Industrial Technology Commons^™

Innovative Controls For Combustible Particulate Dust In Industrial Refineries, Sadie Dickman

Discovery Day - Daytona Beach

This project entails an extensive analysis of the occupational combustible dust hazard that exists in industrial refineries, including food processing, manufacturing, and metalworking facilities. Based on prior accidents like the 2008 Imperial Sugar and 2017 Didion Milling explosions, combustible dust causes fire and explosion risks that can result in damages, injuries, and fatalities. Through comparison of OSHA regulations, NFPA standards, and accident data, a lack of effective standards regarding training, audits, ventilation, fire prevention, and adequate housekeeping measures were highlighted to be an existing safety gap. The purpose of this study is to propose administrative controls to mandate companies to …

C.S.A. Assessment - Tamp Family Health Center Portal, Delante Clark

Graduate Scholarship and Creative Works

This C.A.S. assessment evaluates how the Tampa Family Health Centers website influences userattention, cognitive processing, information accessibility, navigation efficiency, and digital user experience.The assessment examines whether the platform supports intentional engagement and informed decision-making while minimizing cognitive overload, distraction, confusion, and unnecessary attentional demands.

TFHC serves as a healthcare access portal providing appointment scheduling, patient resources, providerinformation, healthcare services, MyChart access, payment services, and community health resources.These functions make attention management and information clarity critical to successful user outcomes.

Integrasi Metodologi Hazop Dalam Pengendalian Risiko Dan Keberlanjutan Operasional Pada Unit Pemulihan Urea: Studi Kasus Pada Industri Pupuk, Riny Yolandha Parapat, Arin Nur'aini Putri, Aryasatya Ramadhan Sukresno

National Journal of Occupational Health and Safety

The fertilizer industry is one of the chemical sectors with high-risk potential due to its operational processes involving hazardous materials as well as extreme pressure and temperature conditions. This study aims to identify and analyze hazards in the urea recovery unit using the Hazard and Operability Study (HAZOP) method, while also formulating effective risk control strategies to support the operational sustainability of the plant. The study was conducted directly at a commercial fertilizer plant in West Java using a semi-quantitative approach, which included field observations, review of technical documents such as Process Flow Diagrams (PFD), Piping and Instrumentation Diagrams (P&ID), …

Ai-Scm Cmm: A Capability Maturity Model For Artificial Intelligence Integration In Supply Chain Management, Lordt Becklines, Omar F. El-Gayar, Patti Brooks, Insu Park

Annual Research Symposium

Artificial intelligence is increasingly deployed in supply chain management, yet many organizations struggle to align adoption efforts with process readiness, data quality, governance, and workforce capabilities, and they still lack validated supply chain specific roadmap for assessing readiness, sequencing investments, and reducing implementation risk. This study develops and evaluates a Capability Maturity Model for Artificial Intelligence Integration in Supply Chain Management to address that gap. Using a design science research approach, the study synthesizes prior literature and practitioner knowledge to define maturity dimensions, capability indicators, and staged progression levels for AI integration in supply chain contexts. The artifact and assessment …

A Capability Maturity Model For Artificial Intelligence Integration In Supply Chain Management, Lordt Becklines

Dissertations

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming Supply Chain Management (SCM), yet many organizations struggle to assess their readiness for AI adoption and to understand how AI capabilities develop across maturity stages. This dissertation addresses this gap by developing a Capability Maturity Model (CMM) for AI integration in SCM, grounded in Organizational Information Processing Theory (OIPT), the Resource-Based View, and related capability frameworks. The model provides a structured approach for evaluating an organization's information-processing requirements, resource configurations, and alignment needed for effective AI-enabled supply chain operations.

