Operations Research, Systems Engineering and Industrial Engineering Commons^™

Computer-Aided Engineering For Tool Design In Manufacturing Engineering Curriculum, Daniel J. Waldorf

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

At Cal Poly – San Luis Obispo, a variety of tool design issues are covered in a junior-level manufacturing engineering course called Tool Engineering. In the course, designing fixtures – for any process – is a major component of the content. The process of designing a fixture is similar to the method a mechanical engineer would use to design a new product. The course is therefore an excellent opportunity to teach design principles to manufacturing engineers. This project involves an attempt to introduce computer-aided methods, including the finite element method (FEM), for analysis of tool design into the Tool Engineering …

Acuta Enews June 2001, Vol.30, No. 6

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Teaching Factory, Sema E. Alptekin, Reza Pouraghabagher, Patricia Mcquaid, Daniel Waldorf

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

Academia must develop a new approach to teaching in order to better prepare engineering students to function efficiently and adjust readily within the framework of the factories in the real world. Some engineering programs emphasize theory, while others emphasize application as isolated blocks. The "Teaching Factory" being developed at Cal Poly combines both theory and applications. It makes use of state-of-the-art industrial grade production equipment, computer hardware and software in the form of the following two systems: 1) a functioning "real" factory hardware environment, and 2) a Production Planning and Control Center.

The Effect Of Reliability Consideration On The Application Of Quality Index, Hamid Seifoddini, Manocher Djassemi

Industrial Technology and Packaging

Quality index (QI) has been proposed as a screening mechanism for machine-part matrices in the development of cellular manufacturing systems. In this paper the effect of reliability consideration on the application of QI and the relative sensitivity of job shop and cellular manufacturing systems to reliability changes are evaluated by simulation modeling. Performance measures such as mean flow time and work-in-process inventories are used in the comparative study of job shop and cellular manufacturing.

A Conceptual Framework Of Cost/Benefit Justification For Ergonomic Projects To Reduce Musculoskeletal Disorders In The Workplace, Nitipong Boon-Long

Dissertations

A framework for justifying ergonomic projects to the overall cost savings is developed which estimates the extent of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) exposures to a specific industry. A cost structure is developed to estimate the investment needed for an ergonomics program and the costs related to MSDs problems including workers' compensation costs, work-related costs, and labor turnover costs. Data was adopted from sources including Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP-3), and estimates suggested in OSHA's former Ergonomics Standard. Top fifteen manufacturing industries with the highest MSDs rates were selected to apply the framework. Results showed …

Designing Web-Based Adaptive Learning Environment : Distils As An Example, Lilian Cao

Dissertations

In this study, two components are developed for the Web-based adaptive learning: an online Intelligent Tutoring Tool (ITT) and an Adaptive Lecture Guidance (ALG). The ITT provides students timely problem-solving help in a dynamic Web environment. The ALG prevents students from being disoriented when a new domain is presented using Web technology. A prototype, Distributed Intelligent Learning System (DISTILS), has been implemented in a general chemistry laboratory domain.

In DISTILS, students interact with the ITT through a Web browser. When a student selects a problem, the problem is formatted and displayed in the user interface for the student to solve. …

Simulation Modeling For Integrated E-Supply Chain Management, Pornsarun Wirojanagud

Theses

E-supply chain management is an emerging area of interest as companies begin to explore the Internet's potential to restructure supply chain relationships. The environmental impact of e-supply chain management is a critical issue towards sustainability. This thesis discusses and models an integrated e-supply chain network accounting for material and information flows throughout the supply chain in order to analyze the environmental implications and tradeoffis with other system characteristics. The network structure has complex interactions between various entities. In order to understand and analyze dynamic performance, a discrete-event simulation approach is utilized. An integrated tool was developed using the Arena simulation …

A Novel Approach Towards Usability Studies For Visual Search Tasks In Graphical User Interface Applications Using The Activity Theory Approach, Tirthankar Sengupta

