Engineering Commons^™

Towards Efficient Computation Of Quality Bounded Solutions In Pomdps: Expected Value Approximation And Dynamic Disjunctive Beliefs, Pradeep Reddy Varakantham, Rajiv Maheswaran, Tapana Gupta, Milind Tambe

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

While POMDPs (partially observable markov decision problems) are a popular computational model with wide-ranging applications, the computational cost for optimal policy generation is prohibitive. Researchers are investigating ever-more efficient algorithms, yet many applications demand such algorithms bound any loss in policy quality when chasing efficiency. To address this challenge, we present two new techniques. The first approximates in the value space to obtain solutions efficiently for a pre-specified error bound. Unlike existing techniques, our technique guarantees the resulting policy will meet this bound. Furthermore, it does not require costly computations to determine the quality loss of the policy. Our second …

Machining Process Changes As A Function Of Surface Roughness, Specific To Machining Cylindrical Bores, Thomas Patrick Olsen

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Manufacturing professionals are challenged everyday to produce products to higher quality standards in a way that is economical and efficient. Manufacturing needs to minimize non value added costs such as reducing inventory, (non machined and finished goods), reduce work in process, and most of all eliminate waste. To exist, customers must be satisfied at the time of purchase and throughout the products lifecycle. To be competitive and remain a world class manufacture, companies must be flexible and be willing to change. Single point flexible manufacturing versus fixed spindle rigid machining greatly improves the ability to make changes. If a process …

Methodology For Analyzing And Characterizing Error Generation In Presence Of Autocorrelated Demands In Stochastic Inventory Models, Rafael Diaz

Computational Modeling & Simulation Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Most techniques that describe and solve stochastic inventory problems rely upon the assumption of identically and independently distributed (IID) demands. Stochastic inventory formulations that fail to capture serially-correlated components in the demand lead to serious errors. This dissertation provides a robust method that approximates solutions to the stochastic inventory problem where the control review system is continuous, the demand contains autocorrelated components, and the lost sales case is considered. A simulation optimization technique based on simulated annealing (SA), pattern search (PS), and ranking and selection (R&S) is developed and used to generate near-optimal solutions. The proposed method accounts for the …

Iterated Weaker-Than-Weak Dominance, Shih-Fen Cheng, Michael P. Wellman

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

We introduce a weakening of standard gametheoretic δ-dominance conditions, called dominance, which enables more aggressive pruning of candidate strategies at the cost of solution accuracy. Equilibria of a game obtained by eliminating a δ-dominated strategy are guaranteed to be approximate equilibria of the original game, with degree of approximation bounded by the dominance parameter. We can apply elimination of δ-dominated strategies iteratively, but the for which a strategy may be eliminated depends on prior eliminations. We discuss implications of this order independence, and propose greedy heuristics for determining a sequence of eliminations to reduce the game as far as possible …

Performance Of Aerobic Bioreactors During Treatment Of Tanning Industry Wastewater, Samwel V. Manyele

Tanzania Journal of Engineering and Technology (TJET)

The performance of aerobic bioreactors loaded with novel biomass support (the KMT® support particles) during the treatment of tanning industry wastewater is presented in this paper. The wastewater samples were collected from TANWAT Company in Njombe, which extracts tannins from barks of the wattle tree. The wastewater generated from T ANWAT is very acidic with high loading of organic compounds, which are very complex and difficult to biodegrade using conventional methods. The paper introduces a new technology for treatment of heavily loaded industrial wastewater, like tannins, that is the Three-Phase Fluidized Bed Bioreactor (TPFBB) which utilizes the KM'f® support particles. …

Geometric Programming As A General Method For Phase And Reaction Equilibrium Calculations, Godwill Mrema

Tanzania Journal of Engineering and Technology (TJET)

Geometric programming has been used to calculate a large mtmber ofdifferent ideal and non-ideal equilibria, including, for reaction and For non-ideal Systems the primal program is solved a number Of times With the nan-ideal terms fixed each time. After each primal solution, the nan-ideal terms are "'hdated using the corresponding dun! solution. This iteration generally converges. We have included one counter-example, where the failure is caused by the equation Of state, which Cannot giu• correct roots.

