Computer Engineering Commons^™

Methods That Support The Validation Of Agent-Based Models: An Overview And Discussion, Andrew Collins, Matthew Koehler, Christopher Lynch

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

Validation is the process of determining if a model adequately represents the system under study for the model’s intended purpose. Validation is a critical component in building the credibility of a simulation model with its end-users. Effectively conducting validation can be a daunting task for both novice and experienced simulation developers. Further compounding the difficult task of conducting validation is that there is no universally accepted approach for assessing a simulation. These challenges are particularly relevant to the paradigm of Agent-Based Modeling and Simulation (ABMS) because of the complexity found in these models’ mechanisms and in the real-world situations they …

Reinforcing Digital Trust For Cloud Manufacturing Through Data Provenance Using Ethereum Smart Contracts, Trupti Narayan Rane

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Cloud Manufacturing(CMfg) is an advanced manufacturing model that caters to fast-paced agile requirements (Putnik, 2012). For manufacturing complex products that require extensive resources, manufacturers explore advanced manufacturing techniques like CMfg as it becomes infeasible to achieve high standards through complete ownership of manufacturing artifacts (Kuan et al., 2011). CMfg, with other names such as Manufacturing as a Service (MaaS) and Cyber Manufacturing (NSF, 2020), addresses the shortcoming of traditional manufacturing by building a virtual cyber enterprise of geographically distributed entities that manufacture custom products through collaboration.

With manufacturing venturing into cyberspace, Digital Trust issues concerning product quality, data, and intellectual …

Cyber Resilience Analytics For Cyber-Physical Systems, Md Ariful Haque

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Cyber-physical systems (CPSs) are complex systems that evolve from the integrations of components dealing with physical processes and real-time computations, along with networking. CPSs often incorporate approaches merging from different scientific fields such as embedded systems, control systems, operational technology, information technology systems (ITS), and cybernetics. Today critical infrastructures (CIs) (e.g., energy systems, electric grids, etc.) and other CPSs (e.g., manufacturing industries, autonomous transportation systems, etc.) are experiencing challenges in dealing with cyberattacks. Major cybersecurity concerns are rising around CPSs because of their ever-growing use of information technology based automation. Often the security concerns are limited to probability-based possible attack …

Hard-Real-Time Computing Performance In A Cloud Environment, Alvin Cornelius Murphy

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The United States Department of Defense (DoD) is rapidly working with DoD Services to move from multi-year (e.g., 7-10) traditional acquisition programs to a commercial industrybased approach for software development. While commercial technologies and approaches provide an opportunity for rapid fielding of mission capabilities to pace threats, the suitability of commercial technologies to meet hard-real-time requirements within a surface combat system is unclear. This research establishes technical data to validate the effectiveness and suitability of current commercial technologies to meet the hard-real-time demands of a DoD combat management system. (Moreland Jr., 2013) conducted similar research; however, microservices, containers, and container …

Evaluation Of Generative Models For Predicting Microstructure Geometries In Laser Powder Bed Fusion Additive Manufacturing, Andy Ramlatchan

Computer Science Theses & Dissertations

In-situ process monitoring for metals additive manufacturing is paramount to the successful build of an object for application in extreme or high stress environments. In selective laser melting additive manufacturing, the process by which a laser melts metal powder during the build will dictate the internal microstructure of that object once the metal cools and solidifies. The difficulty lies in that obtaining enough variety of data to quantify the internal microstructures for the evaluation of its physical properties is problematic, as the laser passes at high speeds over powder grains at a micrometer scale. Imaging the process in-situ is complex …

Agile Research - Getting Beyond The Buzzword, Trupti Narayan Rane

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

"Oh yeah, we're an Agile shop, we gave up Waterfall years ago." - product owners, managers, or could be anyone else. You will seldom have a conversation with a product or software development team member without the agile buzzword thrown at you at the drop of a hat. It would not be an oversell to say that Agile software development has been adopted at a large scale across several big and small organizations. Clearly, Agile is an ideology that is working, which made me explore more on its applicability in research. As someone who has been in the Information Technology …

A Literature Review On Combining Heuristics And Exact Algorithms In Combinatorial Optimization, Hesamoddin Tahami, Hengameh Fakhravar

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

There are several approaches for solving hard optimization problems. Mathematical programming techniques such as (integer) linear programming-based methods and metaheuristic approaches are two extremely effective streams for combinatorial problems. Different research streams, more or less in isolation from one another, created these two. Only several years ago, many scholars noticed the advantages and enormous potential of building hybrids of combining mathematical programming methodologies and metaheuristics. In reality, many problems can be solved much better by exploiting synergies between these approaches than by “pure” classical algorithms. The key question is how to integrate mathematical programming methods and metaheuristics to achieve such …