Using a design science research approach, the AI-SCM CMM and its associated assessment instrument were derived …

Containerization Of Seafarers In The International Shipping Industry: Contemporary Seamanship, Maritime Social Infrastructures, And Mobility Politics Of Global Logistics, Liang Wu

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation discusses the mobility politics of container shipping and argues that technological development, political-economic order, and social infrastructure co-produce one another. Containerization, the use of standardized containers to carry cargo across modes of transportation that is said to have revolutionized and globalized international trade since the late 1950s, has served to expand and extend the power of international coalitions of states and corporations to control the movements of commodities (shipments) and labor (seafarers). The advent and development of containerization was driven by a sociotechnical imaginary and international social contract of seamless shipping and cargo flows. In practice, this liberal, …

Reliability Modeling And Improvement Of Critical Infrastructures: Theory, Simulation, And Computational Methods, José Carlos Hernández Azucena

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation presents a framework for developing data-driven tools to model and improve the performance of Interconnected Critical Infrastructures (ICIs) in multiple contexts. The importance of ICIs for daily human activities and the large volumes of data in continuous generation in modern industries grant relevance to research efforts in this direction. Chapter 2 focuses on the impact of disruptions in Multimodal Transportation Networks, which I explored from an application perspective. The outlined research directions propose exploring the combination of simulation for decision-making with data-driven optimization paradigms to create tools that may provide stakeholders with optimal policies for a wide array …

Efficient Routing For Disaster Scenarios In Uncertain Networks: A Computational Study Of Adaptive Algorithms For The Stochastic Canadian Traveler Problem With Multiple Agents And Destinations, Neel Chanchad

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The primary objective of this research is to develop adaptive online algorithms for solving the Canadian Traveler Problem (CTP), which is a well-studied problem in the literature that has important applications in disaster scenarios. To this end, we propose two novel approaches, namely Maximum Likely Node (MLN) and Maximum Likely Path (MLP), to address the single-agent single-destination variant of the CTP. Our computational experiments demonstrate that the MLN and MLP algorithms together achieve new best-known solutions for 10,715 instances. In the context of disaster scenarios, the CTP can be extended to the multiple-agent multiple-destination variant, which we refer to as …

Analyzing Vulnerabilities In The Northwest Arkansas Highway Network Using Mathematical Optimization, Brandon Jerome

Industrial Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

The highway and bridge network is a critical infrastructure that allows for the free transportation of citizens and enables truck-borne freight transportation. Disruption of this system could be caused by a terrorist attack, natural disaster, growth of population, required repairs and upgrades, or collapse caused by old age or malfunction. In the event of a disruption cities and regions can experience increased traffic and supply chain shortages, thus causing cascading effects throughout surrounding areas. With this motivation, we develop a network interdiction optimization model to identify a limited subset of roads that, if disrupted, causes the greatest increase in the …

Supervised Representation Learning For Improving Prediction Performance In Medical Decision Support Applications, Phawis Thammasorn

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Machine learning approaches for prediction play an integral role in modern-day decision supports system. An integral part of the process is extracting interest variables or features to describe the input data. Then, the variables are utilized for training machine-learning algorithms to map from the variables to the target output. After the training, the model is validated with either validation or testing data before making predictions with a new dataset. Despite the straightforward workflow, the process relies heavily on good feature representation of data. Engineering suitable representation eases the subsequent actions and copes with many practical issues that potentially prevent the …

Predicting The Likelihood And Scale Of Wildfires In California Using Meteorological And Vegetation Data, Matthew Walters

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Wildfires have devastating ecological, environmental, economical, and public health impacts through the deterioration of water and air quality, CO2 emissions, property damage, and lung illnesses. The early detection and prevention of wildfires allow for the minimization of these risks. The use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in wildfire detection and prediction has been highly researched as a tool to assist firefighters in stopping wildfires in its early stages. The three common wildfire prediction categories include image and video detection, behavior prediction, and susceptibility prediction. Data such as climate, weather, vegetation, satellite images, and historical wildfire data is most commonly used. Many …

Optimization In The Application Of Varnishes Barrier On Cartonboard Packaging, Andre Ramalheiro De Andrade, Maria Isabel Rodrigues Phd, Eduardo Luiz Machado Phd

Journal of Applied Packaging Research

In this work adjustments in the rotogravure printing process are proposed to the varnish water vapor transmission rate (WVTR) aiming to obtain results smaller than 20g/m²/24h. One case study was used for the propositions for improvements, where focused on varnish application process in a gravure printer for an eight-printing unit cartonboard packaging, maximum printing speed of 175 m/min and a 285 g/m² weight cartonboard. The possible variables that influenced the WVTR result were selected from the technical expertise of the people involved in the project, the analysis in the printing process with the application of directed trials using experimental designs …

