Operations Research, Systems Engineering and Industrial Engineering Commons^™

The Effects Of Football Helmet Pressure On The Shock Taken During A Controlled Impact, Sullivan Grosz

Industrial Technology and Packaging

College and NFL football teams are focusing their efforts on protecting players more than ever before. With the recent attention on concussions and the troubling long-term effects of head injuries, more research is needed to find ways to ensure players have the adequate protection. The helmets being used have a hard polycarbonate shell with four inner pads that fit tight to the player’s head. These pads are filled with air.

The purpose of the testing and project is to find an ideal air pressure that helmets need to maintain in order to protect the player to the best of its …

Strategic Evaluation Of University Knowledge And Technology Transfer Effectiveness, Thien Anh Tran

Dissertations and Theses

Academic knowledge and technology transfer has been growing in importance both in academic research and practice. A critical question in managing this activity is how to evaluate its effectiveness. The literature shows an increasing number of studies done to address this question; however, it also reveals important gaps that need more research. One novel approach is to evaluate the effectiveness of this activity from an organizational point of view, which is to measure how much knowledge and technology transfer from a university fulfills the mission of the institution. This research develops a Hierarchical Decision Model (HDM) to measure the contribution …

The Impact Of Knowledge Inflows On The Performance Of National Laboratories In Technological Latecomer Countries, Pattravadee Ploykitikoon

Dissertations and Theses

The national laboratories (NLs) play a critical role in the economic and social development of technological latecomer countries, yet no academic study has ever quantified how knowledge inflows and internal knowledge impact the performance of the NLs. This dissertation identifies and ranks the importance of factors pertaining to knowledge inflows and project-internal knowledge, which determine the success or failure of research projects in the NLs of Thailand. A survey of 123 project managers in the NLs, which covers 208 R&D projects, has been conducted. It consists of a questionnaire and unstructured interviews in which the project managers discuss their project(s). …

Innovation Measurement: A Decision Framework To Determine Innovativeness Of A Company, Kenny Phan

Dissertations and Theses

Innovation is one of the most important sources of competitive advantage. It helps a company to fuel the growth of new products and services, sustain incumbents, create new markets, transform industries, and promote the global competitiveness of nations. Because of its importance, companies need to manage innovation. It is very important for a company to be able to measure its innovativeness because one cannot effectively manage without measurement. A good measurement model will help a company to understand its current capability and identify areas that need improvement.

In this research a systematic approach was developed for a company to measure …

Moldable Items Packing Optimization, Sima Maleki

Doctoral Dissertations

This research has led to the development of two mathematical models to optimize the problem of packing a hybrid mix of rigid and moldable items within a three-dimensional volume. These two developed packing models characterize moldable items from two perspectives: (1) when limited discrete configurations represent the moldable items and (2) when all continuous configurations are available to the model. This optimization scheme is a component of a lean effort that attempts to reduce the lead-time associated with the implementation of dynamic product modifications that imply packing changes.

To test the developed models, they are applied to the dynamic packing …

Capital Infusion, Dedication To Current Infrastructure And Workforce Development: The Three-Pronged Approach To Strategic Industrial Growth In Western New York, Clinton J. Ronan, Gina Pizziconi-Cupples

Industrial Technology Theses

One billion dollars in incentives (Cuomo, December 2012a) will infuse the opportunity for Western New York (WNY) industrial growth. It is critical two areas are carefully evaluated and supported in order to avoid a false start and accomplish a responsible, long term, reinvigorated economy: (1) leverage current viable infrastructure, specifically the Niagara Falls International Airport (NFIAP), and (2) ensure workforce development in lean operations is initiated immediately to complement technical expertise in order to recruit and sustain high paying employers. Case studies introduced in this thesis included the development of a similar regional airport compared to NFIAP as well as …

Assessment Of Solar Photovoltaic Technologies Using Multiple Perspectives And Hierarchical Decision Modeling, Nasir Jamil Sheikh

Dissertations and Theses

The objective of this research is to build a decision model for a comprehensive assessment of solar photovoltaic technologies using multiple perspectives. These perspectives include: social, technological, economic, environmental, and political (STEEP) with each perspective consisting of multiple criteria. Hierarchical decision modeling and expert judgment quantification are used to provide the relative ranking of the perspectives and criteria. Such modeling is effective in addressing technology evaluations with competing and contrasting perspectives and criteria where both quantitative and qualitative measurements are represented. The model is then operationalized by constructing desirability functions for each criterion. The combined results provide an overall numerical …

Detachable Point Of Sale Material For Asparagus Shipper, Michael Thomas

Industrial Technology and Packaging

Gourmet Trading Company is a fresh fruit and vegetable distributor specializing in asparagus, blueberries, and blackberries. The company currently mails a 7” by 11” sign to be displayed with their asparagus which arrives in a 28 pound shipper. The signs are intended to be displayed in stores to give consumers information about the asparagus. Unfortunately, many of the signs do not get displayed since they are shipped separately. The purpose of the project is to redesign the 28 pound asparagus shipper to include a detachable point of sale sign.

A literature search was conducted to further understand the needs of …

Csp Desalination/Water Purification Unit, Sean Goodison

Industrial Technology and Packaging

An estimated 3.4 million people die each year from unsanitary water or inaccessible water supply. Most of these deaths take place in the developing, third world (99%). There is a dilemma arising on the world stage as well. The water demand/supply deficit is expected to increase significantly over the next 37 years if preemptive action isn’t taken. 97% of the world water supply is oceanic, making it an attractive solution to the water deficit. Providing autonomous, “deploy and watch” systems for utilizing sustainable energy to provide purified water for unitized low pricing has the potential to penetrate a large world …

An Investigation On How Operational Wind Turbines Are Used In Secondary Classrooms, James Smith

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Through a review of literature, it was found that many schools in the United States are installing operational wind turbines, but it was unclear how teachers were using them in their science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) classrooms. In order to identify how these operational wind turbines were being used and to create a list of expectations for schools with operational wind turbines, this exploratory study surveyed STEM teachers from all across the United States. A stratified random sample was created using a U.S. Department of Energy database of schools with operational wind turbines. Administrators from the selected schools identified …