Engineering Commons^™

Identifying Partnership Opportunities At Air Force Installations: A Geographic Information Systems Approach, Corey R. Degroot

Theses and Dissertations

The excess capacity found in the Department of Defense real property portfolio creates challenges for leaders to provide resilient installations. Combining this fact with current funding trends makes decisions on how to properly maintain infrastructure even more challenging. The Air Force Partnership Initiative provides tools for installations to leverage community capabilities and resources to achieve savings and improve quality on Air Force installations and can reduce the real property footprint. This research proposes a method for assessing the viability of a partnership between Air Force installations and their nearby communities.
This research effort created a tool capable of investigating off-base …

Using Markov Decision Processes With Heterogeneous Queueing Systems To Examine Military Medevac Dispatching Policies, Phillip R. Jenkins

Theses and Dissertations

major focus of the Military Health System is to provide efficient and timely medical evacuation (MEDEVAC) to battlefield casualties. Medical planners are responsible for developing dispatching policies that dictate how aerial military MEDEVAC units are utilized during major combat operations. The objective of this research is to determine how to optimally dispatch MEDEVAC units in response to 9-line MEDEVAC requests to maximize MEDEVAC system performance. A discounted, infinite horizon Markov decision process (MDP) model is developed to examine the MEDEVAC dispatching problem. The MDP model allows the dispatching authority to accept, reject, or queue incoming requests based on the request's …

Refugees In Urban Environments: Social, Economic, And Infrastructure Impacts, Garrett L. Jameson

Theses and Dissertations

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has estimated that in 2015 there were 21.3 million refugees worldwide; it is estimated that 1.8 million of these persons were newly displaced during 2015. As refugees leave their country to seek the protection of another nation's government, they generally flow into urban areas. The impact of this flow on cities and on the refugees, themselves, is not fully understood. This study is focused on the impact of government policy decisions on the social, legal, and economic integration of refugees within an urban environment. Investigation into this topic resulted in the development of …

Simulation Modeling And Analysis Of Deployed F-16 Operations And Logistics Support, Gregory D. Potts Ii

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis is to reinforce and build upon past efforts identifying and demonstrating the need to better represent logistic capabilities and constraints within the realm of wargaming, war planning, and other analyses requiring the modeling of Air Force combat operations. We develop a framework for the porting of relevant logistic information and requirements from a reliable data source (LCOM- ATK) into a discrete event simulation environment (SIMIO), providing a simulation model for enhanced and robust analyses. The simulation we create explicitly reflects (for a selected subset of Work Unit Codes) the maintenance manpower, resources, and parts required …

Analysis Of Human And Agent Characteristics On Human-Agent Team Performance And Trust, Anthony J. Hillesheim

Theses and Dissertations

The human-agent team represents a new construct in how the United States Department of Defense is orchestrating mission planning and mission accomplishment. In order for mission planning and accomplishment to be successful, several requirements must be met: a firm understanding of human trust in automated agents, how human and automated agent characteristics influence human-agent team performance, and how humans behave. This thesis applies a combination of modeling techniques and human experimentation to understand the concepts aforementioned. The modeling techniques used include static modeling in SysML activity diagrams and dynamic modeling of both human and agent behavior in IMPRINT. Additionally, this …

Optimal Bidding Strategy For A Strategic Power Producer Using Mixed Integer Programming, Sayed Abdullah Sadat

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The thesis focuses on a mixed integer linear programming (MILP) formulation for a bi-level mathematical program with equilibrium constraints (MPEC) considering chance constraints. The particular MPEC problem relates to a power producer’s bidding strategy: maximize its total benefit through determining bidding price and bidding power output while considering an electricity pool’s operation and guessing the rival producer’s bidding price. The entire decision-making process can be described by a bi-level optimization problem. The contribution of our thesis is the MILP formulation of this problem considering the use of chance constrained mathematical program for handling the uncertainties.

First, the lower-level poor operation …

Measurement And Analysis Of Transport Vibration For Ltl Freight Utilizing Stowage Optimization Equipment, Jay Singh, Koushik Saha, David Leinberger, John Antle

Industrial Technology and Packaging

The random vibration spectra typically used in lab based simulations towards developing and validating optimized packages for distribution have been developed through past research that have studied global transport vibration environments. Approximately 67% of all the freight tonnage moved in the U.S. utilizes heavy duty Class 8 trucks. While the floor (suspension) based vibration simulation profiles for these types of trucks are available towards lab based simulation, there have been no studies investigating the impact of shelving and stacking systems typically used for optimization of freight stowage in truck trailers by many freight companies. It is important to quantify how …

