Ale Ebrahim, Shamsuddin Ahmed, Salwa Hanim Abdul Rashid, Zahari Taha

Nader Ale Ebrahim

This paper presents the results of empirical research conducted during March to September 2009. The study focused on the influence of virtual research and development (R&D) teams within Malaysian manufacturing small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). The specific objective of the study is better understanding of the application of collaborative technologies in business, to find the effective factors to assist SMEs to remain competitive in the future. The paper stresses to find an answer for a question “Is there any relationship between company size, Internet connection facility and virtuality?”. The survey data shows SMEs are now technologically capable of performing …

Virtual R&D Teams: A Potential Growth Of Education-Industry Collaboration, Nader Ale Ebrahim, Shamsuddin Ahmed, Zahari Taha

Nader Ale Ebrahim

Introduction: With the advent of the global economy and high-speed Internet, online collaboration is fast becoming the norm in education and industry [1]. Information technology (IT) creates many new inter-relationships among businesses, expands the scope of industries in which a company must compete to achieve the competitive advantage. Information systems and technology allow companies to coordinate their activities in distant geographic locations [2]. IT is providing the infrastructure necessary to support the development of new collaboration forms among industry and education. Virtual research and development (R&D) teams represent one such relational form, one that could revolutionize the workplace and provide …

Virtual Teams And Management Challenges, Nader Ale Ebrahim, Shamsuddin Ahmed, Zahari Taha

Nader Ale Ebrahim

Introduction: Collaboration is becoming increasingly important in creating the knowledge that makes business more competitive. Virtual teams are growing in popularity [1] and many organizations have responded to their dynamic environments by introducing virtual teams. Additionally, the rapid development of new communication technologies such as the Internet has accelerated this trend so that today, most of the larger organization employs virtual teams to some degree [2]. A growing number of flexible and adaptable organizations have explored the virtual environment as one means of achieving increased responsiveness [3]. Howells et al. [4] state that the shift from serial to simultaneous and …

An Exploratory Model For Predicting Post-Consumer Recycled Pet Content In Pet Sheets, Dong Ho Kang, Rafael Auras, Keith Vorst, Jay Singh

Industrial Technology and Packaging

An exploratory model for determining post-consumer recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET) content in PET sheets for one specific stream of mechanically recycled PET (RPET) was developed. Six kinds of PET sheets with varying percent of virgin (V) and recycled (R) PET contents (i.e., 100V, 80V20R, 60V40R, 40V60R, 20V80R, and 100R PET) were commercially extruded. The optical, thermal, physicomechanical and barrier properties of the PET sheets were evaluated as function of RPET content. Differences were found between the sheets for UV and visible light absorption in the regions 200–350 nm and 670–700 nm, respectively. Intrinsic viscosities of 100V and 100R PET sheets …

Acuta Enews February 2011 Vol. 40, No. 2

ACUTA Newsletters

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From the President........Matt Arthur, Washington Univ. in St. Louis, ACUTA President

Security Snapshot: Texas A&M

Tech Talk: Maybe They Should Call it Copper Peak................... Kevin Tanzillo, Dux PR

Important lssues on Campus Today

Handling Air Travel Frustrations

lT's Funny.............Cartoon Resource

Lightning Round: New at the Conference

Webinar: The Future of the PBX in a University Environment

Learn More about UC, Voice Trends, the Cloud, and More from Your Desktop

Board Report....... George Denbow, Univ. of Texas, Austin

Thanks to Journal Advertisers for 2010

Thanks to Exhibitors and Sponsors at Winter Seminar

lnfo Links ............ Randy Hayes, Univ. …

A Microsimulation Of Traffic, Parking, And Emissions At California Polytechnic State University – San Luis Obispo, Steven Michael Kilbert

Master's Theses

Traffic and parking congestion are significant issues at many universities nationwide. The delays experienced result in wasted time, money, and fuel for students, faculty and staff, not to mention the negative contributions to the environment. This paper quantifies the amount of vehicle emissions generated during an average morning peak hour in the university environment. Using VISSIM and CMEM microsimulation packages, a model is created for California Polytechnic State University- San Luis Obispo to aggregate the collective transportation behaviors and practices of the campus and recognize the implications these behaviors pose on the transportation network as a whole. Reasonable estimates are …

Biodepollution Of Wastewater Containing Phenolic Compounds From Leather Industry By Plant Peroxidases, Mamounata Diao, Nafissetou Ouedraogo, Lamine Baba-Moussa, Paul W. Savadogo, Georges N'Guessan Amani, Mamoudou H. Dicko Prof.

