Operations Research, Systems Engineering and Industrial Engineering Commons^™

Management Of Wind Power Generation With The Attachment Of Wind Tunnel, Ulan Dakeev

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This study presents a new approach in which a wind tunnel apparatus is used to identify the efficiency of power output by a wind turbine with a 400W rating. Moreover, the study addresses a significant issue concerning the turbulence formed by a natural wind which can be eliminated or reduced with the use of the proposed wind tunnel. Wind power characteristics that indicate power output versus wind velocity are obtained by performing a number of case studies. The case studies include normal operation of the experimental wind turbine at variable wind velocity values with and without proposed wind tunnel. A …

Instance-Based Parameter Tuning Via Search Trajectory Similarity Clustering, Linda Lindawati, Hoong Chuin Lau, David Lo

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

This paper is concerned with automated tuning of parameters in local-search based meta-heuristics. Several generic approaches have been introduced in the literature that returns a ”one-size-fits-all” parameter configuration for all instances. This is unsatisfactory since different instances may require the algorithm to use very different parameter configurations in order to find good solutions. There have been approaches that perform instance-based automated tuning, but they are usually problem-specific. In this paper, we propose CluPaTra, a generic (problem-independent) approach to perform parameter tuning, based on CLUstering instances with similar PAtterns according to their search TRAjectories. We propose representing a search trajectory as …

Implementation Of Flexible Manufacturing System In A Fertilizer Plant To Reduce Inventory And Waste : A Case Study., Chien Wei Ee

Student Works (2010-2019)

This case study aims to investigate the results of implementing flexible manufacturing system in a fertilizer plant, for reducing waste. The main problems identified during the study are loss of material, low productivity, low machines utilization, low overall equipment effectiveness and high quantity of reworked material. To achieve the goals of the study, engineering tools such as Flexible Manufacturing System (FMS) and Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) are used. PDSA cycle is followed in developing the framework of the study. A team is formed, which consists of 6 executives to execute the flexible manufacturing systems and engineering tools. An effective flexible …

Approximate Policy Iteration For Semi-Markov Control Revisited, Abhijit Gosavi

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The semi-Markov decision process can be solved via reinforcement learning without generating its transition model. We briefly review the existing algorithms based on approximate policy iteration (API) for solving this problem for discounted and average reward under the infinite horizon. API techniques have attracted significant interest in the literature recently. We first present and analyze an extension of an existing API algorithm for discounted reward that can handle continuous reward rates. Then, we also consider its average reward counterpart, which requires an updating based on the stochastic shortest path (SSP). We study the convergence properties of the algorithm that does …

Arguing Security Of Generic Avionic Mission Control Computer System (Mcc) Using Assurance Cases, Bhanuchander Reddy Poreddy, Steven Corns

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

An assurance case is a body of evidence organized into an argument demonstrating that some claim about a system holds, i.e., is assured. Assurance cases are used to comment about system safety, and it serves as a mean to show that the systems acceptably satisfy their safety properties. Assurance cases perform rigorous security analysis on safety-critical complex systems. in this paper, the analysis done is an approach to documenting an assurance case for system security, i.e., a security assurance case. the paper deals with the Assurance cases for Generic Avionic Mission Control Computer system, by constructing tangible claims and investigating …

Sysml Profiling For Handling Army Base Camp Planning, Dustin Nottage, Steven Corns

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Army base camp planning is a complicated process involving many variables and optional facilities. the facilities can also vary in size and resource utilization depending on permanency of the base, local resources, and population on the base. Each level of facility is modeled and placed into a library database. All of these facilities must be distinguishable for planners to come in and export the correct facility based on the mission. the first method involves separating the different levels into packages so just the package could be exported. the issue is not all facilities will fit correctly. the second method is …

Adaptive Reconfiguration Of Complex System Architecture, Khaled Haris, Cihan H. Dagli

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

In this paper, an approach for adaptive reconfiguration of architecture of a complex system using computational intelligence techniques is proposed. This paper establishes that the simulated change in the relative importance of rules reflecting the significance of customer's key performance attributes could be used to affect architectural evolution. the proposed approach was demonstrated on a sample system. It was also extended to a general system. the evolving system architecture gave the system an adaptive feature in the sense that it accepted alternative components based on the simulated changes in the environment. Architecture alternatives were generated through genetic algorithms (GA), while …

Cognition Evolutionary Computation For System-Of-Systems Architecture Development, Feng Yang, Cihan Dagli, Weiping Wang

