Operations Research, Systems Engineering and Industrial Engineering Commons^™

Systems Approach To Producing Electrospun Polyvinylidene Difluoride Fiber Webs With Controlled Fiber Structure And Functionality, Brian D. Bell

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) is a functional polymeric material that can be used for a wide variety of applications. There are many new future applications that were recently suggested for electrospun PVDF fibers. Electrospinning is a process capable of producing nano to micro sized PVDF fibers in a web. It is important to control the structure of the web during electrospinning because by controlling the structure of the web it is possible for the PVDF fiber web to have increased performance in comparison to other common forms of PVDF.

While past scientific literature focused on applications of PVDF fibers, little was …

Forecasting Oled Tv Technology Using Bibliometrics And Fisher-Pry Diffusion Model, Yonghee Cho, Tugrul Unsal Daim, Paul Sklar

Engineering and Technology Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

The market of flat panel displays is experiencing rapid growth with the advancement of digital technologies in broadcasting service. The next challenge of LCD is OLED in TV market. The study attempts to investigate the trends in advanced or emerging technologies by determining their technology diffusion rates due to the lack of experiential data. With the development of information and communication technology, one of the recent methods to assist in technology forecasting is data mining in bibliometric or textual data from various sources such as patents, journals, and research awards. The information extracted from diverse sources can be employed in …

Timetable Management Technique In Railway Capacity Analysis: Development Of The Hybrid Optimization Of Train Schedules (Hots) Model, Hamed Pouryousef

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

There are two general approaches to improve the capacity in a rail corridor, either by applying new capital infrastructure investment or by improving the operation of the rail services. Techniques to evaluate the railway operation include modeling and optimization through the use of commercial timetable management and rail simulation tools. However, only a few of the existing tools include complete features of timetable management techniques (e.g. timetable compression) are equipped with an optimization model for rescheduling and timetable improvement and this is especially true when it comes to the U.S. rail environment that prevalently uses unstructured operation practices.

This dissertation …

Senior Design: Kong Toy Instruction-Manual Insertion, Marianna R. Smith, Rachael L. Innocenzi, Ashley N. Cuthbert

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The team’s goal is to design and test a prototype and procedure that will automate the insertion of the

Kong toy instructions into the cardboard packaging. This automation will increase the speed at which

the product is packaged and will serve as an aid to workers with limited dexterity who find the task

cumbersome.

Modeling Supply Chain Interdependent Critical Infrastructure Systems, Varun Ramachandran

Doctoral Dissertations

"While strategies for emergency response to large-scale disasters have been extensively studied, little has been done to map medium- to long-term strategies capable of restoring supply chain infrastructure systems and reconnecting such systems from a local urban area to national supply chain systems. This is, in part, because no comprehensive, data-driven model of supply chain networks exists. Without such models communities cannot re-establish the level of connectivity required for timely restoration of goods and services. This dissertation builds a model of supply chain interdependent critical infrastructure (SCICI) as a complex adaptive systems problem. It defines model elements, data needs/element, the …

Virtual Agent Interaction - Improving Cognitive Abilities And Trust For A Complex Visual Search Task, Heather H. Milecki

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Introduction: This thesis research examined a novel decision support aid ("Spatial Cue + Virtual Agent") on human performance in a simulated complex visual search task. Method: Participants in the "Control" condition did not receive support from an aid. Participants in the "Spatial Cue" condition received support from an aid in the form of a bounding box. Participants in the "Spatial Cue + Virtual Agent" condition received support from an aid in the form of a bounding box and a virtual agent. The aids' reliability was held constant at one level, 70 percent. Image difficulty was based on clutter; clutter was …

Investigation Of Cultural Bias Using Physiological Metrics: Applications To International Business, Renee Nicole Rigrish

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

In today's world, many business transactions and interactions are conducted cross-culturally. When going to a business meeting, it is essential avoid a major cultural faux pas in order to not offend your business partners. The Cultural Lens model is used to understand the origins of cultural mismatches. An individual must adjust their approach to a situation to create a cultural match. In adjusting this approach, cognitive biases are a potential result in cross-cultural scenarios. We investigate the Mirror Imaging Bias, which has been found to be a common result of a shortcut to decide how to act in a situation. …

Safety Culture Monitoring: A Management Approach For Assessing Nuclear Safety Culture Health Performance Utilizing Multiple-Criteria Decision Analysis, James Harold Warren Jr.

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Nuclear power plants are among the most technologically complex of all energy facilities. This complexity reflects the precision needed in design, maintenance and operations to harness the energy of the atom safely, reliably and economically. Nuclear energy thus requires consistent, high levels of organizational performance by the highly skilled professionals who operate and maintain nuclear power plants (Nuclear Energy Institute [NEI], 2014, p. 1).

A key element for achieving consistent, high levels of performance in a nuclear organization is its safety culture. Nuclear safety culture is for an organization what character and personality is for an individual: a feature that …

Table Of Contents

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

No abstract provided.

From The Desk Of The Editor

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

No abstract provided.

Table Of Contents

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

No abstract provided.

