Operations Research, Systems Engineering and Industrial Engineering Commons^™

A Mechanism Design Approach To Bandwidth Allocation In Tactical Data Networks, Ankur Mour

Open Access Theses

The defense sector is undergoing a phase of rapid technological advancement, in the pursuit of its goal of information superiority. This goal depends on a large network of complex interconnected systems - sensors, weapons, soldiers - linked through a maze of heterogeneous networks. The sheer scale and size of these networks prompt behaviors that go beyond conglomerations of systems or `system-of-systems'. The lack of a central locus and disjointed, competing interests among large clusters of systems makes this characteristic of an Ultra Large Scale (ULS) system. These traits of ULS systems challenge and undermine the fundamental assumptions of today's software …

Evaluating Food Safety Systems Development And Implementation By Quantifying Haccp Training Durability, Marienne A. Anandappa

Theses and Dissertations--Animal and Food Sciences

HACCP-based food safety programs have been widely acclaimed, accepted and implemented as an effective means of managing food safety risks. While HACCP training is a cornerstone of managing HACCP programs, there is little information about the effectiveness of HACCP training and the durability of HACCP knowledge. Findings reveal a link between involvement level in HACCP activities and the accuracy of HACCP knowledge over time. Opportunities for peer training in HACCP, irrespective of overall experience in the food industry provide favorable circumstances for maintaining accuracy of HACCP knowledge. The optimal window for engaging employees in HACCP is directly following the completion …

Evaluating The E-Consult Process For Diabetes Care Delivery At An Outpatient Care Clinic, Brian M. Zoll

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

The occurrence of one of the most common chronic conditions in the U.S., diabetes, is expected to rise 53% from 24 million cases in 2003 to 37 million cases in 2023. The U.S. Veterans Health Administration (VHA) is not immune to this. The VHA has experienced an $820 million increase spending on diabetes patients between 2000 and 2008. The VHA has tried to keep the growth of chronic care costs in check through improvements in patient access to care by expanding its network of community-based outpatient clinics. Other methods the VHA has used to curb chronic care spending costs are …

The Effects Of Text And Hybrid Graphic-Text Formats On Pilot Performance Using Flight Deck Data Communication Displays, Ricardo Daniel Muñoz Da Costa

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Air Traffic has shown a steady increase since the institution of commercial aviation in the first quarter of the last century, and the use of the United States National Airspace System (NAS) is expected to increase by 45 percent more passengers by the year 2015 (Smith, 2004). The increasing demands of the NAS require preventive measures in order to preserve the safety of operations. NextGen is a transformative program expected to enhance the safety and effectiveness of NAS operations. One of the ways that it will achieve these goals is by improving air-ground communications.

In the current system, communications between …

The Effectiveness Of Pilot Response To Generate Concatenated Downlink Messages After Evaluation Of Hybrid Graphic-Text Clearances, Steven Brent Kiss

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Data-Link Communication, or DataComm, is a digital text messaging system providing a means of communication between Air Traffic Control (ATC) and pilots. Current Pilot/ATC communication is via voice radio, but the number of ATC operators and voice channels are finite, which limits the number of aircraft voice transmission can accommodate. The number of aircraft within the National Airspace System (NAS) is expected to double between 2004 and 2025, and a transition from voice to DataComm is a necessity. DataComm is an integral part of the NAS and is implemented in incremental phases increasing its functions and capability. There are many …

Assessing The Effects Of Multi-Modal Communications On Mental Workload During The Supervision Of Multiple Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, Sharon Claxton Bommer

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Human supervisory control (HSC) systems that require intermittent human input of commands to create actions within the system are helpful in reducing the human's mental workload (MWL). HSC systems are commonly employed in the piloting and control of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). As the ratio of UAVs to operators increases there is a clear need to understand the effort required to complete task requirements. Specifically, this research explored MWL relative to multi-modal communications using subjective and physiological measures. To accomplish this, a cognitive model was developed to understand the relationship between tasks and MWL. MWL was manipulated by measuring three …

Application Of The Augmented Operator Function Model For Developing Performance Metrics In Persistent Surveillance, Tiffany M. Paul

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Difficulties with the implementation of persistent Wide Area Motion Imagery (WAMI) sensors to support real-time military missions have risen within Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance organizations. In this study, cognitive models were developed of operators performing real-time missions currently supported by narrow field of view Full Motion Video (FMV) and WAMI sensors. These models were used in conjunction with a cognitive task analysis, creating an augmented operator function model (OFM-COG). This thesis describes the OFM-COG and demonstrates how this model-based analysis technique can document the cognitive implications of persistent surveillance with motion imagery. The analytic procedures required to build this model …