An Intervention Framework Based On A Complementary Theory Of Organizational Decline, George S. Mwaluko

Tanzania Journal of Engineering and Technology (TJET)

This paper has developed an intervention framework based a complementary theory Of Organization decline. Any management intervention effort is normally based on a certain theory of organizational decline i.e. a theory that explains the causes for failure of organizations. Four major theories Of Organisational decline were identified in the literature, reviewed and integrated into one, presumably more superior, theory of organisational decline. They included the natural selection theory, the resourc+based theory, the theory Of misperception of feed!mck and the contingency theory. The new theory was then used to guide the design of an intervention framework. The framework utas then used …

Investigation On Distribution Of Cast Properties On Aluminum Plates Poured By Side Gating Technique, Joseph Runyoro

Tanzania Journal of Engineering and Technology (TJET)

Casting technologies wllich improve casting yield and intenzal sOllndness of thin wall cast components are of particular interest to industry especially for critical applications. The main aim of fOll1ldries is to achieve castings free from defects at low cost. It hils been thought that pouring casting by side ingate technique improve directional solidification as the metal stays hot for long time in the feeder cum ingate. Experiments were carried alit IIsing a side gating technique to cast a number of 300 mm x 300 mm LMO and LM 25 plates in furall and pepset sand moulds. The thickness used was …

Sampling Procedure For Pavement Condition Evaluation Of Local Collectors And Access Roads, David Mfinanga

Tanzania Journal of Engineering and Technology (TJET)

Road surface condition evaluation involves the collection Of a lof Of data on different types of distresses. •lie exercise consumes a lot Of resources if the whole road section length is sureeyed and may be prone to errors as a result Of surveyors' fatigue. It is therefore important Io develop n reprevntative sample to be used When road condition manually. This study aimed nt determining sample size for condition evaluation of local collector access roads in urban areas in Tanzania. Two such roads namely l.ufungira and Kilimahewn roads respectively were selected for the study. It is recommended that a section …

Towards Effective Online Learning Implementation In Tanzanian Higher Learning Institutions: Obstacles, Challenges And Opportunities, M Victor

Tanzania Journal of Engineering and Technology (TJET)

This paper identifies and discusses several influential factors as well as opportunities, associated with effective- online learning implementation in Tanzanian Higher Learning Institutions (THUs). Fourteen (14) THUs were surveyed, using face-to-face interviews in focus groups. The groups included Lecturers, Heads of ICT Departments, ICT Technical Personnel as well as Admi/:listrative Staff. Results indicate that mostly, problems with effective online implementation in THUs are centred on a severe scarcity of online resources and tools and that the main challenges lie in going beyond the process of integrating technology with their teaching curricular, so that training of both teaching and supporting staffs …

Windmill Documentary, Timothy David Stoltenburg

Honors Capstones

Capstone submitted as a graduation requirement for the BSU Honors Program.

Design And Implementation Of A Modular Wireless Sensor Network Sniffer, John C. Mceachen, Teo Hong Siang, Georgios Kirykos

United States Navy: Publications

We present the design and implementation of a wireless packet sniffing application focused on the communications of TinyOS-based sensor networks. This modular, multi-threaded application allows robust analysis of transmitted frames in an easily understood format similar to tcpdump. The underlying software framework is presented and details of the implementation are discussed. Finally, verification of the application is performed using a basic TinyOS application.