Deployment Policies To Reliably Maintain And Maximize Expected Coverage In A Wireless Sensor Network, Nicholas T. Boardman

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The long-term operation of a wireless sensor network (WSN) requires the deployment of new sensors over time to restore any loss in network coverage and communication ability resulting from sensor failures. Over the course of several deployment actions it is important to consider the cost of maintaining the WSN in addition to any desired performance measures such as coverage, connectivity, or reliability. The resulting problem formulation is approached first through a time-based deployment model in which the network is restored to a fixed size at periodic time intervals. The network destruction spectrum (D-spectrum) has been introduced to estimate reliability and …

Enabling The “Easy Button” For Broad, Parallel Optimization Of Functions Evaluated By Simulation, Andrew Gibson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Java Optimization by Simulation (JOBS) is presented: an open-source, object-oriented Java library designed to enable the study, research, and use of optimization for models evaluated by simulation. JOBS includes several novel design features that make it easy for a simulation modeler, without extensive expertise in optimization or parallel computation, to define an optimization model with deterministic and/or stochastic constraints, choose one or more metaheuristics to solve it and run, using massively parallel function evaluation to reduce wall-clock times.

JOBS is supported by a new language independent, application programming interface (API) for remote simulation model evaluation and a serverless computing environment …

Quantitative Set-Based Design For Complex System Development, Nicholas J. Shallcross

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation comprises a body of research facilitating decision-making and complex system development with quantitative set-based design (SBD). SBD is concurrent product development methodology, which develops and analyzes many design alternatives for longer time periods enabling design maturation and uncertainty reduction. SBD improves design space exploration, facilitating the identification of resilient and affordable systems. The literature contains numerous qualitative descriptions and quantitative methodologies describing limited aspects of the SBD process. However, there exist no methodologies enabling the quantitative management of SBD programs throughout the entire product development cycle. This research addresses this knowledge gap by developing the process framework and …

Scheduling Allocation And Inventory Replenishment Problems Under Uncertainty: Applications In Managing Electric Vehicle And Drone Battery Swap Stations, Amin Asadi

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation, motivated by electric vehicle (EV) and drone application growth, we propose novel optimization problems and solution techniques for managing the operations at EV and drone battery swap stations. In Chapter 2, we introduce a novel class of stochastic scheduling allocation and inventory replenishment problems (SAIRP), which determines the recharging, discharging, and replacement decisions at a swap station over time to maximize the expected total profit. We use Markov Decision Process (MDP) to model SAIRPs facing uncertain demands, varying costs, and battery degradation. Considering battery degradation is crucial as it relaxes the assumption that charging/discharging batteries do not …

Resilience-Driven Post-Disruption Restoration Of Interdependent Critical Infrastructure Systems Under Uncertainty: Modeling, Risk-Averse Optimization, And Solution Approaches, Basem A. Alkhaleel

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Critical infrastructure networks (CINs) are the backbone of modern societies, which depend on their continuous and proper functioning. Such infrastructure networks are subjected to different types of inevitable disruptive events which could affect their performance unpredictably and have direct socioeconomic consequences. Therefore, planning for disruptions to CINs has recently shifted from emphasizing pre-disruption phases of prevention and protection to post-disruption studies investigating the ability of critical infrastructures (CIs) to withstand disruptions and recover timely from them. However, post-disruption restoration planning often faces uncertainties associated with the required repair tasks and the accessibility of the underlying transportation network. Such challenges are …

Efficiently Estimating Survival Signature And Two-Terminal Reliability Of Heterogeneous Networks Through Multi-Objective Optimization, Daniel Bruno Lopes Da Silva

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The two-terminal reliability problem is a classical reliability problem with applications in wired and wireless communication networks, electronic circuit design, computer networks, and electrical power distribution, among other systems. However, the two-terminal reliability problem is among the hardest combinatorial problems and is intractable for large, complex networks. Several exact methods to solve the two-terminal reliability problem have been proposed since the 1960s, but they have exponential time complexity in general. Hence, practical studies involving large network-type systems resort to approximation methods to estimate the system's reliability. One attractive approach for quantifying the reliability of complex systems is to use signatures, …

