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Full-Text Articles in Operations Research, Systems Engineering and Industrial Engineering

A Methodology For Internet Of Things Business Modeling And Analysis Using Agent-Based Simulation, Mohammed Basingab Jan 2017

A Methodology For Internet Of Things Business Modeling And Analysis Using Agent-Based Simulation, Mohammed Basingab

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Internet of Things (IoT) is a new vision of an integrated network covering physical objects that are able to collect and exchange data. It enables previously unconnected devices and objects to become connected using equipping devices with communication technology such as sensors and radio frequency identification tags (RFID). As technology progresses towards new paradigm such as IoT, there is a need for an approach to identify the significance of these projects. Conventional simulation modeling and data analysis approaches are not able to capture the system complexity or suffer from a lack of data needed that can help to build a …


An Sos Conceptual Model, Lvc Simulation Framework, And A Prototypical Implementation Of Unmanned System Interventions For Nuclear Power Plant Disaster Preparedness, Response, And Mitigation, Matthew Davis Jan 2017

An Sos Conceptual Model, Lvc Simulation Framework, And A Prototypical Implementation Of Unmanned System Interventions For Nuclear Power Plant Disaster Preparedness, Response, And Mitigation, Matthew Davis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Nuclear power plant disasters can have severe and far-reaching consequences, thus emergency managers and first responders from utility owners to the DoD must be prepared to respond to and mitigate effects protecting the public and environment from further damage. Rapidly emerging unmanned systems promise significant improvement in response and mitigation of nuclear disasters. Models and simulations (M&S) may play a significant role in improving readiness and reducing risks through its use in planning, analysis, preparation training, and mitigation rehearsal for a wide spectrum of derivate scenarios. Legacy nuclear reactor M&S lack interoperability between themselves and avatar or agent-based simulations of …


Quality By Design Procedure For Continuous Pharmaceutical Manufacturing: An Integrated Flowsheet Model Approach, Ashley Vezina Jan 2017

Quality By Design Procedure For Continuous Pharmaceutical Manufacturing: An Integrated Flowsheet Model Approach, Ashley Vezina

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Pharmaceutical manufacturing is crucial to global healthcare and requires a higher, more consistent level of quality than any other industry. Yet, the traditional pharmaceutical batch manufacturing has remained largely unchanged in the last fifty years due to high R&D costs, shorter patent durations, and regulatory uncertainty. This has led regulatory bodies to promote modernization of manufacturing process to continuous pharmaceutical manufacturing (CPM) by introducing new methodologies including quality by design, design space, and process analytical technology (PAT). This represents a shift away from the traditional pharmaceutical manufacturing way of thinking towards a risk based approach that promotes increased product and …


A Holistic Framework For Effective Engineering Leadership Development Using 3d Virtual World Simulation, Hamed Almalki Jan 2016

A Holistic Framework For Effective Engineering Leadership Development Using 3d Virtual World Simulation, Hamed Almalki

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Problems associated with the limited success of traditional engineering leadership development are the absence of embedded real-life industry case studies in leadership development and incorrect applications of leadership strategies in the various contexts. Though recommended programs for enhancing leadership development exist, they lack an examined framework, especially when it comes to leadership development of undergraduate engineering students. In this research effort, the impact of a framework using 3D virtual world simulation and the 4-D Leadership System to enhance the leadership abilities of undergraduate engineering students at the individual and team levels based on industrial leadership case studies was investigated. The …


A New Six Sigma Implementation Approach For Power Generation Gas Turbines Repair Process Development, Somesh Ghunakikar Jan 2016

A New Six Sigma Implementation Approach For Power Generation Gas Turbines Repair Process Development, Somesh Ghunakikar