Pr. Mamoudou H. DICKO, PhD

This study deals with the use of peroxidases (POXs) from Allium sativum, Ipomoea batatas, Raphanus sativus and Sorghum bicolor to catalyze the degradation of free phenolic compounds as well as phenolic compounds contained in wastewater from leather industry. Secretory plant POXs were able to catalyze the oxidation of gallic acid, ferulic acid, 4-hydroxybenzoic acid, pyrogallol and 1,4-tyrosol prepared in ethanol 2% (v:v). Efficiency of peroxidase catalysis depends strongly on the chemical nature of phenolic substrates and on the botanical source of the enzymes. It appeared that POX from Raphanus sativus had the highest efficiency. Results show that POXs can also …

How To Conduct A Literature Review, Nader Ale Ebrahim

Nader Ale Ebrahim

No abstract provided.

Real Sequences And Series, Adeshina I. Adekunle Mr

Adeshina I. Adekunle MR

No abstract provided.

Mh-53j/M Pave Low Iii/Iv Systems Engineering Case Study, Air Force Center For Systems Engineering, William Albery, Raymond L. Robb, Lee Anderson

AFIT Documents

No abstract provided.

Simulation Studies On Ecs Application In A Clean Power Distribution System, Dr. Adel A. Elbaset

Dr. Adel A. Elbaset

Dealing with power distribution system became one of the most important arts in the field of power system, especially in the rapid increase of the distributed generation (DG) penetration to the distribution level which is a vital and important part of the entire power system. In this paper, a very special power distribution system with a unique deployment of distributed generation, such as, photovoltaic and wind generation has been studied. Energy storage system is utilized to play the main role to control the system’s power quality and the system frequency, as load following operation (LFO) and automatic generation control (AGC), …

Development, Deployment, And Characterization Of A Ku-Band Interferometer, Anthony Swochak

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

Space-borne radar interferometry provides a global vantage point to understand climate change, global weather phenomenon, and other Earth dynamics. For climate change observations, space-borne interferometers can be utilized to relate ocean topography to temperature, thus providing a global map of ocean temperatures. Since the oceans are in constant motion, a single-pass interferometer is needed to successfully make these measurements of ocean height. The feasibility of a single-pass measurement is dependent on the physical size of the instrument, hence it is cheaper and more practical to launch a small, light weight instrument into space. Since instrument size scales inversely with operating …

The Effect Of External Distractions On Novice And Experienced Drivers' Anticipation Of Hazards And Vehicle Control, Gautam Divekar

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

Out-of-vehicle distractions were identified as contributing factors to about 29.4 % of all crashes that were reported between the years 1995 to 1999 (Stutts J. K., 2005; Stutts J. R., 2001).These crash statistics are from a decade ago. With the increase of cars, pedestrians, shops,vendors, billboards and signs over the last decade it can be safely assumed that the driving environment is more complex now and has greater potential for external driver distraction. Given this, it is important to know the effects of out-of-vehicle distraction on drivers’ ability to drive safely in their presence. With this in mind, a driving …

Design Of The Layout Of A Manufacturing Facility With A Closed Loop Conveyor With Shortcuts Using Queueing Theory And Genetic Algorithms, Vernet Michael Lasrado

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

With the ongoing technology battles and price wars in today's competitive economy, every company is looking for an advantage over its peers. A particular choice of facility layout can have a significant impact on the ability of a company to maintain lower operational expenses under uncertain economic conditions. It is known that systems with less congestion have lower operational costs. Traditionally, manufacturing facility layout problem methods aim at minimizing the total distance traveled, the material handling cost, or the time in the system (based on distance traveled at a specific speed). The proposed methodology solves the looped layout design problem …

Improving Throughput And Predictability Of High-Volume Business Processes Through Embedded Modeling, Joseph S. Dekeyrel

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Being faster is good. Being predictable is better. A faithful model of a system, loaded to reflect the system's current state, can then be used to look into the future and predict performance. Building faithful models of processes with high degrees of uncertainty can be very challenging, especially where this uncertainty exists in terms of processing times, queuing behavior and re-work rates. Within the context of an electronic, multi-tiered workflow management system (WFMS) the author builds such a model to endogenously quote due dates. A WFMS that manages business objects can be recast as a flexible flow shop in which …

Life Cycle Inventory Of Hdpe Bottle-Based Liquid Milk Packaging Systems, Jay Singh, Aric Krasowski, S. Paul Singh