Liquid Force Kite Control System Design, Brendan Kerr, Brodie Sutherland, Alden Simmer

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

Kiteboarding is an ocean sport wherein the participant, also known as a kiter, uses a large inflatable bow shaped kite to plane across the ocean on a surfboard or wakeboard. The rider is connected to his or her kite via a control bar system. This control system allows the kiter to steer the kite and add or remove power from the kite, in order to change direction and increase or decrease speed. This senior project focused on creating a new control bar system to replace a control bar system manufactured by a kiteboarding company, Liquid Force. The current Liquid Force …

Creating The Foundation For A Startup: Design And Implementation Of A Database System For An Electrical Bicycle Rental Company, Alejandro Martinez

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

BoltAbout was started by 4 Cal Poly students, and their COO is a fellow Industrial Engineering student that I met during the first half of the senior project series class. He presented the project to me and I decided to work with him in developing this new database for his startup company. BoltAbout’s customer base is growing and current operations are not fit to meet the demand of a growing company. More specifically, their data management system can’t be used by all current employees to perform essential tasks such as rental processing, bicycle and equipment organization, and customer data analysis. …

A Study Into The Production Efficiency Of Cal Poly Chocolates, Fernando Calderon

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

The project objective was to: identify ways to reduce the production cost of Cal Poly Chocolates. The project was executed through the DMAIC approach, a data driven improvement cycle. Using several industrial engineering tools, six improvement opportunities were found. Three project deliverables were created and three process changes were recommended. The total annual savings, if recommendations are implemented, sum to $1700.

Identifying Key Factors Of Rail Transit Service Quality: An Empirical Analysis For Istanbul, Erkan Isikli, Nezir Aydin, Erkan Celik, Alev Taskin Gumus

Journal of Public Transportation

Providing a high quality of service in public transportation is essential to reduce dissatisfactions stemming from traffic congestion and noise. Public transport providers need to find ways to dilute the effects of immoderate use of private cars in big cities while maintaining a sufficient level of customer satisfaction. This study aimed to identify the key service quality (SQ) factors that drive passenger satisfaction in Istanbul’s rail transit (RT) system using data obtained from an extensive survey conducted by the Istanbul Public Transportation Co. A total of 11,116 passengers who used rail transport from May 15–June 3, 2012, and June 17–July …

A Security Evaluation Methodology For Container Images, Brendan Michael Abbott

Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this research is to create a methodology that evaluates the security posture of container images and helps improve container security. This was done by first searching for any guidelines or standards that focus on container images and security. After finding none, I decided to create an evaluative methodology. The methodology is composed of actions that users should take to evaluate the security of a container image. The methodology was created through in-depth research on container images and the build instructions used to create them and is referred to as the Security Evaluation Methodology for Container Images. The …

Common Support Equipment And Its Impact On Aircraft Availability, Jason M. Leighton

Theses and Dissertations

The ability of military aircraft maintenance personnel to prepare aircraft for flight depends not only on the technical ability and availability of replacement parts, but also on access to serviceable support equipment. While the general relationship between support equipment failures and aircraft availability is understood, the struggle to quantify that relationship makes targeted support equipment replacement or quantity authorization increases difficult. Tight budgets and aging equipment further complicate the task of keeping serviceable support equipment assets in the hands of maintainers. We identify key pieces of support equipment which may affect aircraft availability and other metrics and investigate the associated …

Bio-Mimicry Of A Leopard Tortoise’ Shoulder Girdle In Space Frame Design Of An Ambulance Body, Sarah A. Matiko

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

It appears that there is a need for affordable, functional and safe emergency medical support service vehicles in rural Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). It is inferred that the road conditions have an influence on the availability, durability and affordability of motorized and non-motorized vehicles in rural areas. Also, it is deduced that locally modified bicycle and motorcycle ambulances are not conducive to maternal patients during emergencies. This study investigates the feasibility of modelling an ergonomically and crashworthy patient compartment for road conditions in rural SSA. The patient compartment is modelled by establishing geometrical requirements via a design standard for emergency medical …

Carbon Footprint Stock Analysis Of U.S. Manufacturing: A Time Series Input-Output Lca, Gokhan Egilmez, Khurrum Bhutta, Bulent Erenay, Yong Shin Park, Ridvan Gedik

Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Faculty Publications

The purpose of this paper is to provide an input-output life cycle assessment model to estimate the carbon footprint of US manufacturing sectors. To achieve this, the paper sets out the following objectives: develop a time series carbon footprint estimation model for US manufacturing sectors; analyze the annual and cumulative carbon footprint; analyze and identify the most carbon emitting and carbon intensive manufacturing industries in the last four decades; and analyze the supply chains of US manufacturing industries to help identify the most critical carbon emitting industries.

