Engineering Commons^™

Environmentally-Conscious Supply Chain Design In Support Of Food Security, Caroline C. Krejci, Benita M. Beamon

Industrial, Manufacturing, and Systems Engineering Faculty Publications - Archive

This paper seeks to design food supply chain structures that can provide food security for every person in the world while supporting long-term environmental sustainability. In particular, we provide alternatives to the current food supply chain structure and analyze their potential for providing food security, in terms of productive capacity and long-term environmental sustainability. Given the current world population and expected continued growth, our analysis suggests that environmentally-sustainable food supply chains would be most effectively supported by local and organic agriculture, while maintaining a parallel industrial agricultural system. This hybrid system would adopt environmentally-sustainable principles whenever possible, seeking to increase …

Effect Of Different Detrending Approaches On Computational Intelligence Models Of Time Series, Federico Montesino Pouzols, Amaury Lendasse

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This Paper Analyzes the Impact of Different Detrending Approaches on the Performance of a Variety of Computational Intelligence (Ci) Models. Three Approaches Are Compared: Linear, Nonlinear Detrending (based on Empirical Mode Decomposition) and First-Differencing. Five Representative Ci Methods Are Evaluated: Dynamic Evolving Neural-Fuzzy Inference System (DENFIS), Gaussian Process (GP), Multilayer Perceptron (MP), Optimally Pruned Extreme Learning Machine (Op-Elm) and Support Vector Machines (SVM). Four Major Conclusions Are Drawn from Experiments Performed on Six Time Series Benchmarks: 1) Qualitatively, the Effect of Detrending is Remarkably Uniform for All the Ci Methods Considered, 2) Extraction of the overall Trend Does Not Improve …

Op-Elm: Optimally Pruned Extreme Learning Machine, Yoan Miche, Antti Sorjamaa, Patrick Bas, Olli Simula, Christian Jutten, Amaury Lendasse

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

In This Brief, the Optimally Pruned Extreme Learning Machine (Op-Elm) Methodology is Presented. It is based on the Original Extreme Learning Machine (Elm) Algorithm with Additional Steps to Make It More Robust and Generic. the Whole Methodology is Presented in Detail and Then Applied to Several Regression and Classification Problems. Results for Both Computational Time and Accuracy (Mean Square Error) Are Compared to the Original Elm and to Three Other Widely Used Methodologies: Multilayer Perceptron (MLP), Support Vector Machine (SVM), and Gaussian Process (GP). as the Experiments for Both Regression and Classification Illustrate, the Proposed Op-Elm Methodology Performs Several Orders …

Simulation Prototyping Of An Experimental Solar House, Anna Osborne, Stuart Baur, Katie Grantham

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This paper presents a comparative analysis between an energy simulation model and an actual solar home. the case study used was the Team Missouri's 2009 Solar Decathlon entry. the home was evaluated using the predicted data developed with the use of Energy-10 Version 1.8. the software simulates the energy use performance of building strategies ranging from building envelope and system efficiency options. the performance data used was collected during the 2009 Solar Decathlon competition. Results comparing energy efficient strategies, consumption and generation are explored with future implications discussed. © 2010 by the authors.

Residential Energy Monitoring: Missouri S&T Solar Village Development, Christopher David Wright

Masters Theses

"As energy costs are rising, public and private sector groups are searching for improved energy efficiency technology. Research tools for predicting residential energy usage are lagging behind commercial developments. Missouri S&T has a unique and strong opportunity to strengthen its involvement in the development of residential energy research and knowledge. The S&T Solar Village, a collection of homes designed for energy efficiency and renewable energy, is poised to support this research. This thesis develops a design for residential energy evaluation and data collection of the four solar homes in the Village. The energy evaluation system identifies over 300 sensors and …

Accidents Will Happen. Do Safety Systems Improve Warehouse Safety Performance?, Rene B. M. De Koster, B. M. Balk, I Davelaar, M. Martens

11th IMHRC Proceedings (Milwaukee, Wisconsin. USA – 2010)

Safety is becoming more and more an issue in warehouses. In the literature, effective measures leading to increased occupational health and safety have hardly been researched. Most research focuses on the impact of perceived safety-related leadership of managers and worker safety consciousness on ‘safety climate’ and workers’ safe behavior. We have carried out exploratory research into which measures really improve the safety performance of a warehouse. We particularly focus on the effects of (1) safety-related work procedures, (2) safety leadership, and (3) workers’ safety consciousness. Based on a survey we show that safety leadership and safety-related work procedures significantly drive …

