Operations Research, Systems Engineering and Industrial Engineering Commons^™

The Marketing Value Of Graduate Certificate Programs In Higher Education: A Strategic Assessment, Susmitha Akula

Masters Theses

"The last five years have seen a significant increase in the popularity of non degree graduate certificates. This increase has raised questions about the value of graduate certificate programs from the perspective of students, alumni and industry employers. Do certificate programs provide real world skills and knowledge valuable to industry? Do they serve as effective recruiting tools for the university? Do they provide opportunities for students to meet their professional goals in terms of salary increase, promotions, and the like? The present research is specifically aimed at answering these questions. Surveys that assess perceptions of value of graduate certificates to …

Establishing Workload Limitations For Application In Human Systems Integration, Muhammet Servet Gulum

Masters Theses

"As the amount of technology involved in the typical workplace increases and standard operational procedures become increasingly sophisticated the danger of overloading an operator's mental resources is increasing. As much as these technological developments help operators with daily tasks, for example by providing information via monitors and wireless headsets; it also increased the mental workload due to the bombardment of information. Mental workload is commonly associated with information processing tasks, limits. With all the extra information inputs it is difficult to set limits where excessive information becomes dangerous. The workload optimization is critical as it directly affects system performance and …

Using Value Stream Mapping For Cost Modeling, Emily Marie Tucker

Masters Theses

"This thesis presents an effective cost model for the Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) process used in additive manufacturing practices. The various factors that influence the total cost of a build on both small and large frame machines are discussed. These attributes, which include labor and overhead rates, material costs, and process times, combine to generate the driving force behind a manufacturer's decision to use the small or large SLS machine for mass production. By developing and evaluating a current state value stream map for the small SLS machine, a financial analysis of the SLS process can be performed. By assigning …

Fusion Of Imprecise Qualitative Information, Florentin Smarandache, Xinde Li, Xianzhong Dai, Jean Dezert

Branch Mathematics and Statistics Faculty and Staff Publications

In this paper, we present a new 2-tuple linguistic representation model, i.e. Distribution Function Model (DFM), for combining imprecise qualitative information using fusion rules drawn from Dezert-Smarandache Theory (DSmT) framework. Such new approach allows to preserve the precision and efficiency of the combination of linguistic information in the case of either equidistant or unbalanced label model. Some basic operators on imprecise 2-tuple labels are presented together with their extensions for imprecise 2-tuple labels. We also give simple examples to show how precise and imprecise qualitative information can be combined for reasoning under uncertainty. It is concluded that DSmT can deal …

Investigating Fabrication Methods For Micro Single-Chamber Solid Oxide Fuel Cells, Man Yang

Dissertations

A Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) is a green energy technology that offers a cleaner and efficient alternative to fossil fuels. The efficiency and utility of SOFCs can be enhanced by fabricating miniaturized component structures within the fuel cell footprint. This research focuses on the microfabrication of parallel-connected inter-digitized design of micro single chamber SOFC (µ-SC-SOFCs). In this dissertation, candidate micro/nano fabrication techniques to precisely fabricate micro patterns on planar substrates have been studied. These include EBL, soft lithography, photolithography, and direct-writing. After analyzing preliminary results, two combinational approaches were further investigated. The first method involves the combination of the …

Project And Risk Management: A Systematic Approach, Baqer Alali, C. Ariel Pinto, Andreas Tolk, Rafael Landaeta

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

The main purpose of this paper is to discuss three related topics of project management, systems management, and risk management. The issue that would be addressed in this paper is how risks are addressed in project and systems management, and how risks are propagated between projects and systems. A framework is proposed to overcome the problem of risk propagation from project to the systems. It was shown that the proposed framework can be deployed to existing risk management process with reasonable interventions (e.g. process prescribed by PMI). Finally a proof-of-concept application shows potential of the framework for various types of …

Theoretical Exploratory Investigation On Reliability Of Advanced Ceramics By Discrete Element Simulation, Ana Laura Quezada Lara

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The increasing application of silicon nitride in biomedical and other engineering fields has elevated the necessity to understand its reliability. Due to the complexity of producing pure material researchers have been analyzing the behavior of the material with flaws. In this thesis several scenarios are simulated with the support of PFC2D to analyze microcrack propagation depending on the position, quantity and size of the voids to understand the effect each of the cases have on the material. A four point bending test was applied to each case twice recording the loading force. Having two runs allows doing a statistical analysis …

