Engineering Commons^™

Resource Allocation In Subsidy Welfare Programs: Managerial Insights For Nonprofits, Governments, And Service Providers, Wei Wei

Doctoral Dissertations

Subsidy welfare programs provide financial assistance to economically disadvantaged individuals and families to access essential and life-altering services (e.g., education, child care, and housing) that they might not otherwise have access to. Access to these services is considered critical to achieving a better and more sustainable future for all. As such, these high-quality services are directly related to several United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, which were adopted as a universal call to action to end poverty, save the planet and improve the lives and prospects of everyone, everywhere." In particular, the need for these affordable and high-quality services has been …

Improving Safety Service Patrol Performance, Mecit Cetin, Hong Yang, Kun Xie, Sherif Ishak, Guocong Zhai, Junqing Wang, Giridhar Kattepogu

Civil & Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Safety Service Patrols (SSPs) provide motorists with assistance free of charge on most freeways and some key primary roads in Virginia. This research project is focused on developing a tool to help the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) optimize SSP routes and schedules (hereafter called SSP-OPT). The computational tool, SSP-OPT, takes readily available data (e.g., corridor and segment lengths, turnaround points, average annual daily traffic) and outputs potential SSP configurations that meet the desired criteria and produce the best possible performance metrics for a given corridor. At a high level, the main components of the developed tool include capabilities to: …

Optimal Design And Operation Of Integrated Hydrogen Generation And Utilization Plants, Ijiwole Solomon Ijiyinka

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

There are considerable efforts worldwide for reducing the use of fossil fuel for energy production. While renewable energy sources are being increasingly used, fossil fuel still contribute about 80% of the energy used worldwide. As a result, the level of CO₂ is still increasing fast in the atmosphere currently exceeding about 410 parts per million (ppm). For reducing CO₂ build up in the atmosphere, various approaches are being investigated. For the electric power generation sector, two key approaches are post-combustion CO₂ capture and use of hydrogen as a fuel for power generation. These two solutions can also …

Price Optimization For Revenue Maximization At Scale, Nikhil Gupta, Massimiliano Moro, Kailey A. Ayala, Bivin Sadler

SMU Data Science Review

This study presents a novel approach to price optimization in order to maximize revenue for the distribution market of non-perishable products. Data analysis techniques such as association mining, statistical modeling, machine learning, and an automated machine learning platform are used to forecast the demand for products considering the impact of pricing. The techniques used allow for accurate modeling of the customer’s buying patterns including cross effects such as cannibalization and the halo effect. This study uses data from 2013 to 2019 for Super Premium Whiskey from a large distributor of alcoholic beverages. The expected demand and the ideal pricing strategy …

Models And Solution Approaches For Integrated Student To School Assignment And School Bus Routing Problem Focusing On Special Needs Students, Azadeh Ansari

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

This dissertation addresses the integrated problem of assigning students to schools and generating school bus routes particularly focusing on the special needs students is addressed. Special needs students generally require supplementary accommodations and must be picked up from and dropped off at their home addresses. This will increase the number of nodes in the network and therefore introduces additional complexities to the problems of assignment and routing for students. An integrated single objective mathematical model is first developed that simultaneously assigns the students to schools based on their needs and generates efficient bus routes to deliver the students to their …

Efficiency Analysis Of A Congested Brazilian Airport Applying Slots Optimization Control: Congonhas Airport Case, Mariana Franco B. Mendes, Rafael Roco De Araujo, Ana Paula Beck Da Silva Etges, Massoud Bazargan

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

The current slot allocation mechanism in Brazil, based on the International Air Transport Association (IATA) rules, and its supplementary local regulation The National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC), displays a few issues and limitations (e.g. slot misuse, allocation inefficiencies). Such issues are particularly present in the case of busy airports that works near their maximum capacity for major parts of the day. This inefficiency problem is generated because of the complexity of slot allocation added to the limited decision support available for the Brazilian system. This study focuses on the implementation of an optimal slot model, based on IATA regulations with …

Optimization Of Automated Guided Vehicles (Agv) Fleet Size With Incorporation Of Battery Management, Ahmed Hamdy

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

An important aspect in manufacturing automation is material handling. To facilitate material handling, automated transport systems are implemented and employed. The AGV (automated guided vehicle) has become widely used for internal and external transport of materials. A critical aspect in the use of AGVs is determining the number of vehicles required for the system to meet the material handling requirements.

Several models and simulations have been applied to determine the fleet size. Most of these models and simulations do not incorporate the battery usage of the vehicles and the effect it can have on the throughput and the number of …

Technical Project Management: Union Of Systems Engineering Processes With Project Management Processes, Deyaaldeen M. Abusal

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Today, most projects in technical fields utilize project management to complete projects as planned, and some of the projects utilize system engineering to cover the project in both technically and commercially. This Thesis investigates the relationship between Project Management (PM) and Systems Engineering (SE) to determine if a suitably professional level of management and level of quality can be achieved. When studying PM and SE separately and make a comparison between both, there is much overlap between these two mature fields. The project could be planned and completed solely by either process. This study combines both fields of Project Management …

An Optimization Model For Operating Room Scheduling To Reduce Blocking Across The Perioperative Process, Amin Abedini, Wei Li, Honghan Ye

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications

Operating room (OR) scheduling is important. Because of increasing demand for surgical services, hospitals must provide high quality care more efficiently with limited resources. When constructing the OR schedule, it is necessary to consider the availability of downstream resources, such as intensive care unit (ICU) and post anaesthesia care unit (PACU). The unavailability of downstream resources causes blockings between every two consecutive stages. In this paper we address the master surgical schedule (MSS) problem in order to minimize blockings between two consecutive stages. First, we present a blocking minimization (BM) model for the MSS by using integer programming, based on …

Warranty Period And Product Price Optimization For Remanufactured Products, Yuxi Liu

Theses and Dissertations

This study considers a remanufactured electrical product under a tiered warranty policy. Warranty is key in ensuring a good manufacturer—consumer relationship. Manufacturers hope to minimize warranty costs while consumers believe that good warranty promises better product quality and reliability. This Thesis presents an optimal warranty period from the perspective of a manufacturer to maximize the total expected profits, while ensuring sustained consumer relation. We use real data from a local company with a global supply chain to provide a numerical example.

