Operations Research, Systems Engineering and Industrial Engineering Commons^™

Effects Of Data Resolution And Human Behavior On Large Scale Evacuation Simulations, Wei Lu

Doctoral Dissertations

Traffic Analysis Zones (TAZ) based macroscopic simulation studies are mostly applied in evacuation planning and operation areas. The large size in TAZ and aggregated information of macroscopic simulation underestimate the real evacuation performance. To take advantage of the high resolution demographic data LandScan USA (the zone size is much smaller than TAZ) and agent-based microscopic traffic simulation models, many new problems appeared and novel solutions are needed. A series of studies are conducted using LandScan USA Population Cells (LPC) data for evacuation assignments with different network configurations, travel demand models, and travelers’ compliance behavior.

First, a new Multiple-Source-Nearest-Destination Shortest Path …

A Dea Model To Optimize Insurance Payment Plans Based On Pacs, Gagan Rajpal

Doctoral Dissertations

Healthcare industry has evolved dramatically over the time. From being a “cottage industry” to an “organized industry” has brought lot of changes. The changes have been both good and bad. Among the problems that have surfaced in past couple of decades, rising healthcare cost has been one of the most significant. The rising healthcare cost has been documented to be a symptom of several factors. Since the inception of healthcare as an organized industry several payment models for providers and hospitals have been adopted. Current healthcare reforms have proposed new payments models to curb the rising cost and provide consumer …

Using Real-Time Location Systems & Simulation Modeling To Improve Healthcare, Colby Thomas Mattie

Masters Theses

In the healthcare industry, facility managers often find themselves with limited resources, lack of timely data, and unexpected crises that they have to respond too. Their options are based on hastily made assumptions and a limited understanding of all implications of the problems at hand. This scenario has become a concerning issue for the healthcare industry where problems can arise at any time and every minute counts. The healthcare industry is also littered with wasteful processes and regulations that increase the cost for physicians and facility operators and decrease the overall care for the patients. This is very evident in …

A Multi-Echelon Inventory System With Supplier Selection And Order Allocation Under Stochastic Demand, Cong Guo

Masters Theses

This article addresses the development of an integrated supplier selection and inventory control problems in supply chain management by developing a mathematical model for a multi-echelon system. In particular, a buyer firm that consists of one warehouse and N identical retailers wants to procure a type of product from a group of potential suppliers, which may require different price, ordering cost, lead time and have restriction on minimum and maximum total order size, to satisfy the stochastic demand. A continuous review system that implements the order quantity, reorder point (Q, R) inventory policy is considered in the …

Modeling And Optimization Of Resource Allocation In Supply Chain Management Problems, Qi Yuan

Doctoral Dissertations

Resource allocation in supply chain management studies how to allocate the limited available resources economically/optimally to satisfy the demands. It is an important research area in operations research. This dissertation focuses on the modeling and optimization of three problems.

The first part of the dissertation investigates an important and unique problem in a supply chain distribution network, namely minimum cost network flow with variable lower bounds (MCNF-VLB). This type of network can be used to optimize the utilization of distribution channels (i.e., resources) in a large supply network, in order to minimize the total cost while satisfying flow conservation, lower …

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 …

East Tennessee Children's Hospital Lean, Eddie D. Eatherly, Catherine Julson, Kelsey Tjader, Jack Smodic, Lanier Loftin

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Energy Efficiency In Residential Buildings In Knoxville, Tn, U.S, Minoo Mardookhy

Masters Theses

Energy efficiency is an essential aspect in the design and operation of residential buildings. Residential energy consumption has been shown to account for approximately 8% of the electricity and 3.5% of the natural gas consumption in the U.S. The heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system and lighting system are two major factors influencing energy consumption in residential buildings with about 52~72% of the average energy consumed used to keep buildings at comfortable temperatures, provide hot water, and circulate fresh air indoors. In the service region of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), 92% of electricity is non-renewable electricity, and approximately …

Solving Combinatorial Optimization Problems Using Genetic Algorithms And Ant Colony Optimization, Gautham Puttur Rajappa

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation presents metaheuristic approaches in the areas of genetic algorithms and ant colony optimization to combinatorial optimization problems.

