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Full-Text Articles in Engineering

Toward Agent-Based Modeling Of The U.S. Department Of Defense Acquisition System, Karl Schwenn, John M. Colombi, Theresa Wu, Kyle F. Oyama, Alan W. Johnson Mar 2015

Toward Agent-Based Modeling Of The U.S. Department Of Defense Acquisition System, Karl Schwenn, John M. Colombi, Theresa Wu, Kyle F. Oyama, Alan W. Johnson

Faculty Publications

The systems development, procurement and sustainment of a nation's military equipment is vital to its national interests, but the process is complex, constantly changing and highly adaptive, as well as time consuming and costly. The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) expends both large amounts of capital and manpower to equip its armed forces. This research seeks to identify opportunities to gain better insight into the functioning of the defense acquisition system, building on previous simulations. A case is made that the DoD Requirements, Planning Acquisition, Technology and Logistics System is a complex adaptive system that has characteristics appropriate for exploration …


Bus Rapid Transit (Brt) Toolbox: Brt Person Throughput-Vehicle Congestion Tradeoffs, Li Jingquan, H.-S. Jacob Tsao, Ching-Yao Chan, Kun Zhou, Wei-Bin Zhang Jan 2015

Bus Rapid Transit (Brt) Toolbox: Brt Person Throughput-Vehicle Congestion Tradeoffs, Li Jingquan, H.-S. Jacob Tsao, Ching-Yao Chan, Kun Zhou, Wei-Bin Zhang

Faculty Publications

This report documents a research effort to understand the current practice and issues associated with Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) planning and deployment. It reviewed the design options incorporated into existing BRT deployments across California and the nation. The project team interviewed practitioners of California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) Districts and transit agencies to understand the BRT project approval decision-making process, the impacts of BRT implementation and the Measures of Effectiveness (MOEs) for transit and non-transit system performance. The studies revealed that though Caltrans and transit agencies do use a similar set of MOEs for the evaluation of BRT projects, the …


A General Intuitive Design Pattern For Optimally Sequencing Treatment Combinations In 2k Factorial Experiment And A Simple Estimation Algorithm, H.-S. Jacob Tsao, Minnie Patel Jan 2015

A General Intuitive Design Pattern For Optimally Sequencing Treatment Combinations In 2k Factorial Experiment And A Simple Estimation Algorithm, H.-S. Jacob Tsao, Minnie Patel

Faculty Publications

The number of model parameters of a 2k factorial design grows exponentially. When the number of factors is large, numerous higher-order interactions constitute a vast majority of the model parameters while many of them do not exist or are insignificant. The classic methods of fractional factorial designs, Plackett–Burman designs, Taguchi designs, etc. seek an already developed and often cataloged design that fits exactly the problem being tackled or select a design that fits it the most. Most, if not all, of these designs were developed in absence of convenient computation tools and enjoy computational simplicity. The necessary number of treatment …


A Human-Centered Credit-Banking System For Convenient, Fair And Secure Carpooling Among Members Of An Association, H.-S. Jacob Tsao, Magdalini Eirinaki Jan 2015

A Human-Centered Credit-Banking System For Convenient, Fair And Secure Carpooling Among Members Of An Association, H.-S. Jacob Tsao, Magdalini Eirinaki

Faculty Publications

This paper proposes an unconventional carpool-matching system concept that is different from existing systems with four innovative operational features: (F1) The proposed matching system will be used by members of an association and sponsored by the association, e.g., the employees of a company, members of a homeowner association, employees of a shopping center. This expands the scope beyond commute trips. Such associations can also voluntarily form alliances to increase the number of possible carpool partners and geographical reach. (F2) Service provided by a driver or received by a rider incurs credit or debt to a bank centrally and fairly managed …