Engineering Commons^™

The Airline Quality Rating 2001, Brent D. Bowen, Dean Headley, Uno Aviation Institute

Faculty Books and Monographs

UNOAI Report 01-2

The Airline Quality Rating (AQR) was developed and first announced in early 1991 as an objective method of comparing airline quality on combined multiple performance criteria. This current report, Airline Quality Rating 2001, reflects monthly Airline Quality Rating scores for 2000. AQR scores for the calendar year 2000 are based on 15 elements that focus on airline performance areas important to air travel consumers.

The Airline Quality Rating 2001 is a summary of month-by-month quality ratings for the ten major U.S. airlines operating during 2000. Using the Airline Quality Rating system of weighted averages and monthly performance …

Santa Clara Magazine, Volume 42 Number 4, Spring 2001, Santa Clara University

Santa Clara Magazine

3 - EL SOL SHINED IN 1968 STUDENT ELECTIONS By Adam Breen. During the 1968 campus elections, an electrical engineering student felt the student body was too apathetic, so he ran for dictator to spur interest. He could have been king, but instead had himself "assassinated " for a greater cause.

12 - DOUBLE LIVES By Susan Vogel. An economic boom in Silicon Valley created opportunities, jobs, and wealth-but those who work here often can't afford to live here. What are employees and employers doing about it?

16 - THE GLACIER PRIEST By Jeff Kunkel. Bernard Hubbard, S.J., was more …

2001 - The Sixth Annual Symposium Of Student Scholars

Symposium of Student Scholars Program Books

The full program book from the Sixth Annual Symposium of Student Scholars, held on March 30, 2001. Includes abstracts from the presentations and posters.

Requirements-Based Methodology For Determining Age Inventory Levels, James A. Mackenna

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to illuminate crucial areas in analyzing AGE needs on an operational flightllne and assist in determination of AGE inventory levels. Further refinements could result in more objective and accurate assessments of actual flightline AGE needs and associated risks involved with reduction of AGE inventory levels. The research in this thesis consists of a discrete event simulation to determine desired AGE inventory level through an analysis of aircraft launches and wait time for AGE support by varying AGE (mean time between failure) MTBF and AGE inventory. Stochastic inputs for aircraft failures, AGE delivery times, and …

Estimating C-17 Operating And Support Costs: Development Of A System Dynamics Model, Christopher D. Purvis

Theses and Dissertations

This research provides justification for experimenting with system dynamics (SD) for performing Operation and Support Cost estimates. For the C-17 Globemaster III cargo aircraft, these costs could exceed $64 billion dollars. Also, many of our weapon systems are beginning to reach the end of their effective life span, and discussions about the impact of aging, on aircraft, has become a hot topic in the literature. System Dynamics is a modeling methodology developed in 1958, but never used extensively for cost estimating. SD offers unique capabilities to the cost estimator, including the ability to model causal relationships. This capability offers the …

Forecasting Readiness: Using Regression To Predict The Mission Capability Of Air Force F-16 Fighter Aircraft, Steven A. Oliver

Theses and Dissertations

According to many, the readiness of America's forces deteriorated in the 1990s. In the Air Force, the combat readiness of its fighter aircraft has declined. One of its indicators of combat readiness, the mission capable rate, is used to identify the percentage of aircraft unable to perform their missions. From FY94-FY98, the aggregate total not mission capable rate for maintenance steadily increased from 14% to 18.2% while total not mission capable rate for supply increased from 5.5% to 17.5% between FY86 and FY00. The USAF uses the funding/Availability Multi-Method Allocator for Spares model to forecast these rates for its aircraft. …

Relating Initial Budget To Program Growth With Rayleigh And Weibull Models, Eric J. Unger

Theses and Dissertations

Previous research on completed defense R&D shows that contract expenditures can be fit well with a Rayleigh model. With fixed outlay rates, as prescribed by the OSD comptroller, the budget profile must have most of the funds in the early years to produce Rayleigh-distributed expenditures. R&D programs with more delayed funding profiles may also produce expenditures that a Rayleigh model fits through schedule slips and cost overruns. This research tests how well the initial funding profile produces Rayleigh-distributed expenditures that can be related to the program's final cost overrun and schedule slips. Based only on the initial budget profile, we …

A Force Structuring Model For A Moderately-Sized Nato Country, Hakan Bal

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research is to develop a mathematical model which will aid the decision-makers of a moderately-sized NATO country to develop their future force structure composition. As the number of alternatives grows, and as the consequences become more important and more uncertain, the force structuring decision becomes increasingly difficult. The valuable lessons of past experience cannot be ignored. However, when one considers the high rotation rates of most countries' air forces, the rapid change in technology and the vast array of options available, even the most experienced leaders need some assistance. Hence, decision support tools are needed to …

