Operations Research, Systems Engineering and Industrial Engineering Commons^™

Assessment Of Ergonomics In Indian Dental Practice: A Workplace Analysis, Divya Gadde

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Dental practice requires unique working conditions such as prolonged working hours, strained body postures and laborious, high finesse dental techniques. However, it can be more efficiently performed by the application of ergonomics, rather than physically forcing the worker's body to fit the job. Posture is highly influenced by factors such as inadequate working level, incorrect patient positioning, and poor visual comfort. In order to eliminate musculoskeletal disorders it is necessary to control these and other factors, and design the human work environment to be more ergonomic. The aim of this study was to assess ergonomics within Indian dental practice and …

Repeatability Case Study Of The 3d Printer In The School Of Engineering And Applied Science Lab, Naif Faleh S. Albaiji

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

3DP (three-dimensional printing) technologies have become more than just a tool to help companies with prototyping and designing in the pre-production stage. Some firms have already implemented 3DP technology to produce parts and end-use products. However, there are several challenges and barriers that this technology must overcome to replace traditional manufacturing methods. One of the most significant obstacles associated with 3D printing is its low level of accuracy in variable repeatability when it comes to making separate batches of the same product. There are several arguable reasons behind this variation. Some of the factors that can influence repeatability are the …

Reducing Damaged And Returned Inventory At Mds Logistics, Chris Montell, Darioush Moein, Amir Samadabadi

Senior Design Project For Engineers

MDS Logistics is a middle-man that delivers and installs appliances to multi-family complexes and neighborhoods in Georgia. One of the biggest issues that they face in day-to-day operation is damaged and returned appliances. MDS’s longest standing contract is with GE and GE has extensive records of damage that is incurred by using similar companies across the country. We will be consulting with MDS while using the data produced by GE to compare MDS with the similar companies to see where improvement can be made reasonably.

When an appliance is damaged it is brought back to MDS’s warehouse where they are …

A-Set Process Improvement, Gabriel Rubio, Davis Jackson, Christopher Olaya

Senior Design Project For Engineers

Siemens Energy offers world-class products and solutions for power generation. They help their clients worldwide to successfully operate conventional power plants by renting out their toolkits. Clients can work on anything from gas or steam turbines, generators, turbines, or even hybrid power and storage. One of Siemens’ more profitable toolkits would be the A-Set, or as the floor assemblers refer to as ‘the majors,’ which consists of two large conex containers filled with thousands of tools ready for any type of operation at power plants. By looking at how long it takes floor assemblers at the Siemens Facility in Suwanee, …

Failure Analysis Of Philos Plate Construct Used For Pantalar Arthrodesis Paper Ii-Screws And Fem Simulations, Farah Hamandi, Richard T. Laughlin, Tarun Goswami

Biomedical, Industrial & Human Factors Engineering Faculty Publications

A fractured stainless steel 3.5 mm proximal humerus internal locking system (PHILOS) plate and screws were investigated in this paper. This plate was used for ankle arthrodesis of a 68-year-old female with a right ankle deformity. Both the plate and screws were considered in this investigation. Optical and scanning electron microscopes (SEM) were used to document fracture surface characteristics, such as extensive scratching, plastic deformation, rubbed surfaces, discoloration, and pitting, along with cleavage, secondary cracking, deposits of debris, striations, and dimples. Indications of these features show that the plate failed by corrosion fatigue, however, overloading separated the screw(s) in two …

Contextual Framework Of Communications Functions Supporting Complex System Governance, Charles Wesley Chesterman Jr.

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to develop a systems theory-based contextual framework of communication functions supporting complex system governance using an inductive research design. Communication, as one aspect of Management Cybernetics (communication and control for effective system organization) constructed of channels of communication, provides for the movement of information internally and externally for a system. This flow reflecting new information, decisions, questions, and intelligence is critical for viability of a system. This research looked for communication mechanisms as developed in system theory, communication theory, management theory, and organizational theory. The literature indicates the importance of communications, but a systemic …

The Evaluation Of The Integration Of Sustainability In Industrial Engineering Education At Louisiana State University, Kloe’ M. Liner

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

A Cognitive Approach To Predicting Academic Success In Computing, Colby Goettel

Theses and Dissertations

This research examines the possible correlations between a computing student's learning preference and their academic success, as well as their overall satisfaction with their major. CS and IT seniors at BYU were surveyed about their learning preferences and satisfaction with their major. The research found that IT students who are more reflective in their learning preference tend to have higher grades in their major. Additionally, it found that student age and their parents' education level were significant players in their academic success. However, there were no correlations found between major satisfaction and academic performance.

