Operations Research, Systems Engineering and Industrial Engineering Commons^™

Virtual Teams And E-Entrepreneurship, Nader Ale Ebrahim

Nader Ale Ebrahim

The advent of the virtual teams has facilitated the emergence and formation of new companies within the Net Economy which called e-Entrepreneurship. The terms of e-Entrepreneurship and virtual teams still are new in the scholarly papers. Therefore, this introductory presentation focuses on different aspects of virtual teams and e-entrepreneurship.

Process Construct In The Virtual R&D Teams, Nader Ale Ebrahim, Shamsuddin Ahmed, Salwa Hanim Abdul Rashid, Zahari Taha, Marjan Mohammadjafari Dr

Nader Ale Ebrahim

literature proves the importance of the process role in the effectiveness of virtual research and development (R&D) teams for new product development (NPD). However, the factors that make process construct in a virtual R&D team are still unclear. The manager of virtual R&D teams for NPD does not know which items of process should be used. To address the gap and answer the question, the study presents a set of factors that make a process construct. The proposed construct modified by finding of the field survey. We empirically examine the relationship between construct, dimensions and its factors by employing the …

Strider: Manufacturing Processes, Michael Warren-Angelucci

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

The goal of the Strider Project is to create a mobility device that can support a person with weakened leg strength and enable them to be supported and maintain a standing position. A prototype of the Strider was created by three Mechanical Engineering students as their senior project. The topic of this senior project was to analyze and create a manufacturing process for the manufacture of the Strider that will be ergonomic and cost effective.

There were many things that needed to be accomplished in order to create the manufacturing process. The first step was to verify that the prototype …

Mechanism Design For Base Station Association And Resource Allocation In Downlink Ofdma Network, Mingyi Hong, Alfredo Garcia

Mingyi Hong

We consider a resource management problem in a multi-cell downlink OFDMA network whereby the goal is to find the optimal combination of (i) assignment of users to base stations and (ii) resource allocation strategies at each base station. Efficient resource management protocols must rely on users truthfully reporting privately held information such as downlink channel states. However, individual users can manipulate the resulting resource allocation (by misreporting their private information) if by doing so they can improve their payoff. Therefore, it is of interest to design efficient resource management protocols that are strategy-proof, i.e. it is in the users' best …

Applications Of Cobb-Douglas Production Function In Construction Time-Cost Analysis, Ashkan Hassani

Department of Construction Engineering and Management: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Cobb-Douglas Production Function was widely used in economics and productivity studies across many sectors. The function’s quantitative modeling of resource inputs and production outputs is appealing to the research domain of construction management. In this thesis we explored this function’s application in construction schedule crashing and project risk analysis related to duration of construction projects. Existing research on construction time-cost tradeoff issues rarely explore the origin of the crashing cost which is defined as the cost needed to shorten the project to the desired duration. In the existing literature crashing cost function was either assumed without much justification, or came …

Integrated Production And Distribution Problem With Single Perishable Product, Wennian Li

All Dissertations

This dissertation investigated the extension of the Integrated Production and Distribution Scheduling Problem (IPDSPP) using a variety of perishable products, applying the JIP principle and make-to-order strategy to integrate the production and distribution schedules. A single perishable product with a constant lifetime after production was used in the model discussed here. The objective of the problem was to find the solution that results in minimal system total transportation costs while satisfying customer demand within a fixed time horizon. In the solution, the fleet size, vehicle route and distribution schedule, plant production batch size and schedule were determined simultaneously. This research …

Supply Chain Network Design: Risk-Averse Vs. Risk-Neutral Decision Making, Alireza Madadi

All Dissertations

Recent events, such as the Heparin tragedy, highlight the necessity for designers and planners of supply chain networks to consider the risk of disruptions in spite of their low probability of occurrence. One effective way to hedge against supply chain network disruptions is to have a robustly designed supply chain network. This involves strategic decisions, such as choosing which markets to serve, which suppliers to source from, the location of plants, the types of facilities to use, and tactical decisions, such as production and capacity allocation. In this dissertation, we focus on models for designing supply chain networks that are …

Container Handling Algorithms And Outbound Heavy Truck Movement Modeling For Seaport Container Transshipment Terminals, Mazen I. Hussein