Testing The Fuel Efficiency Of Tractors With Continuously Variable And Standard Geared Transmissions, Christopher N. Howard, Michael F. Kocher, Roger M. Hoy, Erin E. Blankenship

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

A John Deere 8295R IVT tractor with a continuously variable transmission (CVT) and a John Deere 8295R PowerShift (PST) tractor with a standard geared transmission (GT) were tested for fuel consumption at three different travel speeds with six different load levels applied per speed. The JD 8295R PST tractor was tested both at full throttle (FT) and shifted up two gears and throttled back (SUTB) to achieve the same travel speed as at full throttle. For each travel speed with each transmission mode, fuel consumption was determined to be linearly related to drawbar power. Linear regression analyses were performed, and …

A New Versatile Electronic Speckle Pattern Interferometer For Vibration Measurements, Viswanath Bavigadda

Doctoral

Electronic speckle pattern interferometry (ESPI) has been widely used for vibration amplitude and phase measurements. Conventional ESPI systems are bulk and expensive and need careful alignment of all the optical components which is a time consuming task. To overcome these problems alternative compact ESPI systems were developed using fibre-optical components or holographic optical elements (HOEs). The fibre-optic based ESPI systems suffer from random phase fluctuations induced by environmental temperature changes. Hence HOEs can be used as more powerful alternative optical elements to design ESPI systems. The time average ESPI method is widely used for vibration studies. The time average method …

Employing Learning To Improve The Performance Of Meta-Raps, Fatemah Al-Duoli, Ghaith Rabadi

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

In their search for satisfactory solutions to complex combinatorial problems, metaheuristics methods are expected to intelligently explore the solution space. Various forms of memory have been used to achieve this goal and improve the performance of metaheuristics, which warranted the development of the Adaptive Memory Programming (AMP) framework [1]. This paper follows this framework by integrating Machine Learning (ML) concepts into metaheuristics as a way to guide metaheuristics while searching for solutions. The target metaheuristic method is Meta-heuristic for Randomized Priority Search (Meta-RaPS). Similar to most metaheuristics, Meta-RaPS consists of construction and improvement phases. Randomness coupled with a greedy heuristic …

Experiments To Measure The Effects Of Timber Harvesting Equipment On Surface Lithic Scatters, Douglas J. Baughman

All Master's Theses

The importance of cultural resource preservation cannot be overstated; however local economies are at least as important. Due to conservative archaeological site protection practices in Region 5 of the United States Forest Service, the economy of Northeastern California is being adversely affected. In an attempt to help the Forest Service make more informed management decisions and improve the Northeastern California economy, I undertook experiments on the effects of timber harvesting on lithic scatters on Modoc National Forest. The experiments involved placement of 225 glass tiles (proxy lithics) in each of three plots subject to vehicle traffic and log dragging by …

A Real Option Dynamic Decision (Rodd) Framework For Operational Innovations, Wilawan Onkham

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Changing the business operations and adopting new operational innovations, have become key features for a business solution approach. However, there are challenges for developing innovative operations due to a lack of the proper decision analysis tools, lack of understanding the impacts transition will have on operational models, and the time limits of the innovation life cycle. The cases of business failure in operational innovation (i.e. Eastman Kodak Company and Borders Group Inc.,) support the need for an investment decision framework. This research aims to develop a Real Option Dynamic Decision (RODD) framework for decision making, to support decision makers for …

Systems Geometry: A Methodology For Analyzing Emergent System Of Systems Behaviors, Christina Bouwens

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Recent advancements in technology have led to the increased use of integrated ‘systems of systems’ (SoS) which link together independently developed and usable capabilities into an integrated system that exhibits new, emergent capabilities. However, the resulting SoS is often not well understood, where secondary and tertiary effects of tying systems together are often unpredictable and present severe consequences. The complexities of the composed system stem not only from system integration, but from a broad range of areas such as the competing objectives of different constituent system stakeholders, mismatched requirements from multiple process models, and architectures and interface approaches that are …

Extending The Minimal Learning Machine For Pattern Classification, Amauri H.Souza Junior, Francesco Corona, Yoan Miche, Amaury Lendasse, Guilherme A. Barreto

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The Minimal Learning Machine (MLM) Has Been Recently Proposed as a Novel Supervised Learning Method for Regression Problems Aiming at Reconstructing the Mapping between Input and Output Distance Matrices. Estimation of the Response is Then Achieved from the Geometrical Configuration of the Output Points. Thanks to its Comprehensive Formulation, the MLM is Inherently Capable of Dealing with Nonlinear Problems and Multidimensional Output Spaces. in This Paper, We Introduce an Extension of the MLM to Classification Tasks, Thus Providing a Unified Framework for Mult response Regression and Classification Problems. on the Basis of Our Experiments, the MLM Achieves Results that Are …

Data Preprocessing And Model Design For Medicine Problems, Alberto Guillén, Amaury Lendasse, Guilherme Barreto

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

No abstract provided.

