Systems Engineering Commons^™

Rapid Development: A Content Analysis Comparison Of Literature And Purposive Sampling Of Afrl Rapid Reaction Projects, Andrew R. Smith

Theses and Dissertations

In the current environment of military operations requesting faster delivery schedules to counter insurgent tactics, the engineering team often searches for how to quickly deliver the 80% solution, typically in 6-12 months. These are labeled rapid development projects. A content analysis of best practices in commercial product development literature, where time to market is often a driving factor, was accomplished showing varying emphasis of systems engineering technical and technical management processes. Technical Planning, Stakeholders Requirements Development, and Architecture Design were identified as important processes. This analysis confirms preconceived notions of plan upfront and early by emphasizing the SE processes of …

A Method For Measuring Programmatic Dependency And Interdependency Between Dod Acquisition Programs, Matthew B. Christensen

Theses and Dissertations

There is currently no accepted method for quantitative measurement of acquisition program interdependency. While some methods exist for measuring dependency or interdependency at the component or system level, these methods do not translate well to program interdependency measurement. The objective of this thesis is to provide a model for measuring acquisition program interdependency accurately and quantitatively. The model presented in this thesis uses four Interdependency Factors to identify dependency relationships between programs. Specific Interdependency Levels are then used to measure the strengths of those dependencies. The model also accounts for measurement of dependencies upon programs that are not directly connected, …

Simulation-Based Optimisation Model For The Lean Assessment In Sme: A Case Study, Amr Arisha, Amr Mahfouz, John Shea

Conference papers

Due to their space limitation and small production scale, small and medium enterprises (SME) are vulner-able to rapid changes. Lean principles are considered as effective improvement approach to eliminate sys-tem’s waste and inefficiencies. Although much of the academic materials have addressed the lean practic-es into large, global companies, they can still be adjusted to SMEs. Risks are usually associated with lean implementation process due to the drastic required changes in business policies and operations. Simulation can be successfully used to predict the impact of the proposed changes ahead of the implementation which helps to mitigate risks. Integrating simulation with optimization …

Ethnic Difference In Healthcare Delivery, Benny Mathew Varghese

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

Quality in healthcare is a very important aspect; this is obtained when there is proper care provided to the patients without any discrimination. The healthcare system in the US can be improved in the fields of patient’s care, the amount of money spent and proper advice, if proper responsibilities are taken. Quality has been improving over the years, but the median by which there is an increase is too small. The other main factor is access to the healthcare system, which has over the year, has not progressed. Studies in healthcare quality should be conducted on a regular base, so …

Economic Analysis Of Continuous Monitoring Of Commercial Truck Tire Pressure Using Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems (Tpms) And Rfid Technologies., Afolabi A. Ogunwemimo

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

The trucking industry is a major contributor to the US economy. By providing the essential services of transportation and distribution needed in today’s dynamic industry, the transportation industry has evolved into an integral player in various supply chains. The trucking industry is the largest transportation provider for other industries and employs 10.1 million workers in the United States (ATA, 2003).

This research is an analysis of the economic impact of maintaining proper air pressure in the tires of commercial trucks. Various studies have been carried out on understanding the relationship between tire pressure and fuel consumption (National Research Council, 2006). …

Electronic Monitoring Of Hand Hygiene Compliance In An Inpatient Hospital Setting, Christopher M. Masek

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

Proper hand hygiene is known to reduce hospital acquired infections. Currently the most widely accepted method used to measure hand hygiene compliance is through direct observation. This method often provides data that may not accurately represent true hand hygiene compliance due to such factors such as the Hawthorne Effect. Perhaps a better approach is to use counting devices to capture hand hygiene opportunities and activities. This thesis focuses on the measurement of hand hygiene activities of all individuals that either work or visit an inpatient medical ward including healthcare workers, patients and visitors at the patient’s bedside for non-isolation patients. …

Developing System Architecture Design Using Qfd, Raman Attri

Raman K. Attri

Using QFD tool to flow down the reqeuirements and develop the top-down systems architecture during product development

Test And Evaluation Of Fusion System Components For Space Integration, Whitley Collyn Loper

Von Braun Symposium Student Posters

No abstract provided.

