Operations Research, Systems Engineering and Industrial Engineering Commons^™

Employing Quality Management Principles To Improve The Performance Of Educational Systems: An Empirical Study Of The Effect Of Iso 9001 Standard On Teachers And Administrators Performance In The Indonesian Vocational Education System, Andreas Kuncoro

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

ISO 9001 has been world widely implemented in both manufacturing and service organizations. A lot of studies have been conducted to investigate the effects of ISO 9001 implementation on the performance of these organizations. Most of these studies show that ISO 9001 implementation realized positive operational improvements and financial success. Building on the merits of successful implementation of ISO 9001 quality management system in manufacturing and service, educational institutions have been attempted to adopt it in their operations. Even though there are studies relating ISO implementation to education, no research has been done to investigate the effects of ISO 9001 …

A Framework For Measuring The Value-Added Of Knowledge Processes With Analysis Of Process Interactions And Dynamics, Jose Cintron

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The most known and widely used methods use cash flows and tangible assets to measure the impact of investments in the organization’s outputs. But in the last decade many newer organizations whose outputs are heavily dependent on information technology utilize knowledge as their main asset. These organizations’ market values lie on the knowledge of its employees and their technological capabilities. In the current technology-based business landscape the value added by assets utilized for generation of outputs cannot be appropriately measured and managed without considering the role that intangible assets and knowledge play in executing processes. The analysis of processes for …

Strategic Improvement: A Systems Approach Using The Balanced Scorecard Methodology To Increase Federally Financed Research At The University Of Central Florida, Joseph Walters

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The University of Central Florida has many successful measures to reflect on as it celebrates its 50th year in 2013. It is the university with the 2nd largest student population in the U. S. and its overall ranking in the U.S. News & World Report has improved 4 years in a row. However, with respect to research, the federally funded research and development for the University of Central Florida (UCF) has remained flat. In addition, when compared to other schools, its portion of those federal research dollars is small. This thesis lays the groundwork for developing a model for improving …

Modeling Of Socio-Economic Factors And Adverse Events In An Active War Theater By Using A Cellular Automata Simulation Approach, Halil Bozkurt

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Department of Defense (DoD) implemented Human Social Cultural and Behavior (HSCB) program to meet the need to develop capability to understand, predict and shape human behavior among different cultures by developing a knowledge base, building models, and creating training capacity. This capability will allow decision makers to subordinate kinetic operations and promote non-kinetic operations to govern economic programs better in order to initiate efforts and development to address the grievances among the displeased by adverse events. These non-kinetic operations include rebuilding indigenous institutions’ bottom-up economic activity and constructing necessary infrastructure since the success in non-kinetic operations depends on understanding and …

Defining A Stakeholder-Relative Model To Measure Academic Department Efficiency At Achieving Quality In Higher Education, Federica Robinson-Bryant

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In a time of strained resources and dynamic environments, the importance of effective and efficient systems is critical. This dissertation was developed to address the need to use feedback from multiple stakeholder groups to define quality and assess an entity’s efficiency at achieving such quality. A decision support model with applicability to diverse domains was introduced to outline the approach. Three phases, (1) quality model development, (2) input-output selection and (3) relative efficiency assessment, captured the essence of the process which also delineates the approach per tool applied. This decision support model was adapted in higher education to assess academic …

Global Optimization Of Nonconvex Piecewise Linear Regression Splines, Nadia Maria Martinez Cepeda

Industrial, Manufacturing, and Systems Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Global optimization has been applied to a wide variety of science and engineering design problems. Although numerous global optimization techniques have been developed and studied for decades, when used for complex systems such as the design of an aircraft or an automobile, the results are impractical or not completely satisfactory. One of the main drawbacks is the computational CPU time required to solve these problems. The majority of design problems require a significant number of experiments or simulations in order to find a globally best solution; however a single simulation can take between seconds and days to finish. One way …

Parametric Cost Estimation Model For Microchannel Bonding Process Based On Activity Based Costing, Panita Suebvisai

Industrial, Manufacturing, and Systems Engineering Dissertations - Archive

The microchannel bonding process was developed to decrease product size and improve product performance. As the microchannel bonding process has moved from research to industrial manufacturing, it has become increasingly important to create a model to more accurately estimate the costs associated with this process. However, due to problems in project planning and limitations in funding, most microchannel bonding projects appear to have schedule slips and cost overruns. This dissertation presents a cost estimation model that links activity-based costing with parametric cost estimation. A parametric cost model has been designed to improve decision making in the microchannel bonding process, specifically …