Model Based Systems Engineering For System Of Systems Using Agent-Based Modeling, Paulette Acheson, Cihan H. Dagli, Nil Kilicay-Ergin

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Model Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) follows a model centric approach in contrast to the traditional document centric approach. The complexity of SoS development lends itself nicely to a model centric approach, especially a model that can represent the independence of the systems that comprise the SoS. An agent-based model provides a framework where the SoS and each system are independent entities with individual dynamics and interactions. The System of Systems (SoS) development depends on contributions from the individual systems each having their own agenda and priorities. System-to-system interactions are often necessary to accomplish the overall objectives and capabilities of the …

Optimized Estimates Based On Multiple Sensor Configuration Knowledge, Roochi Mishra

Industrial, Manufacturing, and Systems Engineering Dissertations - Archive

There has been an increase in the usage of sensor technology as they are adaptable for use in different environments, many of which are hostile to direct human observation, such as regions affected by land mines or forest fires. The sensors used to monitor developing situations are small inexpensive computing devices with limited processing capabilities, limited power supply and may be destroyed in the event that they are monitoring, without suffering a great financial cost. Also, since these devices are inexpensive, multiple sensors can be deployed for the same application where the sensors are placed or attached to a mobile …

Mathematical Programming Approaches For Land Use Planning That Limits Urban Sprawl, Piyush Kumar

Industrial, Manufacturing, and Systems Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Sprawl has a detrimental effect on quality of life and the environment. For example, it increases our dependence on vehicles for daily tasks. This leads to increased vehicular pollution. It also increases traffic, which results in people spending more time on the road. With dwindling resources and increasing population, it becomes necessary that we manage sprawl. Ewing et al. defined factors to measure sprawl in the present urban structure. The measures are divided into four broad categories, which are density factors, mixed use factors, streets factor, and centers factors. These measures address various aspects that contribute to sprawl. For example, …

Variants Of Multivariate Adaptive Regression Splines (Mars): Convex Vs. Non-Convex, Piecewise-Linear Vs. Smooth And Sequential Algorithms., Diana Luisa Martinez Cepeda

Industrial, Manufacturing, and Systems Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Multivariate Adaptive Regression Splines (MARS) is a statistical modeling method used to represent high-dimensional data with interactions. It uses different algorithms to select the terms to be included in the approximation model that best represent the data. In addition, it performs a variable selection, therefore the most significant predictors are shown in the final model. Design and analysis of computer experiments (DACE) is a statistical technique for creating approximations (called metamodels) of computer models. For optimization problems in which there is an unknown function that must be approximated, DACE approach could be applied. In stochastic dynamic programming (SDP) for example, …

A Model Characterization Of The Texas Healthcare Facilities, Shernette R. Kydd

Industrial, Manufacturing, and Systems Engineering Dissertations - Archive

The Patient Protect and Affordable Care Act of 2010 became a law on March 23, 2010. This healthcare act, according to the authors, is designed to improve health services by targeting various facets of the industry: hospitals, private physicians, insurance companies and the drug industry - to name a few. It impacts many people, both directly and indirectly. The effects of this new law will most likely not immediately be recognized, although is it possible for "pockets: of success stories.The administration of Medicare is an area of interest primarily because of the finances involved. Today, there are many waste streams …

Nylon Tension Pid Control During Raw Tire Assembly, Yuan-Yu Luo

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to evaluate several control methods to see which one has the best control of nylon tension during raw tire assembly. After nylon application step of the tire building process, the shape of the tire will undergo inflation that causes the nylon layers to expand and produces tension gradient. To overcome such a problem, the process needs to preapply a nylon trip with a gradient of tension so the tension can be balanced after the inflation step. The study evaluated several PID controllers and gathered data to see which controller results in the best nylon …

Systems Simulation Using Promodel: An Online Teaching Method, Gustavo Sioni Bosoli

Masters Theses

This study was designed with the purpose to create an online method to deploy the concepts and practical knowledge necessary for the course System Simulation {TEC 5523) offered by Eastern Illinois University. The course is currently offered on a hybrid format, with part of it being ministered in the classroom and the remaining on the online environment. This research focused on creating a set of multimedia and step-by-step lessons aimed to substitute the part of the course that demands the students to be present in the classroom. These lessons were developed based on exercises from the textbook currently used for …

Risk Analysis: Comparative Study Of Various Techniques, Hanan Mohammad Altabbakh

Doctoral Dissertations

"Researchers in the safety field are facing more challenges everyday with the expanding modern socio-technical systems. Safety analysis such as hazard analysis, accident causation analysis, and risk assessment are being revisited to overcome the shortcoming of the conventional safety analysis. With increasingly complex human system interaction in today's modern systems, new safety challenges are being faced that needed to be assessed and addressed. Managers and engineers face the challenge to choose from the vast amount of techniques available and utilize the correct one. Indeed, new or improved risk assessment tools that can address these complexities are needed. One of the …