A Review Of International Best Practice In E-Governmentsome Lessons For New Adopters, Deogratias Harorimana Sr

Dr Deogratias Harorimana

Efficient bureaucratic processes as essential to attract and retain investment, as well as promote SME growth. The e_Gov is one of many ways emerging economies have used to streamline public service delivery and create a freindly and conducive atmosphere for business -both MNC and SMEs. This presentation provide an overview of some of the World's most recent case examples on the successful design-plan-implementation of eGov to build a strong basis to attract investment and deliver seamless essential services to Citizens.

A Critical Review Of The Effectiveness Of Fiscal And Monetary Policies In The Pacific Island Countries (Pics) Between 1990-2010, Deogratias Harorimana Mr

Dr Deogratias Harorimana

The purpose of this paper is to critically assess the effectiveness of Fiscal and Monetary Policies in the South Pacific Island Countries. The paper tracks down the economic growth for the last 20 years between 1990-2010, and drawing from key fiscal and monetary policies in place during the time under consideration, as well as specific interventions in the region, we find that: 1) While the South Pacific Island Countries (SPICs) particularly the six major economies (Solomon Islands, Fiji, Vanuatu, PNG, Samoa, Tonga) pursued fiscal and monetary policies for promoting growth and diversification of their economies, their fiscal policies relied heavily …

Issues In Human Capital Development : Lessons For Public Administration And Governance, Deogratias Harorimana Mr

Dr Deogratias Harorimana

With few minerals or other natural resources, Rwanda believes that she can still achieve her ambitions by investing in human capital - her unique resource. If this ambition can be achieved, then is this the next role model for international development? We used a case study design and analysis methods to examine development models used elsewhere in recent decades, using both qualitative and quantitative data on Rwanda to establish the comparative advantages in relation to Singapore’s economic development model. The implications for international development are that (1) an effective human capital development strategy should be inclusive enough to respond to …

Evaluation Of A Shared Representation To Support Collaborative, Distributed, Coalition, Multilevel Planning, Michael C. Dorneich, David Mott, Ali Bahrami, Jitu Patel, Cheryl Giammanco

Michael C. Dorneich

This paper presents the extension and evaluation of a formal representation that enables planners at different levels of command, and in different functional area, to jointly share, develop, and modify plans. Planning has moved from a co-located, concurrent, small team activity to an activity that involves a large, culturally diverse, hierarchical, globally-distributed team. However, significant benefits of distributed planning can only come if the team is able to communicate and maintain a shared understanding of the commander’s intent, objectives, resources and constraints, as well as decisions made and justifications for planning options chosen or alternatives rejected. Effective automated support must …

Design Of A University Research Network: Analysis, Selection, And Implementation Planning, Anna P. Hopper

Master's Theses

This report focuses on the design of a university knowledge management system (KMS), and how such a system can provide the framework for students and faculty to partake in, share, and collaborate on research activities. The collaborative environment of a university KMS, or research network, must be established in order for a university to maintain its reputation as a competitive research institution and to develop its faculty and students outside the classroom. A research network may contain a variety of features, some of which include faculty profiles, forums, communication portals, publication links, biographies, faculty keywords, interest areas and contact information. …

Characterization Of Key Process Parameters In Injection Blow Molding For Improving Quality, Aspen D'Costa

Online Journal for Workforce Education and Development

The purpose of this study was to discover the performance of significant process parameters in manufacturing 20 oz. plastic beverage bottles. An experimental methodology was carefully designed to examine the characteristics of key variables such as ambient and operating temperatures, process line operators, resin types, resin colors and operating lines associated with a plastic bottle manufacturing line. More explicitly, this study seeks to identify the definitive relationship between the selected process parameters for the production machine (Sidel™) and the ensuing product quality. Also, this study was conducted to evaluate the performance characteristics of Post Consumer Resin (PCR), virgin resin and …

Assessment System Based On Fuzzy Scoring In European Foundation For Quality Management (Efqm) Business Excellence Model, J Dodangeh

