Systems Engineering Commons^™

A Decision-Support System For The Deployment Tasking Process Of U.S. Air Force Civil Engineer Officers, Kenneth A. Neal

Theses and Dissertations

The Armed Forces frequently deploy their personnel to expeditionary locations around the world. For example, the Air Force tasks its personnel to deploy based on a six-month rotational cycle. In the current tasking process, the deployment makes its way down from combatant commanders to squadron commanders through the chain of command. The commander then has a few days to select an individual from their unit to fill the tasking. The commander may consider an individuals’ dwell time, home-station position, and upcoming significant life events; however, because commanders have little time and information, minimum requirements selection criteria often become the driving …

A State-Based Model For Validating Autonomous Munition Behaviors, Dalton J. Miller

Theses and Dissertations

Autonomous munitions provide an opportunity for the Department of Defense (DoD) to extend the capabilities of operators in combat situations. However, there is also a need for a high level of trust in the effectiveness and accuracy of these systems. With the advent of model-based standards in autonomy and munitions, there is a need to implement these techniques toward an effective modeling and simulation (MS) capability. By leveraging modern MS tools such as Cameo Systems Modeler and the DoD's Advanced Framework for Simulation, Integration, and Modeling (AFSIM), this thesis proposes a framework for simulating complex autonomy architectures within high fidelity …

Evaluating The Impact Of Culture On Customer Satisfaction For Fms Projects, Yaquari A. Adams Ii

Theses and Dissertations

The cost, time, and quality pillars of the iron triangle in project management are often considered the most important factors for managers to consider when striving to achieve project success. However, recent literature suggests customer satisfaction and end-user benefit are the most important elements to prioritize during project development. This research analyzes the Air Force Security Assistance Center Construction Division and Foreign Military Sales (FMS) joint construction operations in relation to two Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) knowledge areas, project stakeholder management and project risk management. Project stakeholder management is addressed by identifying the relationship between cultural competency and …

Utilizing Model Based Systems Engineering To Identify Safety Critical Functions In Airworthiness Certification, Jeffrey C. King

Theses and Dissertations

Modern aircraft are complex systems with numerous interacting hardware and software components. To minimize any safety mishaps during operations, new aircraft designs and modifications must go through an airworthiness certification. The current United States Air Force (USAF) airworthiness certification process, captured in MIL-HDBK-516C, is time-consuming and manpower intensive due to extensive documentation. To minimize inefficiencies of this document-based approach, this thesis examined model-based systems engineering (MBSE) to support Safety Critical Function (SCF) thread analysis against criteria found in Section 15 of MIL-HDBK-516C. Within this scope, the research identified an SCF domain-specific profile and style guide using the Systems Modeling Language …

Model Based Systems Engineering Demonstrator For Air Worthiness With Performance Data Of Department Of Defense Rotorcraft, Bretton M. Bethel

Theses and Dissertations

Airworthiness is a process of certifying that an aircraft can be safety operated within specified bounds. This process is essential to ensuring the safety of the aircraft, its personnel, and the surrounding assets. A Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) approach can be utilized as a method to improve the airworthiness process. MBSE is the methodology of creating and utilizing domain models as a means of exchanging and presenting information for a wide variety of disciplines to understand and replacing previous document-based exchange. The objective of this research is to develop a reference architecture with a MBSE approach to perform the airworthiness …

Data- Driven Asset Degradation Modeling: An Enterprise-Wide Roof System Case Study, Kurt R. Lamm

Theses and Dissertations

Organizations with large facility and infrastructure portfolios have used asset management databases for over ten years to collect and standardize asset condition data. Decision makers use this data to predict asset degradation and expected service life, enabling prioritized maintenance, repair, and renovation actions that reduce asset life-cycle costs and achieve organizational objectives. However, these asset condition forecasts are calculated using standardized, self-correcting distribution models that rely on continuous functions. This research presents four step wise asset condition forecast models that utilize historical asset inspection data to improve prediction accuracy: (1) Slope, (2) Weighted Slope, (3) Condition-intelligent Weighted Slope, and (4) …

An Analysis Of Error Structure And Theoretical First Unit Cost In Learning Curve Theory Models, Alexander D. Pollack