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The evolving nature of system-of-systems requirements and corresponding architecture, and the complex causal relationship between the architecture of system-of-systems and its emergent behavior make the problem of system-of-systems architecture development a great challenge. as a tentative effort in meeting this special challenge, a new evolutionary computation paradigm- named Cognition Evolutionary Computation(CEC) is proposed, which models the creative cognition process of divergent and convergent thinking, adaptation and innovation, that drives the co-evolution of problem space, knowledge space and solution space. the optimization algorithm for CEC uses causal probabilistic network as the knowledge representation mechanism. a theoretical framework for CEC based system-of-system …

Model Development Of A Virtual Learning Environment To Enhance Lean Education, Akalpit Gadre, Elizabeth Cudney, Steven Corns

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Modern day industry is becoming leaner by the day. This demands engineers with an in-depth understanding of lean philosophies. Current methods for teaching lean include hands-on projects and simulation. However, simulation games available in the market lack simplicity, ability to store the results, and modeling power. the goal of this research is to develop a virtual simulation platform which would enable students to perform various experiments by applying lean concepts. the design addresses these deficiencies through the use of VE-Suite, a virtual engineering software. the design includes user-friendly dialogue boxes, graphical models of machines, performance display gauges, and an editable …

Local Linear Regression For Soft-Sensor Design With Application To An Industrial Deethanizer, Zhanxing Zhu, Francesco Corona, Amaury Lendasse, Roberto Baratti, Jose A. Romagnoli

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Soft-Sensors for Estimating in Real-Time Important Quality Variables Are a Key Technology in Modern Process Industry. the Successful Development of a Soft-Sensor Whose Performance Does Not Deteriorate with Time and Changing Process Characteristics is Troublesome and Only Seldom Achieved in Real-World Setups. the Design of Soft-Sensors based on Local Regression Models is Becoming Popular. Simplicity of Calibration, Ability to Handle Nonlinearities And, Most Importantly, Reduced Maintenance Costs While Retaining the Requested Accuracy Are the Major Assets. in This Paper, We Introduce Several Approaches for Defining an Appropriate Locality Neighborhood and We Propose a Recursive Version of Local Linear Regression for …

Assessing System Architectures: The Canonical Decomposition Fuzzy Comparative Methodology, Jason Paul Dauby

Doctoral Dissertations

"The impacts of decisions made during the selection of the system architecture propagate throughout the entire system lifecycle. The challenge for system architects is to perform a realistic assessment of an inherently ambiguous system concept. Subject matter expert interpretations, intuition, and heuristics are performed quickly and guide system development in the right overall direction, but these methods are subjective and unrepeatable. Traditional analytical assessments dismiss complexity in a system by assuming severability between system components and are intolerant of ambiguity. To be defensible, a suitable methodology must be repeatable, analytically rigorous, and yet tolerant of ambiguity. The hypothesis for this …

A Study Of Yield Quantity Discrepancy Reduction In Semi-Conductor Back-End Process., Allina Abdullah

Student Works (2010-2019)

The ultimate objective of manufacturing industries today is to increase productivity through system simplification, organizational potential and incremental improvements by using modern techniques like Kaizen. Competition and continuously increasing standards of customer satisfaction has proven to be the endless driver of organizations performance improvement. Kaizen refers to continuous improvement in performance, cost and quality. Kaizen strives to empower the workers, increase worker satisfaction, facilitates a sense of accomplishment, thereby creating a pride of work. It not only ensures that manufacturing processes become leaner and fitter, but eliminate waste where value is added. Kaizen by now is a widely discussed and …

Life Expectancy Evaluation And Replacement Schedule Development For Led Traffic Indicators, Casey Robert Noll

Masters Theses

"LED (light-emitting diode) technology is being widely adopted for use in sustainable traffic signal management. However, the useful life and luminosity characteristics have not been sufficiently studied in the field to provide departments of transportation with cost-effective replacement strategies based on the realities for LED indicators. LED indicators fail when their luminous intensity (LI) falls below a pre-specified threshold, posing a danger to traffic. This research details a field study of LED indicators in Missouri and develops a replacement schedule based on key findings. Rates of degradation and subsequently the useful life of each type of LED indicator were calculated …

Creating A Sustainable Transportation Workforce: Identifying Skills, Abilities And Knowledge For Future Transportation Workforce, Sandhya Gopalakrishnan