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Power Generation gas turbines used for heavy duty application mainly constitutes three modules; compressor, combustion and turbine. Typically, all these parts are designed by OEM companies for specific number of hours and cycles (also known as starts) before they become dysfunctional. In addition, Gas Turbine (GT) also have intended repair interval depending upon the type of part application and anticipated damages during service operation. Thus, GT parts need inspections and repair (overhaul) after certain operating hours in order to recondition them so that they can be fit for reoperation to produce power. In this dissertation, a unique six sigma DFSS …


The Effect Of Baldrige Performance Excellence Program On Organization's Innovation/Dynamic Capabilities, Mohammed Alomairy Jan 2016

The Effect Of Baldrige Performance Excellence Program On Organization's Innovation/Dynamic Capabilities, Mohammed Alomairy

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation investigated the effect of Baldrige performance excellence program on organization's innovation/dynamic capabilities improvement. According to the literature, there is little or no practical method for building dynamic/innovation capabilities within organizations. The study hypothesizes that Baldrige performance excellence program helps organizations to systematically develop the required dynamic/innovation capabilities for innovation. Twenty-four organizations that had implemented Baldrige program over the past five years participated in this research study. Two types of data were measured/collected from these organizations; Performance excellence data and Innovation capabilities data. To avoid bias in the data collection, the two data were measured and collected at different …


A Simulation-Based Evaluation Of Efficiency Strategies For A Primary Care Clinic With Unscheduled Visits, Afrifah Bobbie Jan 2016

A Simulation-Based Evaluation Of Efficiency Strategies For A Primary Care Clinic With Unscheduled Visits, Afrifah Bobbie

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In the health care industry, there are strategies to remove inefficiencies from the health delivery process called efficiency strategies. This dissertation proposed a simulation model to evaluate the impact of the efficiency strategies on a primary care clinic with unscheduled "walk-in" patient visits. The simulation model captures the complex characteristics of the Orlando Veteran's Affairs Medical Center (VAMC) primary care clinic. This clinic system includes different types of patients, patient paths, and multiple resources that serve them. Added to the problem complexity is the presence of patient no-shows characteristics and unscheduled patient arrivals, a problem which has been until recently, …


Assessing The Effect Of Social Networks On Employee Creativity In A Fast-Food Restaurant Environment, Mitchell Rabinowitz Jan 2016

Assessing The Effect Of Social Networks On Employee Creativity In A Fast-Food Restaurant Environment, Mitchell Rabinowitz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Creativity has been widely recognized as critical to the economic success of organizations for over 60 years. Today, it is considered to be the most highly prized "commodity" of businesses. As such, there have been numerous efforts to better understand creativity with the goal of increasing individual creativity and therefore improving the economic success of organizations. An emerging area of research on creativity recognizes creativity as a complex, social process that is dependent upon many factors, including those of an environmental nature. In support of this perspective, a growing amount of research has investigated the effect of social networks on …


A Framework For Quantifying And Managing Overcrowding In Healthcare Facilities, Abdulrahman Albar Jan 2016

A Framework For Quantifying And Managing Overcrowding In Healthcare Facilities, Abdulrahman Albar

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Emergency Departments (EDs) represent a crucial component of any healthcare infrastructure. In today's world, healthcare systems face growing challenges in delivering efficient and time-sensitive emergency care services to communities. Overcrowding within EDs represents one of the most significant challenges for healthcare quality that adversely impacts clinical outcomes, patient safety, and overall satisfaction. Research in this area has resulted in creating several ED crowding indices, such as National Emergency Department Overcrowding Scale (NEDOCS) and Emergency Department Work Index (EDWIN) that have been developed to provide measures aimed at mitigating overcrowding. Recently, efforts made by researchers to examine the validity and reproducibility …


An Experimental Investigation Of The State Of Creativity, Critical Thinking And Creativity Training In Undergraduate Engineering Students, Eric Sola Jan 2016

An Experimental Investigation Of The State Of Creativity, Critical Thinking And Creativity Training In Undergraduate Engineering Students, Eric Sola

