San Luis Obispo Children's Museum: The Circuit Lab, Megan Garcia, Victoria Higgins, Michael Xie

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

Executive Summary

Over a nine month period, the senior project team worked closely with the San Luis Obispo Children’s Museum to develop a new interactive exhibit for the museum’s Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) floor. The initial budget given for this project was $3,000. The museum’s requirements for a new exhibit were that it must be safe for young children to use, require minimal supervision, is interactive, has learning objectives, and is economically feasible and sustainable. The team chose to build an exhibit that would teach young children about simple circuitry and electronics.

First, extensive research of circuits, children’s …

Alumnus Shares His Passion For Technology Accessibility

DePaul Magazine

Brent Shiver (CDM MS ’04, PhD ’13) attended the College of Computing and Digital Media and worked with another deaf student, Karen Alkoby (CDM MS ’99, PhD ’08), on the DePaul ASL Project, which combines computer technology and linguistics research to bridge the communication gap between the deaf and hearing worlds by working to develop a digital English-to-ASL translator. He works for IBM Accessibility as a software engineer.

Friction Bit Joining Of Dissimilar Combinations Of Dp 980 Steel And Aa 7075, Rebecca Hilary Peterson

Theses and Dissertations

Friction Bit Joining (FBJ) is a new technology that allows lightweight metals to be joined to advanced high-strength steels (AHSS). Joining of dissimilar metals is especially beneficial to the automotive industry because of the desire to use materials such as aluminum and AHSS in order to reduce weight and increase fuel efficiency. In this study, FBJ was used to join 7075 aluminum and DP980 ultra-high-strength steel. FBJ is a two-stage process using a consumable bit. In the first stage, the bit cuts through the top material (aluminum), and in the second stage the bit is friction welded to the base …

History-Based Controller Design And Optimization For Partially Observable Mdps, Akshat Kumar, Shlomo Zilberstein

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Partially observable MDPs provide an elegant framework forsequential decision making. Finite-state controllers (FSCs) are often used to represent policies for infinite-horizon problems as they offer a compact representation, simple-to-execute plans, and adjustable tradeoff between computational complexityand policy size. We develop novel connections between optimizing FSCs for POMDPs and the dual linear programfor MDPs. Building on that, we present a dual mixed integer linear program (MIP) for optimizing FSCs. To assign well-defined meaning to FSC nodes as well as aid in policy search, we show how to associate history-based features with each FSC node. Using this representation, we address another challenging …

Collaborative Rescheduling Of Flights In A Single Mega-Hub Network, Sufian Ikhmeis

Dissertations

Traditionally, airlines have configured flight operations into a Hub and Spoke network design. Using connecting arrival departure waves at multiple hubs these networks achieve efficient passenger flows. Recently, there has been much growth in the development of global single mega-hub (SMH) flight networks that have a significantly different operating cost structure and schedule design. These are located primarily in the Middle East and are commonly referred to as the ME3. The traditionalist view is that SMH networks are money losers and subsidized by sovereign funds.

This research studies and analyzes SMH networks in an attempt to better understand their flight …

Preliminary Evaluation Of The Disease Surveillance System During Influenza Outbreaks Of Pandemic Scale, Eric Meisheri, Diana M. Prieto, Peter Holvenstot, Richard Vanenk

Frontiers in Public Health Services and Systems Research

In the United States it is currently unknown whether the influenza surveillance system is capable of producing timely and accurate data for case estimation during an outbreak of pandemic scale. This simulation provides a preliminary evaluation of the surveillance system’s ability to collect data and produce timely and accurate trends of cases confirmed with an influenza virus. For the evaluation, a computer-based simulation of the data-collection process was used, which was validated with real demographic and epidemiologic information. The results were analyzed to determine the most significant behavioral and operational factors influencing the data collection and to propose the exploration …

Warpage And Shape Distortion In Laser Metal Sintering, Xuan Wang

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) is the primary method to fabricate metal and ceramic components in additive manufacturing. Due to the anisotropy of powder material, the sintering rate difference will inevitably causes shape change, distortion , and other defects of sintered parts. In this paper, a continuum model was developed to simulate the SLS process. The developed model has been successful to predict sintering kinetics. The impact of processing parameters, such as laser power, scanning speed, hatching distance, and particle size has been studied . The proposed method provides an innovative tool to optimize SLS process parameters.

