Operations Research, Systems Engineering and Industrial Engineering Commons^™

Forecasting Flying Hour Costs Of The B-1, B-2, And B-52 Bomber Aircraft, Stefanie L. Van Dyk

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis both evaluates, and presents improvements to, the current method of forecasting flying costs of Air Force aircraft. It uses depot level repairable (DLR) and consumable (CONS) data for the Air Force's bomber platforms: B-1B, B-2, and B-52H. The current forecasting method assumes a proportional relationship between costs and flying hours such that 1) when no hours are flown costs are zero, and 2) a 1% increase in flying hours will increase costs by 1%. The findings of this research indicate that applying log-linear ordinary least squares regression techniques may be an improved fit of flying cost data over …

Neural Network Models For Solving The Maximum Flow Problem, S. Effati, M. Ranjbar

Applications and Applied Mathematics: An International Journal (AAM)

In this paper, two new neural network models for solving the maximum flow problem are presented. The maximum flow problem in networks is formulated as a special type of linear programming problem and it is solved by appropriately defined neural networks. The nonlinear neural networks are able to generate optimal solution for maximum flow problem. We solve neural network models by one of the numerical method. Finally, some numerical examples are provided for the sake of illustration.

Analyzing Individual Decision Making Versus Group Decision Making For Alternative Selection, Alper Gezeravci

Theses and Dissertations

Many "real world" decisions are made by groups. It is rare that the responsi- bility for a very important decision is given to a single decision maker with complete authority. Group decision making adds both advantages to the process as well as disadvantages. This research examines the question: "Are decisions made by groups really that much different from the decisions made by individuals in the group?" A specific case study involving the selection of the best primary training aircraft type for military pilot training is used to examine this question. Fifteen military pilots with various backgrounds and experience levels participate …

The Effect Of Ventilation And Hand Holes On Loss Of Compression Strength In Corrugated Boxes, Jay Singh, Eric Olsen, S. P. Singh, J. Manley, F. Wallace

Industrial Technology and Packaging

Corrugated packaging is used to package approximately 90% of all products that reach retail store shelves and aisles in the United States. A large number of these corrugated shippers are used to ship fresh produce and perishables through the cold-chain environment that requires these boxes to have venting to permit air circulation. In addition, corrugated boxes for that are large in size and contain heavier products, may have hand holes to facilitate manual handling. The presence of ventilation and hand holes both cause a loss of material in two or more faces of the box. As a result the compression …

Measurement And Analysis Of Truck Transport Environment In Brazil, Giovani Otavio Rissi, Sher Paul Singh, Gary J. Burgess, Jay A. Singh

Industrial Technology and Packaging

Increasing trade in today’s global economy requires packaging to be designed to contain, protect and deliver products without damage during transportation and handling. Vibration forces that occur during transportation are one of the most significant causes of damage during shipping. The objective of this study was to quantify and analyse the vibration that occurs during truck transport in Brazil. The study was done using two types of trucks: small local trucks for local metropolitan distribution areas and larger tractor-trailers for cross-country transportation. Ten metropolitan areas in different regions of Brazil were selected for 1-day trips representing normal delivery. These trips …

Operationally Responsive Space (Ors): An Architecture And Enterprise Model For Adaptive Integration, Test And Logistics, Jeff A. Alexander, Martha Charles-Vickers, Talbot L. Smith, Michael L. Vickers

Theses and Dissertations

The capability to rapidly deploy tactical satellites to meet a Joint Force Commander's immediate battlespace requirements is a well-documented joint capability need. Key U.S. strategic documentation cites the need for the capability to maintain persistent surveillance or an "unblinking eye" over battlespace and to rapidly reconstitute critical space capabilities to preserve situational awareness. The warfighter requires a tactical space-based deployment capability which employs a request to launch and operational deployment window of 90 to 120 days. This master's thesis executed two (2) major areas of work: apply, and reinforce the Operationally Responsive Space (ORS) mission tasks using the Joint Capabilities …

Electric Elves: What Went Wrong And Why, Milind Tambe, Emma Bowring, Jonathan Pearce, Pradeep Reddy Varakantham, Paul Scerri, David V. Pynadath

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Software personal assistants continue to be a topic of significant research interest. This article outlines some of the important lessons learned from a successfully-deployed team of personal assistant agents (Electric Elves) in an office environment. In the Electric Elves project, a team of almost a dozen personal assistant agents were continually active for seven months. Each elf (agent) represented one person and assisted in daily activities in an actual office environment. This project led to several important observations about privacy, adjustable autonomy, and social norms in office environments. In addition to outlining some of the key lessons learned we outline …