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research explores creativity and critical thinking skills in undergraduate engineering students. The study undertook two experiments in order to gather a better understanding of several factors regarding the interactions between students' creative abilities and the effects of the undergraduate engineering curriculum. Experiment 1 focused on the differences in creative and critical thinking skills in freshman versus senior undergraduate engineering students. Experiment 2 centered on the variation in the effects of long-term versus short-term creativity training on senior engineering students. Creative skill was measured using the Test for Creative Thinking – Drawing Production (TCT-DP) developed by Urban and Jellen (2010). …


A Systems Approach To Assessing, Interpreting And Applying Human Error Mishap Data To Mitigate Risk Of Future Incidents In A Space Exploration Ground Processing Operations Environment, Tiffaney Alexander Jan 2016

A Systems Approach To Assessing, Interpreting And Applying Human Error Mishap Data To Mitigate Risk Of Future Incidents In A Space Exploration Ground Processing Operations Environment, Tiffaney Alexander

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Research results have shown that more than half of aviation, aerospace and aeronautics mishaps/incidents are attributed to human error. Although many existing incident report systems have been beneficial for identifying engineering failures, most of them are not designed around a theoretical framework of human error, thus failing to address core issues and causes of the mishaps. Therefore, it is imperative to develop a human error assessment framework to identify these causes. This research focused on identifying causes of human error and leading contributors to historical Launch Vehicle Ground Processing Operations mishaps based on past mishaps, near mishaps, and close calls. …


An Integrated Design For Six Sigma-Based Framework To Align Strategy, New Process Development, And Customer Requirements In The Airlines Industry, Mohammed Alghamdi Jan 2016

An Integrated Design For Six Sigma-Based Framework To Align Strategy, New Process Development, And Customer Requirements In The Airlines Industry, Mohammed Alghamdi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

When organizations create new strategy maps, key new processes are often identified. This is important for organizations to stay competitive in the global marketplace. This document describes the development, implementation, and validation of a framework that properly aligns and links an organization's strategy and new process development. The proposed framework integrates the Balanced Scorecard management system (BSC) and the Design for Six Sigma (DFSS) methodology, leveraging their strengths, overcoming weaknesses, and identifying lessons learned to help bridge the gap between strategy development and execution. The critical-to-quality conceptual model is used as an integrative component for the framework. Literature search has …


Data Mining Models For Tackling High Dimensional Datasets And Outliers, Orestis Panos Panagopoulos Jan 2016

Data Mining Models For Tackling High Dimensional Datasets And Outliers, Orestis Panos Panagopoulos

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

High dimensional data and the presence of outliers in data each pose a serious challenge in supervised learning. Datasets with significantly larger number of features compared to samples arise in various areas, including business analytics and biomedical applications. Such datasets pose a serious challenge to standard statistical methods and render many existing classification techniques impractical. The generalization ability of many classification algorithms is compromised due to the so-called curse of dimensionality. A new binary classification method called constrained subspace classifier (CSC) is proposed for such high dimensional datasets. CSC improves on an earlier proposed classification method called local subspace classifier …


Using Case-Based Reasoning For Simulation Modeling In Healthcare, Khaled Alshareef Jan 2016

Using Case-Based Reasoning For Simulation Modeling In Healthcare, Khaled Alshareef

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The healthcare system is always defined as a complex system. At its core, it is a system composed of people and processes and requires performance of different tasks and duties. This complexity means that the healthcare system has many stakeholders with different interests, resulting in the emergence of many problems such as increasing healthcare costs, limited resources and low utilization, limited facilities and workforce, and poor quality of services. The use of simulation techniques to aid in solving healthcare problems is not new, but it has increased in recent years. This application faces many challenges, including a lack of real …


A Predictive Model To Identify Caregivers At Risk Of Musculoskeletal Disorders, Abdulelah Ali Jan 2016

A Predictive Model To Identify Caregivers At Risk Of Musculoskeletal Disorders, Abdulelah Ali