A Comparison Of Optimized Link State Routing With Traditional Ad-Hoc Routing Protocols, Pore Ghee Lye, John C. Mceachen

United States Navy: Publications

The performance of mobile ad-hoc networks (MANET) is related to the efficiency of the routing protocols in adapting to frequently changing network topology and link status. This paper addresses the issue by comparing the relative performance of three key ad-hoc routing protocols: Destination-sequenced Distance Vector (DSDV), Ad-hoc Ondemand Distance Vector (AODV) and Optimized Link State Routing (OLSR). The protocols are tested based on two scenarios, namely, tactical networks for ships and sensor-based network nodes. Four performance metrics were measured by varying the maximum speed of mobile hosts, network size and traffic load, to assess the routing capability and protocol efficiency. …

A Multidimensional Scaling And Participatory Design Approach To Classify Open Ended Aircraft Maintenance Data, Kunal Kapoor

All Dissertations

The quality assurance data to be analyzed by the web-based surveillance and auditing tool (WebSAT) is both qualitative and quantitative. The forced responses to checklist questions provide a definitive outcome identifying the effectiveness of the four quality assurance work functions. On the other hand, open-ended responses, the second type of response for capturing maintenance errors, are qualitative in nature since they reflect what the auditors and quality assurance representatives observe during their interactions at vendor locations. This research proposes to apply the statistical technique of multidimensional scaling (MDS) and the User centered Design (UCD) method of Participatory Design (PD) to …

Use Of Personas For User Interface Design: Results Of Field And Experimental Studies , Pallavi Dharwada

All Dissertations

Persona is a fictitious user serving as a role model for designers, helping them make difficult decisions from the users' perspective during the interface design process. This concept, which was introduced by Alan Cooper in 1999, has been found to be a powerful tool for engaging the designers with the users. Although personas do not replace the rich data acquired through user testing, they enhance the interface development process by focusing the designers' attention on the target user until the interface qualifies for testing. Recognizing the benefits of persona, many companies, including the Fortune 500 have embraced this concept as …

Process Modelling Support For The Conceptual Modelling Phase Of A Simulation Project, Cathal Heavey, John Ryan

Conference papers

While many developments have taken place around supporting the model coding task of simulation, there are few tools available to assist in the conceptual modelling phase. Several authors have reported the advantages of using process modelling tools in the early phases of a simulation project.

This paper provides an overview of process modelling tools in relation to their support for simulation, categorizing the tools into formal method and descriptive methods. A conclusion from this review is that none of the tools available adequately support the requirements gathering phase of simulation. This is not surprising as none of the process modelling …

Scalar Equilibria For N-Person Games, Narakorn Engsuwan

Industrial, Manufacturing, and Systems Engineering Dissertations - Archive

In this dissertation we develop a scalarization approach for one-shot, n-person games by defining the notion of Scalar Equilibria. We first show that existing solution concepts can be represented as Scalar Equlibria. For example, Regret, Disappointment, and Joint Equilibrium can be determined by defining Regret, Disappointment, and Joint Scalar Equilibria. These scalar equilibria are useful for finding pure strategies when pure Regret, Disappointment, and Joint Equilibria do not exist. Next, we present the Maximin Scalarization Equilibrium to yield maximin solution concept. In addition, we propose other Scalar Equilibria for various notions of rationality. The Aspiration Scalar Equilibrium is developed for …

Acuta Enews December 2006, Vol. 35, No. 12

ACUTA Newsletters

In This Issue

From the President.................. Carmine Piscopo, Providence College

Board Report............... Riny Ledgerwood, San Diego State Univ., ACUTA Sec./Treasurer

DC Update.................. Jeanne Jansenius, Sewanee, The University of the South

FYI: Useful Information from the Campus...................... Student Monitor

Pumping Up PoE............................ GaryAudin, Delphi, Inc.