Industrial Technology and Packaging

This study aims at providing a relatively straightforward methodology to serve as a decision-making tool when more than one packaging solution could be available to a user. It involves a life cycle inventory (LCI) analysis and comparison of three currently available 3.79 l (1 gallon) packaging systems for liquid milk. Two of the primary container types studied use reusable plastic crates (RPCs) for stacking and shipping,
while the third type is a heavier duty container that does not require secondary shipping containers. The three primary containers studied are identified as original, cube and stackable throughout this paper. The study shows …

A Multiple Performance Analysis Of Market-Capacity Integration Policies, Ahmed M. Deif, Hoda A. Elmaraghy

Industrial Technology and Packaging

A model that uses simulation augmented with Design of Experiments (DOE) is presented to analyse the performance of a Make-to-Order (MTO) reconfigurable manufacturing system with scalable capacity. Unlike the classical capacity scaling policies, the proposed hybrid capacity scaling policy is determined using multiple performance measures that reflect cost, internal stability and responsiveness. The impact of both tactical capacity and marketing policies and their interaction on the overall performance was analysed using DOE techniques and real case data. In addition to the different insights about the trade-offs involved in capacity planning decisions, the presented results challenged the conventional capacity planning wisdoms …

Bedside Method To Estimate Actual Body Weight In The Emergency Department, Robert G. Buckley, Christine R. Stehman, Frank L. Dos Santos, Robert H. Riggenburgh, Aaron Swenson, Nathan Mjos, Matt Brewer, Sheila Mulligan

U.S. Navy Research

Background:

Actual body weight (ABW) is important for accurate drug dosing in emergency settings. Oftentimes, patients are unable to stand to be weighed accurately or clearly state their most recent weight.

Objective:

Develop a bedside method to estimate ABW using simple anthropometric measurements.

Methods:

Prospective, blinded, cross-sectional convenience sampling of adult Emergency Department (ED) patients. A multiple linear regression equation from Derivation Phase (n = 208: 121 males, 87 females) found abdominal and thigh circumferences (AC and TC) had the best fit and an inter-rater correlation of 0.99 and 0.96, respectively: Male ABW (kg) = -47.8 + 0.78 * (AC) …

Derivation Radical Subspace Arrangements, Will Taves, Max Wakefield

U.S. Navy Research

In this note we study modules of derivations on collections of linear subspaces in a finite dimensional vector space. The central aim is to generalize the notion of freeness from hyperplane arrangements to subspace arrangements. We call this generalization ‘derivation radical’. We classify all coordinate subspace arrangements that are derivation radical and show that certain subspace arrangements of the Braid arrangement are derivation radical. We conclude by proving that under an algebraic condition the subspace arrangement consisting of all codimension c intersections, where c is fixed, of a free hyperplane arrangement are derivation radical.

Ambient- And High-Temperature Mechanical Properties Of Isochronally Aged Al–0.06sc, Al–0.06zr And Al–0.06sc–0.06zr (At.%) Alloys, Keith E. Knipling, David N. Seidman, David C. Dunand

U.S. Navy Research

Ambient- and high-temperature precipitation strengthening are investigated in Al–0.06Sc, Al–0.06Zr and Al–0.06Sc–0.06Zr (at.%) alloys. Following solidification, Sc is concentrated at the dendrite peripheries while Zr is segregated at the dendrite cores. During isochronal aging, precipitation of Al3Sc (L1₂) commences between 250 and 300 °C for Al–0.06Sc, and reaches a 429 MPa peak microhardness at 325 °C. For Al–0.06Zr, precipitation of Al3Zr (L1₂) first occurs between 400 and 425 °C and reaches a 295 MPa peak microhardness at 475 °C. A pronounced synergistic effect is observed when both Sc and Zr are present. Above 325 °C, Zr …

Investigation Of Electrical Transport In Hydrogenated Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes, Adam L. Friedman, Hyunkyung Chun, Don Heiman, Yung Joon Jung, Latika Menon

U.S. Navy Research

Highly disordered multiwalled carbon nanotubes of large outer diameter (~60 nm) fabricated by means of chemical vapor deposition process inside porous alumina templates exhibit ferromagnetism when annealed in a H₂/Ar atmosphere. In the presence of an applied magnetic field, there is a transition from positive to negative magnetoresistance. The transition may be explained in terms of the Bright model for ordered and disordered carbon structures. Additionally, temperature dependent electrical transport experiments exhibit a zero-bias anomaly at low temperature.