Systems Engineering Commons^™

Painted Rumble Stripes: Alternatives To Raised Pavement Markers (Rpms), Thomas M. Brennan Jr, Stuart R. Mikey, Darcy M. Bullock

JTRP Posters

This poster highlights research completed by the Joint Transportation Research Program (JTRP) led by Darcy Bullock, Lyles School of Civil Engineering, Purdue University, for JTRP Project SPR-3528, "Alternatives to Raised Pavement Markers (RPMs)." The poster includes photos taken at a construction site on State Road 25 located near Shadeland, Indiana. The top photo demonstrates how the center line corrected a driver when snow covered to avoid oncoming traffic. Photo was taken on US 231 near Country Road 800 in Tippecanoe County.

2013-14 Indiana Interstate Mobility Summary, Steve M. Remias, Howell Li, Darcy M. Bullock

JTRP Posters

These posters highlight the speed and mobility metrics on four of Indiana’s interstates (I-94, I-65, I-465, and I-70). The posters are part of the effort by the Indiana Department of Transportation to characterize mobility concerns on the statewide interstate system.

Striping Truck Utilization Project, Jon R. Padfield, James Handy

JTRP Posters

This poster highlights research completed by the Joint Transportation Research Program (JTRP) led by Jon Padfield and James Handy, Purdue University for JTRP project SPR-3722, “Striping Truck Utilization for Crawfordsville and Greenfield District.” This poster highlights the transformation of striping trucks at both districts using Value Stream Mapping (VSM) through the Technical Assistance Program.

Structure Health Monitoring (Shm) System Trade Space Analysis, Salman A. Albinali, David R. Jacques

Faculty Publications

An analytic approach to exploring the tradespace associated with Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) systems is presented. Modeling and simulation of the life cycle of a legacy aircraft and the expected operational and maintenance events that could occur is shown. A focus on the SHM system detection of a significant crack length and the possibility of False Alarm (FA), miss detection and mishap events is investigated. The modeling approach allows researchers to explore the tradespace associated with safe and critical crack lengths, sensor thresholds, scheduled maintenance intervals, falsely triggered maintenance actions, and mishaps due to missed detections. As one might expect, …

A Multidisciplinary Techno-Economic Decision Support Tool For Validating Long-Term Economic Viability Of Biorefining Processes, Sumesh Sukumara

Theses and Dissertations--Chemical and Materials Engineering

Increasing demand for energy and transportation fuel has motivated researchers all around the world to explore alternatives for a long-term sustainable source of energy. Biomass is one such renewable resource that can be converted into various marketable products by the process of biorefining. Currently, research is taking strides in developing conversion techniques for producing biofuels from multiple bio-based feedstocks. However, the greatest concern with emerging processes is the long-term viability as a sustainable source of energy. Hence, a framework is required that can incorporate novel and existing processes to validate their economic, environmental and social potential in satisfying present energy …

A Contingency Base Camp Framework Using Model Based Systems Engineering And Adaptive Agents, Dustin Scott Nottage

Doctoral Dissertations

"This research investigates the use of adaptive agents and hybridization of those agents to improve resource allocation in dynamic systems and environments. These agents are applied to contingency bases in an object oriented approach utilizing Model-based Systems Engineering (MBSE) processes and tools to accomplish these goals. Contingency bases provide the tools and resources for the military to perform missions effectively. There has been increasing interest in improving the sustainability and resilience of the camps, as inefficiencies in resource usage increases. The increase in resource usage leads to additional operational costs and added danger to military personnel guarding supply caravans.