Theses and Dissertations

The dilemma with learning curves and actual costs is "fitting square pegs into round holes." Alternative regression techniques or further modifications to Y=aX^b may address discrepancies in modeling observed data with learning curves. Adequate data permits further analysis of the constants, variables, and factors that make up a learning curve model. The analysis involves trying a nonlinear solver on the traditional learning curve models (i.e., Wright's cumulative average theory and Crawford's unit learning curve theory) and changing the theoretical first unit cost (T1) to the actual first unit cost (A1). Mergers and acquisitions in the aircraft industry may have …

Training Subject Matter Experts To Make Better Estimates, Cameron R. Scott

Theses and Dissertations

Subject Matter Expert (SME) Elicitation is commonly used as a cost-estimation method when no historical data exists. The elicitation process assumes Subject Matter Experts are the resident experts in their individual fields of study. In addition, the process assumes SMEs provide reasonably trustworthy cost estimates that follow the tenets of probability theory. This last assumption is the subject of this study. A Navy sponsored e-learning course was created to help train SMEs in understanding probability distributions (O'Hagan, 2019). We conducted a study hypothesizing that taking the e-learning course would improve study participant accuracy in estimating confidence intervals for probability distributions.

Application Of Game Theory Based Design To U.S. Space Systems, Benjamin C. Donohoo

Theses and Dissertations

Modern defense systems are designed to static sets of requirements and specifications. This process has worked well in the past but fails to account for the strategic interdependence of design choices made prior to operating systems. However, as the world becomes increasingly competitive, and as the space domain becomes increasingly congested and contested, such interdependence of design can be described using Game Theory. Game Theory is the mathematical study of strategy, actions and payoffs between rational, self-interested actors. Limited extant research has applied Game Theory to system design but focused on a single system being designed cooperatively within a single …

The Utility Of Modeling An Enterprise Architecture For Air Force Digital Transformation, Mark W. Kassan

Theses and Dissertations

The Air Force Materiel Command is undergoing a digital transformation to increase the speed of delivering new warfighter capabilities. This Digital Campaign consists of six Lines of Effort (LOEs) formed with diverse goals to transform the enterprise. This research investigated using the Zachman Framework and Systems Modeling Language to analyze this transformation. Extensive modeling captured the as-is Preliminary Design Review (PDR) process, and mapped LOE goals as primary impacts to Zachman cells. This led to an identification of a to-be digital PDR process. Secondary affected cells were then traced following a relationship analysis. Four discoveries were made. (1) Enterprise modeling …

An Analysis Of Stability In Software Resources Data Report (Srdr) Computer Software Configuration (Csci), Trevor J. Violette

Theses and Dissertations

This research studies cost and schedule stability in programs that utilize Software Resource Data Report (SRDR) reporting standards. We find software programs at the Computer Software Configuration Item (CSCI) level show much lower levels of stability than previously published DoD stability research that focused on aircraft. A comparison of software development methods found little to no difference between Agile and Plan Driven methodologies. Critical Success Factors (CSF) were identified from prior literature and used to examine CSCIs from the SRDR dataset. Focusing on schedule or cost resulted in different variables showing significance. A CSCI is more likely to remain on …

Optimizing Cost And Performance Of Infrastrucure Alternatives At Contingency Bases In A Hub-And-Spoke Network, Kyle J. Rodriguez

Theses and Dissertations

Military contingency bases require substantial resources and funding sustain and are often not connected to an infrastructure grid. Infrastructure assets produce the required outputs for sustainment, but are often expensive and inefficient, producing a significant logistical burden. With the increasing near-peer threats of opposing military forces, there is a need for more self-sufficient contingency bases with alternatives that reduce resources usage and the cost of sustainment. Accordingly, the goal of this research is to develop an optimization model capable of selecting infrastructure alternative combinations that minimize the overall resource usage and cost of sustainment at the contingency base level.