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Healthcare systems face several challenges due to the aging workforce, recruitment shortages, increasing patient acuteness, and increasing patient size and weight. The most costly, leading, and prevalent problem in the healthcare industry and nursing professions is work-related Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSDs). MSDs are common among caregivers because of the nature of their work, which requires repetitive heavy physical activity. The development of MSDs among caregivers negatively impacts the quality of care, and incurs high costs such as worker compensation, days away from work, turnover, rehabilitation, and lower productivity. Therefore, it is essential to determine the factors that contribute to musculoskeletal disorder …


A Neuroergonomics Study Of Brain Eeg's Activity During Manual Lifting Tasks, Awad Aljuaid Jan 2016

A Neuroergonomics Study Of Brain Eeg's Activity During Manual Lifting Tasks, Awad Aljuaid

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Electroencephalography (EEG) has been shown to be a reliable tool in neuroergonomics studies due to the relatively low cost of brain data collection and limited body invasion. The application of EEG frequency bands (including theta, alpha and beta), enjoyed a wide range of interest in physical and cognitive ergonomics. The psychophysical approach has been used for decades to improve safe work practices by understanding human limitations in manual materials handling. The main objective of this research project was to study the brain's EEG activity expressed by the power spectral density during manual lifting tasks related to: 1) the maximum acceptable …


A Hybrid Simulation Framework Of Consumer-To-Consumer Ecommerce Space, Oloruntomi Joledo Jan 2016

A Hybrid Simulation Framework Of Consumer-To-Consumer Ecommerce Space, Oloruntomi Joledo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In the past decade, ecommerce transformed the business models of many organizations. Information Technology leveled the playing field for new participants, who were capable of causing disruptive changes in every industry. "Web 2.0" or "Social Web" further redefined ways users enlist for services. It is now easy to be influenced to make choices of services based on recommendations of friends and popularity amongst peers. This research proposes a simulation framework to investigate how actions of stakeholders at this level of complexity affect system performance as well as the dynamics that exist between different models using concepts from the fields of …


Modeling And Solving Large-Scale Stochastic Mixed-Integer Problems In Transportation And Power Systems, Zhouchun Huang Jan 2016

Modeling And Solving Large-Scale Stochastic Mixed-Integer Problems In Transportation And Power Systems, Zhouchun Huang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation, various optimization problems from the area of transportation and power systems will be respectively investigated and the uncertainty will be considered in each problem. Specifically, a long-term problem of electricity infrastructure investment is studied to address the planning for capacity expansion in electrical power systems with the integration of short-term operations. The future investment costs and real-time customer demands cannot be perfectly forecasted and thus are considered to be random. Another maintenance scheduling problem is studied for power systems, particularly for natural gas fueled power plants, taking into account gas contracting and the opportunity of purchasing and …


Assessing Safety Culture Among Personnel In Governmental Construction Sites At Saudi Arabia: A Quantitative Study Approach, Omar Alrehaili Jan 2016

Assessing Safety Culture Among Personnel In Governmental Construction Sites At Saudi Arabia: A Quantitative Study Approach, Omar Alrehaili

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Safety is an essential issue for organizations to survive, especially for hazardous industries such as the construction industry. The construction industry is considered to be one of the major industries that help in the growth of the economy and the infrastructure of all countries. Recently, scholars have paid increasing attention to the concept of safety culture due to its role in decreasing the occurrences of accidents and injuries. Safety culture has become the focus of all industries and has received much attention in recent years, especially within the construction industry. Absence of this culture is a major cause of injuries …


A Framework To Generate A Smart Manufacturing System Configurations Using Agents And Optimization, Khalid Nagadi Jan 2016

A Framework To Generate A Smart Manufacturing System Configurations Using Agents And Optimization, Khalid Nagadi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Manufacturing is a crucial element in the global economy. During the last decade, the national manufacturing sector loses nearly 30% of its workforce and investments. Consequently, the quality of the domestic goods, global share, and manufacturing capabilities has been declined. Therefore, innovative ways to optimize the usage of the Smart Manufacturing Systems (SMS) are required to form a new manufacturing era. This research is presenting a framework to optimize the design of SMS. This includes the determination of the suitable machines that can perform the job efficiently, the quantity of those machines, and the potential messaging system required for sharing …


