Operations Research, Systems Engineering and Industrial Engineering Commons^™

Neural Airport Ground Handling, Yaoxin Wu, Jianan Zhou, Yunwen Xia, Xianli Zhang, Zhiguang Cao, Jie Zhang

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Airport ground handling (AGH) offers necessary operations to flights during their turnarounds and is of great importance to the efficiency of airport management and the economics of aviation. Such a problem involves the interplay among the operations that leads to NP-hard problems with complex constraints. Hence, existing methods for AGH are usually designed with massive domain knowledge but still fail to yield high-quality solutions efficiently. In this paper, we aim to enhance the solution quality and computation efficiency for solving AGH. Particularly, we first model AGH as a multiple-fleet vehicle routing problem (VRP) with miscellaneous constraints including precedence, time windows, …

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 …

Modeling Social Dynamics Through Coupling Mechanistic Models With Generative Artificial Intelligence, Navid Ghaffarzadegan, Ross Williams, Aritra Majumdar, Niyousha Hosseinichimeh

Annual Symposium on Biomathematics and Ecology Education and Research

No abstract provided.

Lean Six Sigma Body Of Knowledge For Healthcare Industry Administrators: Implementation Of Lessons Learned In Applied Engineering, Mohammed Ali

Technology Faculty Publications and Presentations

The purpose of this paper is to propose a Lean Six Sigma (LSS) course curriculum for healthcare administration and management majors. It identifies the relevant opportunities and challenges for the application of LSS within the healthcare industry. The paper also discusses the cultural changes necessary to provide an appropriate climate for its long-term success. This work contains a comprehensive description of the body of knowledge in LSS, which were successful in applied engineering. Additionally, the paper describes how LSS may be applied in the hospital setting to improve processes in patient-care services. Upon successful completion of the course, the healthcare …

Study And Policy Suggestions On International Competitive Advantage Of Manufacturing Industry Among China, United States, Japan, And Germany, Xin Guo, Jingjing Zhang, Kangwei Chi, Jingjing Guo

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

Strengthening the competitive advantage of manufacturing and promoting its high-quality development are the key points to build a modern industrial system. This study uses international market share (MS), revealed comparative advantage (RCA), trade competition index (TCI), and price index (PI) from 2005 to 2020 to analyze the evolution of manufacturing competitive advantage and its main sources in major countries. The main findings are as follows. China's labor-intensive industries maintain a strong international competitive advantage, and the international competitive advantage of some capital and technology-intensive industries is increasing. The capital and technology intensive industries in Germany, Japan, and United States have …

Domain Restriction Zones: An Evolution Of The Military Exclusion Zone, Cole M. Mooty, Robert A. Bettinger, Mark G. Reith

Faculty Publications

Since the early part of the twenty-first century, US adversaries have expanded their military capabilities within and their access to new warfighting domains. When faced with the growth of adversaries’ asymmetric capabilities, the means, tactics, and strategies previously used by the US military lose their proportional effectiveness. To avoid such degradation of capability, the operational concept of the military exclusion zone (MEZ) should be revised to suit the modern battlespace while also addressing the shifts in national policy that encourage diplomacy over military force. The concept and development of domain restriction zones (DRZs) increase the relevancy of traditional MEZs in …

Estimation Of Recursive Route Choice Models With Incomplete Trip Observations, Tien Mai, The Viet Bui, Quoc Phong Nguyen, Tho V. Le

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

This work concerns the estimation of recursive route choice models in the situation that the trip observations are incomplete, i.e., there are unconnected links (or nodes) in the observations. A direct approach to handle this issue could be intractable because enumerating all paths between unconnected links (or nodes) in a real network is typically not possible. We exploit an expectation–maximization (EM) method that allows dealing with the missing-data issue by alternatively performing two steps of sampling the missing segments in the observations and solving maximum likelihood estimation problems. Moreover, observing that the EM method could be expensive, we propose a …

Imitation Improvement Learning For Large-Scale Capacitated Vehicle Routing Problems, The Viet Bui, Tien Mai

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Recent works using deep reinforcement learning (RL) to solve routing problems such as the capacitated vehicle routing problem (CVRP) have focused on improvement learning-based methods, which involve improving a given solution until it becomes near-optimal. Although adequate solutions can be achieved for small problem instances, their efficiency degrades for large-scale ones. In this work, we propose a newimprovement learning-based framework based on imitation learning where classical heuristics serve as experts to encourage the policy model to mimic and produce similar or better solutions. Moreover, to improve scalability, we propose Clockwise Clustering, a novel augmented framework for decomposing large-scale CVRP into …

Electrical Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Design And Operations, Yu Yang, Hen-Geul Yeh

Mineta Transportation Institute Publications

California aims to achieve five million zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) on the road by 2030 and 250,000 electrical vehicle (EV) charging stations by 2025. To reduce barriers in this process, the research team developed a simulation-based system for EV charging infrastructure design and operations. The increasing power demand due to the growing EV market requires advanced charging infrastructures and operating strategies. This study will deliver two modules in charging station design and operations, including a vehicle charging schedule and an infrastructure planning module for the solar-powered charging station. The objectives are to increase customers’ satisfaction, reduce the power grid burden, and …