Masters Theses

"The recruitment and retention of a transportation workforce capable of adapting to the requirements of emerging sustainable technologies is an important concern for engineering managers in transportation. Although there is an increasing demand for transportation professionals to fill positions stemming from retirement or created by innovations in sustainable transportation systems, the supply is decreasing. The objective of this research was to fill the gap between the supply and demand of skilled workforce by presenting a life-cycle framework for recruiting and retaining the transportation workforce as part of succession planning efforts funded by the U.S. Department of Transportation's Transportation Education Development …

Quantifying The Carbon Footprint Of Lean Waste, Kristen Donovan Balinski

Masters Theses

"The objective of this paper is to provide a method of quantifying lean wastes in terms of carbon dioxide emissions by using value stream mapping. Lean manufacturing, a process based on waste identification and reduction, is a growing trend in industry and a proven method of lowering costs. The environmental impact of these wastes can be quantified by identifying the metrics associated with them, and using existing reports to convert those metrics into measurements of carbon dioxide. Growing environmental concerns are prompting federal government regulation of greenhouse gas or carbon dioxide emissions, as seen in the American Clean Energy and …

Integration Of Model-Based Systems Engineering And Virtual Engineering Tools For Detailed Design, Akshay Kande

Masters Theses

"Design and development of a system can be viewed as a process of transferring and transforming data using a set of tools that form the system's development environment. Conversion of the systems engineering data into useful information is one of the prime objectives of the tools used in the process. With complex systems, the objective is further augmented with a need to represent the information in an accessible and comprehensible manner. The importance of representation is easily understood in light of the fact that the stakeholder's ability to make prompt and appropriate decisions is directly related to his understanding of …

Workforce Planning Models For Semiconductor Manufacturing: Assembly-Test Operations, Shrikant Jarugumilli

Doctoral Dissertations

"We present a framework that integrates strategic and operational workforce planning models. Since these models provide decisions for planning horizons with different lengths, the formulation and solution strategy should ensure that the flow of information between these models is both appropriate and consistent.

The single-shift workforce planning problem is formulated as a two-phase goal program. In the first phase, the model allocates the workers to machine groups and identifies the shortage of workers (referred to as gap) followed by the second phase, in which certain constraints are relaxed and the workers are reallocated to the machine groups in order to …

Architecture Value Mapping: Using Fuzzy Cognitive Maps As A Reasoning Mechanism For Multi-Criteria Conceptual Design Evaluation, Atmika Singh

Doctoral Dissertations

"The conceptual design phase is the most critical phase in the systems engineering life cycle. The design concept chosen during this phase determines the structure and behavior of the system, and consequently, its ability to fulfill its intended function. A good conceptual design is the first step in the development of a successful artifact. However, decision-making during conceptual design is inherently challenging and often unreliable. The conceptual design phase is marked by an ambiguous and imprecise set of requirements, and ill-defined system boundaries. A lack of usable data for design evaluation makes the problem worse. In order to assess a …

Quality Costing Knowledge, Attitudes, And Perceptions In A Small Manufacturing Company, Adam M. Benner

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this research was to identify and assess employee knowledge, attitude, and perception of quality costing in a manufacturing company. The company selected for this research was a small manufacturer of agricultural processing equipment with an undeveloped quality management program. A quality costs questionnaire was discovered from a review of the literature and was slightly modified to gather data from a sample of company employees. The following information was collected from employees: knowledge of common quality costing terminology, attitude towards quality and non-quality concepts, and perception of departments associated with quality costs and the scale of quality costs …

An Occupational Analysis Of Prepress In The Des Moines And Eastern Iowa Regions, Lee John Geisinger

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

It is important that educators use a relevant, up-to-date curriculum when educating on a specific occupation. Job task analysis is an effective way for educators to understand an occupation and provide students with valuable information. This study analyzed prepress technicians' duties and tasks.

This research used the occupational analysis method called the DACUM (Developing a Curriculum) process. The DACUM process uses an expert worker panel to identify the duties and tasks of an occupation. This study found that there are 9 duties and 55 tasks for a prepress technician. After identifying the duties and tasks, the study confirmed those duties …

Exploratory Study Of Barriers To Use Of Feigenbaum's Quality Cost Strategy Within Design Engineering Firms, David Patrick Loduca

Doctoral Dissertations

"It has been more than a half century since Armand Feigenbaum first conceived of the strategy for the manufacturing sector, yet quality costing strategies have not found a foothold among engineering firms. This study was aimed at constructing a set of theories that explains possible barriers to acceptance of the Feigenbaum strategy by analyzing attitudes and opinions of players in an actual engineering firm and the culture in which they work.