Site to See

Web Tip: Website Recognition Program........... Aaron Fuegrer, ACUTA Information Technology Manager

Info Links................. Randy Hayes, Univ. of Northern Iowa

Thanks to Exhibitors for 2006

Welcome New Member

Correlation Of Numerical Ability And Quality Technician Best Performers In Manufacturing Quality Control Applications, Charles Wesley Shelton

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The occupation of Quality Technician has many duties requiring numerical operations. Business and industry place considerable emphasis on numerical ability when evaluating the performance of a Quality Technician. In this study, the numerical ability and performance classification of Quality Technicians were analyzed using a correlation analysis. lll A single case study was used to investigate this relationship. A modified Delphi Method was used to determine characteristics of a Quality Technician. Quality Technicians were evaluated by their direct supervisor and completed a standardized numerical ability test. The evaluations by the supervisor were used to classify each technician based on their performance. …

Branch-And-Cut-And-Price Methods For Logistics Problems With Limited Risk, Hee-Su Hwang

Industrial, Manufacturing, and Systems Engineering Dissertations - Archive

There exist many uncertainties in a logistics system, such as unknown demand, unsteady fuel cost, machine breakdowns, and accidents to name a few. Logistics management is difficult because logistics managers must solve a global optimization problem, which includes eliminating as much uncertainty as possible, finding effective methods of managing uncertainty, and operating the entire logistics system effectively. To cope with uncertainty, many efforts have been made for vehicle routing problems. On the contrary, traditional ship-scheduling models ignore uncertainty, even in highly volatile markets. We present a set-packing model that limits risk using a quadratic variance constraint. After generating first-order linear …

An Analytical Performance Management Framework Enabiling Enterprise Strategy Management, Amr Abu-Suleiman

Industrial, Manufacturing, and Systems Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Performance management has gained noticeable interest from both researchers and executive in the past two decades. Financial measures are no longer a primary emphasis for researchers and executives. One of the most popular performance management methodologies is the Balanced Scorecard. The Balanced Scorecard framework facilitates translating strategy into objectives and initiatives across four perspectives. These perspectives are financial, customer, internal processes, and learning and growth. The second component of the balanced scorecard is strategy maps. Strategy maps outline the cause and effect between the four perspectives, and illustrate the value creation process through transforming leading indicators (operational measures) into lagging …

The Development Of A Design Ontology For Products And Processes, Md Baniamin Sarder

Industrial, Manufacturing, and Systems Engineering Dissertations - Archive

This research develops a methodology called, Design Knowledge Acquisition Process (DKAP) for creating ontology of product and process design using IDEF5 and to develop a consistency matrix for checking accuracy of captured information. It constructs an ontology of a generic product and process design using the developed DKAP methodology. Designing products and processes is very challenging and vital for manufacturing enterprises to stay in the competitive market. Manufacturers want to launch their products in the market as quickly as possible while satisfying their customers in terms of quality, cost and delivery. In order to lunch the products early and/or to …

Convex Versions Of Multivariate Adaptive Regression Splines And Implementations For Complex Optimization Problems, Dachuan Thomas Shih

Industrial, Manufacturing, and Systems Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Multivariate Adaptive Regression Splines (MARS) provide a flexible statistical modeling method that employs forward and backward search algorithms to identify the combination of basis functions that best fits the data. In optimization, MARS has been used successfully to estimate the value function in stochastic dynamic programming, and MARS could be potentially useful in many real world optimization problems where objective (or other) functions need to be estimated from data, such as in simulation optimization. Many optimization methods depend on convexity, but a nonconvex MARS approximation is inherently possible because interaction terms are products of univariate terms. In this dissertation, convex …

A Methodology For Evaluating The Performance Of Reverse Supply Chains In Consumer Electronics Industry, Srikanth Sastry Yellepeddi

Industrial, Manufacturing, and Systems Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Enterprises around the world are employing reverse supply chain practices to generate profit making opportunities while meeting new regulations. As a result of the rapid progress in technology the product lifecycles are shrinking faster than ever. In the face of global competition, heightened environmental regulations and a wealth of additional profits and improved corporate image opportunities, performing the reverse supply chain operations at a world class level is becoming quintessential. These factors in addition to the inherent complexity of reverse supply chains due to the uncertainties associated with the quantity, quality, and timing of returns make returns management very complicated. …

The Paperless Factory: A Review Of Issues And Technologies, Manocher Djassemi, James A. Sena

Industrial Technology and Packaging

paper-based data management can be a bottleneck, slowing factory-wide information transfer. This study explores the evolution of paperless communication in a factory environment and reviews some of the key technologies that contribute to the implementation of a paperless system including digital communication, the virtual factory, computer-integrated manufacturing, and web-centric information flow. The challenges facing users of a paperless information system are also discussed.