Authentication Schemes' Impact On Working Memory, Janine D. Mator

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Authentication is the process by which a computing system validates a user’s identity. Although this process is necessary for system security, users view authentication as a frequent disruption to their primary tasks. During this disruption, primary task information must be actively maintained in working memory. As a result, primary task information stored in working memory is at risk of being lost or corrupted while users authenticate. For over two decades, researchers have focused on developing more memorable passwords by replacing alphanumeric text with visual graphics (Biddle et al., 2012). However, very little attention has been given to the impact authentication …

Human Factors, Ergonomics And Industry 4.0 In The Oil & Gas Industry: A Bibliometric Analysis, Francesco Longo, Antonio Padovano, Lucia Gazzaneo, Jessica Frangella, Rafael Diaz

VMASC Publications

Over the last few years, the Human Factors and Ergonomics (HF/E) discipline has significantly benefited from new human-centric engineered digital solutions of the 4.0 industrial age. Technologies are creating new socio-technical interactions between human and machine that minimize the risk of design-induced human errors and have largely contributed to remarkable improvements in terms of process safety, productivity, quality, and workers’ well-being. However, despite the Oil&Gas (O&G) sector is one of the most hazardous environments where human error can have severe consequences, Industry 4.0 aspects are still scarcely integrated with HF/E. This paper calls for a holistic understanding of the changing …

Developing An Artificial Intelligence Framework To Assess Shipbuilding And Repair Sub-Tier Supply Chains Risk, Rafael Diaz, Katherine Smith, Beatriz Acero, Francesco Longo, Antonio Padovano

VMASC Publications

The defense shipbuilding and repair industry is a labor-intensive sector that can be characterized by low-product volumes and high investments in which a large number of shared resources, technology, suppliers, and processes asynchronously converge into large construction projects. It is mainly organized by the execution of a complex combination of sequential and overlapping stages. While entities engaged in this large-scale endeavor are often knowledgeable about their first-tier suppliers, they usually do not have insight into the lower tiers suppliers. A sizable part of any supply chain disruption is attributable to instabilities in sub-tier suppliers. This research note conceptually delineates a …

Human Characteristics Impact On Strategic Decisions In A Human-In-The-Loop Simulation, Andrew J. Collins, Shieda Etemadidavan

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

In this paper, a hybrid simulation model of the agent-based model and cooperative game theory is used in a human-in-the-loop experiment to study the effect of human demographic characteristics in situations where they make strategic coalition decisions. Agent-based modeling (ABM) is a computational method that can reveal emergent phenomenon from interactions between agents in an environment. It has been suggested in organizational psychology that ABM could model human behavior more holistically than other modeling methods. Cooperative game theory is a method that models strategic coalitions formation. Three characteristics (age, education, and gender) were considered in the experiment to see if …

Virginia Digital Shipbuilding Program (Vdsp): Building An Agile Modern Workforce To Improve Performance In The Shipbuilding And Ship Repair Industry, Joseph Peter Kosteczko, Katherine Smith, Jessica Johnson, Rafael Diaz

VMASC Publications

Industry 4.0 is the latest stage in the Industrial Revolution and is reflected in the digital transformation and use of emergent technologies including the Internet of Things, Big Data, Robotic automation of processes, 3D printing and additive manufacturing, drones and Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the manufacturing industry. The implementation of these technologies in the Shipbuilding and Ship Repair Industry is currently in a nascent stage. Considering this, there is huge potential to increase cost savings, decrease production timelines, and drive down inefficiencies in Lifecyle management of ships. However, the implementation of these Industry 4.0 technologies is hindered by a noticeable …

A Common Knowledge Engineering Framework For Data Assimilation, Correlation, And Extrapolation (Dace), Edward P. Weaver

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Projects for D. Eng. Degree

The Common Knowledge Engineering Framework for Data Assimilation, Correlation, and Extrapolation (DACE) project is focused on providing a software centric general framework for advanced processing and analysis of data. This translates to researchers, scientists, engineers, and system architects not having to program a new application but rather to define the system configuration, process, and processing that is needed to perform a specific functionality. This makes the limitation of the application the end users ability to fully define the functional requirements and setup the framework accordingly.

This doctoral project will provide the details to the system definition, standards, metrics, schedule, and …

Meta-Heuristics Analysis For Technologically Complex Programs: Understanding The Impact Of Total Constraints For Schedule, Quality And Cost, Henry Darrel Webb

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Projects for D. Eng. Degree

Program management data associated with a technically complex radio frequency electronics base communication system has been collected and analyzed to identify heuristics which may be utilized in addition to existing processes and procedures to provide indicators that a program is trending to failure. Analysis of the collected data includes detailed schedule analysis, detailed earned value management analysis and defect analysis within the framework of a Firm Fixed Price (FFP) incentive fee contract.