Modeling Inventory And Responsiveness Costs In A Supply Chain, Robert Nearier

Dissertations

Evaluation of supply chain performance is often complicated by the various interrelationships that exist within the network of suppliers. Currently many supply chain metrics cannot be analytically determined. Instead, metrics are derived from monitoring historical data, which is commonly referred to as Supply Chain Analytics. With these analytics it is possible to answer questions such as: What is the inventory cost distribution across the chain? What is the actual inventory turnover ratio? What is the cost of demand changes to individual suppliers? However, this approach requires a significant amount of historical data which must be continuously extracted from the associated …

Drop Test Reliability Of Lead-Free Chip Scale Packages, Andrew Farris, Jianbiao Pan, Albert Liddicoat, Brian J. Toleno, Dan Maslyk, Dongkai Shangguan, Jasbir Bath, Dennis Willie, David A. Geiger

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

This paper presents the drop test reliability of 0.5 mm pitch lead-free chip scale packages (CSPs). Fifteen 0.5 mm pitch CSPs were assembled on a standard JEDEC drop reliability test board with Sn3.0Ag0.5Cu lead-free solder. Eight boards were edge-bonded with a UV-cured acrylic; eight boards were edge- bonded with a thermal-cured epoxy; and twelve boards were assembled without edge bonding. Half of the edge-bonded test boards were subjected to drop tests at a peak acceleration of 1500 G with a pulse duration of 0.5 ms, and the other half subjected to drop tests at a peak acceleration of 2900 G …

Ice Breaking Exercice: Group Resume For Faculty, Paul Savory

Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering: Instructional Materials

Resumes typically describe an individual’s accomplishments. This ice breaking exercise for faculty asks that faculty explore their incredible array of talents and experiences and create a single group resume to allow you to become acquainted with your fellow faculty participants.

Simulation Of Multicultural Factors In Terrorism Networks, Jared Townsley

Industrial Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

As globalization extends its influence to the far corners of the world, rapid developments and changes are taking place economically, socially, and environmentally. Cultural differences between and within organizations have become significant during the past few years as politics and marketplaces expand globally to include multiple nationalities, beliefs, and value systems. Unfortunately, terrorism has also felt the effects of globalization as organizations such as Al-Qaeda seek to expand their influence worldwide. Although a considerable amount of research has been conducted to identify key cultural factors that play major roles within organizations, simulation models that attempt to quantify cultural effects are …

The Application Of Discrete-Event Simulation For Demining Strategy Evaluation, Hui-Chiao Jen

Industrial, Manufacturing, and Systems Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Teams of mobile autonomous robots have been proposed for the detection and clearing of landmines. Several competing strategies for automated mine detection have been proposed. This paper will discuss the development of a tool that will support the quantitative analysis of various automated mine detection approaches used in Humanitarian Demining and Military Mine Field Breaching. The approaches used to model mine detection in a scout, breaching, and Humanitarian Demining scenario using a discrete-event simulation analysis tool are discussed. The model assumes that each UGV is autonomous rather than being directly controlled by a centralized command and control system. The algorithm …

Acuta Enews May 2008, Vol. 37, No. 5

ACUTA Newsletters

ln This Issue

From ACUTA Headquarters.......... Jeri A. Semer, CAE, ACUTA Executive Director

Two Audio Seminars in May

Tech Talk: Femtocells: Designed to Give Cellular Coverage a Boost........................ Kevin Tanzillo, Dux PR 3

Board Approves State of Nominees

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

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

Recycle Old Cell Phones

Be a Telecom BMOC: Win Big Buck

Check lt Out: RFls/RFPs, Job Postings, Press Releases

lnfo links.................. Randy Hayes' Univ. of Northern lowa

Be a Moderator or Monitor at the Annual Conference..... Donna Hall, ACUTA Mgr. of Professional …

The Effects Of Build Orientation, Diameter And Printhead Life On The Cylindricity Of Three-Dimensionally Printed Parts, Troy E. Ollison

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Rapid prototyping (RP) technologies have become more than just a fast and inexpensive way to produce prototypes. Today RP is widely used to produce functional prototypes, end-use parts and tooling as well as visual prototypes. When RP is used for end-use parts with interconnected moving assemblies or for producing metal casting molds which must have sufficient material for machining tolerances, accuracy is very critical. However, in general, accuracy of the finished RP parts is relatively low lll compared to parts produced by traditional manufacturing processes. The understanding of why some of these accuracy differences exist is either unknown or not …

Evaluating Arkansas Roadway Intersection Accidents Using Traffic Safety Analysis Methods: Generalized Estimating Equations And Roadway Observation, Jacob Mercer

Industrial Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Considerable research has been made in recent years to evaluate road traffic safety. This is especially true with the United States, whose international rank in public safety is rapidly declining. In 2004, Arkansas ranked as the third highest in traffic fatalities among all the states. These are striking numbers that reflect the lack of attention that the state has received in terms of evaluating road traffic safety. Historically, this safety is measure by one of two methods: Statistical analyses of historical data or hands-on, observational analyses of present safety conditions. Rarely in research are both methods used within the same …