Supply Chain Information Sharing In A Macro Prediction Market, Zhiling Guo, Fang Fang, Andrew B. Whinston

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

This paper aims to address supply chain partners' incentives for information sharing from an information systems design perspective. Specifically, we consider a supply chain characterized by N geographically distributed retailers who order a homogeneous product from one manufacturer. Each retailer's demand risk consists of two parts: a systematic risk part that affects all retailers and an idiosyncratic risk part that only has a local effect. We propose a macro prediction market to effectively elicit and aggregate useful information about systematic demand risk. We show that such information can be used to achieve accurate demand forecast sharing and better channel coordination …

Cosign: A Parallel Algorithm For Coordinated Traffic Signal Control, Shih-Fen Cheng, Marina A. Epelman, Robert L. Smith

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

The problem of finding optimal coordinated signal timing plans for a large number of traffic signals is a challenging problem because of the exponential growth in the number of joint timing plans that need to be explored as the network size grows. In this paper, the game-theoretic paradigm of fictitious play to iteratively search for a coordinated signal timing plan is employed, which improves a system-wide performance criterion for a traffic network. The algorithm is robustly scalable to realistic-size networks modeled with high-fidelity simulations. Results of a case study for the city of Troy, MI, where there are 75 signalized …

Dynamic Multi-Linked Negotiations In Multi-Echelon Production Scheduling Networks, Hoong Chuin Lau, Guan Li Soh, Wee Chong Wan

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

In this paper, we are concerned with scheduling resources in a multi-tier production/logistics system for multi-indenture goods. Unlike classical production scheduling problems, the problem we study is concerned with local utilities which are private. We present an agent model and investigate an efficient scheme for handling multi-linked agent negotiations. With this scheme we attempt to overcome the drawbacks of sequential negotiations and negotiation parameter settings. Our approach is based on embedding a credit-based negotiation protocol within a local search scheduling algorithm. We demonstrate the computational efficiency and effectiveness of the approach in solving a real-life dynamic production scheduling problem which …

Finding A Length-Constrained Maximum-Sum Or Maximum-Density Subtree And Its Application To Logistics, Hoong Chuin Lau, Trung Hieu Ngo, Bao Nguyen Nguyen

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

We study the problem of finding a length-constrained maximum-density path in a tree with weight and length on each edge. This problem was proposed in [R.R. Lin, W.H. Kuo, K.M. Chao, Finding a length-constrained maximum-density path in a tree, Journal of Combinatorial Optimization 9 (2005) 147–156] and solved in O(nU) time when the edge lengths are positive integers, where n is the number of nodes in the tree and U is the length upper bound of the path. We present an algorithm that runs in O(nlog2n) time for the generalized case when the edge lengths are positive real numbers, which …

Acuta Enews November 2006, Vol. 35, No. 11

ACUTA Newsletters

In This lssue

Legislative/Regulatory Scorecard tor 2006.............. Jeri A. Semer, CAE, ACUTA Executive Director

ACUTA Presents Open-Source lP Telephony Audio Seminar

Tech Talk: A Communications Method Respected by lts Peers.................. Kevin Tanzillo, Dux PR

DC Update............... Jeonne Jansenius, University of the South

FYI: Useful lnformation from the Campus................... Student Monitor

Board Report...................... Riny Ledgerwood, San Diego State Univ., ACUTA Sec./Treasurer

lT Disaster Recovery: Why Plan?.................. Mike Grunder, Vantage Technology

Web Tip: What's New?..................... Aaron Fuehrer, ACUTA lnformation Technology Manager

lnfo Links................... Randy Hayes, Univ. of Northern lowa

IEEE 10 Gb/s Ethernet Standards Approved. Hugo Draye, Fluke Networks (Reprinted from BICSI …