Customer Complaint Management Systems (Ccms) In A Food Processing Industry, Maggie A. Macleish

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

Abstract

The food processing industry must meet customers’ highest quality expectations at the lowest cost. I partnered with Nestlé’s pizza facility in Little Chute, WI, to improve the current customer complaint approach of the quality department, which aimed to improve product quality. To improve the total quality of the system, this project established a defensive method of addressing customer complaints. Some strategies used to improve the current Customer Complaint Management System (CCMS) include Quality Functional Deployment (QFD), fuzzy logic, Kano’s methods, Voice of the customer (VOC) and Go-See-Think-Do (GSTD). These strategies are all related, but have not previously been used …

Impact Of Prognostic Uncertainty In System Health Monitoring, Robert M. Vandawaker, David R. Jacques, Jason K. Freels

Faculty Publications

Across many industries, systems are exceeding their intended design lives, whether they are ships, bridges or military aircraft. As a result failure rates can increase and unanticipated wear or failure conditions can arise. Health monitoring research and application has the potential to more safely lengthen the service life of a range of systems through utilization of sensor data and knowledge of failure mechanisms to predict component life remaining. A further benefit of health monitoring when combined across an entire platform is system health management. System health management is an enabler of condition based maintenance, which allows repair or replacement based …

Analysis Of Portable Charging Systems For Mobile Devices Utilizing Today's Technology, Dylan Ashley

Electrical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

With the progression of technological advances, electronic devices are becoming increasingly smaller while simultaneously becoming increasing powerful. Consumer demand for a cheaper, longer lasting battery life challenges today’s engineers to continually develop a battery and its circuitry with increasing efficiency without compromising performance. Developing an affordable, efficient external battery pack has been the marketable solution, but the question is whether or not the existing external battery packs available are meeting the wants and desires of the end consumer. The answer is partially in that my research confirms that the current solution is not ideal; however, efficiency has been increased as …

Comparison Of Low-Temperature Co-Fired Ceramic And Direct Bonded Copper For Single Ended Primary Inductance Topology, Kristopher Cody Johnson

Electrical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

This work examines the thermal dissipation characteristics of Low-Temperature Co-fired Ceramic (LTCC) and Direct Bonded Copper (DBC) with the implementation of a Single Ended Primary Inductance Converter (SEPIC) topology. The advantages and disadvantages of the two substrates will be explored in addition to a description of the design and control of the SEPIC. It will be shown that the DBC implementation is superior with regards to thermal dissipation, but that LTCC has advantages in high- density packaging, RF applications, and embedded components. These substrates and converters provide many advantages in industrial applications that include automotive and grid level implementations. Additional …

Improving Connectivity Between Members And Alumni Of Alpha Pi Mu, Ben Patrick Buell, Shannon Elizabeth O'Keefe

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

The purpose of this project was to solve the problems of a lack of connectivity between the current members and alumni of Alpha Pi Mu, as well as the lack of incentives for prospective members to join the club. These problems were solved by creating a website that allowed current members to be able to view the complete work experiences of alumni and provided a way to reach out to those alumni directly to network with them. The agile project management system was used to develop the website and helped to successfully complete all of our design requirements listed in …

A Case Study Of Multiple-Use Finish Electrodes For Die-Sinking Edm, Troy A. Robertson

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This study examines the use of one finishing electrode to finish multiple dies without remachining the electrode. The multiple-use electrode finishing experiment in this study addresses technology in the die-forging industry. Methods of manufacturing spherical straight bevel forge gear dies have relied on die-sinking Electrical Discharge Machining (EDM) practices that showed great potential for advancement. The focus of this study is solely on the improvements of electrode use in EDM finishing-processes. The surface finish quality itself is not an area of concern other than maintaining that it does not diminish. The focused concern is maximizing the process by using one …

Simulation-Based Optimization Of Mitigation Strategies For Pandemic Influenza., Arsalan Paleshi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Millions of people have been infected and died as results of influenza pandemics in human history. In order to prepare for these disasters, it is important to know how the disease spreads. Further, intervention strategies should be implemented during the pandemics to mitigate their ill effects. Knowledge of how these interventions will affect the pandemic course is paramount for decision makers. This study develops a simulation-based optimization model which aims at finding a combination of strategies that result in the best value for an objective function of defined metrics under a set of constraints. Also, a procedure is presented to …

Incentive-Based Negotiation Model For System Of Systems Acquisition, Nil Kilicay-Ergin, Cihan Dagli

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Lack of collaboration between individual systems and systems of systems (SoS) program management is identified as one of the leading problems in SoS acquisition. This is especially a major concern in acknowledged SoS where a designated SoS program management has no authority over the constituent systems. Therefore, it is important to consider mechanisms to persuade individual systems to participate in the SoS development. In SoS where individual systems have their own self-interests, negotiation becomes an important mechanism to increase participation in SoS development. Another mechanism, incentives, is used in a wide range of applications to improve performance and collaboration. In …