Optimizing The Rearrangement Process In A Dedicated Warehouse, Hector J. Carlo, German E. Giraldo

11th IMHRC Proceedings (Milwaukee, Wisconsin. USA – 2010)

Determining the optimal storage assignment for products in a dedicated warehouse has been addressed extensively in the Facility Logistics literature. However, the process of implementing a particular storage assignment given the current location of products has not received much attention in the existing literature. Typically, warehouses use downtime or overtime to remove products from their current location and move them to the suggested location. This work presents the Rearrange-While-Working (RWW) policy to optimize the process of rearranging a dedicated warehouse. The RWW policy seeks to relocate products in a warehouse from the initial arrangement to the optimal arrangement while serving …

A New Milp Approach For The Facility Layout Design Problem With Rectangular And L/T Shaped Departments, Yossi Bukchin, Michal Tzur

11th IMHRC Proceedings (Milwaukee, Wisconsin. USA – 2010)

In this paper we propose a new approach for the facility layout problem (FLP) and suggest new mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) formulations. The proposed approach considers simultaneously the location of the departments within the facility and the internal arrangement of the machines. Two models are suggested, where the first addresses the rectangular department case and the second allows nonrectangular departments defined by an L/T shape. New regularity constraints are developed to avoid irregular department shapes.

Strategic Design Of A Robust Supply Chain, Marc Goetschalckx, Edward Huang

11th IMHRC Proceedings (Milwaukee, Wisconsin. USA – 2010)

The strategic design of a robust supply chain has as goal the configuration of the supply chain structure so that the performance of the supply chain remains of a consistently high quality for all possible future scenarios. We model this goal with an objective function that trades off the central tendency of the supply chain profit with the dispersion of the profit as measured by the standard deviation for any value of the weights assigned to the two components. However, the standard deviation, used as the dispersion penalty for profit maximization, has a square root expression which makes standard maximization …

Evaluating The Effect Of Operational Conditions And Practices On Warehouse Performance, Andrew L. Johnson

11th IMHRC Proceedings (Milwaukee, Wisconsin. USA – 2010)

Analyzing warehouse performance across different environments is critical to improving overall productivity and reducing costs. Although two-stage DEA estimators have been shown to be statistically consistent, the finite sample bias of DEA in the first stage carries over to the secondstage regression, which causes bias in the estimated coefficients of the contextual variables. The bias is particularly severe when the contextual variables are correlated with inputs. To address this shortcoming, we apply insights from Johnson and Kuosmanen (2010), who demonstrate that DEA can be formulated as a constrained special case of the Convex Nonparametric Least Squares (CNLS) regression to develop …

Comparing Transport Policies In A Full-Scale 300mm Wafer Manufacturing Facility, J. E. Kiba, S. Dauz`Ere-P´Er`Es, C. Yugma, G. Lamiable

11th IMHRC Proceedings (Milwaukee, Wisconsin. USA – 2010)

Research in semiconductor manufacturing ideally wants to determine the “best” transport policy to ensure continuous production. Determining such a policy is difficult because it depends on many factors such as the layout, the product types, the equipment, etc. Most of the transport policies found in the literature combine dispatching policies (scheduling of transport requests) and routing policies (selection of the path to move from one point to another). This paper investigates a policy called "minimum service" which consists in keeping a minimum number of available vehicles in bays, so that they can quickly answer transport requests and empty travel times …

The Human-Centric Warehouse, Kevin R. Gue

11th IMHRC Proceedings (Milwaukee, Wisconsin. USA – 2010)

In theory and in practice, the objective of warehouse design has long been to meet operational requirements of throughput and service performance at minimum cost. A natural product of this “bottom line” approach has been warehouse buildings and operations ill-suited to the humans who spend their working lives interacting with them. We offer an explanation for the current approach, and argue that a new approach— a new paradigm —is needed. We then describe a comprehensive approach to warehouse design that includes human well-being as a primary goal.