Effects Of Machining Parameters And Cooling Strategies On Cutting Forces And Surface Integrity In High-Speed Slot End-Milling Of Titanium Alloy, Emenike Chukwuma

Masters Theses

“Paper 1 presents the results of the investigations of the effects of cooling strategies [Emulsion cooling, Minimum Quantity Lubrication (MQL) and Liquid Nitrogen (LN₂)] and machining parameters (feed rate and spindle speed) on cutting force components, cutting temperature and tool wear during slot end-milling of titanium Ti-6Al-4V workpiece. All machining experiments were conducted using four-flute 0.5 inch diameter uncoated solid carbide end-mill on Cincinnati Milacron, Sabre 750 vertical machining center equipped with Acramatic 2100 controller. Cutting force components were acquired and tool wear was indirectly measured from maximum cutting force variation per slot from the first pass to …

Predicting Solar Radiation Based On Available Weather Indicators, Frank Joseph Sauer

Masters Theses

"Solar radiation prediction models are complex and require software that is not available for the household investor. The processing power within a normal desktop or laptop computer is sufficient to calculate similar models. This barrier to entry for the average consumer can be fixed by a model simple enough to be calculated by hand if necessary.

Solar radiation modeling has been historically difficult to predict and accurate models have significant assumptions and restrictions on their use. Previous methods have been limited to linear relationships, location restrictions, or input data limits to one atmospheric condition. This research takes a novel approach …

Implementation Of Project Based Learning Technique To Enhance Engineering Education, Dinesh Kanigolla

Masters Theses

"This study investigated the impact of introducing a semester project into three engineering courses where practical application of theoretical knowledge is applicable. Three courses were examined in this work: an undergraduate course in quality, a graduate course in Lean, and a graduate course in Six Sigma. For this research, student teams were given hands-on-projects that included collaboration with local companies. Surveys were conducted to assess the impact of project based learning on students' knowledge. Student responses were recorded and analyzed to determine how students felt the use of the semester project affected the course and to identify the response patterns …

Examining The Efficiency Of Multimodal Transportation Systems: A Systems Dynamics Approach, Lizzette Pérez-Lespier

Masters Theses

"With international trade becoming a big part of the world's economic activity, the demand for good freight transportation systems has grown substantially. The appropriate use of transportation is an integral part of the supply chain's effectiveness. Therefore, the continuous economic globalization, the growing demand for speed-to-market product delivery, and the need to manage global supply chains more effectively, has led to the sustained increase in demand towards multimodal transportation systems (MTS). MTS play an essential role in corporations competing in global markets in the 21st century. In transportation, the effectiveness and efficiency of the whole system depends upon the interconnectivity …

Development Of An Optimization Model To Determine Sampling Levels, Zlatan Hamzic

Masters Theses

"As the complexity of multi-component products increases the quality of these products becomes increasingly difficult to control. The first step to manufacturing a quality product is making sure that the components of the product meet specifications. Product quality can be controlled through sampling inspection of the components. Two models were developed in this research to determine the optimal sampling levels for incoming lots containing parts for production and assembly of multi-component systems. The main objective of the first model is to minimize the expected cost that is associated with a nonconforming item reaching assembly. In this model the time available …

A Quantitative Approach Using An Axiomatic Design Framework To A Medication Distribution System, Pepito Raguini

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

As the need to minimize medication errors drives many medical facilities to come up with robust solutions to the most common error that affects patient's safety, these hospitals would be wise to put a concerted effort into finding methodologies that can facilitate an optimized medical distribution system. If the hospitals' upper management is looking for an optimization method that is an ideal fit, it is just as important that the right tool be selected for the application at hand. In the present work, we propose the application of Axiomatic Design (AD), which is a process that focuses on the generation …

Indeterminate Masses, Elements And Models In Information Fusion, Florentin Smarandache

Branch Mathematics and Statistics Faculty and Staff Publications

In this paper at the beginning, we make a short history of the logics, from the classical Boolean logic to the most general logic of today neutrosophic logic. We define the general logic space and give the definition of the neutrosophic logic. Then we introduce the indeterminate models in information fusion, which are due either to the existence of some indeterminate elements in the fusion space or to some indeterminate masses.