Multiobjective Stochastic Optimization: A Case Of Real-Time Matching In Ride-Sourcing Markets, Guodong Lyu, Wang Chi Cheung, Chung-Piaw Teo, Hai Wang

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Problem Definition: The job of any marketplace is to facilitate the matching of supply with demand in real-time. Success is often measured using various metrics. The challenge is to design matching algorithms to balance the trade-offs among multiple objectives in a stochastic environment, to arrive at a “compromise” solution, which minimizes say the ℓp-norm-based distance function (for some 1 ≤p ≤∞) between the attained performance metrics and the target performances.Methodology/Results: We observe that the sample-average-approximation formulation of this multi-objective stochastic optimization problem can be solved by an online algorithm that uses only gradient information from “historical” (i.e., past) sample information, …

Optimization Of Station-Skip In A Cyclic Express Subway Service, Jingfeng Yang, Hai Wang, Jiangang Jin

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

With rapid population growth and increasing demand for urban mobility, metropolitan areas such as Singapore, Tokyo, and Shanghai are increasingly dependent on public transport systems. Various strategies are proposed to improve the service quality and capacity of bus and subway systems. Express trains—i.e., trains that skip certain stations—are commonly used because they can travel at higher speeds, potentially reduce travel time, and serve more passengers. In this paper, we study cyclic express subway service (CESS), in which express trains provide routine transport service with cyclic (periodic) station-skip patterns that can be used in daily service. We propose an exact Mixed …

Rattus Norvegicus As A Biological Detector Of Clandestine Remains And The Use Of Ultrasonic Vocalizations As A Locating Mechanism, Gabrielle M. Johnston

Master's Theses

In investigations, locating missing persons and clandestine remains are imperative. One way that first responder and police agencies can search for the remains is by using cadaver dogs as biological detectors. Cadaver dogs are typically used due to their olfactory sensitivity and ability to detect low concentrations of volatile organic compounds produced by biological remains. Cadaver dogs are typically chosen for their stamina, agility, and olfactory sensitivity. However, what is not taken into account often is the size of the animal and the expense of maintaining and training the animal. Cadaver dogs are typically large breeds that cannot fit in …

Editorial: Innovative Shared Transportation, Marco Nie, Hai Wang, Wai Yuen Szeto

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Recent technological developments—mobile computing, autonomous driving, alternative fuel vehicles, and blockchain, to name a few—have enabled numerous innovations in mobility, transportation, and logistics services. They offer unprecedented opportunities to transform conventional transportation systems, for both personal travel and freight logistics, with novel solutions. Of these solutions, those built on the emerging concept of shared economy, such as Uber, Didi, and Cargostream, have received much attention recently. The rapidly expanding scope of shared transportation services now includes ride-sourcing, ridesharing, car sharing, hitch service, flexible paratransit, shared freight delivery, shared logistics, bike sharing, shared last-mile service, parking space sharing, and so on.

Trace Dna Detection Using Diamond Dye: A Recovery Technique To Yield More Dna, Leah Davis

Master's Theses

This study aspires to find a new screening approach to trace DNA recovery techniques to yield a higher quantity of trace DNA from larger items of evidence. It takes the path of visualizing trace DNA on items of evidence with potential DNA so analysts can swab a more localized area rather than attempting to recover trace DNA through the general swabbing technique currently used for trace DNA recovery. The first and second parts consisted of observing trace DNA interaction with Diamond Dye on porous and non-porous surfaces.

The third part involved applying the Diamond Dye solution by spraying it onto …

Experimental Investigation Of The Self-Healing Potential Of Bacteria For Sustainable Concrete Structures, Pitiporn Asvapathanagul, Simone Galano, Andrea Calabrese, Mehran Rahmani, Maggie Ly, Daniela Flores, Michael Hernandez, Nicholas Banuelos

Mineta Transportation Institute Publications

Although concrete is the most widely used building material in the world, its limited tensile strength makes cracking a common phenomenon in concrete elements. This study investigates the potential of autonomous self-healing as an eco-friendly and lowcost method to increase the durability of concrete. The crack-healing potential of different types of high-alkaline-tolerant bacteria or calcite-precipitation microorganisms is investigated. High-alkaline-tolerant bacteria and calcite-precipitation microorganisms were used to retrofit lab-fractured concrete samples. The samples healed with each of these bacteria groups were cast and tested under compressive load up to failure to measure the compressive strength of the concrete samples. The outcomes …

Introduction To The Special Issue On Innovation In Transportation-Enabled Urban Services, Part 1, Niels Agatz, Soo-Haeng Cho, Hai Wang, Saif Benjaafar