Work Zone Simulator Analysis: Driver Performance And Acceptance Of Missouri Alternate Lane Shift Configurations, Suzanna Long, Ruwen Qin, Dincer Konur, Ming-Chuan Leu, S. Moradpour, S. Thind, H. Nadathur

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The objective of this project is to evaluate MoDOT’s alternate lane shift sign configuration for work zones. The single signproposed by MoDOT provides the traveler with enough information to let them know that all lanes are available to shift around thework zone, whereas the MUTCD signs require drivers to see two signs. This research simulation project evaluates the drivers’ laneshifting performance and acceptance of the alternate lane shift sign proposed by MoDOT to be used on work zones as compared tothe MUTCD lane shift signs. Based on the study results, no difference was observed between MUTCD lane shift sign andMoDOT …

Climate-Based Policies May Increase Life-Cycle Social Costs Of Vehicle Fleet Operation, Isaac Emery, Eric G.. Mbonimpa, Alfred E. Thal Jr.

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Decentralized Planning In Stochastic Environments With Submodular Rewards, Rajiv Ranjan Kumar, Pradeep Varakantham, Akshat Kumar

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Decentralized Markov Decision Process (Dec-MDP) providesa rich framework to represent cooperative decentralizedand stochastic planning problems under transition uncertainty.However, solving a Dec-MDP to generate coordinatedyet decentralized policies is NEXP-Hard. Researchershave made significant progress in providing approximate approachesto improve scalability with respect to number ofagents. However, there has been little or no research devotedto finding guarantees on solution quality for approximateapproaches considering multiple (more than 2 agents)agents. We have a similar situation with respect to the competitivedecentralized planning problem and the StochasticGame (SG) model. To address this, we identify models in thecooperative and competitive case that rely on submodular rewards,where we show …

Dynamic Repositioning To Reduce Lost Demand In Bike Sharing Systems, Supriyo Ghosh, Pradeep Varakantham, Yossiri Adulyasak, Patrick Jaillet

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Bike Sharing Systems (BSSs) are widely adopted in major cities of the world due to concerns associated with extensive private vehicle usage, namely, increased carbon emissions, traffic congestion and usage of nonrenewable resources. In a BSS, base stations are strategically placed throughout a city and each station is stocked with a pre-determined number of bikes at the beginning of the day. Customers hire the bikes from one station and return them at another station. Due to unpredictable movements of customers hiring bikes, there is either congestion (more than required) or starvation (fewer than required) of bikes at base stations. Existing …

An Efficient Approach To Model-Based Hierarchical Reinforcement Learning, Zhuoru Li, Akshay Narayan, Tze-Yun Leong

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

We propose a model-based approach to hierarchical reinforcement learning that exploits shared knowledge and selective execution at different levels of abstraction, to efficiently solve large, complex problems. Our framework adopts a new transition dynamics learning algorithm that identifies the common action-feature combinations of the subtasks, and evaluates the subtask execution choices through simulation. The framework is sample efficient, and tolerates uncertain and incomplete problem characterization of the subtasks. We test the framework on common benchmark problems and complex simulated robotic environments. It compares favorably against the stateof-the-art algorithms, and scales well in very large problems.

Advances In Composite Manufacturing Of Helicopter Parts, Tobias A. Weber, Hans-Joachim K. Ruff-Stahl

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

This study investigates and compares different methods for improving standard autoclave composite manufacturing in order to find suitable approaches to a more efficient composite production. The goal is not only a reduction in manufacturing times and costs but also quality enhancement. Improved part quality while decreasing costs enables a manufacturer of composite parts to expand its market share, especially in the helicopter market, which has been constantly shrinking over the last two years. Various approaches such as improved tooling technology, the use of automated systems for lamination as well as outsourcing are examined to provide an overview of possible advancements …

Effect Of Liquid Contamination On Hermeticity And Seal Strength Of Flexible Pouches With Lldpe, Francesca Delle Cese, Koushik Saha, S. Roy, Jay Singh

Journal of Applied Packaging Research

Flexible packaging is a growing successful market and the majority of flexible package applications are for the food industry. The demand for process optimization and reduced production costs, has led to an increase in flexible packaging. However, fast production lines can result in contamination in the seal area. For flexible food packaging, contamination is considered any food particle or substance trapped in the seal area. Current quality control processes can detect contamination in the seal area, but it is not determined if seal contamination affects seal quality. Oil-based and sodium based snack foods are two common categories that can be …

Trends In Engineering Management Education From 2011–2015, William Daughton

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The American Society for Engineering Education provides comprehensive data on enrollment and graduation rates for all engineering fields at the Bachelor's, Master's, and PhD levels. In addition, data are provided on the demographics of the various fields. This information, coupled with Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology data, presents an opportunity to explore the trends in higher education in Engineering Management in the last five years. Contrasts to earlier times and implications for the future are presented as a result of the analysis of these trends.

