Engineering Commons^™

Choosing Wearable Internet Of Things Devices For Managing Safety In Construction Using Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process As A Decision Support System, Sharique Khalid

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Many safety and health risks are faced daily by workers in the field of construction. There is unpredictability and risk embedded in the job and work environment. When compared with other industries, the construction industry has one of the highest numbers of worker injuries, illnesses, fatalities, and near-misses. To eliminate these risky events and make worker performance more predictable, new safety technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and Wearable Sensing Devices (WSD) have been highlighted as effective safety systems. Some of these Wearable Internet of Things (WIoT) and sensory devices are already being used in other industries to …

The Role Of Psychological Reactance In Smart Home Energy Management Systems, Matthew Thomas Heatherly

Masters Theses

“With an ever-growing demand for energy, our increasing consumption is producing more greenhouse gases and other pollutants, impacting climate change. One approach to reducing residential energy consumption is through the use of smart energy management systems. However, automation from smart technology inherently removes a certain amount of control from the user. If loss of control is perceived as a loss of freedom, this may lead users to experience psychological reactance when using these products. A set of experiments was conducted to assess how three features of a message notification from smart home energy management systems may induce reactance in users. …

Determining Six Sigma Critical Failure Factors, Eyong Eyong Ebot

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In the current economy, many companies use the Six Sigma concept in enhancing performances by reducing process and product variations in the manufacturing and service sectors. Unacceptable process and product variations have led to high costs of production and less customer satisfaction. After examining the related literature, a quantitative research study was conducted to determine if Six Sigma implementation failures are dependent on the critical effective factors (CEF) and whether the failures are predictable. Six Sigma methodology requires a robust implementation specifically designed to achieve the best project objectives. The identified independent variables (organizational management and statistical tools application) and …

Utilizing Analytics In American Football To Improve Decision Making On Fourth Down, Daniel David Reid Ferguson

Graduate Theses - Engineering Management

The purpose of this paper was to investigate what advantages, if any, an analytical approach using historical data could have in guiding critical game decisions in order to maximize a team’s chances of winning. The analytical approach described in this paper involves using expected point values that correspond to an offensive team’s location on the field and historical first down conversion rates. From this information a decision is made that chooses the fourth-down option that yields the highest amount of expected points. Using historical, data a fourth-down Strategy Sheet was developed based upon expected point values. The Strategy Sheet was …

Transmission Line Inspection Using Suspended Robot: Cost Effective Analysis And Operational Routing Identification, Balaji Rathinam Nagarajan

Masters Theses

"High voltage transmission lines form a crucial part of the energy infrastructure of a country. Effective maintenance is required to maintain its reliability and reduce the probability of the occurrence of the outage. Conventionally, the routine inspection of the transmission line was conducted by linemen with the assistance of hot stick and helicopter, which is considered dangerous, time-consuming, and expensive.

In this thesis, we focus on the initial study of seeking the state of the art robotics technology to by largely replace human beings in transmission line inspection. The existing robotics technologies that are interested by utility companies, as well …

Life-Cycle Analysis Of A Cement Manufacturing Plant Co-Firing Hazardous Waste In The Usa, Stephen P. Holt

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this work was to determine the overall environmental impacts associated with the co-firing hazardous waste by burning in a cement kiln to replace the use of coal in the cement manufacturing process. This environmental assessment was conducted using LCA methodology. Understanding the environmental impacts associated with burning hazardous waste in a cement factory could help shape national environmental policy, regulations and the need for site specific human health risk assessments in the environmental regulatory permitting processes. Accordingly, the primary objective of this study was to evaluate the environmental impacts from the hazardous waste burning for energy recovery …

Emitter Localization And Compressed Sensing: A Low Cost Design Using Coarse Direction Finding Antennas, Andrew Raymond Wagner

Graduate Theses - Engineering Management

Research has been conducted to determine the location of uncooperative radio-frequency (RF) emitters, using low cost sensors employing broadband, low directivity antennas. Comparably lowered accuracy and longer response time may be appropriate trade-offs for size, weight, and power (SWAP). These sensors can then be deployed on numerous testbeds, and algorithms may take advantage of the reconfigurable, distributive network of sensors to precisely determine the location. To conduct this research, a network of three reconfigurable sensors, equipped for emitting and receiving RF signals, was designed based on Universal Software Radio Peripheral (USRP™) technology. This thesis details the experiments conducted and the …

A Real Option Strategic Scorecard Decision Framework For It Project Selection, Cesar Munoz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The problem of project selection is of significant importance in management of information systems. Almost $2 trillion is spent worldwide every year on IT projects, with over $600 billion spent in the US alone. Traditionally, managers have being using the classical net present value (NPV) method in conjunction with multicriteria scoring models for ROI analysis and selection of IT project investments The multicriteria models use ad-hoc evaluation criteria to assign priority weights and then rate the alternatives against each criterion. These models have two limitations. First, the criteria and weights are based on subjective judgments, allowing the introduction of politics …