Theses

The field of Human Computer Interaction still strives for a generalized model of visual search tasks (icon search, menu search, text search, label search, search through hypertext and feature recognition). The existing models of visual search, in spite of being impressive, are limited under certain perspectives due to lack of generality. The thesis tries to provide a holistic approach for the modeling of visual search tasks in graphical user interfaces from the Activity Theory (AT) perspective with the aim of rendering a theoretical bridge between HCI and Psychology. A detailed review of literature from the variegated discipline contributing to the …

Acuta Enews May 2001, Vol.30, No. 5

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The Need For Emphasis On Teaching The Content Of Certain Subject Areas And Teaching Concepts Related To Certain Packaging Industry Job Titles As Perceived By Packaging Professionals In Indiana And The Surrounding States, Marion D. Schafer

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The study investigates the opinions or packaging professionals about an appropriate curriculum for a Bachelor of Science degree program in packaging. The study was conducted by surveying packaging profossionals randomly seleclcd from the Central Indiana Institute of Packaging Professionals mailing list. This list was made up mostly of Indiana residents but included a few residents from the fhur surrounding slates. The study was initiated as a first step in the process of developing appropri.ite improvements to the curriculum for the Bachelor of Science degree in packaging al Indiana State University. Six packaging job titles and twenty-three su~jcct areas were chosen …

Acuta Enews April 2001, Vol.30, No. 4

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Study Of Automotive Hydromount Mechanism, Min Lu

Dissertations

The hydromount mechanism is studied. It was determined that the dynamic characteristics of the hydromounts are related to the rubber static stiffness, rubber damping coefficient, volumetric stiffness, and effectiveness of the oscillating fluid in the inertia track. At high frequencies the motion of the fluid in the inertia track diminishes so that its effect is negligible and may be ignored. It is also concluded that the rubber damping has a minimal effect on the hydromount dynamic properties and may be neglected. The maximum loss angle, which corresponds to the maximum damping coefficient of the hydromount, occurs near the inertia track …

Maximum Acceptable Oral Reading Speed For Voice Input Systems, Nirari M. Oda

Masters Theses

The objective of this thesis was to study the effect of vocal duration period and background noise on psychophysical oral reading speed. Ten healthy white males (21-28 years old) were used as subjects. Experiment one was designed to determine Maximum Acceptable Oral Reading Speed (MAORS) for an 8-hour period using psychophysical methodology. Results indicate that 114 words/min was an acceptable oral reading rate for an 8-hour day. Furthermore, 2 hours and 20 minutes is an acceptable testing period ( equivalent to the 8-hour day). Acoustical and physiological variables support these findings. Experiment two was designed to study the effect of …

Acuta Enews March 2001, Vol.30, No. 3

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

Theses and Dissertations

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

A Multi-Objective Decision Support Model For The Turkish Armed Forces Personnel Assignment System, Zubeyir Cimen

Theses and Dissertations

The Turkish Armed Forces (TAF) assign more than 25,000 active duty personnel annually. TAF wants to obtain maximum utilization of its personnel by assigning the right person to the right job at the right time, To accomplish this task, decision-makers and personnel assignment staff should consider conflicting multiple objectives that create the widely known problem called "personnel assignment problem". To assist in this complicated task from a quantitative perspective, a preemptive goal programming approach was used to develop an integer programming (IP) model to capture the multiple objectives flexibly and interactively. A realistic size IP problem with random data was …

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

Theses and Dissertations

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

Modeling Information Assurance, Joseph E. Beauregard

Theses and Dissertations

The ever-increasing speed of information systems allows decision-makers around the world to gather, process, and disseminate information almost instantaneously. However, with this benefit there comes a price. Information is valuable and therefore a target to those who do not have it or wish to destroy it. The Internet has allowed information to flow freely, but it has also made information vulnerable to many forms of corruption. The U. S. military controls much of the world's most sensitive information, and since it cannot sacrifice losing the speed at which this information is currently processed and disseminated, it must find a way …