Component Replacement Analysis For Electricity Distribution Systems Using Evolutionary Algorithms, Vasukumar Chenna

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The main objective of the electric power grid is to supply economical and reliable electricity to industrial, commercial, household, transportation, and other end-users, including agricultural, educational institutions and hospitals. The power system is a very large and complex network consisting of generation, transmission, and distribution systems. The main focus of the present research is in the area of power distribution systems. Almost all the areas of the power grid uses simpler radial distribution systems to distribute electricity to the end consumer, it is the final and therefore vital link between the consumer and the rest of the power grid. Therefore …

E-Quality: Using Dimensional Index Values Towards Improving Classification Accuracy, Prashanth Devaram

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

E-quality is a process through which inspection of the process and quality of the part produced is done online resulting in the improvement of the process and reduction in the amount of time consumed for the overall process. Automated quality control involves using a methodology to classify the parts based on the dimensions of the features on a part. However, achieving 100% classification accuracy is not an easy task, especially in area of quality control where small differences in dimensions result in part fall into a different category. In this study, a novel approach for modifying the data before being …

Optimization Models For The Economic And Non-Economic Level Of Repair Analysis, Carlos Marco Ituarte-Villarreal

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Every component, equipment or system will eventually fail. All failures produce a maintenance cost and, repair costs are especially hard to estimate ahead of time. Research shows that maintenance costs are the most substantial costs of development and use of equipment, reason why the cost of the product or equipment through its life is a major concern. Therefore, the main objective of this thesis is to provide a new optimization model to determine the minimum cost maintenance policy for complex systems.

Simulation Prototyping Of An Experimental Solar House, Anna Osborne, Stuart Baur, Katie Grantham

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This paper presents a comparative analysis between an energy simulation model and an actual solar home. the case study used was the Team Missouri's 2009 Solar Decathlon entry. the home was evaluated using the predicted data developed with the use of Energy-10 Version 1.8. the software simulates the energy use performance of building strategies ranging from building envelope and system efficiency options. the performance data used was collected during the 2009 Solar Decathlon competition. Results comparing energy efficient strategies, consumption and generation are explored with future implications discussed. © 2010 by the authors.

Use Of Web-Based Lessons Of Statistical Concepts With Graphics And Animation To Enhance The Effectiveness Of Learning, Lavanya Pillala

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Statistics is of critical importance to engineers. However, many engineering students struggle to grasp the meaning of statistical concepts and the idiosyncrasies of statistical methodologies. Because of this problem, instructors of statistics are constantly searching for better ways to help students understand statistical concepts. The goal of this project is to design and develop web-based lessons that use graphics and animations to enhance the effectiveness of students' learning of statistical concepts.

Lessons of three important statistical concepts have been developed for this thesis - normal distribution, central limit theorem and confidence & tolerance intervals - following well-recognized instructional design development …

Manual Handling Workload And Musculoskeletal Discomfort Among Warehouse Personnel, Terrance N. Knox

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMSD), specifically physical and muscular discomfort in the upper arm, lower arm, thigh, lower leg, wrist, shoulders, back, or neck, are among the most frequently reported workplace injuries in the United States. The dearth of knowledge about the types of workloads that may contribute to the development of WRMSD was the impetus of this research. The study aimed to identify antecedents of WRMSD among warehouse workers in order to reduce WRMSDs and increase productivity as expressed in a systems perspective on industrial health. The research questions examined the prevalence of specific WRMSDs, the relationship of high-risk tasks …

Renewable Energy Integration: An Approach For Micro-Grid Optimization., Nicolas Lopez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This thesis explores the Renewable Energy Integration Problem beginning with a literature review on the different sources of electrical energy classified as Non-Renewable and Renewable, stating that the integration of renewable sources within the pre-existing Power-Grids is a current worldwide problem that is being addressed with different approaches.

The impossibility to exactly model the different equations relating the electric output of the renewable energy sources as they relate with meteorological factors, makes the renewable sector a stochastic component of the overall mathematical model, where it can be concluded that most of the problem is in the area of the forecast. …

An Improved Genetic Algorithm For Knapsack Problems, Taskiran, Gamze Kilincli

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

In this study, an improved genetic algorithm (GA) is presented to solve the multidimensional 0-1 knapsack problem (MKP). The MKP is a well-known combinatorial optimization problem and has received wide attention from the operations research community for decades. Although recent advances in computing and optimization technologies have made the solution of small and medium size instances possible, this NP-hard problem, in general, still remains one of the challenging problems yet to be solved.