A Framework For Safety Training Using Virtual Reality Software, Rana Riad Jan 2015

A Framework For Safety Training Using Virtual Reality Software, Rana Riad

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Safety training is a vital component to the well-being of individuals in all industries. With technology advancing at the current pace, conventional training methods are no longer the most effective way to communicate information. There is a strong need for safety training that incorporates new methods and forms of communication to obtain higher levels of comprehension. Virtual reality systems offer a highly customizable and interactive form of delivering information to users. This research addresses major gaps in the field of safety training using virtual reality systems and provides a design framework for creating a virtual safety-training system. A model for …


A Macro-Level Sustainability Assessment Framework For Optimal Distribution Of Alternative Passenger Vehicles, Nuri Onat Jan 2015

A Macro-Level Sustainability Assessment Framework For Optimal Distribution Of Alternative Passenger Vehicles, Nuri Onat

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Although there are many studies focusing on the environmental impacts of alternative vehicle options, social and economic dimensions and trade-off relationships among all of these impacts were not investigated sufficiently. Moreover, most economic analyses are limited to life cycle cost analyses and do not consider macro-level economic impacts. Therefore, this thesis aims to advance the Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment literature and electric vehicle sustainability research by presenting a novel combined application of Multi Criteria Decision Making techniques with Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment for decision analysis. With this motivation in mind, this research will construct a compromise-programming model (multi-objective optimization method) …


A Framework For Interoperability On The United States Electric Grid Infrastructure, Stuart Laval Jan 2015

A Framework For Interoperability On The United States Electric Grid Infrastructure, Stuart Laval

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Historically, the United States (US) electric grid has been a stable one-way power delivery infrastructure that supplies centrally-generated electricity to its predictably consuming demand. However, the US electric grid is now undergoing a huge transformation from a simple and static system to a complex and dynamic network, which is starting to interconnect intermittent distributed energy resources (DERs), portable electric vehicles (EVs), and load-altering home automation devices, that create bidirectional power flow or stochastic load behavior. In order for this grid of the future to effectively embrace the high penetration of these disruptive and fast-responding digital technologies without compromising its safety, …


An Agile Roadmap For Live, Virtual And Constructive-Integrating Training Architecture (Lvc-Ita): A Case Study Using A Component Based Integrated Simulation Engine, Tae Woong Park Jan 2015

An Agile Roadmap For Live, Virtual And Constructive-Integrating Training Architecture (Lvc-Ita): A Case Study Using A Component Based Integrated Simulation Engine, Tae Woong Park

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Conducting seamless Live Virtual Constructive (LVC) simulation remains the most challenging issue of Modeling and Simulation (M&S). There is a lack of interoperability, limited reuse and loose integration between the Live, Virtual and/or Constructive assets across multiple Standard Simulation Architectures (SSAs). There have been various theoretical research endeavors about solving these problems but their solutions resulted in complex and inflexible integration, long user-usage time and high cost for LVC simulation. The goal of this research is to provide an Agile Roadmap for the Live Virtual Constructive-Integrating Training Architecture (LVC-ITA) that will address the above problems and introduce interoperable LVC simulation. …


An Investigation Of Physiological Measures In A Marketing Decision Task, Nelson Lerma Jan 2015

An Investigation Of Physiological Measures In A Marketing Decision Task, Nelson Lerma

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The objective of the present study was to understand the use of physiological measures as an alternative to traditional market research tools, such as self-reporting measures and focus groups. For centuries, corporations and researchers have relied almost exclusively on traditional measures to gain insights into consumer behavior. Oftentimes, traditional methods have failed to accurately predict consumer demand, and this has prompted corporations to explore alternative methods that will accurately forecast future sales. One the most promising alternative methods currently being investigated is the use of physiological measures as an indication of consumer preference. This field, also referred to as neuromarketing, …