A Process For Vectoring Offensive Information Warfare As A Primary Weapon Option Within The United States Air Force, Sheila G. Bennett

Theses and Dissertations

Consistently and comprehensively using Information Operations (IO) capabilities as primary weapon option within the Air Force is the next step to operationalizing IO within the Air Force. Doctrine and official guidance has set the variables of mission and concepts of operations, organizational structure, and IW players in place. The missing variable to operationalizing IO and probably the most difficult is the 'how' or process of the equation. This research will introduce a useable process that can be incorporated within the Air Force for integrating offensive IW activities into the current and given environment. The process is the basis for further …

Robust Multi-Scenario Optimization Of An Air Expeditionary Force Structure Applying Scatter Search To The Combat Forces Assessment Model, Gokay Bulut

Theses and Dissertations

Modern Times' bring change in all areas of life. Even the rate of change has changed, and is still changing to increase it's enormous speed even more. Newer and more challenging questions face the military analysts everyday putting a question mark at the end of their last answer. Recently, the question of how to structure a robust air force to meet the requirements of competing, uncertain future scenarios has been keeping them busy. The new world order does not tolerate only being able to respond to a single scenario anymore, which once was considered a hard problem. Who knows what …

The Effect Of External Safeguards On Human-Information System Trust In An Information Warfare Environment, Gregory S. Fields

Theses and Dissertations

This research looks at how human trust in an information system is influenced by external safeguards in an Information Warfare (1W) domain. Information systems are relied upon in command and control environments to provide fast and reliable information to the decision-makers. The degree of reliance placed in these systems by the decision-makers suggests a significant level of trust. Understanding this trust relationship and what effects it is the focus of this study. A model is proposed that predicts behavior associated with human trust in information systems. It is hypothesized that a decision-maker's belief in the effectiveness of external safeguards will …

Influence Of Feedback And Comment Labels On Information Sharing In A Computer Mediated Collaborative Environment, Gary D. Denney

Theses and Dissertations

A group support system (GSS) uses a combination of networked personal computers, software, and human facilitation to improve the group decision-making process. Group support Systems are being used in the Air Force today in a variety of capacities and in particular by the Warner-Robins Air Logistics Center (WR-ALC) to assess acquisition risks. Prior GSS research has found that certain structural and social dimensions of GSS designs might influence whether optimal process improvements take place. However, the dimensions that positively influence group performance have continued to be a matter of debate. This thesis looked at several structural and social contingencies to …

Routing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles While Considering General Restricted Operating Zones, Darin T. Brown

Theses and Dissertations

U.S. military forces employ unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to conduct intelligence-gathering missions worldwide. For a typical mission, commanders may task UAV operators to gather imagery on 100 or more sites or targets. UAV operators must quickly prepare mission plans that meet the needs of their commanders while dealing with real-world constraints such as time windows, site priorities, imagery requirements, UAVs with different capabilities (i.e. imagery equipment, speed, and range), and UAVs departing from different bases. Previous AFIT research provided the UAV Battlelab with a tool, AFIT Router, for generating high-quality routes to aid mission planning. This research enhances the AFIT …

Evaluation Of Strategy-Structure Fit Of Space And Missile Systems Center Detachment 11, Tommy M. Gates

Theses and Dissertations

Activated June 1,1998, Space and Missile Systems Center Detachment 11, located in Colorado Springs, integrates system support management for the Satellite Launch Control System (SLCS), MlLSTAR, the Defense Meteorological Support Program (DMSP), the Space Based Infrared System (SBlRSl, and the Global Positioning System (GPS). The Detachment performs operational software maintenance, satellite systems engineering, space testing and evaluation, and technology master planning. Contemporary management theory asserts that the appropriate match of strategy and structure determines an organization's level of performance. The Detachment is currently organized programmatically. The current programmatic organizational structure represents the physical manifestation of the Integrated Weapon System Management …