The Distributer's Three-Dimensional Pallet-Packing Problem: A Human Intelligence-Based Heuristic Approach, Erhan Baltacioglu

Theses and Dissertations

The Distributor's Pallet Packing Problem is to load a set of distinct boxes with given dimensions on pallets or in containers to maximize volume utilization. This problem is still in its early stages of research, but there is a high level of interest in developing effective models to solve this NP-hard problem to reduce the time, energy and other resources spent in packing pallets. In its search to improve operations, the Air Force is also making an effort to solve this problem. Building an analytical model and developing a genetic algorithm approach have been tried, but the problem needs more …

The Effect Of Improving The Logistics Pipeline On Supply Support Of Aerospace Expeditionary Forces, Steven L. Martinez

Theses and Dissertations

One of the biggest considerations for an Aerospace Expeditionary Force (AEF), in terms of cost and airlift requirement, is the use of aircraft spares kits to support combat operations. To date, these kits are built on the assumption that there would be no resupply for the first 30 days of a contingency. However, with more efficient transportation and information resources available today, it seems logical that resupply would occur much more quickly. If so, the Air Force should be able to trim its wartime stocks of aircraft spares. This thesis investigated the effect of improving the logistics pipeline on the …

Aircraft Maintenance Performance: The Effects Of The Functional Decentralization Of On-Equipment Maintenance, Mark A. Commenator

Theses and Dissertations

The Air Force has implemented various aircraft maintenance organizational structures. The implementation of the Objective Wing in the early 1990s was the latest occurrence of reorganization. This research looks at the effect of the type of aircraft maintenance organizational structure on aircraft maintenance performance. The type of organizational structure was defined by the functional centralization of the on-equipment maintenance. Aircraft maintenance performance was measured using TNMCM rates, fix rates, repeat/recur rates, man-hours per flying hour, and scheduling effectiveness rates. Three F-15 wings and three F-16 wings were selected to compare the changes in aircraft maintenance performance and to determine if …

A Study And Implementation Of An Electronic Commerce Website Using Active Server Pages, Soumaya Boutkhil

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of this project is to design an electronic commerce site for MarocMart company. MarocMart.com is an one-stop shopping company for a number of high quality products: carpets, jewelry, pottery, wood, leather, metals, and fashion items, etc... Each article is unique, hand-made by Moroccan craftsmen.

Santa Clara Magazine, Volume 43 Number 3, Winter 2001, Santa Clara University

Santa Clara Magazine

4 - UNIVERSITY RESPONDS TO TRAGEDY By SCM Staff. The September terrorist attacks had many repercussions at SCU, including the loss of at least two members of the University family.

12 - BEERS AND DOGS By Adam Breen. English Professor Terry Beers and his wife, Melissa '88, MBA '95, spend many early mornings sledding with their eight huskies.

14 - CALIFORNIA DREAMERS By Susan Vogel. Three current SCU students were dreaming of college long before many people do, thanks to dedicated mentors from the I Have A Dream Foundation .

Flowers For The World: Developing A Business Game To Support The Teaching Of Is Concepts, Trevor T. Moores, Jerry Cha-Jan Chang

Management, Entrepreneurship and Technology Faculty Research

One of the key problems in teaching fundamental concepts in information systems is how to ground the theory in experiences that the students can relate to. To overcome this problem, a business game called Flowers For The World has been developed and used across a wide variety of IS courses. This paper will describe the game and the result of using it for a 300-level course in analysis and design. The possibility exists that the game could be developed to provide a common business foundation across all business school curricula.

Cationic Surfactant Mediated Hybridization And Hydrophobization Of Dna Molecules At The Liquid/Liquid Interface And Their Phase Transfer, Murali Sastry, Ashavani Kumar, Mrunalini Pattarkine, Vidya Ramakrishnan, Krishna N. Ganesh

Faculty Works

Hybridization of complementary oligonucleotides mediated by a cationic surfactant at the water/hexane interface leads to hydrophobic, double-helical DNA which may be readily phase transferred to the organic phase and cast into thin films on solid substrates.