The Role Of Face-To-Face Interactions In The Success Of Virtual Project Teams, Lawrence Raymond Blenke

Doctoral Dissertations

"This dissertation examines the importance of in-person Face-To-Face (FTF) interactions in virtual engineering development projects. The basis for this investigation will be the hypothesis that FTF interactions increase the effectiveness, quality of communication, and the trust between participants beyond that achieved with purely computer mediated communication. Through a combination of a literature review and empirical research, this dissertation addresses the following questions: * How important is FTF interaction in virtual development work? * Do various functional areas and age groups rate the importance of FTF interactions differently? * How does FTF interaction affect the levels of trust and communication within …

Two Essays On Dynamic Programming And Reinforcement Learning, Shuva Ghosh

Doctoral Dissertations

"The semi-Markov decision process (SMDP) is a variant of the Markov decision process (MOP). This dissertation work focuses on the application of SMDPs to disaster response management and to maintenance management. Average and discounted reward are two popular performance metrics for MDPs/SMDPs. While both dynamic programming (DP) methods, i.e., value iteration and policy iteration, are commonly used to solve MDPs/SMDPs, value iteration is easier to apply than policy iteration. The existing value iteration algorithms for average reward SMDPs have some noteworthy limitations, which are sought to be overcome in this work. Reinforcement learning (RL) techniques, which are also studied in …

Real Options Modeling And Valuation Of Price Adjustment Flexibility With An Application To The Leasing Industry, Ahmed A. A. Al Sharif

Doctoral Dissertations

"Uncertainty poses not only threats but also opportunities. This study sought to build the scientific foundation for introducing a real options (ROs) methodology for price risk management to the leasing industry. A price risk management that allows for both coping with threats and taking advantage of opportunities. In the leasing industry, fixed rate long-term lease contracts help contract parties stabilize cash flows within volatile markets. The contract's term, however, may be extended long enough that prevent capturing the opportunities of gaining greater profits or reducing expenses. Therefore, the flexibility that enables participants to take advantage of favorable market price is …

A Comparison Of American And Asian Automakers' Vehicles In Quality, Reliability, And Safety, Ozge Senoz

Doctoral Dissertations

"Consumer Reports (CR) and J.D. Power and Associates (JDP) are two widely-known agencies that gather data on automobile quality and prepare reports on the data gathered that are related to various aspects of automobiles for different models for each manufacturer. This research has two overarching goals: The first is to determine if there are any clear differences in reliability, between the Japanese and U.S. auto-makers. The second is to determine if there is consistency between JDP and CR in the reliability ratings of vehicles. In order to attain these goals, this dissertation starts with the evaluation of these two major …

Development Of An Integrative Commissioning Methodology For New-Building Construction, William L. Gillis Iii

Doctoral Dissertations

"Commissioning (Cx) is a quality process for building construction used to verify that the owner's project requirements (OPR) are being met by the final design, construction, and operations and maintenance. The goal is to confirm that each phase of the project is linked back to the OPR through quality assurance methods. Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification is an OPR which contributes to difficulties within the design and construction (D&C) process. Though LEED certification is only part of the OPR, too often the design drifts from the OPR and simply focuses on meeting the LEED certification.

Quality function …

An Intuitive Design Pattern For Sequentially Estimating Parameters Of A 2k Factorial Experiment With Active Confounding Avoidance And Least Treatment Combinations, H.-S. Jacob Tsao, Minnie Patel

Faculty Publications

2k Full factorial designs may be prohibitively expensive when the number of factors k is large. The most popular technique developed to reduce the number of treatment combinations is the fractional factorial design; confounding in estimating the model parameters naturally results in various resolution and aberration levels. While very useful, these resolution levels may not satisfy experimenters’ requirements for estimatibility and cost reduction. For example, while Resolution V ensures a common requirement that no two-factor interactions are confounded, it also imposes an often undesired restriction that a main effect cannot be confounded with a three-factor interaction, which may very well …

Supply Chain Optimization Of Blood Products, Serkan Gunpinar

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Major challenges in the management of blood supply chain are related to the shortage and wastage of the blood products. Given the perishability characteristics of blood which can be stored up to a limited number of days, if hospitals and blood centers keep an excessive number of blood units on inventory, wastages may occur. On the other hand, if sufficient number of blood units are not stored on inventory, shortages of this resource may cause the cancellations of important activities and increase the fatality rates at hospitals. Three mathematical models have been developed with the goal to improve the efficiency …