Forklift Routing In Warehouses Using Dual-Commands And Stackable Pallets, Ahmed Hassan, Bill Ferrell

11th IMHRC Proceedings (Milwaukee, Wisconsin. USA – 2010)

This research determines time optimal routes for loading and picking pallets that can be stacked on top of each other during transport in a manual warehouse that only contains full pallets and utilizes single deep storage. This research was motivated by the fact that we are seeing this situation on an ever increasing basis, particularly in warehouses that supply parts to automotive assembly. In practice, forklift drivers have developed strategies to take advantage of this opportunity but to our knowledge there is no literature that addresses this problem rigorously. The important features of this work are that a time based …

Plug-And-Work Material Handling Systems, Kai Furmans, Frank Schonung, Kevin R. Gue

11th IMHRC Proceedings (Milwaukee, Wisconsin. USA – 2010)

One disadvantage of automated material handling systems is their relative Inflexibility: once racks are installed and conveyors are laid, making even mi-nor changes to a system can be cumbersome and expensive. However, recent progress in the capabilities and cost of basic system components, such as controllers, drives, and sensors, has made possible a new class of material handling systems having a much higher degree of flexibility. We propose underlying de- sign principles for such systems and describe several prototype plug-and-work" systems, which feature decentralized control and ease of reconfiguration.

Control Policies For A Dynamic Storage System With Multiple Lifts And Shuttles, Iris F.A. Vis, Hector J. Carlo, Paloma Diaz, Maria E. Laboy, Bruno Vanwijgaarden

11th IMHRC Proceedings (Milwaukee, Wisconsin. USA – 2010)

New types of Automated Storage and Retrieval Systems, able to achieve high throughput levels, are continuously being developed and require new control polices to take full advantage of the developed system. In this paper we study a dynamic storage system as developed by Vanderlande Industries consisting of a conveyor, two lifts, multiple transfer shuttles, and a storage rack. One of the decision problems for this system is the scheduling problem of the two lifts. In other words, which lift is going to handle which request and in which order. In this paper, we derive an integrated look-ahead heuristic based on …

Digital Human Models Of People With Disabilities, Ron Hamameh

Wayne State University Theses

The current state-of-the-art in Digital Human Modeling (DHM) allows for full simulation and analysis of any task a person is required to perform at home, at work, in the military, in space, in sports, etc. The problem is that the software is missing a very important population: people with physical disabilities. What modifications and enhancements must be made to existing, commercially available DHM software to include this population?

Observer-Dependent Model For Analyzing Subjective Parameters In Epidemiology, Milad Zarei

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Although medical technologies for preventing the contagion and spread of infectious diseases have improved steadily throughout the last century, new infectious diseases are still emerging and spreading swiftly. The modeling of infectious disease spread is crucial in addressing the lack of predictive ability in epidemiology. Managing the spread of infectious diseases requires processing quantitative epidemiological data and the ability to capture the dynamics of the infectious disease in order to provide a measure of control.

In this thesis, I have introducing cognitive biases in diseases spread modeling. For the first time, to the author's knowledge, the human subjective experience has …

Simulation Optimisation Methods In Supply Chain Applications: A Review, Amr Arisha, Waleed Abo-Hamad

Articles

The competitiveness and dynamic nature of today’s marketplace is due to rapid advances in information technology, short product life cycles and the continuing trend in global outsourcing. Managing the resulting supply chain networks effectively is challenged by high levels of uncertainty in supply and demand, confl ict objectives, vagueness of information, numerous decision variables and constraints. With such levels of complexity, supply chain optimisation has the potential to make a signifi cant contribution in resolving these challenges. In this paper, a literature review – based on more than 100 peer-reviewed articles – of state-of-the-art simulation-based optimisation techniques in the context …

Low-Cost Obstacle Detection Sensor Array For Unmanned Agricultural Vehicles, Santosh Pitla, Joe D. Luck, Scott A. Shearer

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Presentations and White Papers

Mobile robots deployed for agricultural applications must operate in harsh environments where they encounter a variety of both moveable and immovable obstacles. Typically, robots utilize vision sensors to learn about the environment in which they are working. In this study, a low-cost infra-red (IR) sensor array was developed to act as an obstacle detection aid for an unmanned agricultural vehicle (UAgV). The IR sensor array developed consists of six IR sensors mounted on two orthogonal steel plates. The array of sensors was continuously oscillated about the yaw-axis to traverse a 200° field of view in front of the UAgV. Three …