Of the various algorithms developed to solve the MKP, GA seems to be one of the best methods pointed out in the literature. A GA is an …

Impact Of Culture And Age On The Use Of Social Networking Websites, Ramya Reddy Ponnavolu

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Social networking websites have become very popular amongst people of all ages in recent times. These websites have brought into existence a new form of data - 'User generated content'. Companies everywhere have begun to identify the potential of these sites and have commenced efforts to take advantage of the profitable opportunities available. In spite of all this, it is reasonable to say that the latent possibilities in social networking sites are yet to be fully explored. This is due to the fact that the technology is still young and research on its potential is still ongoing. The current research …

Domain-Specific Core Self-Evaluations And Stressors As Predictors Of Strains, Michael Raymond Hoepf

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

The current study examines the use of a frame-of-reference (FOR) in the evaluation of core self-evaluations, stressors and strains. The study investigates the prediction that using a FOR that matches predictors and outcomes will result in a stronger relationship between the constructs being measured, specifically CSE, stressors, and strains. In addition, the study examines the extent to which following this procedure will add incremental validity after non-contextualized predictors are controlled. The hypotheses in this study were generally supported, although the hypotheses related to the school domain were not supported as strongly as those related to general and work domain. The …

Generating ‘As-Applied’ Pesticide Distribution Maps From A Self-Propelled Agricultural Sprayer Based On Nozzle Pressure Data, Joe D. Luck, Ajay Sharda, Santosh Pitla, John P. Fulton, Scott A. Shearer

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Presentations and White Papers

The application of pre-emergence, post-emergence, and burn-down herbicides (i.e., glyphosate) continues to increase as producers attempt to reduce both negative environmental impacts from tillage and input costs from labor, machinery and materials. The use of precision agriculture technologies such as automatic boom section control allows producers to reduce offtarget application when applying herbicides. While automatic boom section control provides benefits, pressure differences across the spray boom resulting from boom section actuation can lead to offrate application errors. Off-rate errors may also result from spray rate controller compensation for ground speed changes and velocity variation across the spray boom during turning …

Extrusion Systems: Components, Qi Fang, Milford Hanna

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

An extrusion system can be very simple to very complex. The complexity, or versatility, of a particular system is determined by the range of feedstocks to be processed, the desired transformations of the feedstocks, and the desired form of the products resulting from the process. These determine the specific design requirements of the various components of an extrusion system.

Investigating An Optimal Decision Point For Probability Bounds Analysis Models When Used To Estimate Remedial Soil Volumes Under Uncertainty At Hazardous Waste Sites, Charles O. Dankwah

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Hazardous waste site remediation cost estimation requires a good estimate of the contaminated soil volume. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) currently uses deterministic point values to estimate soil volumes but the literature suggests that probability bounds analysis (PBA) is the more accurate method to make estimates under uncertainty. The underlying statistical theory is that they are more accurate than deterministic estimates because probabilistic estimates account for data uncertainties. However, the literature does not address the problem of selecting an optimal decision point from the interval-valued PBA estimates. The purpose of this study was to identify the optimal …

The Impact Of Task Conflict On Virtual Team Performance And Cohesiveness, Wilawan Onkman, Anil Ustun, Pilar Pazos, Ana Maria Canto

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

This paper examined the impact of task conflict on team performance and cohesiveness. Twelve virtual teams participated in two sessions with two difficulty levels. Each task consisted of a survival simulation. Teams communicated using a text-based communication media (chat). A mixed methods approach combining both quantitative and qualitative data was used. Performance was measured using expert ratings, and cohesiveness was measured using a modified version of Seashore's Cohesiveness Index. Content analysis was utilized to evaluate the level of task conflict on the team. This study provides some initial evidence on the effects task conflict on virtual team performance.