Modeled after the Feigenbaum approach and tailored to the business model of engineering and architectural firms, a system was developed to classify and record costs of quality. A local …

Proving Sustainability: The International Development Monitoring Initiative, Evan A. Thomas, Zdenek Zumr

Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Nearly a billion people in the world lack access to safe drinking water, two billion have inadequate sanitation facilities, three billion use biomass for their daily energy needs and nearly half the world's population live in rural isolation, lacking access to the most basic human services. Combined, these limitations are a leading cause of the perpetuating cycle of poverty and political insecurity. Meanwhile, the majority of international development agencies are responsible for self-reporting project outcomes. At best, expert spot-checks are conducted in the field occasionally. These results tend to show individual project success, while meta- surveys indicate on-going challenges in …

Presentation: Proving Sustainability: The International Development Monitoring Initiative, Evan A. Thomas

Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Presentation detailing the activities and products of the Sustainable Water, Energy and Environmental Technologies Laboratory at Portland State University (SWEETLab). The lab also works to develop standards to help evaluate and compare projects and outcomes around the world. Water treatment and sanitation practices, as well as newly designed cookstoves, are highlighted.

Delayed-Bang Approach Towards More Sustainable Critical Infrastructure Risk Management, C. Ariel Pinto, Michael K. Mcshane, Abhishek S. Pathak

Finance Faculty Publications

This article describes the Delayed Bang Approach for determining the value of risk management alternatives in critical infrastructure security. The discussion includes (1) the need for sustainable risk management (2) the importance of time valuation in evaluating competing loss prevention and loss reduction alternatives, (3) the convergence of deterministic engineering economics, survivability analysis, and probabilistic analysis, and (4) hypothetical examples of the Delayed-Bang Approach and significance towards more sustainable risk management.

Development Of Risk Uncertainty Factors From Historical Nasa Projects, Tahani R. Amer

EMSE Doctoral Projects

NASA is a good investment of federal funds and strives to provide the best value to the nation. NASA has consistently budgeted to unrealistic cost estimates, which are evident in the cost growth in many of its programs. In this investigation, NASA has been using available uncertainty factors from the Aerospace Corporation, Air Force, and Booz Allen Hamilton to develop projects' risk posture. NASA has no insight into the developmental of these factors and, as demonstrated here, this can lead to unrealistic risks in many NASA Programs and projects (P/p). The primary contribution of this project is the development of …

Enterprise Transformation Through A Zachman-Bayesian Framework To Improve Efficiency & Productivity, Ramakanth Gona

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Although organizations are aware of the benefits of enterprise architectures models, organizations have difficulties determining deficiencies in their business architecture. Organizational assessment tools often do not achieve expectations as sold to management. Performance measures often fail to properly represent necessary holistic measurements. Methods for capturing deficiencies in current business models and deterring improvements to optimize business processes are rare. This thesis develops a new experimental architecture modeling approach for enterprise transformations. The approach is efficient in capturing deficiencies and finding correlations which can become targeted goals for improvements. The Zachman enterprise architecture framework provides a holistic view of organizational models …

Development Of A New Evolutionary Algorithm Based On Adaptive Echolocation Applied To A Multi Objective Version Of The Redundancy Allocation Problem, Karla Rocio Gutierrez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The intention of this research is to develop a new algorithm that it is mainly focus in the principle of echolocation or also called biosonar. This principle is active in many animals such as: birds, shrews, dolphins and bats, these last ones are going to be a fundamental part of our study. These animals use it as radar in order to find food, obstacles or just to locate objects.

These animals use ultrasound beams with a certain degree of angle and multiple receivers; such as the two ears that are located slightly apart, so at the time of the returning …

Indentifying And Understanding User Preferences In Generic Planning Tools, Grisel Ventura

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Planning is an important cognitive work activity. To support this complex task, the development of planning tools is important to support people during decision-making and problem-solving tasks. Nowadays, a large number of manual and electronic tools support this complex activity; manual and electronic planning tools aid people in creating strategies for effective work performance. However, there is limited information on the design of generic planning tools people use for their activities, and why people choose to use the planning tool they do. Some examples of generic tools for planning are calendars, checklists, agendas, etc.

To answer this question, this research …