An Analysis Of The Acquisition Process For Simplified Acquisition Of Base Engineering Requirements (Saber) Contracts And Its Potential Impact On Contractor Performance, Brian J. Heaps

Theses and Dissertations

The Simplified Acquisition of Base Engineering Requirements (SABER) contract's main purpose is to expedite contract award of civil engineer requirements through the issuance of individual delivery orders. The contract contains a collection of detailed task specifications that include most types of real property maintenance, repair, and construction work. The Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition's Operational Contracting Division (SAF/AQCO) identified a number of failed SABER contracts. The problem statement designed for this research effort was: There are a large number of SABER contractors that are failing during the performance period on their SABER contracts. SAF/AQCO is trying to …

Award Term Incentive Contracting: An Investigation Of United States Air Force Strategic Purchasing, Rachael A. Harris

Theses and Dissertations

This research explored implementing a best commercial practice of establishing strategic purchasing relationships within the Department of Defense (DOD) procurement environment. The research was sparked by Air Force Material Command's (AFMC) instituting a commercial style acquisition strategy using an award term incentive on several programs. The award term incentive provides for extensions or reductions to the term of the contract based on contractors' level of performance. Forthcoming implementation of Air Force FAR supplement 5317.7X Incentive Term Extension, will likely increase the number of acquisitions using an award term incentive. Research findings indicate that management should consider expanding the AFMC award …

Multiple Model Adaptive Estimation For Time Series Analysis, Ibrahim Dulger

Theses and Dissertations

Multiple Model Adaptive Estimation (MMAE) is a Bayesian technique that applies a bank of Kalman filters to predict future observations. Each Kalman filter is based on a different set of parameters and hence produces different residuals. The likelihood of each Kalman filter's prediction is determined by a magnitude of the residuals. Since some researchers have obtained good forecasts using a single Kalman filter, we tested MMAE's ability to make time series predictions. Our Kalman filters have a dynamics model based on a Box-Jenkins Auto-Regressive Moving Average (ARMA) model and a measure model with additive noise. The time-series prediction is based …

Weapon System Environmental Life Cycle Cost Methodologies And Models, William H. Kale Iii

Theses and Dissertations

Major Defense Acquisition Programs (MDAP) cost billions of dollars and have 30 to 50 year life spans. Numerous (federal, state, etc.) laws, Environmental Protection Agency regulations, and Executive Orders have driven DoD to develop and implement significant environmental policies within the past ten to fifteen years. Congressional mandate now requires each MDAP to evaluate its environmental life cycle cost (ELCC) to minimize these costs. This research focuses on the current methodologies and models used to predict and calculate the ELCC of a MDAP. This thesis analyzed the difficulties associated with using ELCC methodologies and models and examined several case studies …

Utility Of Experimental Design In Automatic Target Recognition Performance Evaluation, James M. Higdon

Theses and Dissertations

This research investigates current practices in test and evaluation of classification algorithms, and recommends improvements. We scrutinize the evaluation of automatic target recognition algorithms and rationalize the potential for improvements in the accepted methodology. We propose improvements through the use of an experimental design approach to testing. We demonstrate the benefits of improvements by simulating algorithm performance data and using both methodologies to generate evaluation results. The simulated data is varied to test the sensitivity of the benefits to a broad set of outcomes. The opportunities for improvement are threefold. First, the current practice of 'one-at-a-time factor variation (only one …

Using Statistical Process Control Methods To Classify Pilot Mental Workload, Terence Y. Kudo

Theses and Dissertations

The problem of classifying pilot mental workload is important to the United States Air Force. Pilots are more subject to errors and G-induced loss of consciousness during periods of mental overload and task saturation. Often the result is the loss of aircraft, and in extreme cases, the loss of the pilot's life. Current research efforts use different psychophysiological features to classify pilot mental workload. These include cardiac, ocular, respiratory, and brain activity measures. The focus of this effort is to apply statistical process control methodology on different psychophysiological features in an attempt to classify pilot mental workload. The control charts …