Periodic Resource Reallocation In Two-Echelon Repairable Item Inventory Systems, Hoong Chuin Lau, Jie Pan, Huawei Song

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Given an existing stock allocation in an inventory system, it is often necessary to perform reallocation over multiple time points to address inventory imbalance and maximize availability. In this paper, we focus on the situation where there are two opportunities to perform reallocation within a replenishment cycle. We derive a mathematical model to determine when and how to perform reallocation. Furthermore, we consider the extension of this model to the situation allowing an arbitrary number of reallocations. Experimental results show that the two-reallocation approach achieves better performance compared with the single-reallocation approach found in the literature. We also illustrate how …

Introducing Communication In Dis-Pomdps With Locality Of Interaction, Makoto Tasaki, Yuichi Yabu, Yuki Iwanari, Makoto Yokoo, Janusz Marecki, Pradeep Reddy Varakantham, Milind Tambe

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

The Networked Distributed POMDPs (ND-POMDPs) can model multiagent systems in uncertain domains and has begun to scale-up the number of agents. However, prior work in ND-POMDPs has failed to address communication. Without communication, the size of a local policy at each agent within the ND-POMDPs grows exponentially in the time horizon. To overcome this problem, we extend existing algorithms so that agents periodically communicate their observation and action histories with each other. After communication, agents can start from new synchronized belief state. Thus, we can avoid the exponential growth in the size of local policies at agents. Furthermore, we introduce …

Microbial Treatment Of Swine Fecal Waste To Generate Long-Chain Linear Alkanes After Fast Pyrolysis, Lisa A. Fitzgerald, C. Ziemer, S. E. Lizewski, Bradley R. Ringeisen, K. Henry, Justin C. Biffinger

United States Navy: Publications

Research into the generation of energy from human and animal waste has been primarily focused on gas production (especially methane and hydrogen). While there is some work concentrated on ethanol and biodiesel creation from wastes (fuels used for ground transportation primarily), increasing research interest has been recently directed toward long chain hydrocarbon production for aviation fuels. Kerosene components from swine fecal waste have been generated from four natural sources: undigested dietary lipids, host lipids excreted in feces, bacterial cell walls and products of bacterial fermentation.

Structure–Property Relations Of Cyclic Damage In A Wrought Magnesium Alloy, J. D. Bernard, J. B. Jordon, M. F. Horstemeyer, H. El Kadiri, J. Baird, Dabid Lamb, Alan A. Luo

United States Army: Publications

The fatigue properties of an extruded Mg–3Al–0Mn magnesium alloy component were evaluated experimentally. Fully reversed, strain control fatigue tests were conducted on specimens extracted from regions with a varying grain size and texture. Scanning electron microscopy was employed to establish structure–property relations between microstructure and cyclic damage. Relations were drawn between microstructural features such as particle size, grain size, initial Taylor factor and the number of cycles to failure.

Time And Degree Of Glycemic Derangement Are Associated With Increased Mortality In Trauma Patients In The Setting Of Tight Glycemic Control, Michael G. Corneille, Celina Villa, Steven Wolf, Joel E. Michalek, Inkyung Jung, Charles E. Wade, John G. Meyers, Daniel L. Dent, Deborah Mueller, Ronald M. Stewart

United States Army: Publications

BACKGROUND: Tight glucose control (TGC) may reduce mortality in critically ill trauma patients. We hypothesize that euglycemia is beneficial, and a measure considering time and degree of hyperglycemia is most associated with mortality.

METHODS: We performed a review of intensive care unit trauma patients admitted for more than 3 days between January 2005 and December 2007 on a TGC protocol with a goal of 80 to 110 mg/dL. Hyperglycemic, hypoglycemic, and euglycemic time ranges, and area of interpolated curves above and below 80 to 110 mg/dL were assessed. Associations with mortality were based on logistic regression models adjusted for age, …

Activity Of Topical Antimicrobial Agents Against Multidrug-Resistant Bacteria Recovered From Burn Patients, Jessie S. Glasser, Charles H. Guymon, Katrin Mende, Steven E. Wolf, Duane R. Hospenthal, Clinton K. Murray

United States Army: Publications

Background:

Topical antimicrobials are employed for prophylaxis and treatment of burn
wound infections despite no established susceptibility breakpoints, which are becoming vital in an era of multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria. We compared two methods of determining topical antimicrobial susceptibilities.