A Model To Evaluate The Effect Of Organizational Adaptation, Holly A. H. Handley, Alexander H. Levis

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

When an organization’s output declines due to either internal changes or changes in its external environment, it needs to adapt. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of different adaptation strategies on organizational per- formance, an organizational model composed of individual models of a five stage interacting decision maker was designed using an object oriented design approach and implemented as a Colored Petri net. The concept of entropy is used to calculate the total activity value, a surrogate for decision maker workload, based on the functional partition and the adaptation strategy being implemented. The individual decision maker’s total activity is monitored, …

A Study Of Financial Analysis Expectations And Practices In The Engineering Management Workplace, Paul Kauffmann, Resit Unal, Andres Sousa-Poza, William Peterson

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

This paper describes an on-going study of Master of Engineering Management (MEM) students and the financial analysis related job expectations and environment they face. The objective of this effort is to provide enhanced understanding of these requirements so that instructional content in the related courses can be focused to meet these needs. To achieve this goal, the study segments findings based on a range of organizational and job level characteristics to identify critical differences in the financial work environment and the financial tools that are employed. Preliminary findings are discussed in this paper and contrasts between public and private sector …

Re-Engineering Of The Quality Assurance Process Using Work Study Methodology, Yew Hoong Chia

Student Works (2000-2009)

This project paper explores the application of Work Study methods to improve the manufacturing processes in the current semiconductor manufacturing environment. The scope of the project is narrowed down to the Quality Assurance Out-going Final Inspection (QA OFI) Gate process step at the End-Of-Line (EOL) Operations in Motorola Malaysia Sendirian Berhad. This QA OFI Gate process step had recently become a bottleneck to the total EOL operations and in need of productivity improvement. It was observed that Work Study methods were not being used extensively or applied in a systematic manner in the company being studied. Many changes were made …

The Evolution Of Manufacturing Planning And Control Systems: From Reorder Point To Enterprise Resource Planning., Patrick Rondeau, L. A. Litteral

Scholarship and Professional Work - Business

Manufacturing planning and control (MPC) systems have existed since the earliest days of the industrial revolution. To gain a historical perspective, it is useful to look at the evolution of these systems. Five major stages were involved: reorder point (ROP) systems, materials requirement planning (MRP) systems, manufacturing resource planning (MRP-II) systems, MRP-II with manufacturing execution systems (MES), and enterprise resource planning systems (ERP) with MES. When examined in detail, each stage represents the next logical step in manufacturing philosophy and technological innovation over the preceding stage.

Vpn-Data Center System Database, Thai Hwan Gan

Student Works (2000-2009)

Computer has advanced from high technology equipment that only by large company in the old days to office equipment that is essential in an office. In the world of computer, improvement on service provided and lock out competition is very important The quantity of service, speed of processing, productivity, efficiency and effectiveness is very vital. The purpose of this project is to create a database system to a company that provides services and selling computer product. Beside that, we also provide VPNVirtual Private Network for the company's branch to access and to update the database. This is to provide more …

Sistem Penganalisa Rangkaian (Nas), Mohd Haris Afiatul Syahrizat

Student Works (2000-2009)

Sistem Penganalisa Rangkaian (Nas) merupakan tajuk untuk latihan ilmiah saya bagi memenuhi keperluan Ijazah Sarjana Muda Sains Komputer. Projek ini di bawah penyeliaan Cik Fazidah Othman merupakan sebuah sistem pemantauan aktiviti rangkaian (LAN) “standalone” dan interaktif. Sistem ini dibangunkan berlandaskan kehendak penggunanya yang lebih ditumpukan kepada pentadbir dan jurutera rangkaian sendiri. Sistem ini dapat membantui pentadbir rangkaian dalam memantau aktiviti semasa rangkaian. Ini membolehkan pentadbir rangkaian mendapatkan statistik aktiviti-aktiviti rangkaian yang berjalan yang merangkumi aktiviti internet dan keluar masuk data di dalam rangkaian. Sistem ini dibangunkan menggunakan perisian Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0, Microsoft Access 2000 dan boleh dilarikan pada persekitaran …

Pakej Pembelajaran Sekolah Memandu (Ppsm), Salim Zareyna

Student Works (2000-2009)

Projek ilmiah tahap akhir 2 (WXES 3182) merupakan satu syarat wajib bagi pelajar Fakulti Sains Komputer dan Teknologi Maklumat, Universiti Malaya bagi memenuhi syarat-syarat penganugerahan Ijazah Sarjana Muda Sains Komputer dan Teknologi Maklumat dengan Kepujian. Tajuk yang dipilih dalam projek ini adalah PPSM. PPSM merupakan suatu pakej pembelajaran tambahan selain daripada buku undang-undang lalulintas. Pakej yang akan dibina ini merangkumi pengenalan kepada papan tanda lalulintas, etika memandu di jalanraya dan ujian teori undang-undang. Selain daripada itu, diselitkan juga tips-tips ujian jalanraya dan Kurikulum Pendidikan Pemandu (KPP). Dalam usaha membangunkan pakej ini, perisian Macromedia Director 8 dan Macromedia Flash 5 akan …

Applying E-Commerce Techniques To Public School Software, Michael Lapke

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Applying e-commerce technology to public school software is a process that involves an extensive and thorough analysis. There are typically three groups of users who would use such a system: teachers, administrators and parents. Teachers need a system that nearly duplicates the software that they are currently using to enter, store, and calculate their grades, while school administrators and parents need to student and teacher's information. This is where the use of e-commerce technology comes in very nicely.