The best approach for dealing with such models is the neutrosophic logic, which is part of neutrosophy. Neutrosophic logic is connected with neutrosophic set and neutrosophic probability and statistics.

Modeling Decision Making In Trauma Centers From The Standpoint Of Complex Adaptive Systems, Castanon De Policarpo

Dissertations

This research examines complex clinical decision-making processes in trauma center units of hospitals in terms of the impact of complexity on the medical team involved in the trauma event. The science of complex adaptive systems together with human judgment theories provide important concepts and tools for responding to health care challenges in this century and beyond. Clinical decision-makers in trauma centers are placed in urgent and anxious situations that are increasingly complex, making decision-making and problem-solving processes multifaceted. Under stressful circumstances, physicians must derive their decision-making schemas (―internal models‖ or ―mental models‖) without the benefits of judicious identification, evaluation, and/or …

Assessment Of Neck And Shoulder Muscle Coactivations And The Effect On The Musculoskeletal System, Regina Derria Pope-Ford

Dissertations

Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) constitute one of the most important occupational health issues in healthcare workers who are susceptible to upper extremity disorders. Yet MSDs in the healthcare professions have not been studied extensively beyond the lower back. The focus population for this research is the field of dentistry where neck and shoulder disorders have been documented to have a high prevalence. Though quantitative data has been collected, many prior studies have focused on self-reported information. The goal of this research is to provide insight into the inter-relationship of muscles in the upper extremities. One way to accomplish this is to …

Quantitative Analyses Of Acceptable Noise Level For Air Conduction Listening, Bankole K. Fasanya

Dissertations

This study was conducted to develop quantitative models for Acceptable Noise Level (ANL) under air conduction (AC) listening conditions. Experimental results on the effects of frequency bandwidths on ANL under two listening conditions involving earphones and loudspeaker (sound field) with high and low frequencies and babble noise and white noise revealed: (a) there are statistically significant interactions among the background noise types, the background noise frequency bandwidths and signal source; (b) background noise and noise frequency bandwidths have effects on listener discriminability bias toward the noise and the signal intensity; (c) different listening conditions had different ANL thresholds; and (d) …

An Augmented Interaction Strategy For Designing Human-Machine Interfaces For Hydraulic Excavators, Joseph Akyeampong

Dissertations

Lack of adequate information feedback and work visibility, and fatigue due to repetition have been identified as the major usability gaps in the human-machine interface (HMI) design of modern hydraulic excavators that subject operators to undue mental and physical workload, resulting in poor performance. To address these gaps, this work proposed an innovative interaction strategy, termed “augmented interaction”, for enhancing the usability of the hydraulic excavator. Augmented interaction involves the embodiment of heads-up display and coordinated control schemes into an efficient, effective and safe HMI. Augmented interaction was demonstrated using a framework consisting of three phases: Design, Implementation/Visualization, and Evaluation …

The Root Cause Of Failure In Complex It Projects: Complexity Itself, Kaitlynn M. Whitney, Charles B. Daniels

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

Increased demand for better technology and perpetual global expansion continue to provide developers with many project opportunities for success, as well as failure. While no industry is immune from project failure, the Information Technology (IT) industry is shown to be more susceptible to risk and failure than those of other industries. Agile project management, which facilitates adaptation to changing circumstances and alleviates rigid formal controls, has become more popular in the software development industry though is not entirely compatible with traditional project management approaches.In this paper we will examine the primary causes of IT project management failure stated in modern …

Reference Modelling In Support Of M&S—Foundations And Applications, Andreas Tolk, Saikou Diallo, Jose Padilla, H. Herencia-Zapana

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

Whether by design or by practice, systems engineering (SE) processes are used more and more often in Modeling and Simulation (M&S). While the two disciplines are very close, there are some differences that must be taken into account in order to successfully reuse practices from one community to another. In this paper, we introduce the M&S System Development Framework (MS-SDF) that unifies SE and M&S processes. The MS-SDF comprises the SE processes of requirements capture, conceptual modelling, and verification and validation (V&V), and extends them to M&S. We use model theory as a deductive apparatus in order to develop the …