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Rapid developments in city infrastructure and technol-ogies are creating numerous opportunities and inspiring innovative and emerging urban services. Among these innovations, complex systems of urban transportation and logistics have embraced advances and have been reshaped significantly. They enable innovative new urban services, which are now booming and changing everyday life for urban residents.This special issue of Service Science explores perspectives on innovation in transportation-enabled urban services. We hope that the special issue will enhance the understanding of the planning, operation, and management of such services. Contributions are expected to demonstrate rigorous model development, economic/ econometric analysis, and decision-making tools based …

An Ioe Blockchain-Based Network Knowledge Management Model For Resilient Disaster Frameworks, Amir Javadpour, Farinaz Sabz Ali Pour, Arun Kumar Sangaiah, Weizhe Zhang, Forough Ja'far, Ashish Singh

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

The disaster area is a constantly changing environment, which can make it challenging to distribute supplies effectively. The lack of accurate information about the required goods and potential bottlenecks in the distribution process can be detrimental. The success of a response network is dependent on collaboration, coordination, sovereignty, and equal distribution of relief resources. To facilitate these interactions and improve knowledge of supply chain operations, a reliable and dynamic logistic system is essential. This study proposes the integration of blockchain technology, the Internet of Things (IoT), and the Internet of Everything (IoE) into the disaster management structure. The proposed disaster …

Critical Space Infrastructure: A Complex System Governance Perspective, Adrian V. Gheorghe, James C. Pyne, Joseph Sisti, Charles B. Keating, Polinpapilinho F. Katina, William Edmonson

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

This paper examines the applicability of Complex System Governance (CSG) to advance the Critical Space Infrastructure field (CSI). CSI encompasses space related hardware, workforce, environment, facilities, and businesses that are necessary for societal well-being. CSI is increasing in importance as more societal serving systems are becoming dependent on CSI to operate. Given this increasing dependence on CSI, societal sectors are increasingly at risk should something go wrong with CSI upon which they depend. CSI has been developing is a fragmented way and lacks coherent organization. CSG is focused on design, execution, and evolution of system functions that provide for communications, …

A Diversity-Enhanced Memetic Algorithm For Solving Electric Vehicle Routing Problems With Time Windows And Mixed Backhauls, Jianhua Xiao, Jingguo Du, Zhiguang Cao, Xingyi Zhang, Yunyun Niu

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

The electric vehicle routing problem (EVRP) has been studied increasingly because of environmental concerns. However, existing studies on the EVRP mainly focus on time windows and sole linehaul customers, which might not be practical as backhaul customers are also ubiquitous in reality. In this study, we investigate an EVRP with time windows and mixed backhauls (EVRPTWMB), where both linehaul and backhaul customers exist and can be served in any order. To address this challenging problem, we propose a diversity-enhanced memetic algorithm (DEMA) that integrates three types of novel operators, including genetic operators based on adaptive selection mechanism, a selection operator …

Strengthening Urban Resilience: Understanding The Interdependencies Of Outer Space And Strategic Planning For Sustainable Smart Environments, Ulpia-Elena Botezatu, Olga Bucovetchi, Adrian V. Gheorghe, Radu D. Stanciu

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

The conventional approach to urban planning has predominantly focused on horizontal dimensions, disregarding the potential risks originating from outer space. This paper aims to initiate a discourse on the vertical dimension of cities, which is influenced by outer space, as an essential element of strategic urban planning. Through an examination of a highly disruptive incident in outer space involving a collision between the Iridium 33 and Cosmos 2251 satellites, this article elucidates the intricate interdependencies between urban areas and outer space infrastructure and services. Leveraging the principles of critical infrastructure protection, which bridge the urban and outer space domains, and …

Computational Decision Support For Socio-Technical Awareness Of Land-Use Planning Under Complexity—A Dam Resilience Planning Case Study, Andreas Tolk, Jennifer A. Richkus, F. Leron Shults, Wesley J. Wildman

VMASC Publications

Land-use planning for modern societies requires technical competence as well as social competence. We therefore propose an integrative solution enabling better land-use planning and management through better-informed decision-making. We adapt a method developed for cross-disciplinary team building to identify the stakeholders and their various objectives and value systems. We use these results to populate artificial societies embedded into a dynamic data analytics framework as a tool to identify, explore, and visualize the challenges resulting from the different objectives and value systems in land-use planning and management. To prove the feasibility of the proposed solution, we present two use cases from …

Coordinating Multi-Party Vehicle Routing With Location Congestion Via Iterative Best Response, Waldy Joe, Hoong Chuin Lau

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

This work is motivated by a real-world problem of coordinating B2B pickup-delivery operations to shopping malls involving multiple non-collaborative logistics service providers (LSPs) in a congested city where space is scarce. This problem can be categorized as a vehicle routing problem with pickup and delivery, time windows and location congestion with multiple LSPs (or ML-VRPLC in short), and we propose a scalable, decentralized, coordinated planning approach via iterative best response. We formulate the problem as a strategic game where each LSP is a self-interested agent but is willing to participate in a coordinated planning as long as there are sufficient …