Communication Through Social Technologies: A Study Of Israeli Women, Jeretta Horn Nord 405-747-0320, Dafni Biran Achituv, Joanna Paliszkiewicz

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

Social technologies have changed the way we communicate allowing users to interact, share knowledge, reach out to friends and family, keep up with the news, and even promote and support a business. A study of Israeli women was conducted to determine how social technologies platforms — Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Google+ — are used and the benefits realized. Women worldwide face challenges including economic, educational, health, and political. Israel women, like women in every other country in the world, are challenged with gender inequity. Do women who use social technologies believe that these platforms provide empowerment leading to greater …

See The Bigger Picture: A True Systems Approach To Healthcare, Brian J. Galli

Faculty of Computer Science/Management Engineering Publications

“Healthcare” is typically related directly to patient care, hospitals, and ambulatory services, but it is important to see that healthcare is beyond just the delivery of care in hospitals or ambulatory services. A more accurate systems approach to views the world of healthcare as one that involves several stakeholders, including: healthcare delivery (patient care in hospitals and ambulatory services), regulatory agencies, health insurance/health plan organizations, medical device design and manufacturers, pharmaceuticals, society, government (all levels), and healthcare reform organizations. All of these stakeholders relate to each other in many levels and impact our healthcare system.

This paper will cover the …

Embedding Systems Thinking Into Ewb Project Planning And Development: Assessing The Utility Of A Group Model Building Approach, Kimberly Pugel, Jeffrey P. Walters

Faculty Publications - Biomedical, Mechanical, and Civil Engineering

Amongst growing sociotechnical efforts, engineering students and professionals both in the international development sector and industry are challenged to approach projects more holistically to achieve project goals. Engineering service learning organisations must similarly adapt their technological projects to consider varying cultural and economic structures, ensuring more resilient social progress within development efforts. In practice, systems thinking approaches can be utilised to model the social, economic, political, and technological implications that influence the sustainability of an engineering project. This research assesses the utility of integrating systems thinking into Engineers Without Borders (EWB) project planning and development, thereby improving project impact and …

Working With Complexity: A Participatory Systems-Based Process For Planning And Evaluating Rural Water, Sanitation And Hygiene Services, Jeffrey P. Walters, Kate Neely, Karla Pozo

Faculty Publications - Biomedical, Mechanical, and Civil Engineering

Individuals working within the water, sanitation and hygiene for development (WASH) sector grapple daily with complex technical, social, economic, and environmental issues that often produce unexpected outcomes that are difficult to plan for and resolve. Here we propose a method we are calling the ‘Participatory Systems-based Planning and Evaluation Process’ (PS-PEP) that combines structural factor analysis and collaborative modeling to guide teams of practitioners, researchers, and other stakeholders through a process of modeling and interpreting how factors systemically and dynamically influence sustained access to WASH services. The use and utility of the PS-PEP is demonstrated with a regional team of …

Making A Case To Integrate Safety Management And Physical Assets Management, Farman A. Moayed

Department of Built Environment

No abstract provided.

A Tabu Search Heuristic For A Generalized Quadratic Assignment Problem, Alan Mckendall, Chihui Li

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

The generalized quadratic assignment problem (GQAP) is the task of assigning a set of facilities to a set of locations such that the sum of the assignment and transportation costs is minimized. The facilities may have different space requirements, and the locations may have varying space capacities. Also, multiple facilities may be assigned to each location such that space capacity is not exceeded. In this paper, an application of the GQAP is presented for assigning a set of machines to a set of locations on the plant floor. Construction algorithms and a simple tabu search heuristic are developed for the …

Modeling Of Selective Laser Sintering/ Selective Laser Melting, Xuan Wang, Connor West

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

Selective laser sintering and selective laser melting are powder based additive manufacturing (AM) process that can rapidly manufacture parts with comparable mechanical properties to conventional manufacturing methods directly from digital files. However, the processing recipe development and design optimization of AM parts are often based on trial and error which erodes the benefit of AM. Modeling is a powerful tool to enable faster development cycle by significantly reducing the experimental efforts. In this paper we discussed the current status of selective laser sintering/melting modeling, in which the laser and powder interaction was studied to understand and predict the process and …