Ant colony optimization for the split delivery vehicle routing problem

An Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) based approach is presented to solve the Split Delivery Vehicle Routing Problem (SDVRP). SDVRP is a relaxation of the Capacitated Vehicle Routing Problem (CVRP) wherein a customer can be visited by more than one vehicle. The proposed ACO based algorithm is tested on benchmark problems previously published in the literature. The results indicate that the ACO based approach is competitive in both solution quality and solution …

Viral Online Content And The College Market Using Ratemyprofessors.Com And Howstheliving.Com As Case Studies, Aeron L. Glover

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Development And Experimental Analysis Of Wireless High Accuracy Ultra-Wideband Localization Systems For Indoor Medical Applications, Michael Joseph Kuhn

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation addresses several interesting and relevant problems in the field of wireless technologies applied to medical applications and specifically problems related to ultra-wideband high accuracy localization for use in the operating room. This research is cross disciplinary in nature and fundamentally builds upon microwave engineering, software engineering, systems engineering, and biomedical engineering. A good portion of this work has been published in peer reviewed microwave engineering and biomedical engineering conferences and journals. Wireless technologies in medicine are discussed with focus on ultra-wideband positioning in orthopedic surgical navigation. Characterization of the operating room as a medium for ultra-wideband signal transmission …

Towards Sustainable Development Of Nanomanufacturing, Sasikumar Ramdas Naidu

Doctoral Dissertations

"Sustainability" is a buzz word these days not just among regulatory agencies but even with corporations, as evident by the release of annual sustainability report by a large number of firms. Companies are starting to portray profit making along with corporate environmental responsibility.

Nanotechnology and nanomanufacturing which holds a lot of promise for development in a multitude of fields in science and engineering is the new kid on the block and carries a lot of apprehension due to public concern about their potential unwanted side effects that may result in the case of an untoward incident or lack of oversight. …

Process Optimization Of Boatmate Trailers, Llc, Jamie M. Smotherman, Jasmine L. Kelley

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Reliability Analysis Of Nanocrystal Embedded High-K Nonvolatile Memories, Chia-Han Yang

Doctoral Dissertations

The evolution of the MOSFET technology has been driven by the aggressive shrinkage of the device size to improve the device performance and to increase the circuit density. Currently, many research demonstrated that the continuous polycrystalline silicon film in the floating-gate dielectric could be replaced with nanocrystal (nc) embedded high-k thin film to minimize the charge loss due to the defective thin tunnel dielectric layer.

This research deals with both the statistical aspect of reliability and electrical aspect of reliability characterization as well. In this study, the Zr-doped HfO₂ (ZrHfO) high-k MOS capacitors, which separately contain the nanocrystalline zinc …

Robust Multichannel Functional-Data-Analysis Methods For Data Recovery In Complex Systems, Jian Sun

Doctoral Dissertations

In recent years, Condition Monitoring (CM), which can be performed via several sensor channels, has been recognized as an effective paradigm for failure prevention of operational equipment or processes. However, the complexity caused by asynchronous data collection with different and/or time-varying sampling/transmission rates has long been a hindrance in the effective use of multichannel data in constructing empirical models. The problem becomes more challenging when sensor readings are incomplete. Traditional sensor data recovery techniques are often prohibited in asynchronous CM environments, not to mention sparse datasets. The proposed Functional Principal Component Analysis (FPCA) methodologies, e.g., nonparametric FPC model and semi-parametric …

Prognostics-Based Two-Operator Competition For Maintenance And Service Part Logistics, Faranak Fathi Aghdam

Masters Theses

Prognostics and timely maintenance of components are critical to the continuing operation of a system. By implementing prognostics, it is possible for the operator to maintain the system in the right place at the right time. However, the complexity in the real world makes near-zero downtime difficult to achieve partly because of a possible shortage of required service parts. This is realistic and quite important in maintenance practice. To coordinate with a prognostics-based maintenance schedule, the operator must decide when to order service parts and how to compete with other operators who also need the same parts. This research addresses …