Evaluation Of The Effectiveness Of A Gaze-Based Training Intervention On Latent Hazard Anticipation Skills For Young Drivers: A Driving Simulator Study, Yusuke Yamani, Pinar Biçaksiz, Dakota B. Palmer, Nathan Hatfield, Siby Samuel

Psychology Faculty Publications

A PC-based training program (Road Awareness and Perception Training or RAPT; Pradhan et al., 2009), proven effective for improving young novice drivers' hazard anticipation skills, did not fully maximize the hazard anticipation performance of young drivers despite the use of similar anticipation scenarios in both, the training and the evaluation drives. The current driving simulator experiment examined the additive effects of expert eye movement videos following RAPT training on young drivers' hazard anticipation performance compared to video-only and RAPT-only conditions. The study employed a between-subject design in which 36 young participants (aged 18-21) were equally and randomly assigned to one …

A Multi-Level Longitudinal Investigation Of Transformational Leadership Influence On Team Members Development In Engineering Project Teams, Nathapon Siangchokyoo

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of the current study is to contribute to the existing Transformational Leadership literature. Despite the overwhelming support that Transformational Leadership theory has garnered over the recent years, the underlying mechanisms and processes by which these leaders exert influence on their followers have yet to be adequately examined. More importantly, while the majority of advances in leadership research can largely be attributed to traditional areas of management and social sciences, studies of leadership in the context of engineering still remain relatively unexplored. Drawing on previous empirical research as well as the concept of Core Self-Evaluations, this study sets out …

Case Study On The Development Of Engineering Design Modification Projects For U.S. Nuclear Power Plants: A Knowledge Retention Tool In Support Of The Longevity And Resilience Of The Nuclear Power Industry, Pamela M. Torres-Jiménez

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The nuclear power industry in the United States (U.S.) has gone through various changes throughout its history. Most recently, plans to grow the industry through the construction of new power plants have ceased. Because of this, the industry is at a period where the longevity and resilience of existing nuclear power plants are vital to its subsistence.

One of the ways existing nuclear power plants can assure longevity and resilience is by performing engineering design modifications efficiently and at a lower cost. Strategic plans, such as the Delivering the Nuclear Promise, can support nuclear utilities to achieve this. Another strategy …

Case Study: Cooling Channels For Material Testing Applications Using Laser Powder Bed Fusion, Benjamin M. Doane, Ryan P. O'Hara, K. Liu, Carl R. Hartsfield

Faculty Publications

Additive Manufacturing continues to gain a reputation as a key technology that will have a major impact on all aspects of mechanical engineering. The United States Air Force’s (USAF) Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT), based in Dayton, Ohio, has expanded its AM-focused education and R&D capabilities with the purchase of a Laser Powder Bed Fusion system from Germany’s Concept Laser.

Manufacturing Process Simulation – On Its Way To Industrial Application, Dennis Otten, Tobias A. Weber, Jan-Christoph Arent

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

Manufacturing process simulation (MPS) has become more and more important for aviation and the automobile industry. A highly competitive market requires the use of high performance metals and composite materials in combination with reduced manufacturing cost and time as well as a minimization of the time to market for a new product. However, the use of such materials is expensive and requires sophisticated manufacturing processes. An experience based process and tooling design followed by a lengthy trial-and-error optimization is just not contemporary anymore. Instead, a tooling design process aided by simulation is used more often. This paper provides an overview …

A System Dynamics Innovation Diffusion Model Applied To Carbon Nanotube Manufacturing, Frances G. Mackinnon

Theses and Dissertations

The transition of advanced technologies from their nascent state to viable commercial entities is a critical step in assuring the United States' national technological superiority and support is often required to incubate such technological developments. We propose a spiral development to investigate the possible scenarios, underlying economics, and risk associated with scaling up carbon nanotube (CNT) production to a commercially viable scale. As the first stage of this proposed effort, this study characterizes the potential scenarios by which a CNT manufacturing company can generate positive annual net revenue and potentially be considered a competitive manufacturer of CNT products on an …