Methods:

Isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), extended spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) producing Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Acinetobacter baumanii-calcoaceticus (ABC) from burn patients were tested using broth microdilution and agar well diffusion to determine minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) and zones of inhibition (ZI). Isolates had systemic antibiotic resistance and clonality determined. MDR included resistance to antibiotics in three or more …

Socio-Demographic And Drug Use Factors Associated With Hiv-1 Recombinants And Dual Infections In Northern Thai Drug Users: Associations Of Risk With Genetic Complexity, G. H. Kijak, C. Beyrer, S. Tovanabutra, T. Sripaipan, V. Suriyanon, N. Moqueet, E. Sanders-Buell, P. Saokhieo, U. Timpan, J. Jittiwutikarn, M. L. Robb, D. L. Birx, D. D. Celentano, F. E. Mccutchan

United States Army: Publications

Background:

Dual infection with diverse HIV strains can foster the emergence of recombinants. The resulting  increase in viral genetic diversity is a major challenge for vaccine development HIV treatment. In this study we aim to investigate the socio demographic factors associated with an increasing level of genetic diversity among HIV strains in a population of drug-users in Northern Thailand.

Methods:

From 1999 through 2000, 2231 volunteers were enrolled in the Opiate- Users Research in Chiang Mai, Thailand. HIV subtype analysis was conducted among those HIV-1 seropositive (n = 347) using a multi-region hybridization assay. Social and demographic variables were assessed …

Toxicity And Bioaccumulation Of Tnt In Marine Fish In Sediment Exposures, Guilherme R. Lotufo, William Blackburn, Sydney J. Marlborough, John W. Fleeger

United States Army: Publications

The bioaccumulation potential and toxicity of 2, 4, 6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) spiked to sediment was evaluated in juvenile sheeps head minnows (JSHM, Cyprinodon variegatus) and adult freckled blennies (FB, Hypsoblennius ionthas). The JSHM were exposed for 4 days in the presence or absence of a mesh separating fish from sediment. FB were exposed to sediment for 7 days. During the 24-day storage period(4 °C), extensive transformation of spiked TNT occurred and concentrations are expressed as the sum of TNT, aminodinitrotoluenes and diaminonitrotoluenes (Sum TNT), on a dry weight basis. Sum TNT in the overlying water, not exchanged during exposure, …

Establishing Workload Limitations For Application In Human Systems Integration, Muhammet Servet Gulum

Masters Theses

"As the amount of technology involved in the typical workplace increases and standard operational procedures become increasingly sophisticated the danger of overloading an operator's mental resources is increasing. As much as these technological developments help operators with daily tasks, for example by providing information via monitors and wireless headsets; it also increased the mental workload due to the bombardment of information. Mental workload is commonly associated with information processing tasks, limits. With all the extra information inputs it is difficult to set limits where excessive information becomes dangerous. The workload optimization is critical as it directly affects system performance and …

The Marketing Value Of Graduate Certificate Programs In Higher Education: A Strategic Assessment, Susmitha Akula

Masters Theses

"The last five years have seen a significant increase in the popularity of non degree graduate certificates. This increase has raised questions about the value of graduate certificate programs from the perspective of students, alumni and industry employers. Do certificate programs provide real world skills and knowledge valuable to industry? Do they serve as effective recruiting tools for the university? Do they provide opportunities for students to meet their professional goals in terms of salary increase, promotions, and the like? The present research is specifically aimed at answering these questions. Surveys that assess perceptions of value of graduate certificates to …

Application Of Quality Function Deployment In New Product And Service Development, Anusha Uppalanchi

Masters Theses

"Quality Function Deployment (QFD) is a systematic process to integrate customer requirements into every aspect of the design and delivery of products and services. Understanding the customers wants or needs from a product or service is crucial to the successful design and development of new products and services. QFD is a system that utilizes customer demands to meet client missions by outlining what the customer wants in a service or product. QFD was used in this research to determine customer needs and thus to ensure that customer demands are met. This methodology is demonstrated using two case studies: Hydrogen Fuel …