Theses and Dissertations

This research is divided into four main parts. The first part considers the basic block relocation problem (BRP) in which a set of shipping containers is retrieved using the minimum number of moves by a single gantry crane that handles cargo in the storage area in a container terminal. For this purpose a new algorithm called the look ahead algorithm has been created and tested. The look ahead algorithm is applicable under limited and unlimited stacking height conditions. The look ahead algorithm is compared to the existing algorithms in the literature. The experimental results show that the look ahead algorithm …

A Process Analysis Of Engineering Problem Solving And Assessment Of Problem Solving Skills, Sarah Grigg

All Dissertations

In the engineering profession, one of the most critical skills to possess is accurate and efficient problem solving. Thus, engineering educators should strive to help students develop skills needed to become competent problem solvers. In order to measure the development of skills, it is necessary to assess student performance, identify any deficiencies present in problem solving attempts, and identify trends in performance over time. Through iterative assessment using standard assessment metrics, researchers/instructors are able to track trends in problem solving performance across time, which can serve as a gauge of students' learning gains.
This research endeavor studies the problem solving …

Machining Stability Of Wire Edm Of Titanium, Farnaz Nourbakhsh

Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This work presents an experimental investigation of wire electro-discharge machining (WEDM) of titanium alloy. The outstanding characteristics of titanium alloys such as their compatibility and noticeable physical, mechanical and biological performances has led to increased application of them in various industries especially in biomedical industries over the last 50 years. However, due to low thermal conductivity of titanium and its alloys and their reactivity with cobalt in most tool materials, there are some difficulties in machining titanium and its alloys by conventional machining. On the other hand, unconventional machining processes especially Wire Electrical Discharge Machining (WEDM) are more appropriate techniques …

Three-Dimensional Indoor Rfid Localization System, Jiaqing Wu

Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is an information exchange technology based on radio waves communication. It is also a possible solution to indoor localization. Due to multipath propagation and anisotropic interference in the indoor environment, theoretical propagation models are generally not sufficient for RFID-based localization. In fact, the radio frequency (RF) signal distribution may not even be monotonic and this makes range-based localization algorithms less accurate. On the other hand, range free localization algorithms, such as k Nearest-Neighbor (kNN), require reference tags to be spread throughout the whole three-dimensional (3D) space which is simply not practical. In this work, a hybrid …

Sustainability For Die Manufacturing: Comparative Study Of Wedm And Milling, Matthew S. Kalus

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Sustainability is more important in today's culture due to the increasing demand for a more eco-friendly society. Concentrations in minimizing and reducing environmental impacts, energy and natural resources have been forthcoming in industry. The tool, mold and die industries are the most well known industries that machine harder materials using mills and WEDM. The objective of this thesis was to compare the sustainability differences in both of these machines utilizing the accepted standards for evaluating the manufacturing process performance for sustainability. These standards include the evaluation of the process parameters, raw materials, power, tools and fluids which all contribute to …

Practical Guide To Write A Phd Thesis, Nader Ale Ebrahim

Nader Ale Ebrahim

This presentation is a practical guide on how to write a PhD thesis based on personal experiences and existing literature . It is aimed at all PhD students. A thesis writing may be falling into six rules: Identifying the research problem Start thesis writing from a day after registration Writing a Thesis Plan Ask your supervisors: What are their expectations? and maintain regular contact with your supervisors directly/indirectly Expand networking Continuously write/revise and Publish Besides of the six rules, the thesis structure, logical coherence and style are also important. This presentation lead how to consider reader’s expectations during the writing …

Chsr Clothing: How To Start A Small Business Clothing Line To Be Run Efficiently With Minimum Capital And Maximum Profit, Kayvon Banisalam

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

Executive Summary

Many clothing brands have failed because they did not design marketable products with a suitable business plan. Often times, clothing brand owners do not use the capital they possess in efficient ways. They can get caught off guard with unexpected costs and are not running the business in the most resourceful and professional way.

