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Full-Text Articles in Engineering

The Use Of Evidence-Based Design In Hospital Renovation Projects, David S. Whitaker Mar 2018

The Use Of Evidence-Based Design In Hospital Renovation Projects, David S. Whitaker

Theses and Dissertations

Since the 1960s, researchers have been exploring how the design of the built environment impacts the health and well-being of occupants and users. By the 1980s, further research began to focus on healthcare facilities in particular and how design could influence patient healing and medical staff performance (Alfonsi, 2014). Evidence-Based Design (EBD) is "the process of basing decisions about the built environment on credible research to achieve the best possible outcomes" (CHD, 2016). The desired outcomes of Evidence-Based Design recommendations include improvements in the following: patient healing, patient experience and comfort, medical staff performance, and medical staff job satisfaction (CHD, …


Mechanical Properties Of Inconel 718 Processed Using Electron Beam Free Form Fabrication (Ebf3), Brent R. Waters Mar 2018

Mechanical Properties Of Inconel 718 Processed Using Electron Beam Free Form Fabrication (Ebf3), Brent R. Waters

Theses and Dissertations

Electron beam freeform fabrication (EBF3) is a rapid metal deposition process that works efficiently with the wieldable alloy Inconel 718 (IN 718). EBF3 is a developing additive manufacturing (AM) process that can manufacture IN 718 parts directly from computer aided design (CAD) data. EBF3 can produce parts significantly faster and more energy efficient than competing IN 718 AM technologies. The EBF3 process utilizes metal wire feedstock which is induced into a molten pool using a focused electron beam in a vacuum environment. This allows parts to be built layer by layer, creating intricate shapes that …


Project Management: Skills, Tools, And Knowledge Construction Professionals Consider Important For Keeping Projects On Schedule, Lyle Scott Davies Dec 2017

Project Management: Skills, Tools, And Knowledge Construction Professionals Consider Important For Keeping Projects On Schedule, Lyle Scott Davies

Theses and Dissertations

Project managers have a major role in the construction and completion of projects. Much of their work consists of reviewing, clarifying, and coordinating information required by the field management and subcontractors performing the work on the job site. The assistance they give with the transfer of information helps with successfully completing projects. For many people, the largest indicator that a project was successful is that construction activities were completed on schedule. While finishing on schedule may be the primary focus of those involved with construction activities, projects still struggle to finish on time. The purpose of this study is to …


Current State Of Practice Associated With The Use Of Building Information Modeling (Bim) In The Custom Home Building Industry, William Noble Smith Dec 2017

Current State Of Practice Associated With The Use Of Building Information Modeling (Bim) In The Custom Home Building Industry, William Noble Smith

Theses and Dissertations

Building Information Modeling (BIM) has entered the construction industry and has permeated the commercial sector. Research is continually performed to expand the capabilities and applications within the industry. However, research has historically been mostly limited to the commercial sector and has seen little expansion to other sectors of the industry including the residential sector. The potential cause for this may be the limited number of industry professionals who utilize the software to the benefit of their companies. The focus of this study was specifically the custom home building sector of residential construction in the United States because of the unique …


The State Of Bim-Based Quantity Take-Off Implementation Among Commercial General Contractors, Morgan Christian Tagg Nov 2017

The State Of Bim-Based Quantity Take-Off Implementation Among Commercial General Contractors, Morgan Christian Tagg

Theses and Dissertations

Building Information Modeling (BIM) plays an important role in today's construction industry. Models are tools that help stakeholders communicate, visualize building geometry, perform trade coordination and clash detection among others. A less popular aspect of BIM that shows high potential is the quantity take-off (QTO) feature. Yet, its implementation among commercial general contractors (GC) has not received as much attention. The purpose of this study was to identify how the BIM QTO features were being implemented among commercial general contractors, what challenges they faced and how they worked to overcome those challenges. Through a three-step process including semi structured interviews …


Crack Healing In 304l Stainless Steel Using Additive Manufacturing And Friction Stir Processing (Fsp), Cameron Scott Gygi Aug 2017

Crack Healing In 304l Stainless Steel Using Additive Manufacturing And Friction Stir Processing (Fsp), Cameron Scott Gygi

Theses and Dissertations

Continuing an investigation on using FSP to heal stress corrosion cracks (SCC) in welds on nuclear reactors, this study seeks to use AM in addition to FSP to aid crack repair. Previous studies address that current repair technology on nuclear reactors involves the use of TIG welding which can allow helium atoms to aggregate and form voids at the grain boundaries. This weakens the material and renders the repair ineffective. Another previous study evaluated the effectiveness of FSP alone in repairing SCC which did have defects depending on the parameters used during FSP. This study evaluated the use of AM …