Methodology For Reverse Supply Chain Design In Consumer Electronics Industry, Santhanam Rajagopalan

Industrial, Manufacturing, and Systems Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Reverse Logistics (RL), the art and science of moving goods typically from the end consumer towards the upstream end of supply chains, has been the subject of many strategic meetings in organizations today. This is attributed mainly due to the tighter federal environmental legislations on product returns and a hugely untapped potential that has been often overlooked by the managers. Traditionally, enterprises spend most of the improvement initiatives in optimizing its forward supply chain (FSC) performance that aims to delight the end consumer. However, it is not a panacea by itself in the process of continuously satisfying the end customer. …

Optimal Fleet Size Of An Integrated Production And Distribution Scheduling Problem For A Single Perishable Product, Priyantha Devapriya

All Dissertations

This dissertation focuses on a practical production problem in which a perishable product must be produced and distributed at minimum cost. The problem has some features of the integrated production and distribution scheduling problem in that we seek to determine the fleet size and their routes subject to a planning horizon constraint but there are significant differences as well. In particular, this research differs because the product has a limited lifetime, the total demand must be satisfied within a planning horizon, multiple trucks can be used, and the production schedule and the distribution sequence are considered. Two mixed integer programming …

Acuta Enews April 2008, Vol. 37, No. 4

ACUTA Newsletters

ln This lssue

From the President..................Walt Magnussen, Texas A&N Univ., ACUTA President

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

Campus Safety Legislation Mulled in Wake of Shootings ......Raymond Thrower, Jr., IACLEA

Tech Talk: We'll Ask Again: ls This a Phone You Want on Your Network? Kevin Tanzillo, Dux PR

12th Annual Strategic Leadership Forum Topics

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

Nominate Now for ACUTA Ruth A. Michalecki Award

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

Welcome New Members

Check lt Out: RFls/RFPs, Job Postings, Press Releases

An Executable System Architecture Approach To Discrete Events System Modeling Using Sysml In Conjunction With Colored Petri Net, Renzhong Wang, Cihan H. Dagli

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This paper proposes an executable system architecting paradigm for discrete event system modeling and analysis through integration of a set of architecting tools, executable modeling tools, analytical tools, and visualization tools. The essential step is translating SysML-based specifications into colored Petri nets (CPNs) which enables rigorous static and dynamic system analysis as well as formal verification of the behavior and functionality of the SysML-based design. A set of tools have been studied and integrated that enable a structured architecture design process. Some basic principles of executable system architecture for discrete event system modeling that guide the process of executable architecture …

System Of Systems Architecture Generation And Evaluation Using Evolutionary Algorithms, Joseph J. Simpson, Cihan H. Dagli

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Evolutionary algorithms and computational intelligence represent a developing technology and science that provides great potential in the area of system and system-of-systems architecture generation, categorization and evaluation. Classical system engineering analysis techniques have been used to represent a system architecture in a manner that is compatible with evolutionary algorithms and computational intelligence techniques. This paper focuses on specific system relationship configurations and attributes that are required to successfully aggregate the best-fit function in a fuzzy associative memory that is used in an evolutionary algorithm to generate and evaluate system architectures.

Systems Methodology And Framework For Problem Definition In Mobile Ad Hoc Networks, Reghu Anguswamy, Maheswaran Thiagarajan, Cihan H. Dagli

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Mobile Ad Hoc Networks are communication networks built up of a collection of mobile devices which can communicate through wireless connections. Mobile Ad Hoc Networks have many challenges such as routing, which is the task of directing data packets from a source node to a given destination. This task is particularly hard in Mobile Ad Hoc Networks: due to the mobility of the network elements and the lack of central control, robustness and adaptability in routing algorithms and work in a decentralized and self organizing way. Through the principles of systems architecting and Engineering; the problem statement in Mobile Ad …

Missouri S&T Mote-Based Demonstration Of Energy Monitoring Solution For Network Enabled Manufacturing Using Wireless Sensor Networks (Wsn), James W. Fonda, Maciej Jan Zawodniok, Al Salour, Jagannathan Sarangapani, Donald Miller

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

In this work, an inexpensive electric utilities monitoring solution using wireless sensor networks is demonstrated that can easily be installed, deployed, maintained and eliminate unnecessary energy costs and effort. The monitoring solution is designed to support network enabled manufacturing (NEM) program using Missouri University of Science and Technology (MST), formerly the University of Missouri-Rolla (UMR), motes.