Table Of Contents

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

No abstract provided.

From The Desk Of The Editor

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

No abstract provided.

Table Of Contents

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

No abstract provided.

From The Desk Of The Editor

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

No abstract provided.

Color Removal From Pulp Mill Effluent Using Coal Ash Produced From Georgia Power Coal Combustion Plants, Christopher B. Willett

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Two environmental concerns currently face Georgia: coal fly ash (CFA) waste from coal power plants, and the effluent generated by pulp mills. Pulp mill effluent discolors surface waters into which it is discharged, and has been proven to negatively impact the dissolved oxygen and carbon necessary for aquatic life. The proposed solution is a cost-effective adsorption treatment using an inexpensive but abundantly available waste material: CFA. CFA possesses beneficial properties that allow it to effectively remove contaminants, and is available at significantly reduced cost. The primary research objective was to define treatment parameters that would result in the maximum removal …

A Decision Support Simulation Model For Bed Management In Healthcare, Raja A. Baru

Masters Theses

"In order to provide access to care in a timely manner, it is necessary to effectively manage the allocation of limited resources such as beds. Bed management is key to the effective delivery of high-quality and low-cost healthcare. An efficient utilization of beds requires a detailed understanding of the hospital's operational behavior. It is necessary to understand the behavior of a hospital in order to make necessary adjustments to its resources, and policies, which can improve patient's access to care. The aim of this research was to develop a discrete event simulation to assist in planning and staff scheduling decisions. …

An Agent Based Approach For Simulating Demo Enterprise Models, Mamadou Seck, Joseph Barjis

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

DEMO (design and engineering methodology for organization) is a theoretically grounded methodology for rigorous enterprise modeling. It provides relevant concepts from a construction perspective. As the methodology gains a wider audience, there is a growing interest in simulating DEMO models. Most attempts to develop a simulation approach for enterprise models in general, and the DEMO methodology in particular, are based on process oriented conceptualizations that are typically implementation in a discrete event paradigm. In this paper, we propose a conceptual framework for the translation of DEMO models into an agent based simulation. We will describe the DEMO methodology in some …

Modeling And Analysis Of Automated Storage And Retrievals System With Multiple In-The-Aisle Pick Positions, Faraz Ramtin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation focuses on developing analytical models for automated storage and retrieval system with multiple in-the-aisle pick positions (MIAPP-AS/RS). Specifically, our first contribution develops an expected travel time model for different pick positions and different physical configurations for a random storage policy. This contribution has been accepted for publication in IIE Transactions (Ramtin & Pazour, 2014) and was the featured article in the IE Magazine (Askin & Nussbaum, 2014). The second contribution addresses an important design question associated with MIAPP-AS/RS, which is the assignment of items to pick positions in an MIAPP-AS/RS. This contribution has been accepted for publication in …

Rote-Lcs Learning Classifier System For Classification And Prediction, Benjamin Daniels

Masters Theses

"Machine Learning (ML) involves the use of computer algorithms to solve for approximate solutions to problems with large, complex search spaces. Such problems have no known solution method, and search spaces too large to allow brute force search to be feasible. Evolutionary algorithms (EA) are a subset of machine learning algorithms which simulate fundamental concepts of evolution. EAs do not guarantee a perfect solution, but rather facilitate convergence to a solution of which the accuracy depends on a given EA's learning architecture and the dynamics of the problem.

Learning classifier systems (LCS) are algorithms comprising a subset of EAs. The …

A Valuation Model For Two-Stage Contract Negotiations Over Multiple Interdependent Issues, Nnaemeka U. Amaeshi

Masters Theses

"Most real-world negotiation scenarios involve multiple interdependent issues over which the negotiating parties will seek an agreement. Simultaneous negotiation over multiple interdependent issues is an especially challenging problem because utility functions of negotiating agents are typically nonlinear and difficult to analyze. Also, negotiations often happen under circumstances of incomplete information, where either party has either little or inaccurate information about the preferences or utilities of the other party. Consequently, negotiations may go over multiple rounds until a mutually acceptable agreement is reached. The objective of this research is to create a quantitative model of decision-making that helps one negotiating party …

Utilizing Learning Style Preferences And Quality Function Deployment For Curriculum Development, Julie M. Ezzell

Masters Theses

"Workplace requirements continually evolve to keep pace with the developing global market. To meet ever increasing standards, educational institutions have been investigating methods to prepare students for their future employment. Course modifications should be carefully considered to meet the requirements of all stakeholders, including those of the students. The objective of this research was to provide students with an overall better learning experience that tailors the teaching methods to his/her individual learning preferences. To meet this objective, a comprehensive survey was provided to an undergraduate course in quality. The survey documented the student's individuality when learning and made note of …

Engineered Surface Properties Of Porous Tungsten From Cryogenic Machining, Julius M. Schoop

