Operations Research, Systems Engineering and Industrial Engineering Commons^™

Development Of A Systems Engineering Model Of The Chemical Separations Process: Quarterly Progress Report 8/16/01- 11/15/01, Yitung Chen, Randy Clarksean, Darrell Pepper

Separations Campaign (TRP)

The AAA program is developing technology for the transmutation of nuclear waste to address many of the long-term disposal issues. An integral part of this program is the proposed chemical separations scheme.

Two activities are proposed in this Phase I task: the development of a systems engineering model and the refinement of the Argonne code AMUSE (Argonne Model for Universal Solvent Extraction). The detailed systems engineering model is the start of an integrated approach to the analysis of the materials separations associated with the AAA Program. A second portion of the project is to streamline and improve an integral part …

Pickup And Delivery Problem With Time Windows: Algorithms And Test Case Generation, Hoong Chuin Lau, Zhe Liang

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

In the pickup and delivery problem with time windows (PDPTW), vehicles have to transport loads from origins to destinations respecting capacity and time constraints. In this paper, we present a two-phase method to solve the PDPTW. In the first phase, we apply a novel construction heuristics to generate an initial solution. In the second phase, a tabu search method is proposed to improve the solution. Another contribution of this paper is a strategy to generate good problem instances and benchmarking solutions for PDPTW, based on Solomon's benchmark test cases for VRPTW. Experimental results show that our approach yields very good …

Analysis Of A New Vehicle Scheduling And Location Problem, Ebru K. Bish, Thin Yin Leong, Chun-Lun Li, Jonathan W. C. Ng, David Simchi-Levi

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

We consider a container terminal discharging containers from a ship and locating them in the terminal yard. Each container has a number of potential locations in the yard where it can be stored. Containers are moved from the ship to the yard using a fleet of vehicles, each of which can carry one container at a time. The problem is to assign each container to a yard location and dispatch vehicles to the containers so as to minimize the time it takes to download all the containers from the ship. We show that the problem is NP-hard and develop a …

A Multi-Agent Framework For Supporting Intelligent Fourth-Party Logistics, Hoong Chuin Lau, G. Lo

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

A distributed intelligent agent-based framework that supports fourth-party logistics optimization under a web-based e-Commerce environment has been proposed in this paper. In the framework, customer job requests come through an e-Procurement service. These requests are consolidated and pushed to the e-Market Place service periodically. The e-Market Place then serves as a broker that allows intelligent agents to bid to serve these requests optimally in real-time by solving multiple instances of underlying logistics optimization problem. The resulting system was implemented based on the Java 2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE) platform using distributed system technology for communication between objects.

The Effects Of Budgetary Constraints, Multiple Strategy Selection, And Rationality On Equilibrium Attainment In An Information Warfare Simulation, Steven W. Tait

Theses and Dissertations

Information warfare (IW) has developed into a significant threat to the national security of the United States. Our critical infrastructures, linked together by information systems, are increasingly vulnerable to information attack. This study seeks to understand some of those factors which affect the ability of an individual to make accurate decisions in an IW environment. The study used game theory to analyze the behavior of decision-makers within an IW simulation. The IW game model is based on a set of games known as infinitely repeated games of incomplete information. It uses the Bayesian Nash equilibrium concept to determine the strategy …

A Process For Vectoring Offensive Information Warfare As A Primary Weapon Option Within The United States Air Force, Sheila G. Bennett

Theses and Dissertations

Consistently and comprehensively using Information Operations (IO) capabilities as primary weapon option within the Air Force is the next step to operationalizing IO within the Air Force. Doctrine and official guidance has set the variables of mission and concepts of operations, organizational structure, and IW players in place. The missing variable to operationalizing IO and probably the most difficult is the 'how' or process of the equation. This research will introduce a useable process that can be incorporated within the Air Force for integrating offensive IW activities into the current and given environment. The process is the basis for further …

Influence Of Anonymity In A Group Problem-Solving Environment, Robert A. Sylvester

Theses and Dissertations

A group support system (GSS) uses a combination of networked personal computers, software that collects, manipulates, and aggregates member's individual input, and human facilitation to improve the group decision-making process. Prior GSS research has found that content and process anonymity influence problem solving groups. However, previous studies report mixed results on which levels of anonymity positively influence group performance. This thesis looked at content and process anonymity using four treatments to explore possible explanations for the mixed results found in previous GSS research. The study examined numerous theories including anonymity, identification, social loafing, and social comparison. An experiment was developed …

Gss Technology As A Moderator Of Influence And Perceived Expertise, Kevin V. Thompson

Theses and Dissertations

Group Support System (355) research has found this content and process anonymity influence problem solving groups. However, previous studies report mixed results on how OSS technology changes social influence processes and recognition of expertise which affect group performance. This thesis explored content and process anonymity's affect on influence and perceived expertise using three treatments to derive possible explanations for the mixed results found in previous GSS research. The study developed a theoretical model of influence, perceived expertise, and performance. Using structural equation modeling the study tested the relationships between expertise and participation rates, and overall group performance. An experiment was …

Malicious Hackers: A Framework For Analysis And Case Study, Laura J. Kleen

Theses and Dissertations

Recent years have seen an increase in the number and severity of Information Operations (IO) attacks upon DoD resources. At a higher level, the US as a whole has come under cyber attack by individuals and groups seeking thrills, monetary gain, publicity for their causes, and myriad other goals. This effort develops a first cut model of individual hacker mentality that can be utilized to improve threat assessment, mitigate Information Assurance (IA) vulnerabilities, and improve risk assessment. Further, it is a first step toward automated characterization of Information Warfare (IW) attacks based upon hacker types. All hackers are not the …

Modeling Information Assurance, Joseph E. Beauregard

Theses and Dissertations

The ever-increasing speed of information systems allows decision-makers around the world to gather, process, and disseminate information almost instantaneously. However, with this benefit there comes a price. Information is valuable and therefore a target to those who do not have it or wish to destroy it. The Internet has allowed information to flow freely, but it has also made information vulnerable to many forms of corruption. The U. S. military controls much of the world's most sensitive information, and since it cannot sacrifice losing the speed at which this information is currently processed and disseminated, it must find a way …

A Model To Evaluate The Effect Of Organizational Adaptation, Holly A. H. Handley, Alexander H. Levis

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

When an organization’s output declines due to either internal changes or changes in its external environment, it needs to adapt. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of different adaptation strategies on organizational per- formance, an organizational model composed of individual models of a five stage interacting decision maker was designed using an object oriented design approach and implemented as a Colored Petri net. The concept of entropy is used to calculate the total activity value, a surrogate for decision maker workload, based on the functional partition and the adaptation strategy being implemented. The individual decision maker’s total activity is monitored, …