The goal of this project is to create a clothing brand that portrays distinctive designs to go along with an effective business model. This includes implementing decision analysis at several points of the planning phase, along with quality and cost controls. Creating quality products …

Design And Manufacture Of Natural Composite Canoe, Derek Baptista

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

Abstract

This report looks into the application and feasibility of manufacturing natural composite canoes. The main fabrics that were analyzed are flax, hemp, and jute. These were then compared to carbon fiber and fiberglass to see the difference in mechanical properties. It was found that the natural fibers have lower mechanical properties but that this could be overcome by designing a balsa wood core with ribs running up the walls. After manufacturing a hemp canoe, many lesson were learned and areas of interest were further explored. With the use of different natural fibers, these canoes can greatly reduce the carbon …

Process Improvements For Establishing Cmmi Certification At Company Xyz, Megan Farrell

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

CMMI stands for Capability Maturity Model Integration and is an enterprise-wide Process-Improvement model that provides a set of best practices that addresses productivity, performance, costs, and stakeholder satisfaction. This improvement model is generally used in computer software companied and not only does it improve their processes, but many contracts will only be awarded with those companies who are CMMI certified, so it is very important for Company XYZ. This goal of this project was to help improve the CMMI efforts at Company XYZ in 4 of the 20 distinct processes areas to attain a CMMI Maturity Level of 3. Improvement …

Facilities Planning For An Aerospace Manufacturing Company, William Petrossi

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

Absolute Technologies Inc. (ATI) has been growing for years, and is running out of space at their current manufacturing facility in Yorba Linda, CA. ATI will be moving to a much larger facility this winter. They are looking for an efficient way to utilize this space. The machine positions were taken as fixed, seeing as a lean expert was brought in to give advice on placement. With the machines fixed, the scope was narrowed to other areas.

A systematic approach to facilities design is utilized. First, a goal needs to be defined. The goal is to reduce the time wasted …

Consolidation Of Company Abc, Estelle Sillari-Owen

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

This project aims to solve Company ABC’s issues in order to keep the company afloat and to keep the company profitable. This was done by reducing Company ABC’s organizational and inventory build-up issues. The project aims to reduce the company’s dependence on outside storage, with plans of consistent inventory reduction over the next year. An implementation plan was created to ensure the company keeps on track to increase profits and prevent against increasing inventory costs.

Capacity Planning For Elderly Care In Ireland Using Simluation Modeling, Mohamed Ragab, Waleed Abo Hamad, Amr Arisha

Conference papers

Global population aging is creating an immense pressure on healthcare facilities making them unable to cope with the growing demand for elderly healthcare services. Current demand-supply gaps result in prolonged waiting times for patients and substantial cost burdens for healthcare systems due to delayed discharges. This paper describes a project aimed at presenting modeling and simulation to address elderly care pathways within the Irish healthcare sector. The management of frail patients admitted to acute hospitals and the introduction of the new intermediate care beds are alternative interventions that healthcare executives are interested in simulating to examine their impact on the …

Reliability Analysis Of Low-Silver Bga Solder Joints Using Four Failure Criteria, Erin A. Kimura

Master's Theses

The appropriate selection of failure criterion for solder joint studies is necessary to correctly estimate reliability life. The objective of this study is to compare the effect of different failure criteria on the reliability life estimation. The four failure criteria in this study are a 20% resistance increase defined in the IPC-9701A standard, a resistance beyond 500 Ω, an infinite resistance (hard open), and a failure criterion based on X-bar and R control charts. Accelerated thermal cycling conditions of a low-silver BGA study included 0°C to 100 °C with ten minute dwell times and -40°C to 125°C with ten minute …

Droplet Spray Behavior Of An Atomization-Based Cutting Fluid (Acf) System For Machining Of Titanium Alloys, Chandra Nath, Shiv G. Kapoor, Anil K. Srivastava, Jon Iverson

Manufacturing & Industrial Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

The aim of this research is to study droplet spray characteristics of an atomization-based cutting fluid (ACF) spray system including droplet entrainment angle and flow development regions with respect to three ACF spray parameters, viz., droplet and gas velocities, and spray distance. ACF spray experiments are performed by varying droplet and gas velocities. The flow development behavior is studied by modeling the droplets entrainment mechanism, and the density and distribution of the droplets across the jet flare. Machining experiments are also performed in order to understand the effect of the droplet spray behavior on the machining performances, viz., tool life/wear, …

Cv, Elizabeth C. Scheyder

Elizabeth C Scheyder

CV, updated November 2012.

Approach To Conduct An #11;Effective Literature Review, Nader Ale Ebrahim

Nader Ale Ebrahim

This presentation introduces a guideline for conducting an effective literature review. The target audience is research based postgraduate students, researchers who are constantly struggling with the development of an effective literature review. The proposed guideline follows: 1- Find literature associated with the topic. 2- Search and analyze the literature. 3- Evaluate the paper before reading. 4- Cite literature properly. 5- Make a summary table of reviewed papers. 6- Avoid plagiarism. 7- Write a journal article based on literature review.