Assessing The Effectiveness Of Afwerx Ability To Influence Regional Participation Rates And Capture Cluster Specific Technological Innovations, Colin M. Sandor

Theses and Dissertations

The 2018 National Defense Strategy (NDS) emphasized capturing innovation through partnerships with non-traditional defense contractors. Furthermore, the NDS outlined the need to rapidly acquire new technologies to maintain a competitive advantage against our adversaries. The AFWERX program is the Air Forces attempt to accomplish these goals. AFWERX seeks to capture innovations occurring within the private sector of the United States by placing itself geographically within top innovation ecosystems. An approach that creates a setting where the Air Force is one of many investors, who benefit from the learning and investments across the entire network. The research within this paper examines …

Agile Thinking And Innovative Technology Development, Rocky Gay

Operations Management Presentations

Agile Project Management approaches have grown beyond software development and are being incorporated in many industries at a rapid pace. This expansion has created a need for a common language and methodology that fosters self-organized collaboration and an innate desire to deliver products that maximize customer satisfaction. There are a broad range of tools and techniques nested in a framework that facilitate a flexible and steady cadence of product delivery. Organizations have options in managing projects. Shifting to an agile mindset, values and principles may necessitate a culture change in project teams.

Mapping Of The Information Flow Of The Valle Occidental Coffee Region: A System-Of-Systems Perspective, Irene Campos

CESUN Conference

Uncertainty is a characteristic of many of the contemporary environments that our systems inhabit. In the case of farming systems, uncertainty has always been present in the form of unpredictable weather conditions, disease outbreaks and evolving societal and economic factors. Uncertainty poses a challenge for communication and information alignment, which is especially important for a farming system responding to disasters. A first step towards finding solutions for problems of information alignment in systems is mapping and identifying information links in them. The goal of this research is to map the information flow and feedback dynamics of the Valle Occidental coffee …

Exploring How Prize Challenges Complement An Organization's Innovation Efforts, Ademir Vrolijk, Zoe Szajnfarber

CESUN Conference

prize challenge, open innovation, crowdsourcing, NASA, 3D Printed Habitat Challenge, additive manufacturing

Risk Management Decision Making For Security And Trust In Hardware Supply Chains, Zachary A. Collier, Thomas L. Polmateer, James H. Lambert

CESUN Conference

Modern cyber-physical systems are enabled by electronic hardware and embedded systems. The security of these sub-components is a concern during the design and operational phases of cyber-physical system life cycles. Compromised electronics can result in mission-critical failures, unauthorized access, and other severe consequences. As systems become more complex and feature greater connectivity, system owners must make decisions regarding how to mitigate risks and ensure resilience and trust. This paper provides an overview of research efforts related to assessing and managing risks, resilience, and trust with an emphasis on electronic hardware and embedded systems. The research takes a decision-oriented perspective, drawing …

The Challenges And Opportunities Of Teaching Systems Engineering For Large Scale Engineering Systemse, Edward Pines, Dennis Engi

CESUN Conference

In this paper, we discuss a course in large scale systems engineering that was developed as part of a twelve-credit Graduate Certificate in Systems Engineering for part-time and returning students. Our focus was on how to work on big, unmanageable, messy problems. Teaching systems engineering for large-scale engineering systems is challenging for many reasons. One of the main challenges is the breadth of material to be addressed within one or two courses. Other challenges result from how students learn about the transitions from the development of a conceptual framework to systems architecture through engineering design, mathematical analysis and eventual construction …

Better And Faster: How To Leverage Award-Winning Operations Management Techniques, Carrie Beam

Operations Management Presentations

The INFORMS Franz Edelman Award for Achievement in Advanced Analytics, Operations Research, and Management Science identifies innovative applications of operations management in fields as diverse as sewer district management, school bus scheduling, polio vaccinations, and of course transportation. In this seminar, 2021 Edelman Prize Chair Dr. Carrie Beam will introduce the keys of stakeholder engagement, iterative development, and scaled-up implementation of operations management techniques and how they apply to the Franz Edelman Award and to MSOM courses.

• Edelman Overview: https://youtu.be/_fiTelkcHi4
• Edelman 2020 Competition: http://info.informs.org/2020edelman

Computational Modeling For Decision-Making Under Climate Change Uncertainty: Reservoir Simulation Game, Julianne Quinn

All ECSTATIC Materials

Almost every decision you make is under uncertainty. Will I need a rain jacket in the afternoon? Will they say yes if I ask them out? Is 1 hour enough time to finish this assignment? Oftentimes, we can use computational modeling to simulate different scenarios of what might happen in the future to inform what decisions are best on average, or what decisions minimize the worst case outcome. For example, you could decide what player to draft for your Fantasy Football team by simulating player performance. In this activity, we will simulate how much water to release from a dam …