Theses and Dissertations--Chemical and Materials Engineering

Porous tungsten is used to manufacture dispenser cathodes due to it refractory properties. Surface porosity is critical to functional performance of dispenser cathodes because it allows for an impregnated ceramic compound to migrate to the emitting surface, lowering its work function. Likewise, surface roughness is important because it is necessary to ensure uniform wetting of the molten impregnate during high temperature service. Current industry practice to achieve surface roughness and surface porosity requirements involves the use of a plastic infiltrant during machining. After machining, the infiltrant is baked and the cathode pellet is impregnated. In this context, cryogenic machining is …

Machining Strategies Exploring Reduction In Energy Consumption, Abdullah Al Mamun

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The main aim of this thesis is to explore machining strategies, analyzing energy consumption using Design of Experiments (DOE) at the material removal rate (MRR), compare to cutting geometrical trajectories according to CNC parameters such as spindle RPM, feed rate, depth of cut per pass and total depth of cut. Spindle RPM, depth of cut per pass, and feed rate are selected as the main three factors and each factor has two levels: low-level (-) and high-level (+). These experiments have been performed at an end-milling machine by using a concept of a constant volume of material removal processes in …

Strategies To Minimize The Impact Of Supply Chain Risk On Business Performance, Jonathan Opata

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The exposure of companies to turbulence, uncertainty, and vulnerability in their supply chain results in supply chain disruption with an estimate cost of $10 million for each supply chain disruption. The purpose of this case study was to explore the strategies supply chain managers use to mitigate supply chain disruption on business performance in a pharmaceutical company in Maryland. Contingency theory of fit formed the conceptual framework for this study. Participant perceptions were elicited in interviews with 11 supply chain managers regarding strategies to mitigate risks associated with supply chain disruptions. Data from interviews and supporting documents were processed and …

Bus Rapid Transit (Brt) Toolbox: Brt Person Throughput-Vehicle Congestion Tradeoffs, Li Jingquan, H.-S. Jacob Tsao, Ching-Yao Chan, Kun Zhou, Wei-Bin Zhang

Faculty Publications

This report documents a research effort to understand the current practice and issues associated with Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) planning and deployment. It reviewed the design options incorporated into existing BRT deployments across California and the nation. The project team interviewed practitioners of California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) Districts and transit agencies to understand the BRT project approval decision-making process, the impacts of BRT implementation and the Measures of Effectiveness (MOEs) for transit and non-transit system performance. The studies revealed that though Caltrans and transit agencies do use a similar set of MOEs for the evaluation of BRT projects, the …

A General Intuitive Design Pattern For Optimally Sequencing Treatment Combinations In 2k Factorial Experiment And A Simple Estimation Algorithm, H.-S. Jacob Tsao, Minnie Patel

Faculty Publications

The number of model parameters of a 2k factorial design grows exponentially. When the number of factors is large, numerous higher-order interactions constitute a vast majority of the model parameters while many of them do not exist or are insignificant. The classic methods of fractional factorial designs, Plackett–Burman designs, Taguchi designs, etc. seek an already developed and often cataloged design that fits exactly the problem being tackled or select a design that fits it the most. Most, if not all, of these designs were developed in absence of convenient computation tools and enjoy computational simplicity. The necessary number of treatment …

Achieving Reliable Generation \& Delivery Of Energy Through Robust Optimization, Anna Danandeh

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation, we elaborate on the inherent risks and uncertainties in power systems and associated industries, and develop practical solution methods to eliminate their adverse effects.

our research agenda consists of practice-driven problems in different stages of power generation as follows. (1) Affordable fuel procurement through developing a comprehensive fuel supply chain design and operations planning system for electricity generation companies, (2) reliable electricity generation through incorporating dynamic asset rating concept in the unit commitment problem, and (3) efficient demand management through proposing a job scheduling model for effective local generation consumption.

Since reliability cannot be compromised in energy …

Opening The Door To Breakthroughs That Address Strategic Organizational Needs: Applying Technology Roadmapping Tools And Techniques At An Electric Utility, James V. Hillegas-Elting, Terry Oliver, Joshua Binus, Tugrul Unsal Daim, Judith Estep, Jisun Kim

Engineering and Technology Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Over the course of a decade, the Bonneville Power Administration's Technology Innovation Office has developed a roadmapping approach that captures business challenges and opportunities critical to the agency, links these with barriers to success, and connects these with technical solutions and research questions. Senior leaders from across the agency establish strategic goals and objectives, and international technical subject matter experts are convened to articulate technology-associated paths to achieve these. Each roadmap captures insights from diverse experts in highly collaborative environments and focuses them on critically important topics. These roadmaps are an important element in the Bonneville Power Administration's strategic approach …

A Framework To Improve A Nation's Competitiveness Through Quality Awards And Performance Improvement Tools, Amr Alamri

Wayne State University Dissertations

Each country, represented by its government, aims to serve its citizens better. This is achieved by better utilization of resources and higher productivity. The ability to do so will lead to a competitive nation. Recently, countries were able to compare themselves in terms of competitiveness using international indexes and references. These references gave countries a benchmark to know where they exist compared to other nations. They help governments to understand their strengths and weaknesses within the competitiveness components. However, nations differ in the actions which are to be taken in order to improve their competitiveness. Governments establish and regulate many …