A Methodology To Stabilize The Supply Chain, Alfonso Sarmiento

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In today's world, supply chains are facing market dynamics dominated by strong global competition, high labor costs, shorter product life cycles, and environmental regulations. Supply chains have evolved to keep pace with the rapid growth in these business dynamics, becoming longer and more complex. As a result, supply chains are systems with a great number of network connections among their multiple components. The interactions of the network components with respect to each other and the environment cause these systems to behave in a highly nonlinear dynamic manner. Ripple effects that have a huge, negative impact on the behavior of the …

Measurement And Analysis Of Temperature And Pressure In High Altitude Air Shipments, Sher Paul Singh, Jay Singh, J. Stallings, Gary J. Burgess, K. Saha

Industrial Technology and Packaging

This study was performed (at the request of the FAA) to measure temperature and pressure conditions observed by standard packages in the FedEx Next Day Air network and the environmental conditions of passenger aircrafts. To measure the single parcel environment, two destinations known to be served by non-pressurized feeder and pressurized aircrafts in the USA, San Luis Obispo, California, and Twin Falls, Idaho, were used to represent higher altitude paths. Test packages (0.30 × 0.30 × 0.30 m) containing one MadgeTech PRTemp110 recorder were shipped Priority Overnight by FedEx from East Lansing, Michigan. For 6 weeks, two test packages were …

Measurement And Analysis Of ‘Small’ Packages In Next-Day Air Shipments, Sher Paul Singh, Jay Singh, K. C. Chiang, K. Saha

Industrial Technology and Packaging

Packaged goods are shipped globally using various means of transportation. Over the past two decades, there has been a continuous increase in studies that measure and analyze dynamic events that occur to packages during transportation and handling. These data offer useful information to design and test packages, and provide protection from potential hazards like drops and impacts. However, none of the past studies are directed towards single packages regarded as 'smalls'. 'Smalls' or small-package product systems are defined as those with volume of less than 0.013 m³, a longest dimension of 0.356 m and a weight of 4.54 …

E.J. Gallo Winery Spirit-Makers Facility, Aaron Pickar

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

With growing demand for E.J. Gallo spirit brands, the cramped and cluttered facility allocated to the spirit-makers does not provide an adequate work environment to design and test new hard alcohols. E.J. Gallo Winery wants to relocate the spirit-makers to a new facility located near the brandy production floor for under 200,000 dollars. In order to do this, a revised systematic approach to facility design is used.

In this process, the departments are first defined, then the relationships between these departments and the space requirements are documented. Once these planning steps are complete, alternative layouts are constructed and analyzed until …

Implementing Rfid To Improve Animal Shelter Inventory And Allocation, Adam Mach

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

The purpose of this project is to observe the best way to incorporate Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology into the animal inventory system present in animal shelters, while also observing the benefits of implementing this system. The Woods Humane Society was used in this project as a sample animal care facility that could benefit from this application.

Many RFID systems can be observed in other industries, but very few examples this technology exist in animal shelters or smaller animal care facilities. Part of the reason for that is because funds are scarce at most animal care facilities, like the Woods …

Design And Manufacture Of Tennis Ball Retriever, Philip Hurst

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

No abstract provided.

Application Of Quality Engineering To Investment Portfolio Selection And Optimization, Vivek Kulinchandra Jikar

Doctoral Dissertations

"The Taguchi System of Quality Engineering (TSQE) is a widely accepted philosophy and set of tools and techniques to rapidly design and manufacture high quality, low cost products and services. It is heavily focused on creating stable system designs that allow a product or system to perform as desired by customers in the environment of their choice. This research demonstrates the power of the TSQE to manage an investment portfolio. In particular, it uses the concept of design stability to select investments and optimize portfolios. It proposes a new design stability-based investment screening metric and discusses its application. Further, this …

Sensor Data-Based Decision Making, Ahmet Soylemezoglu

Doctoral Dissertations

"Increasing globalization and growing industrial system complexity has amplified the interest in the use of information provided by sensors as a means of improving overall manufacturing system performance and maintainability. However, utilization of sensors can only be effective if the real-time data can be integrated into the necessary business processes, such as production planning, scheduling and execution systems. This integration requires the development of intelligent decision making models that can effectively process the sensor data into information and suggest appropriate actions. To be able to improve the performance of a system, the health of the system also needs to be …

Emerging Technology Supply Chain Model For Additive Manufacturing, David M. Dietrich

Doctoral Dissertations

"This research concerns developing an emerging manufacturing technology, additive manufacturing (AM), into a mature and flexible, cost-effective supply chain for aerospace production. The field of additive manufacturing is an approach to low volume manufacturing of plastic or metal parts using three dimensional Computer Aided Design data. As an emerging technology, AM's supply chain is not established compared to conventional aerospace manufacturing technologies, such as injection molding or composite manufacturing. Technical and business challenges limit the robustness of the additive manufacturing system for aerospace applications. The overall intent of this research is to: first, provide an introduction to two main polymer …