Javad Dodangeh

There are a few popular business excellence models that provide standard criteria against which an organization can measure its performances. European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) is the most popular one. The organizational self-assessment process is an admissible system in the area of Total Quality Management (TQM). Most specialists concur to the description of self-assessment that is presented by the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM). However, the current selfassessment methods in EFQM model have some drawbacks and problems which are scoring in these methods influenced by experts’ judgment and thus, are subjective. Furthermore, these methods cannot consider the empirical …

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, …

Bring Your Own Water Treatment System: United States Patent, Evan A. Thomas, Maximilian Gold

Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

A method and apparatus for filtering a fluid is presented. In one embodiment, the apparatus converts contaminated water into water having a lower turbidity and bacterial contamination level than the contaminated water. The apparatus includes a settling unit for at least partially settling a portion of the water; a filter unit having a filtration media; wherein the filtration media comprises sand, anthracite coal, burnt rice husks, diatomaceous earth, gravel, pumice gravel, or combinations thereof; a sanitation unit; wherein the sanitation unit is an ultraviolet disinfection unit; a backwash unit; wherein the settling unit is in fluid communications with the filter …

Cyber Physical Complex Networks, Modeling, Analysis, And Control, Neveen Shlayan

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This research scrutinize various attributes of complex networks; mainly, modeling, sensing, estimation, safety analysis, and control. In this study, formal languages and finite automata are used for modeling incident management processes. Safety properties are checked in order to verify the system. This method introduces a systematic approach to incident management protocols that are governed by mostly unsystematic algorithms. A portion of the used data in this study is collected by means of radar and loop detectors. A weighted t-statistics methodology is developed in order to validate these detectors. The detector data is then used to extract travel time information where …

Social Innovation Concepts At Nasa: Integrating International Development Challenges And Hands-On Prototyping With Spacecraft Design Training, Leonard Yowell, Evan A. Thomas

Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

The NASA Johnson Space Center Social Innovation program has been designed to encourage innovation within the NASA community that benefits both NASA's core mission as well as human needs domestically and internationally. By encouraging internal and external collaboration and providing resources including the new Johnson Space Center "Sandbox" design shop, new innovations are anticipated. Technologies developed for the human exploration of space share similar requirements with appropriate technology for the developing world. The technology goals of keeping people alive in a difficult environment involve addressing requirements for low maintenance and robustness and often include using renewable energy sources. Technologies developed …

Sustainable Oxygen: A Low Power Approach For Providing Emergency Medical Oxygen For Spacecraft And Hospitals In Developing Countries, Anndee L. Huff, Evan Rhead, Zdenek Zumr, Evan A. Thomas

Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

An oxygen concentrator targeting an 80% reduction in power demand over commercial systems is being developed using a pressure swing adsorption process. This system is targeted for a service interval five times longer than commercial systems, and is tolerant to high humidity environments- the leading cause of device failure in developing countries. This system could provide emergency medical oxygen in a spacecraft without increasing oxygen concentration in the vehicle. Flight surgeons seek this capability, but presently, there is no system that meets power, size, and delivery rate requirements. This type of system is also well suited for medical oxygen in …

A Systemic Approach To Next Generation Infrastructure Data Elicitation And Planning Using Serious Gaming Methods, Ersin Ancel

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Infrastructure systems are vital to the functioning of our society and economy. However, these systems are increasingly complex and are more interdependent than ever, making them difficult to manage. In order to respond to increasing demand, environmental concerns, and natural and man-made threats, infrastructure systems have to adapt and transform. Traditional engineering design approaches and planning tools have proven to be inadequate when planning and managing these complex socio-technical system transitions. The design and implementation of next generation infrastructure systems require holistic methodologies, encompassing organizational and societal aspects in addition to technical factors. In order to do so, a serious …

E-10a Mc2a Systems Engineering Case Study, Air Force Center For Systems Engineering, William Albery

AFIT Documents

No abstract provided.