This project develops heuristics and provides recommendations for analysis of complex project management efforts such as those discussed herein. The analysis of the effects of the constraints on …

Colonel Blotto Games And Lancaster's Equations: A Novel Military Modeling Combination, Andrew Collins, Patrick T. Hester

VMASC Publications

Military strategists face a difficult task when engaged in a battle against an adversarial force. They have to predict both what tactics their opponent will employ and the outcomes of any resultant conflicts in order to make the best decision about their actions. Game theory has been the dominant technique used by analysts to investigate the possible actions that an enemy will employ. Traditional game theory can be augmented by use of Lanchester equations, a set of differential equations used to determine the outcome of a conflict. This paper demonstrates a novel combination of game theory and Lanchester equations using …

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 …

Nato Human View Architecture And Human Networks, Holly A. H. Handley, Nancy P. Houston

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

The NATO Human View is a system architectural viewpoint that focuses on the human as part of a system. Its purpose is to capture the human requirements and to inform on how the human impacts the system design. The viewpoint contains seven static models that include different aspects of the human element, such as roles, tasks, constraints, training and metrics. It also includes a Human Dynamics component to perform simulations of the human system under design. One of the static models, termed Human Networks, focuses on the human-to-human communication patterns that occur as a result of ad hoc or deliberate …

A Conceptual Framework For Analysis Of System Safety Interoperability Of United States Navy's Combat Systems, Showkat Shanaz Alborzi

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Today's political and military reality requires the optimal use of our legacy systems. The objective is to maximize the effectiveness of our operations by efficient allocation, placement and the use of our forces and war-fighting systems. The synergism drawn from the capabilities of the legacy complex systems enables today's war-fighting needs to be met without substantial increase in cost or resources. This synergism can be realized by the effective integration and interoperation of legacy systems into a larger, more complex system of systems.

However, the independently developed legacy systems in this new tactical environment often have different data types, languages, …

A Systems Methodology For Measuring Operational Organization Effectiveness: A Study Of The Original Equipment Computer Manufacturing Industry, 1948 To 2001, Teddy Steven Cotter

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Optimizing operational organizational effectiveness is the central, although often unstated, goal of engineering management and systems engineering research and applications. Two fundamental problems remain to be addressed in pursuit of this goal. First, despite over fifty years of research in various disciplines, there is still no universally accepted definition of organizational effectiveness. Second, no methodology exists to identify the domains, dimensions, and determinants of operational organizational effectiveness and dynamically model operational organizational effectiveness within a given population.

This research synthesizes a systems engineering methodology for identifying the domains, dimensions, and determinants of and dynamically modeling operational organizational effectiveness for an …

Software Development Project Risk Management: A Literature Review, Kevin Macg. Adams, C. Ariel Pinto

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

The rapid and unprecedented growth in software has brought with it some of the most spectacular and costly project failures in modern history. How risk management is presented in the scholarly journals may give insight into the risk management methods and techniques in use on software development projects. This paper provides a glimpse into the risk management methods, methodologies and techniques available to those who are responsible for software development projects by conducting a non-experimental content analysis. The findings reveal that risk management has not received sufficient attention and does not appear to be widely accepted within the software engineering …

Management Of Extremes In The Configuration Of Interoffice Telephone Switch & Priority Systems, C. Ariel Pinto

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

This paper describes how to enable diverse enterprise customers for voice-data switch to achieve in configuration a balance among users, features, and perceived reliability subject to extremes of traffic. The analysis entailed the simulation of the voice-data switch with embedded priority system, generation of latency times for various configurations and transaction traffic rates, and the development of a framework and theoretical propositions for configuration of super-saturated systems. It was shown that the concept of tolerance levels defined in the risk of extreme events can be applied for embedded priority systems and was the basis for the application of the zone-configuration …

Development Of A System Of Systems Engineering Method, Ji Hyon Mun, Morgan Henrie, Yaneth Correa, Charles Keating, Andres Sousa-Poza

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

Systems engineers have been facing challenges with the design and analysis of multiple complex systems. System of Systems Engineering has emerged to assist in this challenge with the systemic analysis, design, and transformation of complex metasystems. This paper outlines a proposed method to overcome these challenges, which is grounded in System of Systems Engineering principles and methodology. An overview of System of Systems Engineering will be provided for understanding of its significance and the attempt to complement Systems Engineering efforts in dealing with the aforementioned challenges. Finally, discussion on the proposed method, with respect to complex system analysis, is provided.