An Analysis Of Major Acquisition Reforms Through Text Mining And Grounded Theory Design, Amanda L. Mcgowin

Theses and Dissertations

Cost growth is an established phenomenon within Defense Acquisition that the US Government has attempted to abolish for decades through seemingly endless cycles of reform. Dozens of experts and senior leaders within the acquisition community have published their notions on the reasons for cost growth, nevertheless, legislation has yet to eradicate this presumed conundrum. For this reason, this research is aimed at identifying existing trends within past major Defense Acquisition Reform legislation, as well as in a compendium of views from leaders within the Defense Acquisition community on the efficacy of acquisition reform, to determine the possible disconnect. To accomplish …

Experimental Designs, Meta-Modeling, And Meta-Learning For Mixed-Factor Systems With Large Decision Spaces, Zachary C. Little

Theses and Dissertations

Many Air Force studies require a design and analysis process that can accommodate for the computational challenges associated with complex systems, simulations, and real-world decisions. For systems with large decision spaces and a mixture of continuous, discrete, and categorical factors, nearly orthogonal-and-balanced (NOAB) designs can be used as efficient, representative subsets of all possible design points for system evaluation, where meta-models are then fitted to act as surrogates to system outputs. The mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) formulations used to construct first-order NOAB designs are extended to solve for low correlation between second-order model terms (i.e., two-way interactions and quadratics). The …

An Open Source Approach To Social Media Data Gathering, Anthony J. Kallhoff

Theses and Dissertations

Modern usage of social media affords the military intelligence and analytic communities novel approaches to gather information. However, the tools and resources to develop these methodologies are still maturing. Furthermore, current data acquisition tools are not available to the DoD for all social media platforms. This thesis addresses a small subset of this problem by developing an open source methodological approach to collect and manage data from a popular social media site that has previously been inaccessible to defense intelligence organizations. This approach was operationalized via the R package called instaExtract, and an exemplar analysis was performed to demonstrate its …

A Study Of The Air Force Airworthiness Assessment Process With Recommendations For Reusable Launch Vehicles, Austin A. Troya

Theses and Dissertations

Flight safety is a critical design and engineering consideration within the United States Department of Defense (DoD) and particularly the United States Air Force (USAF). This study conducts an independent evaluation of the airworthiness assessment process used by the United States Air Force’s Engineering Directorate through modeling and simulation. The airworthiness process is examined for its ability to effectively verify sound engineering design and efficiency with respect to the implementation of new software-based assessment tools and its impact on timeliness of reviews and resource utilization. Simulation results guide recommendations for reducing non-value-added activities and strategic leveling of resource demands to …

Communication And Biodegradable Packaging Relationship: A Paradigm For Final Disposal, Breno Luiz Ottoni, Rafael Mattos Deus, José Alcides Gobbo Junior, Ângela Maria Grossi De Carvalho, Rosane Aparecida Gomes Battistelle

Journal of Applied Packaging Research

Solid waste generation is estimated to increase from 1.3 billion to 2.2 billion tons by 2025, causing environmental, social, and consequently public health problems. The biggest problem in this regard involves the inadequate disposal of waste, and in emerging countries like Brazil, it is sorted less waste for recycling or composting. In this context, plastic packaging is more complex due to the high polymer composition, as well as low recycling rates. Bioplastics appear as alternatives because they are mostly biodegradable. Given the various functions of packaging and a systematic review of the literature, the aim of this study was to …

Efficient Redundancy Techniques In Cloud And Desktop Grid Systems Using Map/G/C-Type Queues, Srinivas R. Chakravarthy, Alexander Rumyantsev

Industrial & Manufacturing Engineering Publications

Cloud computing is continuing to prove its flexibility and versatility in helping industries and businesses as well as academia as a way of providing needed computing capacity. As an important alternative to cloud computing, desktop grids allow to utilize the idle computer resources of an enterprise/community by means of distributed computing system, providing a more secure and controllable environment with lower operational expenses. Further, both cloud computing and desktop grids are meant to optimize limited resources and at the same time to decrease the expected latency for users. The crucial parameter for optimization both in cloud computing and in desktop …