The analysis performed for this project involved extensive interviews with the expert user set and a walk-through of the current system. The …

Use And Effectiveness Of Decision Support Systems (Dss): Study Of The Saudi Private Sector, Ibrahim A. Alhunaishel

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

In the industrialized world today, management is characterized by extensive use of computers to manage rapid change, information overload, and complex decision-making. Literature suggests that Decision Support Systems, computer packages offering information retrieval, problem-structuring models, decision alternatives, and other types of decision support, are effective extensions of human decision-making and offer substantial benefits to organizations utilizing them.

In spite of overwhelmingly positive reviews for DSS, empirical literature has produced inconsistent results regarding DSS effectiveness, and definitions of “effectiveness” and of DSS itself are varied and sometimes contradictory. Distinguishing DSS from MIS (management information systems) and other types of managerial computer …

Vehicle Routing For Milk Procurement, Janat Shah

IIMB Management Review

In a typical co-operative dairy, one of the significant operating costsunder the control of the management is the cost of milk collectionand transportation. (Exhibit 1 shows the typical cost structure of adairy) The dairy under study picked up milk from 500-800 pick uppoints (nodes) twice a day. The vehicle routes were decided manu-ally keeping in mind the peak load expected at the nodes during thecoming year. The dairy had about 50 odd routes, each route cover-ing an average of 15 nodes. Usually dairies do not own the ve-hicles but use transport contractors who enter into an annual con tract with …

Product-Mix Optimiser For An Integrated Steel Plant, Goutam Dutta, Gopal P Singh, P N Roy

IIMB Management Review

Optimal utilisation of constrained resources is one of the most important problems in the area of operations management. The determination of optimal productmix is an extremely difficult task for an organisation producing multiple products in multiple stages, sharing a set of common plant resources and experiencing a fluctuating market over time. In the absence of a quick method to determine optimality under changing conditions, plant managers have to make decisions based on their experience and intuition. 

Application Of Or To Management Practice: An Introduction, H K Lakshman Rao

IIMB Management Review

Customer dissatisfaction with products and services, long queues at hospitals and railway stations, stock out/excess stock situations, overflowing solid waste bins at street corners, delayed deliveries and time lag in new product development, steeply increasing project costs, high rates of wastage in the manufacturing process these are among the numerous instances indicating the lack of systems approach and inadequate appreciation of Operations Research (OR) methods in the Indian management and administrative network scenario.

The Merchant Power Plant: The Future Of Power Generation, Hari Natarajan

IIMB Management Review

 In most countries, till recently, the electrical supply industry (ESI) was either state owned and operated or was heavily regulated. However, with the recognition in the late 70s that this leads to severe misallocation of labour, capital and natural resources, many countries looked to restructure their ESI to introduce competition and allow the entry of the private sector. A typical restructuring exercise involved unbundling of generation, a potentially competitive sector, from transmission and distribution, which are considered to be natural monopolies. An outcome of the restructuring was the evolution of a new entity.

The Pilgrim's Progress: Operations Research In Queuing, G Raghuram

IIMB Management Review

Good management practice is synonymous with applying operations research (OR). Both imply a systematic approach beginning with clarity in problem definition, understanding the objectives and constraints, characterising the alternatives (these three steps constitute  model building), evaluating (analysing) them and finally selecting an alternative for implementation. In addition to this basic methodology, there is also an implication of a quantitative basis to the extent possible. It is this quantitative basis which lends to the common perception that good management practice is much larger than OR

Applications Of Or In The Indian Context, R Sankar, Muthulingam Suresh

IIMB Management Review

Operations Research (OR) originated in England during World War II. The first applications aimed at improving the operational efficiency of the radar defence systems deployed by the Royal Air Force. Very soon thereafter, OR methods and techniques were applied successfully to the resolution of complex industrial and commercial problems in areas such as scheduling, inventory management, strategic planning, resource allocation and transportation.