An Investigation Of The Impact A Rov Competition Curriculum Has On Student Interest In Stem, Specifically Technology And Engineering, Daniel Gordon Bates Jun 2016

An Investigation Of The Impact A Rov Competition Curriculum Has On Student Interest In Stem, Specifically Technology And Engineering, Daniel Gordon Bates

Student Works

This research investigates the impact a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) program has on student interest in, and perception of, technology and engineering (sTEm). ROV programs embed areas of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) into their curriculum; however, emphasis for this study is placed on interest and perception of the "T" and "E" of STEM. Although there are many articles detailing the benefits of ROV programs, there is little empirical data documenting the impact on student interest and perception of sTEm. This study outlines the background of a few major ROV programs in the U.S.; specifically Utah Underwater Robotics (UUR), …


An Investigation Of The Impact A Rov Competition Curriculum Has On Student Interest In Stem, Specifically Technology And Engineering, Daniel Gordon Bates Jun 2016

An Investigation Of The Impact A Rov Competition Curriculum Has On Student Interest In Stem, Specifically Technology And Engineering, Daniel Gordon Bates

Theses and Dissertations

This research investigates the impact a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) program has on student interest in, and perception of, technology and engineering (sTEm). ROV programs embed areas of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) into their curriculum; however, emphasis for this study is placed on interest and perception of the "T" and "E" of STEM. Although there are many articles detailing the benefits of ROV programs, there is little empirical data documenting the impact on student interest and perception of sTEm. This study outlines the background of a few major ROV programs in the U.S.; specifically Utah Underwater Robotics (UUR), …


Friction Bit Joining Of Dissimilar Combinations Of Gadp 1180 Steel And Aa 7085 – T76 Aluminum, Lorne Steele Atwood Jun 2016

Friction Bit Joining Of Dissimilar Combinations Of Gadp 1180 Steel And Aa 7085 – T76 Aluminum, Lorne Steele Atwood

Theses and Dissertations

Friction Bit Joining (FBJ) is a method used to join lightweight metals to advanced high-strength steels (AHSS). The automotive industry is experiencing pressure to improve fuel efficiency in their vehicles. The use of AHSS and aluminum will reduce vehicle weight which will assist in reducing fuel consumption. Previous research achieved joint strengths well above that which was required in three out of the four standard joint strength tests using DP980 AHSS and 7075 aluminum. The joints were mechanically tested and passed the lap-shear tension, cross-tension, and fatigue cycling tests. The t-peel test configuration never passed the minimum requirements. The purpose …


Computing Research In Academia: Classifications, Keywords, Perceptions, And Connections, Sung Han Kim May 2016

Computing Research In Academia: Classifications, Keywords, Perceptions, And Connections, Sung Han Kim

Theses and Dissertations

The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) recognizes five computing disciplines: Computer Science (CS), Computer Engineering (CE), Information Technology (IT), Information Systems (IS), and Software Engineering (SE). Founded in 1947 the ACM is the world's largest society for computing educators, researchers, and professionals. While Computer Science has been a degree program since 1962, the other four are relatively new. This research focuses on understanding the graduate research in four of the five ACM disciplines (CS, CE, IT, and IS) using a large body of thesis and dissertation metadata. SE is not found in the metadata and graduate work in SE is …


Implementation Of Bim In The Municipal Plan Review Process, Liz Shantalle Ricardo Belliard May 2016

Implementation Of Bim In The Municipal Plan Review Process, Liz Shantalle Ricardo Belliard

Theses and Dissertations

Obtaining a building permit is an important step for any construction project. Whether it is for a new construction or a remodel job, the process involves a plan review performed by building officials. The purpose of this research was to explore ways in which Building Information Modeling (BIM) could be used to aid code officials during the plan review process. The objectives of the study were to determine if the level of detail in BIM was complete enough to allow a plan review to be perform accurately, to identify the extent to which architects are comfortable with using their models …


Use Of Personality Profile Assessments In The Construction Industry, Brian Richard Childs Dec 2015

Use Of Personality Profile Assessments In The Construction Industry, Brian Richard Childs

Theses and Dissertations

Various industries are using personality profile assessments as tools to help reduce employee turnover. Employee turnover is a continuing challenge in the construction industry that has negative effects on construction companies. Research found that it was difficult to know if companies in the construction industry are using personality profile assessments as a tool to help reduce employee turnover. After understanding that other industries were using personality profile assessments in their hiring, promoting, team building and leadership development to reduce turnover, it was desired to understand if the construction industry was doing the same. This research performed a survey among the …


