Operations Research, Systems Engineering and Industrial Engineering Commons^™

State Level Trends In Renewable Energy Procurement Via Solar Installation Versus Green Electricity, Eric Michael Hanson

Masters Theses

“In the past 5 years, consumer options for procuring renewable energy have increased, ranging from rooftop solar installation to utility green pricing to Community Choice Aggregation. These options vary in terms of costs and benefits to the consumer as well as grid integration implications. However, little is known regarding how the presence of a wide range of options for utility-scale renewable procurement affects demand for distributed residential solar installations. In theory, there are three possible relationships, (1) positive correlation, where utility-scale and distributed resources complement each other to increase overall production, (2) negative correlation, where utility-scale and distributed resources are …

Agent-Based Model Of Broadband Adoption In Unserved And Underserved Areas, Ankit Agarwal

Masters Theses

"In the last two decades, demand for broadband internet has far outpaced its availability. The Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) 2020 Broadband Deployment report suggests that at least 22 million Americans living in rural areas lack access to broadband internet. With the COVID-19 pandemic affecting normal life, there is an overwhelming need to enable unserved and underserved communities to adapt to the “new normal”. To address this challenge, federal and state agencies are funding internet service providers (ISPs) to deploy infrastructure in rural communities. However, policymakers and ISPs need open-source tools to predict take-rates of broadband service and formulate effective strategies …

Economic And Environmental Comparison Of Different Ordering Policies For An Integrated Inventory Control And Supplier Selection Problem, Sepideh Almasi Monfared

Masters Theses

"This study analyzes an integrated inventory control and supplier selection problem in stochastic demand environment under carbon emissions regulations. In particular, a continuous review inventory model with multiple suppliers is investigated under carbon taxing and carbon trading regulations. We analyze and compare the optimal supplier selection and order splitting decisions with single sourcing and two alternative delivery structures for multi-sourcing, namely, sequential ordering and sequential delivery. For each of the three ordering policies, a solution method is proposed and these policies are compared in terms of their economic as well as environmental performances. A numerical study is conducted to demonstrate …

Non-Cash Incentives And Worker Motivation, Daniel Franklin Cole

Masters Theses

"A problem of growing concern in the United States deals with the poor results of the nation's businesses in terms of productivity. The U.S. is now suffering the worst decline in productivity in a generation. While part of this decline can be attributed to economic conditions, data indicates that the labor force could be more productive if it wanted to do so. A study has shown that 52% of all workers feel they aren't producing at full capacity. Alienation of the American worker is identified as one of the most important contributors to this problem.

Because it is often difficult …