The …

Neuromodulation Based Control Of Autonomous Robots On A Cloud Computing Platform, Cameron Muhammad

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

In recent years, the advancement of neurobiologically plausible models and computer networking has resulted in new ways of implementing control systems on robotic platforms. The work presents a control approach based on vertebrate neuromodulation and its implementation on autonomous robots in the open-source, open-access environment of robot operating system (ROS). A spiking neural network (SNN) is used to model the neuromodulatory function for generating context based behavioral responses of the robots to sensory input signals. The neural network incorporates three types of neurons- cholinergic and noradrenergic (ACh/NE) neurons for attention focusing and action selection, dopaminergic (DA) neurons for rewards- and …

Naval Aviation Squadron Risk Analysis Predictive Bayesian Network Modeling Using Maintenance Climate Assessment Survey Results, Harry Michael Robinson

Computational Modeling & Simulation Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Associated risks in flying have resulted in injury or death to aircrew and passengers, and damage or destruction of the aircraft and its surroundings. Although the Naval Aviation's flight mishap rate declined over the past 60 years, the proportion of human error causal factors has stayed relatively constant at about 80%. Efforts to reduce human errors have focused attention on understanding the aircrew and maintenance actions occurring in complex systems.

One such tool has been the Naval Aviation squadrons' regular participation in survey questionnaires deigned to measure respondent ratings related to personal judgments or perceptions of organizational climate for meeting …

An Instrument To Assess Individual Capacity For System Thinking, Ra'ed M. Jaradat

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to develop and deploy a new systems thinking instrument to assess individual capacity for systems thinking using an inductive research design. While technology has been increasing exponentially, the corresponding methods to harness those technological advances, and the problems they have spawned, is lagging. While there is a broad collection of systems based methods, techniques, technologies, and tools that can be used in dealing with complex problems, these are predicated on an individual's capacity for engaging a level of systems thinking commensurate with their effective, deployment. Research based methods to determine individual capacity for systems …

Testing Virtual Machines For Cadrc Server Hosting, Robin Verweij

Computer Science and Software Engineering

No abstract provided.

Deployed Communications In An Austere Environment: A Delphi Study, Andrew Soine, James Harker, Alan R. Heminger

Faculty Publications

The information and communications technology (ICT) field is undergoing a period of tremendous change. The exponential growth rate of ICT capability in recent decades, which has had an undeniable effect on every aspect of our society, will likely have ramifications for military operations in austere environments. 1 The Air Force’s 689th Combat Communications Wing commissioned a study to forecast the future of mobile ICT in such environments. Researchers at the Air Force Institute of Technology chose to employ the Delphi technique as the methodology for executing this task. The following scenario, based on the results of that study, demonstrates how …

Interaction Model Of Functions In The National Airspace System, Nathan F. Koerschner, Steven J. Landry

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

The National Airspace System (NAS) is comprehensively described by five functions derived from big-picture goals: (1) conflict detection and resolution, (2) controlling aircraft states, (3) traffic flow management, (4) controlling passenger states, and (5) controlling company resources. It can be reasonably assumed that these functions interact in some way; this interaction is currently unknown. A model of the entire NAS would be helpful in discovering these interactions, yet no such comprehensive model exists. To address this problem an agent-based state-based model was created in MATLAB. To date, only functions (1) and (2) were implemented. Running the model shows that there …

Modeling The Impact Of Simulated Educational Interventions On The Use And Abuse Of Pharmaceutical Opioids In The United States: A Report On Initial Efforts, Wayne Wakeland, Alexandra E. Nielsen, Teresa D. Schmidt, Dennis Mccarty, Lynn Webster, John Fitzgerald, J. David Haddox

Complex Systems Faculty Publications and Presentations

Three educational interventions were simulated in a system dynamics model of the medical use, trafficking, and nonmedical use of pharmaceutical opioids. The study relied on secondary data obtained in the literature for the period of 1995 to 2008 as well as expert panel recommendations regarding model parameters and structure. The behavior of the resulting systems-level model was tested for fit against reference behavior data. After the base model was tested, logic to represent three educational interventions was added and the impact of each intervention on simulated overdose deaths was evaluated over a 7-year evaluation period, 2008 to 2015. Principal findings …

A Sociotechnical Systems-Based Process To Facilitate The Development Of A Change Intervention Deployment Plan, Jorge Luis Nadal

EMSE Doctoral Projects

The purpose of this project was to formulate a process to facilitate the development of an effective change intervention deployment plan. The premise is that without a proper deployment plan, the successful implementation of a change intervention in an organization will be slow and require multiple revisions. This research utilized a Sociotechnical Systems (STS) approach to analyze the implementation of a major change intervention.