Evaluating The Security Of Smart Home Hubs, Steven A. Christiaens Aug 2015

Evaluating The Security Of Smart Home Hubs, Steven A. Christiaens

Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this research is to improve the security of smart home hubs by developing a standard against which hubs can be evaluated. This was done by first reviewing existing standards, guides, and collections of best practices. I determined that adapting or extending an existing standard was the best way to proceed. Potential candidates were selected, and after thorough comparison, I chose to extend the OWASP Application Security Verification Standard (ASVS). Extensions were composed of additional security requirements to address smart home hub functionality not covered by the existing requirements of the ASVS. These additional requirements were developed based …


Assessing The Repercussions Of A Mass Departure Of Building Inspectors From The Code Professional Industry In Utah, George Reese Williams Jun 2015

Assessing The Repercussions Of A Mass Departure Of Building Inspectors From The Code Professional Industry In Utah, George Reese Williams

Theses and Dissertations

National studies suggest that eighty percent of existing code professionals are expected to retire within the next fifteen years. As part of this research, it was determined that approximately half of all licensed building inspectors in the State of Utah will reach retirement age within the next ten years. As building inspectors make up a large part of the Code Professional Industry this demographic was selected as the focus of this research. The purpose of this research project was to assess the urgent need for new entrants into the Code Professional Industry in Utah. As part of this research, trends …


Organizational Learning In Commercial Construction: Lessons Learned From The 2007-2009 U.S. Recession, Evan Michael Danforth Apr 2015

Organizational Learning In Commercial Construction: Lessons Learned From The 2007-2009 U.S. Recession, Evan Michael Danforth

Theses and Dissertations

Organizational learning seeks to proactively expand the knowledge base of an organizational entity by incorporating knowledge, skills, and experience into the collective conscience of the company through the development of routines rather than relying on individual employees for these traits. Valuable experience gained by individuals who weather economic downturn with their companies must be absorbed into the corporate structure in a meaningful way so that it may be accessible for use during future recessions. This research asks what was learned by individuals during the most recent recession, what mechanisms were employed to retain and utilize this knowledge, and what cultures, …


An Investigation Of Project Delivery Methods Relating To Repetitive Commercial Construction, Donald A. Patterson Jul 2014

An Investigation Of Project Delivery Methods Relating To Repetitive Commercial Construction, Donald A. Patterson

Theses and Dissertations

The Design/Bid/Build (DBB) delivery method has historically been the most popular and the most effective means of determining the least cost for building a project based upon a set of construction documents. In recent years, however, other project delivery methods, including but limited to Construction Manager/General Contractor (CM/GC) and Design/Build (DB), have slowly taken a share of the construction market away from the DBB delivery method. The choice of delivery method that will produce the best value for an owner in the measurements of efficiency in quality, cost, and timeliness depends upon the type of project and the business culture …


Creating Total Value Engineering Through Combining Design For Manufacturing And Design For Six Sigma Constructs, David Ryan Christensen Jul 2014

Creating Total Value Engineering Through Combining Design For Manufacturing And Design For Six Sigma Constructs, David Ryan Christensen

Theses and Dissertations

The modern manufacturing world has been driven to compete in a more international and interconnected system. This has led to increased focus upon frameworks and architectures to guarantee quality, high market acceptance, and reduce cost. Modern manufacturing design processes evolved largely from Henry Ford at Ford Motor Company, and Alfred Sloan at General Motors. Their structures embody two different focuses on quality and value engineering which have influenced many recent design frameworks. In the 1970s a heavy emphasis was placed upon Design for Manufacturing, which uses group technology, commonality of processes, and continual focus to reduce part count. Some companies …


Analysis Of Data Center Network Convergence Technologies, Robert-Lee Daniel Leblanc Jul 2014

Analysis Of Data Center Network Convergence Technologies, Robert-Lee Daniel Leblanc

Theses and Dissertations

The networks in traditional data centers have remained unchanged for decades and have grown large, complex and costly. Many data centers have a general purpose Ethernet network and one or more additional specialized networks for storage or high performance low latency applications. Network convergence promises to lower the cost and complexity of the data center network by virtualizing the different networks onto a single wire. There is little evidence, aside from vendors' claims, that validate network convergence actually achieves these goals. This work defines a framework for creating a series of unbiased tests to validate converged technologies and compare them …