The Impact Of Change On System Of Systems Performance With An Application To Small And Medium Multihospital Systems, Karima Tayeb

Doctoral Dissertations

An entity that functions as a system of systems (SoS) is composed of multiple systems that individually provide various functions which collectively provide a holistic functional capability. It is complex in design and function and tends to become even more complex over time as it evolves and responds to both internal and external changes. These changes might be in the composition or in the interoperability among its system members. Since interoperability affects how well the members work as one system, managing it is critical to the performance of the SoS over its lifespan.

In support of this goal, this dissertation, …

Dynamic Human Resource Predictive Model For Complex Organizations, Tachapon Saengsureepornchai

Masters Theses

Every organization has to deal with planning of the appropriate level of human resources over time. The workforce is not always aligned with the requirements of the organization and it increases an organization’s budget. A literature review reveals that there is no model that can systematically predict accurate human resource required within a complex organization. To address this gap, a human resource predictive model was developed based on material requirements planning (MRP). This approach accounts for complexity in workforce planning and generalized it with a logistic regression model. The model estimates the employee turnover number and forecasts the expected remaining …

An Experimental Approach For Developing Rfid Ready Receiving And Shipping, Amoldeep Singh Jaggi

Masters Theses

Abstract:

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) and related technologies have been touted to allow exponential improvements in supply chain logistics and management. However, many industrial users have indicated that these technologies have not provided the anticipated benefits. The two complimentary strategies required to address the RFID reliability are: to improve the reliability of RFID technology and to design the supply chain infrastructure that enables RFID. The focus of this paper is on designing the supply chain infrastructure to enable RFID by developing guidelines for “RFID Ready Facilities”. These guidelines were developed based on a set of experiments conducted in the RFID …

Effect Of Consumer Knowledge On Energy Consumption Behavior, Sarah Tapscott

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

A Multi-Commodity Network Flow Approach For Sequencing Refined Products In Pipeline Systems, Rolando José Acosta Amado

Doctoral Dissertations

In the oil industry, there is a special class of pipelines used for the transportation of refined products. The problem of sequencing the inputs to be pumped through this type of pipeline seeks to generate the optimal sequence of batches of products and their destination as well as the amount of product to be pumped such that the total operational cost of the system, or another operational objective, is optimized while satisfying the product demands according to the requirements set by the customers. This dissertation introduces a new modeling approach and proposes a solution methodology for this problem capable of …

Birnbaum Importance Patterns And Their Applications In The Component Assignment Problem, Qingzhu Yao

Doctoral Dissertations

The Birnbaum importance (BI) is a well-known measure that evaluates the relative contribution of components to system reliability. It has been successfully applied to tackling some reliability problems. This dissertation investigates two topics related to the BI in the reliability field: the patterns of component BIs and the BI-based heuristics and meta-heuristics for solving the component assignment problem (CAP).

There exist certain patterns of component BIs (i.e., the relative order of the BI values to the individual components) for linear consecutive-k-out-of-n (Lin/Con/k/n) systems when all components have the same reliability p. This study summarizes …

Development Of An Optimal Replenishment Policy For Human Capital Inventory, Bruce A Holt

Doctoral Dissertations

A unique approach is developed for evaluating Human Capital (workforce) requirements. With this approach, new ways of measuring personnel availability are proposed and available to ensure that an organization remains ready to provide timely, relevant, and accurate products and services in support of its strategic objectives over its planning horizon. The development of this analysis and methodology was established as an alternative approach to existing studies for determining appropriate hiring and attrition rates and to maintain appropriate personnel levels of effectiveness to support existing and future missions.

The contribution of this research is a prescribed method for the strategic analyst …

Revenue Management For Make-To-Order And Make-To-Stock Systems, Jiao Wang

Doctoral Dissertations

With the success of Revenue Management (RM) techniques over the past three decades in various segments of the service industry, many manufacturing firms have started exploring innovative RM technologies to improve their profits. This dissertation studies RM for make-to-order (MTO) and make-to-stock (MTS) systems.