Modeling Dense Storage Systems With Location Uncertainty, Mohamed Awwad Jan 2015

Modeling Dense Storage Systems With Location Uncertainty, Mohamed Awwad

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation focuses on developing models to study the problem of searching and retrieving items in a dense storage environment. We consider a special storage configuration called an inverted T configuration, which has one horizontal and one vertical aisle. Inverted T configurations have fewer aisles than a traditional aisle-based storage environment. This increases the storage density; however, requires that some items to be moved out of the way to gain access to other more deeply stored items. Such movement can result in item location uncertainty. When items are requested for retrieval in a dense storage environment with item location uncertainty, …


The Relationship Between Dna's Physical Properties And The Dna Molecule's Harmonic Signature, And Related Motion In Water--A Computational Investigation, Victor Boyer Jan 2015

The Relationship Between Dna's Physical Properties And The Dna Molecule's Harmonic Signature, And Related Motion In Water--A Computational Investigation, Victor Boyer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research investigates through computational methods whether the physical properties of DNA contribute to its harmonic signature, the uniqueness of that signature if present, and motion of the DNA molecule in water. When DNA is solvated in water at normal 'room temperature', it experiences a natural vibration due to the Brownian motion of the particles in the water colliding with the DNA. The null hypothesis is that there is no evidence to suggest a relationship between DNA's motion and strand length, while the alternative hypothesis is that there is evidence to suggest a relationship between DNA's vibrational motion and strand …


The Effects Of Chronic Sleep Deprivation On Sustained Attention: A Study Of Brain Dynamic Functional Connectivity, Yiling He Jan 2015

The Effects Of Chronic Sleep Deprivation On Sustained Attention: A Study Of Brain Dynamic Functional Connectivity, Yiling He

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

It is estimated that about 35-40% of adults in the U.S. suffer from insufficient sleep. Chronic sleep deprivation has become a prevalent phenomenon because of contemporary lifestyle and work-related factors. Sleep deprivation can reduce the capabilities and efficiency of attentional performance by impairing perception, increasing effort to maintain concentration, as well as introducing vision disturbance. Thus, it is important to understand the neural mechanisms behind how chronic sleep deprivation impairs sustained attention. In recent years, more attention has been paid to the study of the integration between anatomically distributed and functionally connected brain regions. Functional connectivity has been widely used …


Propagation Of Unit Location Uncertainty In Dense Storage Environments, Patrick Reilly Jan 2015

Propagation Of Unit Location Uncertainty In Dense Storage Environments, Patrick Reilly

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Effective space utilization is an important consideration in logistics systems and is especially important in dense storage environments. Dense storage systems provide high-space utilization; however, because not all items are immediately accessible, storage and retrieval operations often require shifting of other stored items in order to access the desired item, which results in item location uncertainty when asset tracking is insufficient. Given an initial certainty in item location, we use Markovian principles to quantify the growth of uncertainty as a function of retrieval requests and discover that the steady state probability distribution for any communicating class of storage locations approaches …


Body Mass Bias Mitigation For Females In Military Physical Readiness Testing Through Load Carriage Implementation, Aaron Yeaton Jan 2015

Body Mass Bias Mitigation For Females In Military Physical Readiness Testing Through Load Carriage Implementation, Aaron Yeaton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The US Military requires specific fitness testing, known as the Physical Readiness Test (PRT), for its members to determine their overall fitness levels. The test currently being used has been shown to have bias towards heavier mass individuals of up to 20%. Prior research has been completed and several recommendations have been made to eliminate mass bias, but this has been conducted almost exclusively on males. There is very little data and research on military physical fitness testing for women besides combat specific evolution exercises. A possibility exists to eliminate the bias for females through implementing load carriage during PRT …