Friction Bit Joining Of Dissimilar Combinations Of Advanced High-Strength Steel And Aluminum Alloys, Lile P. Squires Jun 2014

Friction Bit Joining Of Dissimilar Combinations Of Advanced High-Strength Steel And Aluminum Alloys, Lile P. Squires

Theses and Dissertations

Friction bit joining (FBJ) is a new method that enables lightweight metal to be joined to advanced high-strength steels. Weight reduction through the use of advanced high-strength materials is necessary in the automotive industry, as well as other markets, where weight savings are increasingly emphasized in pursuit of fuel efficiency. The purpose of this research is twofold: (1) to understand the influence that process parameters such as bit design, material type and machine commands have on the consistency and strength of friction bit joints in dissimilar metal alloys; and (2) to pioneer machine and bit configurations that would aid commercial, …


Current Bim Practices Of Commercial Mep Contractors, Bryan John Kent Jun 2014

Current Bim Practices Of Commercial Mep Contractors, Bryan John Kent

Theses and Dissertations

Building Information Modeling (BIM) use in the contracting industry has grown significantly in recent years. With this change in the construction industry, consensus has not been reached as to what BIM is, who is using it and what they are using it for. The purpose of this research was to determine current BIM practices of US-based commercial MEP contractors. Executive, middle management, and field personnel were interviewed to determine the current BIM practices in their companies. The majority of companies interviewed were using BIM and most were using it on a significant portion of their projects. The majority of MEP …


Termediator-Ii: Identification Of Interdisciplinary Term Ambiguity Through Hierarchical Cluster Analysis, Owen G. Riley Apr 2014

Termediator-Ii: Identification Of Interdisciplinary Term Ambiguity Through Hierarchical Cluster Analysis, Owen G. Riley

Theses and Dissertations

Technical disciplines are evolving rapidly leading to changes in their associated vocabularies. Confusion in interdisciplinary communication occurs due to this evolving terminology. Two causes of confusion are multiple definitions (overloaded terms) and synonymous terms. The formal names for these two problems are polysemy and synonymy. Termediator-I, a web application built on top of a collection of glossaries, uses definition count as a measure of term confusion. This tool was an attempt to identify confusing cross-disciplinary terms. As more glossaries were added to the collection, this measure became ineffective. This thesis provides a measure of term polysemy. Term polysemy is effectively …


Multi-Rotor--Aided Three-Dimensional 802.11 Wireless Heat Mapping, Scott James Pack Mar 2014

Multi-Rotor--Aided Three-Dimensional 802.11 Wireless Heat Mapping, Scott James Pack

Theses and Dissertations

Traditional wireless site surveys produce a heat-map of link strength or quality over a target area, usually on the ground plane. In recent years research has gone into using aerial drones in network attack and surveillance, making three dimensional awareness of wireless coverage areas of interest. A multi-rotor drone and data collection module were built and tested as part of this research. Site assessments were conducted both in open space and near structures. Collected data was interpolated across the target area, and visualized as points and contours. These visualizations were exported to a Keyhole Markup Language (KML) for visualization in …


The Performance Of Risk Management And Innovation In Construction Manager/General Contractor Delivery In Civil Construction Applications, Rebecca M. Owens Dec 2013

The Performance Of Risk Management And Innovation In Construction Manager/General Contractor Delivery In Civil Construction Applications, Rebecca M. Owens

Theses and Dissertations

Project teams that deliver high risk, complex projects in the civil construction industry need tools to enable successful delivery. Construction Manager/General Contractor (CM/GC) is an innovative alternate delivery method, providing one such a tool. CM/GC furnishes public agencies with an attractive option for delivering projects in a less adversarial and more constructive manner by involving the contractor during design. The sophisticated public owner does not have to relinquish control of the details of the design in order to accelerate the schedule or see the benefits of real-time cost estimating data. There are also significant cost and schedule benefits with not …


A Comparative Analysis Of Energy Modelingmethods For Commercial Buildings, Spencer Mark Salmon Jul 2013

A Comparative Analysis Of Energy Modelingmethods For Commercial Buildings, Spencer Mark Salmon

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis researched the accuracy of measured energy data in comparison to estimated hand calculation data and estimated building energy performance simulation data. In the facility management industry, there is minimal evidence that building energy performance software is being used as a benchmark against measured energy usage within a building. Research was conducted to find examples of measured energy data compared to simulated data. The study examined the accuracy of a simulation software and hand calculations to measured energy data. Data suggests that comparisons may be made between building energy performance simulated data and measured data, though comparisons are solely …