Designing Fuzzy Multi Criteria Decision Making Model For Best Selection Of Areas For Improvement In Efqm, J Dodangeh

Javad Dodangeh

In a growingly competitive business environment, numerous organizations adopt the total quality management (TQM) approach, to struggle for business excellence. To monitor the progress towards business excellence, thousands of organizations across the world use self-assessment on a regular basis. There are a few popular business excellence models, that provide standard criteria against which an organization can measure its performances. European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) is the most popular ones. The EFQM Excellence Model was introduced at the beginning of 1992, as the framework for assessing organizations for the European Quality Award. It is now the most widely used organizational …

Enterprise Requirements And Acquisition Model, David A. Leach, Chad T. Searle

Theses and Dissertations

In support of senior leadership emphasis on improving early systems engineering and analysis, the Enterprise Requirements and Acquisition Model (ERAM) is a quantitative discrete-event process simulation model that accounts for activities from the identification of a desired space capability early in the JCIDS process through Milestone C of the acquisition system resulting in a probabilistic schedule distribution for a given concept. This model of the DoD's space capability development process will provide valuable decision making information for Concept Characterization and Technical Descriptions referenced during Analysis of Alternatives. The research focused on identifying activities, assigning historical triangular distributions and probabilities at …

Wolf Ant, Gilbert L. Peterson, Christopher M. Mayer, Kevin Cousin

Faculty Publications

Ant colony optimization (ACO) algorithms can generate quality solutions to combinatorial optimization problems. However, like many stochastic algorithms, the quality of solutions worsen as problem sizes grow. In an effort to increase performance, we added the variable step size off-policy hill-climbing algorithm called PDWoLF (Policy Dynamics Win or Learn Fast) to several ant colony algorithms: Ant System, Ant Colony System, Elitist-Ant System, Rank-based Ant System, and Max-Min Ant System. Easily integrated into each ACO algorithm, the PDWoLF component maintains a set of policies separate from the ant colony's pheromone. Similar to pheromone but with different update rules, the PDWoLF policies …

Systems Ideas For The Scientific And Societal Imperatives Of The Coastal Ocean: Case Of The Bp Oil Gusher In The Gulf Of Mexico, Spring & Summer 2010, Christopher Mooers

Systems Science Friday Noon Seminar Series

In recent decades, great progress has been made in advancing the scientific understanding of the coastal ocean (i.e., the 200 nautical mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ)) across a broad set of disciplines. Simultaneously, the societal use of the coastal ocean has skyrocketed through, for example, increased shipping & boating, sports & commercial fishing, and exploitation of non-living resources, such as, oil & gas extraction and sand & gravel mining. International law and national policy assign coastal nations the responsibility for stewardship (i.e., wise management) of their respective EEZs. The scope of the stewardship and applications can be summarized as (1) …

A-10 Thunderbolt Ii (Warthog) Systems Engineering Case Study, Air Force Center For Systems Engineering, David R. Jacques, Dennis D. Strouble

AFIT Documents

No abstract provided.

Averaged Iterative Water-Filling Algorithm: Robustness And Convergence, Mingyi Hong, Alfredo Garcia

Mingyi Hong

The convergence properties of the iterative water-filling (IWF) based algorithms have been derived in the ideal situation where the transmitters in the network are able to obtain the exact value of the interference plus noise (IPN) experienced at the corresponding receivers in each iteration of the algorithm. However, these algorithms are not robust because they diverge when there is time-varying estimation error of the IPN, a situation that arises in real communication system. In this correspondence, we propose an algorithm that possesses convergence guarantees in the presence of various forms of such time-varying error. Moreover, we also show by simulation …

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 …

Nurturing Systems Thinking: Developing A Framework Based On The Human Factors Analysis And Classification System (Hfacs) To Improve Systems Development Processes, Arjun Vijayanarayanan

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Large systems engineering projects have an astonishingly high failure rate. The reasons hypothesized for such a high failure rate include the neglect of nonsalient system elements such as social and human or organizational aspects of systems. Social and human factors have long been known to be critical elements of systems that are frequently ignored (e.g., Goguen, 1994). Systems engineering processes can benefit and be improved by effective utilization of a framework that helps developers expand their attention and efforts beyond the salient aspects of the system and the development process. In the aviation field, the Human Factors Analysis and Classification …