Toe Brace Designs, Tarun Goswami, Allison L. Van Horn, Alexander O. Sheets

Biomedical, Industrial & Human Factors Engineering Faculty Publications

In various embodiments, provided are braces for use in supporting the metatarophalangeal joint, reducing or maintaining the intermetatarsal angle, enhancing or maintaining alignment of the hallux, or combinations thereof in a subject having hallux valgus.

Comparison Of Phenolic Compounds And Antioxidant Capacities Of Traditional Sorghum Beers With Other Alcoholic Beverages, Fatouma Abdoul-Latif, Romaric G. Bayili, Louis C. Obame, Mamoudou H. Dicko Prof.

Pr. Mamoudou H. DICKO, PhD

Thirty samples of sorghum beers “dolo” were selected from traditionally fermented household manufacturers from Burkina Faso. Dolo samples were screened for their total phenolic content, proanthocyanidins and putative antioxidant capacities, and were compared with industrial beers and wines. Total phenols were measured using the Folin-Ciocalteu method. Proanthocyanidins content were determined by the method of HCl-butanol hydrolysis. Antioxidant activities were evaluated both with 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay and by the trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC) using 2,2’-azinobis(3-ethyl-benzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid radical) (ABTS•+). The average contents of total phenols and proanthocyanidins were 506 μg GAE/ml of dolo and 45 μg APE/ml of dolo, respectively. An …

Publication Marketing Tools - “Enhancing Research Visibility And Improving Citations”, Nader Ale Ebrahim

Nader Ale Ebrahim

Research needs to be explained clearly to others to colleagues, to educational bodies, and to the public by publications. There are various reasons for publication: 1- Publications help in spreading your knowledge and experience, 2- It gives you an academic profile and raises the profile of your institution, 3- Research publications create income for the University, ….. and 4- Publications strengthen your CV. Publishing a high quality paper in scientific journals is a halfway of receiving citation in the future. The rest of the way is advertising and disseminating the publications by using the proper “Research Tools”. Familiarity with the …

Work In Progress: Outreach Assessment: Measuring Engagement, Lizabeth Schlemer, John Oliver, Katherine Chen, Sophia Rodriguez Mata, Eric Kim

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

The Learn By Doing Lab (LBDL) at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo is an on-campus laboratory where 5th through 8th grade students are taught by undergraduates who may be planning a careers in teaching. The two populations - elementary students and undergraduates - are equally important in the process. Since 2008, the lab has seen over 4000 elementary and junior high students and over 100 undergrads have participated. In most outreach assessment the number of individuals participating is an important metric, but this last Spring we experimented with a more in depth measure of effectiveness. As in any learning experience …

Warehouse Redesign, Cristine Carmel Dewar

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

A young, growing biomedical company is expanding its warehouse space to keep up with the increasing production. This project’s goals were to recommend a layout and improve a process that would minimize the distance traveled by the material handlers, increase the safety of the warehouse by implementing visual controls, implement ergonomics to reduce chance of injury, and save money for the company. To achieve this first I familiarized myself with their current processes and department and the space required for their current and future production levels. Next I created two alternative layouts, the first (Layout A) to minimize distance and …

Purchasing Green Transport And Logistics Services: Implications For Small Business, Pietro Evangelista, Maria Huge-Brodin, Karin Isaksson, Edward Sweeney

Articles

Considering its strong environmental impact, logistics plays a critical role in green supply chain management. It provides strategic links in the supply chain and is an essential function in the delivery of green products to the consumer. There is a general consensus on the fact that more environmentally sustainable companies may be achieved only if transport and logistics activities also become greener. To achieve this objective, buyer companies need to incorporate green considerations in the purchasing of transport and logistics services. This appears particularly challenging for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) because of their traditional lack of managerial, organisational …

The Rhetoric And Reality Of Supply Chain Management In Irish Business, Edward Sweeney

Practitioner Journals

A strong focus of NITL’s research activity is on monitoring the extent to which SCM principles and concepts are adopted by organisations based in Ireland. For more than a decade this work has aimed to develop a profile of SCM adoption, as well as identifying some of the critical success factors and barriers influencing firms in their attempts to improve supply chain capability and performance. This article explains the role of SCM in Ireland’s economic recovery and provides an overview of NITL’s latest findings in relation to the adoption of SCM practices by firms in Ireland.