We start with a problem faced by a MTO firm that has the ability to reject or accept the order and set prices and lead-times to influence demands. The firm is confronted with the problem to decide, which orders to accept or reject and trade-off the price, lead-time and potential for increased demand against capacity constraints, …

Interaction Between Primary Resources And Root Causes In Lean Production Systems, Ernest Anene Iwuchukwu

Masters Theses

A model to analyze lean systems reliability is developed based on the premises that lean production systems require four primary resources; materials, equipment, personnel, and schedule (Sawhney, R., Subburaman, K., Sonntag, C., Capizzi, C. and Rao, P.V., 2009). The four primary lean resources were independently analyzed, without due consideration to underlying relationships within each other. In this research, relationships and interaction between root-causes and lean primary resources were conceptualized and developed. The development applied a five-phase approach: 1. review of related literature, 2. decompositions of lean primary resources, 3. selection of consensus root causes items and questionnaire construct, 4. survey …

Increasing Accuracy Of Simulation Modeling Via A Dynamic Modeling Approach, Prasanna Rao Venkateswara Rao

Masters Theses

Simulating processes is a valuable tool which provides in-depth knowledge about overall performance of a system and caters valuable insight on improving processes. Current simulation models are developed and run based on the existing business and operations conditions at the time during which the simulation model is developed. Therefore a simulation run over one year will be based on operational and business conditions defined at the beginning of the run. The results of the simulation therefore are unrealistic, as the actual process will be going through dynamic changes during that given year. In essence the simulation model does not have …

Analyzing Supercomputer Utilization Under Queuing With A Priority Formula And A Strict Backfill Policy, Michael David Vanderlan

Masters Theses

Supercomputers have become increasingly important in recent years due to the growing amount of data available and the increasing demand for quicker results in the scientific community. Since supercomputers carry a high cost to build and maintain, efficiency becomes more important to the owners, administrators, and users of these supercomputers. One important factor in determining the efficiency of a supercomputer is the scheduling of jobs that are submitted by users of the system. Previous work has dealt with optimizing the schedule on the system’s end while the users are blinded from the process. The work presented in this thesis investigates …

Multi-Modular Integral Pressurized Water Reactor Control And Operational Reconfiguration For A Flow Control Loop, Sergio Ricardo Pereira Perillo

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation focused on the IRIS design since this will likely be one of the designs of choice for future deployment in the U.S and developing countries. With a net 335 MWe output IRIS novel design falls in the “medium” size category and it is a potential candidate for the so called modular reactors, which may be appropriate for base load electricity generation, especially in regions with smaller electricity grids, but especially well suited for more specialized non-electrical energy applications such as district heating and process steam for desalination. The first objective of this dissertation is to evaluate and quantify …

Quality Assurance In Engineering Education: A Systems Perspective, Mildred Genevieve Louidor

Masters Theses

Engineering education reform has been a topic of discussion for the last twenty years. The concern has only intensified in recent years as stakeholders strive to improve quality in engineering education. Today, stakeholders are recognizing that one of the keys to successful engineering education reform is in taking a systems view of higher education. Academic departments within the higher education system are organized around academic disciplines for the purpose of creating, transferring, and applying knowledge in three principal areas: teaching, research and service. This study addresses the need for quality improvement in the engineering higher education system by first completing …

A New Lean Model: Improving Race Team Performance Through Team-Driver Communication Efficacy, Joseph Ruric Stainback Iv

Doctoral Dissertations

In some organizational settings and in the field of competitive automobile racing, certain situations and rules place an emphasis on and sometimes escalate the need for effective team communications. This dissertation hypothesizes that effective and dense communications contributes directly to team performance. Supported by organizational behavioral and lean six sigma theory, communications is declared a form of waste within the context of Industrial Engineering subject to data collection, measurements, and real-time, value-added metrics. Measuring and reporting trends in communications provides a basis for a new and unique model called a Communications Productivity Model (CPM) with an associated Communications Density Report …