Mathematical Modeling For Platform-Based Product Configuration Considering Total Life-Cycle Sustainability, Tian Lan

Theses and Dissertations--Mechanical Engineering

Many companies are using platform-based product designs to fulfill the requirements of customers while maintaining low cost. However, research that integrates sustainability into platform-based product design is still limited. Considering sustainability during platform-based design process is a challenge because the total life-cycle from pre-manufacturing, manufacturing and use to post-use stages as well as economic, environmental and societal performance in these stages must be considered. In this research, an approach for quantifying sustainability is introduced and a mathematical model is developed for identifying a more sustainable platform. Data from life-cycle assessment is used to quantify environmental factors; criteria from the Product …

Runway Operations Management: Models, Enhancements, And Decomposition Techniques, Farbod Farhadi

Doctoral Dissertations

Air traffic loads have been on the rise over the last several decades and are expected to double, and possibly triple in some regions, over the coming decade. With the advent of larger aircraft and ever-increasing air traffic loads, aviation authorities are continually pressured to examine capacity expansions and to adopt better strategies for capacity utilization. However, this growth in air traffic volumes has not been accompanied by adequate capacity expansions in the air transport infrastructure. It is, therefore, predicted that flight delays costing multi-billion dollars will continue to negatively impact airline companies and consumers. In airport operations management, runways …

A Distributed Consensus Algorithm For Decision Making In Service-Oriented Internet Of Things, Shancang Li, George Oikonomou, Theo Tryfonas, Thomas M. Chen, Li Da Xu

Information Technology & Decision Sciences Faculty Publications

In a service-oriented Internet of things (IoT) deployment, it is difficult to make consensus decisions for services at different IoT edge nodes where available information might be insufficient or overloaded. Existing statistical methods attempt to resolve the inconsistency, which requires adequate information to make decisions. Distributed consensus decision making (CDM) methods can provide an efficient and reliable means of synthesizing information by using a wider range of information than existing statistical methods. In this paper, we first discuss service composition for the IoT by minimizing the multi-parameter dependent matching value. Subsequently, a cluster-based distributed algorithm is proposed, whereby consensuses are …

Economic Report On Vanadium Redox Flow Battery With Optimization Of Flow Rate, Kevin Spellman, Kendrick Stiles, Ian Little

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Economic Modeling & Optimization Of A Region Specific Multi-Feedstock Biorefinery Supply Chain, William H. Faulkner

Theses and Dissertations--Manufacturing Systems Engineering

The objective of this thesis is to include strategic and tactical level decisions into the biorefinery supply chain design for a specific region while comparing multiple conversion technologies and biomass feedstocks. The allocation of biomass feedstocks, products, and the respective supply chain configuration locations are determined while ensuring the regions monthly biomass availability and product market demand constraints are met. This research considers all actions required to bring the bio-based products to market from harvesting, storing, and processing the biomass to market distribution. Two different conversion technologies are chosen for comparison: one advanced conversion technology and one conventional technology. Potential …

A Study On Facility Planning Using Discrete Event Simulation: Case Study Of A Grain Delivery Terminal., Sarah M. Asio

Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The application of traditional approaches to the design of efficient facilities can be tedious and time consuming when uncertainty and a number of constraints exist. Queuing models and mathematical programming techniques are not able to capture the complex interaction between resources, the environment and space constraints for dynamic stochastic processes. In the following study discrete event simulation is applied to the facility planning process for a grain delivery terminal. The discrete event simulation approach has been applied to studies such as capacity planning and facility layout for a gasoline station and evaluating the resource requirements for a manufacturing facility. To …

A Method To Improve The Sustainment Of Systems Based On Probability And Consequences, Michael Ashton Gaintner

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The FROST Method is presented which improves the efficiency of long-term sustainment of hardware systems. The FROST Method makes sustainment and scheduling decisions based on the minimization of the expected value of current and future costs. This differs from current methods which tend to base decisions not on the expected value of costs, but on the expected inventory demand found through projections using data which is often inaccurate.

Distributions are used to account for randomness and inaccuracy in inputs such as failure rates and vendor-claimed dates for end of production. A Monte Carlo technique is then used to convert these …

Optimizing The Rearrangement Process In A Dedicated Warehouse, Hector J. Carlo, German E. Giraldo

11th IMHRC Proceedings (Milwaukee, Wisconsin. USA – 2010)

Determining the optimal storage assignment for products in a dedicated warehouse has been addressed extensively in the Facility Logistics literature. However, the process of implementing a particular storage assignment given the current location of products has not received much attention in the existing literature. Typically, warehouses use downtime or overtime to remove products from their current location and move them to the suggested location. This work presents the Rearrange-While-Working (RWW) policy to optimize the process of rearranging a dedicated warehouse. The RWW policy seeks to relocate products in a warehouse from the initial arrangement to the optimal arrangement while serving …

Automated Manpower Rostering: Techniques And Experience, C. M. Khoong, Hoong Chuin Lau, L. W. Chew

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

We present ROMAN, a comprehensive, generic manpower rostering toolkit that successfully handles a wide spectrum of work policies found in service organizations. We review the use of various techniques and methodologies in the toolkit that contribute to its robustness and efficiency, and relate experience gained in addressing manpower rostering problems in industry.