This research was in part prompted by a request by management of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) for the researcher to examine why it has taken so long to successfully implement this large-scale change …

Micro To Macro Dynamics Of Shared Awareness Emergence In Situations Theory: Towards A General Theory Of Shared Awareness, Samuel F. Kavacic

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Engineering Management is an interdisciplinary field of study. As such, Engineering Management must rely on the energies of its participants to integrate toward the problem being solved. Many techniques exist to aid the researcher towards a common goal; however, it can only be surmised on how effective the techniques have been. Not until the activity is over and the participants reflect back on their results can they know whether they shared a common understanding of the problem. This study explores the emergence of shared awareness based the interactions of disparate perspectives at a particulate level. The study builds from observations …

The Rq-Tech Methodology: A New Paradigm For Conceptualizing Strategic Enterprise Architectures, Christine Ann Hoyland

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this research is to develop and apply a system-theoretic based methodology and corresponding model for Enterprise Architecture development. Enterprise Architectures can assist managers by illustrating the systemic relationships within an organization and the impact changes to the organization could make. Unfortunately, today's modeling practices are proprietary, time-consuming, and generally ineffective as tools for understanding the consequences of strategic-level planning decisions across all levels of the enterprise. This research supports the conclusion that system-specific solutions produce islands of technology and can be prevented by employing better enterprise change planning.

This research combined the practice of Enterprise Architectures with …

Current Barriers To Successful Implementation Of Fist Principles, Brandon Keller, Joseph R. Wirthlin

Faculty Publications

The Fast, Inexpensive, Simple, and Tiny (FIST) framework proposes a broad set of organizational values, but provides limited guidance on practical implementation. Implementing FIST principles requires clarifying the definitions of “fast,” “inexpensive,” and “simple,” recognizing where FIST does and does not apply. Additionally, a subset of the FIST heuristics was expanded upon to increase their usefulness for practitioners. The primary research findings are that FIST principles are less conducive for highly complex or novel systems, immature technologies, future needs, acquisitions in early development phases, or when performance is the foremost value. FIST principles were also found to be constrained by …

Applying Sustainability From A Systems Perspective:, Timothy Brophy

Master's Theses

Becoming sustainable is no longer an option. Current industry methods will not be able to support the necessary changes our growing society demands. In order to keep up with ever increasing demands industry will be aimed toward making major system changes toward a fully sustainable model. As of right now only basic sustainability actions have been put in place. Industry needs to make a strategic change toward resilient systems with an end goal of evolving into fully biomimic systems. This thesis covers a brief history of production leading to the Industrial Revolution which created a need for increased sustainability efforts. …

High Temperature Filter Test Unit Upgrades, Blair Frandeen, Will Schill, Erick Shewmaker, Joshua Turgeon

Mechanical Engineering

The purpose of this project was to improve the existing High Temperature Filter Test Unit (HTTU) by optimizing performance and adding new features. These features include viewing ports and a camera system for observation of tests, a leak detection system, and a flame impingement system. Additional considerations included improving the current operation of the HTTU by reducing test time and energy loss. The HTTU is designed to test High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filters at temperatures up to 1300 ˚F, creating conditions which simulate a fire in a chemical processing facility. The HTTU was originally built as a Cal Poly …

Tanker Acquisition: A Systems Engineering Perspective, Sarah Lynch, Alan R. Heminger, David D. Mattioda

Faculty Publications

A short examination of air refueling, specifically its past, present, and future, offers valuable insight into the developmental needs of this critical capability. This article seeks not only to showcase an appreciation for the roots of air refueling but also to high- light the requirement for sound systems engineering in conjunction with the creativity and willingness to take risks, as exhibited by our forefathers in the field. These attributes are vital to furthering air- refueling technologies and capabilities as well as refining the some- what flawed tanker-procurement process employed today.