Starch Resin Moisture Level Effect On Injection Molding Processability And Molded Part Mechanical Properties With Pure Starch Resin And Polymer Blends, Jordan M. Ellingson Mar 2013

Starch Resin Moisture Level Effect On Injection Molding Processability And Molded Part Mechanical Properties With Pure Starch Resin And Polymer Blends, Jordan M. Ellingson

Theses and Dissertations

The current and forecasted global consumption of plastic packaging and products through the 21st century combined with the already reported and growing negative impact of plastics on the environment due to plastics being synthesized from nonrenewable resources that do not biodegrade is of serious concern. However, recent advances in starch technology including the development of thermoplastic starch (TPS) materials —polymers that are both renewable and biodegradable—have brought hope to reducing this impact. The mechanical properties of thermoplastic starch have often been improved by blending with synthetic polymers. One issue that arises with blending is volatilization of the melt from moisture …


Location-Allocation Optimization Of Supply Chain Distribution Networks: A Case Study, Mark Nicholas Helberg Mar 2013

Location-Allocation Optimization Of Supply Chain Distribution Networks: A Case Study, Mark Nicholas Helberg

Theses and Dissertations

The location of distribution centers is an important strategic decision in supply chain design, particularly as it relates to service quality, productivity, and profitability of the firm. There has been extensive research performed on distribution location models which require the use of complex algorithms and assumptions that make use of these models difficult in practice for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that have limited capital and resources. Studies have also failed to capture and quantify potential business results of using more sophisticated methods. In this study, a deterministic and static location-allocation model is designed using a prototype software tool. The …


Best Practices Using Building Information Modeling In Commercial Construction, Simon Beveridge Dec 2012

Best Practices Using Building Information Modeling In Commercial Construction, Simon Beveridge

Theses and Dissertations

There has been an increase in adoption of building information modeling (BIM) by commercial contractors over the past few years but there is not a clear indication of current application or the frequency of each use. This research was undertaken to determine the frequency and best practices of using BIM in commercial construction. Leading commercial contracting firms were contacted and employees were selected to complete a telephone survey that was designed to determine how they are using BIM. It was found that BIM is being used with more frequency on projects, with plans to continue to implement it even further …


A Comparative Study Of Strength And Stiffness Of Thin-Walled Specimens Fabricated By Fdm And 3d Printing Technologies, Miranda Rodrigo Jul 2012

A Comparative Study Of Strength And Stiffness Of Thin-Walled Specimens Fabricated By Fdm And 3d Printing Technologies, Miranda Rodrigo

Theses and Dissertations

Rapid Prototyped part failure constitutes a major issue for both RP providers and customers. When parts fail the reputation of the vendor is heavily deteriorated, customer dissatisfaction increase and replacement of the broken parts is often necessary to avoid the loss of future business. Product design teams often run into situations where Rapid Prototyped parts are not able to withstand shipping and handling and delivered broken or while demonstrating and examining the parts. When done in the face of customers this builds a perception of poor quality and lack of aptitude on the design group as well as the RP …


Safety Issues Among Hispanic Construction Workers Along The Wasatch Front In Utah, Phavel Israel Loayza Chahuayo Dec 2011

Safety Issues Among Hispanic Construction Workers Along The Wasatch Front In Utah, Phavel Israel Loayza Chahuayo

Theses and Dissertations

During the last few decades immigration by foreigners seeking work in the construction industry in the United States has increased dramatically. Of those seeking jobs in construction, Hispanics represent the largest and fastest growing population. The proportion of reportable accidents among Hispanic on-site construction workers in the United States is higher than that of non-Hispanics. This trend of on-site construction accidents is evident not only in states that have traditionally high populations of Hispanics, such as New York, Florida, California, Arizona, and Texas, it is also manifested in the State of Utah. This research focused on causes of accidents among …


Unintended Social And Economic Consequences Resulting From The Implementation Of New Construction Technologies In The Developing World, Andrew J. South Jul 2011

Unintended Social And Economic Consequences Resulting From The Implementation Of New Construction Technologies In The Developing World, Andrew J. South

Theses and Dissertations

One of the key components of international development is to provide adequate shelter for citizens of developing countries. This is often accomplished by governmental, non- governmental, and private organizations that seek to lower the cost, increase the quality, and expand the availability of safe, sustainable housing through the use of innovative technologies. These new technologies can affect the social and/or economic structure within communities. This paper is a case study resulting from the construction of a seventy-one-home village, including infrastructure, near Yogyakarta, Indonesia by a foreign, aid-based non-governmental organization (NGO). The village was relocated less than two kilometers from its …