Executable Modeling For System Of Systems Architecting: An Artificial Life Framework, Kilicay-Ergin Nil, Cihan H. Dagli

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

There is a diversity of frameworks and methodologies for enabling architecture developments. Static representation frameworks provide a standardized way to communicate the architecture to stakeholders, but do not provide means to analyze the system states and system behavior. Therefore, there is a need to convert static representation frameworks to executable models. The aim of this paper is to present Artificial Life approaches as a methodology for understanding behavior of System of Systems. For this, an Artificial Life based framework for modeling System of Systems is presented. The framework comprises cognitive architectures embedded in multi-agent models. Financial markets are selected as …

Developing A Repeatable And Reliable Methodology To Determine Return-On-Investment, Mark Cullen Nesselrode

Computational Modeling & Simulation Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The high costs of modern weapons systems, fuel, personnel, and increasing environmental awareness is forcing U.S. forces to rely on simulation for training. Further, the need to train in a robust and theater specific environment is critical to ensure operational readiness immediately upon reaching the combat theater. Finally, the rapidly changing nature of the conflicts, crises, or contingencies in which U.S. forces are involved requires a new approach to training.

The purpose of this research is to develop and demonstrate the feasibility of a methodology that can provide a reliable, consistent method for determining ROI in various forms, focusing on …

Disassembly Planning And Costing Through Petri Net Approach, Chunhsi Lei

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Theses & Dissertations

In the current consumer oriented environment, many new products appear in the market almost on a daily basis. Lured by advertisements and tempted by new product features, customers are constantly purchasing newer products. Acquiring newer products for often leads to throwing out older ones, but it is a totally different story for manufacturers. They need to consider the best way to reuse a product both for economic purposes and for environmental protection. Considerations for them often include: how to minimize total disassembly cost, how to achieve the lowest total disassembly time at each processing step, and how to sort valuable …

Multi-Objective Optimization Of Mixed-Variable, Stochastic Systems Using Single-Objective Formulations, Todd J. Paciencia

Theses and Dissertations

Many problems exist where one desires to optimize systems with multiple, often competing, objectives. Further, these problems may not have a closed form representation, and may also have stochastic responses. Recently, a method expanded mixed variable generalized pattern search/ranking and selection (MVPS-RS) and Mesh Adaptive Direct Search (MADS) developed for single-objective, stochastic problems to the multi-objective case by using aspiration and reservation levels. However, the success of this method in approximating the true Pareto solution set can be dependent upon several factors. These factors include the experimental design and ranges of the aspiration and reservation levels, and the approximation quality …

Improved Feature Extraction, Feature Selection, And Identification Techniques That Create A Fast Unsupervised Hyperspectral Target Detection Algorithm, Robert J. Johnson

Theses and Dissertations

This research extends the emerging field of hyperspectral image (HSI) target detectors that assume a global linear mixture model (LMM) of HSI and employ independent component analysis (ICA) to unmix HSI images. Via new techniques to fully automate feature extraction, feature selection, and target pixel identification, an autonomous global anomaly detector, AutoGAD, has been developed for potential employment in an operational environment for real-time processing of HSI targets. For dimensionality reduction (initial feature extraction prior to ICA), a geometric solution that effectively approximates the number of distinct spectral signals is presented. The solution is based on the theory of the …

A System Dynamic Model Of Leader Emergence, Paul S. Wever

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis is to develop a system dynamics model of leader emergence. Longitudinal social network and personality data were collected in a class of enlisted military professionals attending a 6-week leadership development course. Findings support known relationships in existing leadership research. The thesis demonstrates the applicability of system dynamics toward the complex social phenomena of leader emergence.

Improving Mixed Variable Optimization Of Computational And Model Parameters Using Multiple Surrogate Functions, David Bethea

Theses and Dissertations

This research focuses on reducing computational time in parameter optimization by using multiple surrogates and subprocess CPU times without compromising the quality of the results. This is motivated by applications that have objective functions with expensive computational times at high fidelity solutions. Applying, matching, and tuning optimization techniques at an algorithm level can reduce the time spent on unprofitable computations for parameter optimization. The objective is to recover known parameters of a flow property reference image by comparing to a template image that comes from a computational fluid dynamics simulation, followed by a numerical image registration and comparison process. Mixed …

C-5a Galaxy Systems Engineering Case Study, Air Force Center For Systems Engineering, John M. Griffin

AFIT Documents

The C-5 Systems Engineering Case Study captures the untold story of the application of systems engineering during the concept exploration, development, and production of the USAF C-5A and C-5B aircraft. The case study examines and dissects the systems engineering process as applied by the Air Force C-5 System Program Office and the prime contractor, Lockheed, Georgia, from the program s genesis in 1957 to the last delivery of the C-5A and the beginning of the C-5B program in 1973. Numerous interviews were conducted with the principals who managed and directed the program and a story of the systems engineering process …