Loss On Ignition Using Infrared Heating, Benjamin J. Binoniemi

Masters Theses

The focus of this study is a proof of concept that infrared heating can be used to produce a reliable and rapid method of performing the loss on ignition test. The loss on ignition test is a foundry industry standard test that requires all moisture and volatile organic compounds be vaporized from a sample of foundry sand. The standard test as recommended by the American Foundry Society uses a muffle oven and requires nearly four hours to perform. This new concept performs the same test in approximately ten minutes. The biggest issues with the loss on ignition test are time …

Managing The Economic Constraints Of Foundries And Fabless Enterprises, Charles M. Weber, Jiting Yang

Engineering and Technology Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

This paper presents an empirically grounded model, which links organizational learning to pattern-specific fixed costs. The approach described in this paper helps fab managers make fundamental strategic decisions concerning product design and product mix by engaging in scenario planning. Four critical aspects of managing pattern-specific fixed cost are analyzed in detail – sensitivity to time, design cost and production volume; platform designs; process postponement solutions; and design penalties. The model suggests that fabless enterprises and foundries must collaborate extensively on the design and realizations of product platforms for state-of-the-art integrated circuit products to remain economically viable.

Evaluate The Impact Of Sustainability And Pipeline Quality On Global Crude Oil Supply Chain, Sunny Paraskumar Jain

Industrial, Manufacturing, and Systems Engineering Dissertations - Archive

United states is one of the largest crude oil producer in the world but the consumption rate is higher than production hence united states imports oil from varies part of world depend on different criteria. The objective of this dissertation is to evaluate the impact of pipeline quality and facility sustainability on crude oil supply chain cost for Russia and Colombia that gave idea about when and where we have to invest to satisfy United states oil requirement. In order to meet this objective, three specific criteria are investigated as follow:1. Evaluate the supply chain factors that determine pipeline quality …

Sensitivity Analysis Of Dredge Fleet Scheduling, Kaitlin Denny

Industrial Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Each year, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is tasked with conducting maintenance dredging at hundreds of project sites throughout the country. The USACE must take into account factors such as environmental windows, increased transportation distances, increased operational time because of reduced vessel speeds, and personnel availability constraints. Environmental windows are intended to minimize the environmental impact of dredging while protecting biological resources and their habitats from potentially detrimental effects. The objective of this research is to perform sensitivity analysis of the performance of this model (cubic yards dredged) and how it is impacted by individual environmental window elimination …

Arbitrary Category Classification Of Websites Based On Image Content, Anton Akusok, Yoan Miche, Juha Karhunen, Kaj Mikael Björk, Rui Nian, Amaury Lendasse

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This Paper Presents a Comprehensive Methodology for General Large-Scale Image-Based Classification Tasks. It Addresses the Big Data Challenge in Arbitrary Image Classification and More Specifically, Filtering of Millions of Websites with Abstract Target Classes and High Levels of Label Noise. Our Approach Uses Local Image Features and their Color Descriptors to Build Image Representations with the Help of a Modified K-Nn Algorithm. Image Representations Are Refined into Image and Website Class Predictions by a Two-Stage Classifier Method Suitable for a Very Large-Scale Real Dataset. a Modification of an Extreme Learning Machine is Found to Be a Suitable Classifier Technique. the …

Modeling New Product Success From Component Measures Of Product Advantage: A Model Utilizing Automated Text Classification And Sentiment Analysis, Ashley Nolen Akerman

Dissertations

What attributes of products are most associated with product success from the perspective of the consumer and how is this association affected by the technology level of the product offering? Creating successful new products is an imperative for long term survival for businesses. Past research has focused on the perspectives of manufacturers to understand product attributes that comprise the construct described as product advantage. This study investigated the components of product advantage from the perspective of the consumer and the significance of each component in explaining variance in product success.

A methodology and two classification toolsets were developed for the …

Design, Programming, And User-Experience, Kaila G. Manca

Honors Scholar Theses

This thesis is a culmination of my individualized major in Human-Computer Interaction. As such, it showcases my knowledge of design, computer engineering, user-experience research, and puts into practice my background in psychology, com- munications, and neuroscience.

I provided full-service design and development for a web application to be used by the Digital Media and Design Department and their students.This process involved several iterations of user-experience research, testing, concepting, branding and strategy, ideation, and design. It lead to two products.

The first product is full-scale development and optimization of the web appli- cation.The web application adheres to best practices. It was …

Engineering Hospital Discharge Instructions: An Eye-Tracking Based Study, Haley Marie Vaigneur

All Theses

With new healthcare reform initiatives, (e.g., the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act) hospitals have additional requirements to reduce avoidable readmissions. This results in identifying the needs for improving the hospital discharge process, improving care transitions and discharge instructions, and increasing overall patient health literacy. In terms of discharge instructions, one of the most influential factors to patients' understanding and compliance with their prescribed health regimen is the document's readability. The study goal is to examine how adjusting the discharge instructions' reading level and using human factors design guidelines can influence a novice user's ability to read, comprehend, and recall …

Development Of A Tridimensional Measuring Application For Ipads, Michael Casebolt, Nicolas Kouatli, Jack Mullen

Computer Science and Software Engineering

In today’s fast-paced distribution centers workers and management alike are constantly searching for the quickest and most efficient way to package items for distribution. Even with the advancement of app-oriented solutions to a variety of problems across many industries there is a distinct unmet need in distribution environments for an application capable of increasing the efficiency and accuracy of packaging items. This senior project focused on the development and testing of an application utilizing the Structure Three Dimensional Sensor and a 4th generation iPad to scan an object or group of objects to be packaged and determine the overall dimensions …

Incorporating Environmental And Social Factors Into Decision-Making Of An Oil And Gas Industry To Improve Sustainability, Gaurav Dabhadkar

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The energy industry (including the oil and gas industry) is facing unparalleled scrutiny and demands from stakeholders including investors, regulators (industry and environmental), communities, and other stakeholders. Sustainable development is one of the major concerns of the oil and gas industry. Companies are seeking to increase sustainability of their operations by considering environmental and Social concerns in addition to economic concerns. Oil and gas companies need to take decisions at different stages of the product life cycle (e.g. planning, design, exploration, production, and clean-up) which have direct or indirect impact on the organization's objectives. Addressing economic, technical, Social, and environmental …

Considerations For Introducing And Practicing Wellness In Harp Pedagogy And Performance, Alexandra Haile Calvert

Music Theses & Dissertations

Movement, breath, and intense focus are crucial to the playing of any musical instrument. In addition, these are important areas in many wellness methods. Many harpists are prone to injury from playing, moving their harps, sitting with poor posture, and not warming up the body before playing. By considering and incorporating the wellness practices of ergonomics, Alexander Technique, yoga, meditation, and constructing a conducive learning and practicing environment, the risk of injury may be lowered for harpists. The purpose of this study is to research and present various methods in which harpists can prevent injury. This study will assess the …

Near-Optimal Decentralized Power Supply Restoration In Smart Grids, Pritee Agrawal, Akshat Kumar, Pradeep Varakantham

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Next generation of smart grids face a number of challenges including co-generation from intermittent renewable power sources, a shift away from monolithic control due to increased market deregulation, and robust operation in the face of disasters. Such heterogeneous nature and high operational readiness requirement of smart grids necessitates decentralized control for critical tasks such as power supply restoration (PSR) after line failures. We present a novel multiagent system based approach for PSR using Lagrangian dual decomposition. Our approach works on general graphs, provides provable quality-bounds and requires only local message-passing among different connected sub-regions of a smart grid, enabling decentralized …

Multi-Agent Task Assignment For Mobile Crowdsourcing Under Trajectory Uncertainties, Cen Chen, Shih-Fen Cheng, Hoong Chuin Lau, Archan Misra

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

In this work, we investigate the problem of mobile crowdsourcing, where workers are financially motivated to perform location-based tasks physically. Unlike current industry practice that relies on workers to manually browse and filter tasks to perform, we intend to automatically make task recommendations based on workers' historical trajectories and desired time budgets. However, predicting workers' trajectories is inevitably faced with uncertainties, as no one will take exactly the same route every day; yet such uncertainties are oftentimes abstracted away in the known literature. In this work, we depart from the deterministic modeling and study the stochastic task recommendation problem where …

Linear Programming Methods For Identifying Solvable Cases Of The Quadratic Assignment Problem, Lucas Waddell

All Dissertations

This research effort is concerned with identifying and characterizing families of polynomially solvable instances of the celebrated NP-hard quadratic assignment problem (qap). The approach is novel in that it uses polyhedral methods based on an equivalent mixed 0-1 linear reformulation of the problem. The continuous relaxation of this mixed 0-1 form yields a feasible region having extreme points that are both binary and fractional. The solvable instances of concern essentially possess objective function structures that ensure a binary extreme point must be optimal, so that the linear program solves the qap. The ultimate contribution of this work is the unification …

Inventory Management And Control "For A Cause", John Michael Miller

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Companies today are changing the culture of business and beginning to involve more than just labor and money in overall decisions. Just as sustainability issues and humanitarian logistics are gaining popularity, so is the idea of using business to make a difference on society in addition to making a profit. As companies position themselves across the globe to make an impact, they employ people in third-world environments that create uncertainties on both the supply and demand sides. Also, the idea of strategically planning work with the goal of minimizing costs has been replaced by companies wanting to give more work …