Preventing Transmission Of Covid 19 In Hvac Duct Systems: Implementations Of Hvac System Design Upgrade, Jacob S. Lopez, Adama Barro

Publications and Research

The recent pandemic outbreak has triggered a global alarm to increase efforts on finding the best methods to mitigate contagious viral pathogens. This project is a continuation of our mission to study engineering guidelines needed to implement upgrades to HVAC Systems in order to deter airborne pathogens such as the covid-19 virus. In our previous projects we researched how covid-19 can possibly flow through the ambient air inside of restaurants, office spaces, and locomotive train cabins. As we continued our research, we were able to find some solutions that will be best used to deactivate and prevent the virus from …

Improve Outcomes In Lean Six Sigma With Servant Leadership, David W. Hoffa, Chad Laux, Manal Alduraibi

International Conference on Lean Six Sigma

1. Purpose

The purpose of this study was to explore lean leadership within Lean Six Sigma (LSS). The objective of this paper was to explore how LSS program success might be improved by focusing Black Belt efforts on mentoring Green Belts with a servant leadership model. The importance of Green Belt projects is typically overlooked in the literature. The effects of prioritizing the development of Green Belts and building a culture of continuous improvement over the traditional Black Belt project focus is explored.

2. Design/Methodology/Approach

The methodology of this paper is inspired by the authors’ field experiences in managing LSS …

Regression Analysis Of Pacing When Running A Marathon, Hawkin Starke

Industrial Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Regression analysis can be an effective way of examining performance in the marathon event. By splitting up the race into segments or in runner terminology “splits” the significance of each segment as it relates to the total finish time can be explored. Because the idea of splits is already ingrained into the minds of runners, it makes intuitive sense to use these as the metrics to define a race. Additionally, marathons generally make participant age and gender date publicly available which can then be used to find trends within specific demographics. This tailors trends to smaller groups of people, making …

Identifying Scotomata In Hazard Identification Caused By Ignorance And Overconfidence, Allen Johanson

Masters Theses

The manufacturing and construction industries are two of the most dangerous professions, and employees are frequently exposed to hazards and hazardous conditions which can lead to serious injury or even death. An observed phenomenon, frequently called the Dunning-Kruger Effect states that unskilled people are often unaware of their shortcomings and those with the higher-level skills often underestimate their abilities. This study examines employees’ training, years of experience, and performance to gauge any correlations among these variables in the area of hazard awareness. The goal of this study is to help individuals to recognize blind spots in their knowledge to identify …

ℓ-Ctp: Utilizing Multiple Agents To Find Efficient Routes In Disrupted Networks, Andrew Alseth

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Recent hurricane seasons have demonstrated the need for more effective methods of coping with flooding of roadways. A key complaint of logistics managers is the lack of knowledge when developing routes for vehicles attempting to navigate through areas which may be flooded. In particular, it can be difficult to re-route large vehicles upon encountering a flooded roadway. We utilize the Canadian Traveller’s Problem (CTP) to construct an online framework for utilizing multiple vehicles to discover low-cost paths through networks with failed edges unknown to one or more agents a priori. This thesis demonstrates the following results: first, we develop the …

Fujio Cho Legacy Lecture Notes, Fujio Cho, Kozo Saito

Institute of Research for Technology Development Textbook Gallery

The Fujio Cho legacy lecture was created in 2013 as part of UK Institute of Research for Technology Development (IR4TD)’s True Lean Systems program to assist industrial clients to transform their organizations to a True Lean organization by effectively using principles and tools of Toyota Production System (TPS). During the years 1987-1994, Cho and Saito worked together to layout the foundation of the now well-established Toyota-University of Kentucky relationship on R&D, True Lean Systems, and production engineering, housed in IR4TD, the Toyota endowed Institute established in 2007 with the support from the Commonwealth of Kentucky under the research competitiveness trust …

Models For Data Analysis In Accelerated Reliability Growth, Cesar Alexander Ruiz Torres

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This work develops new methodologies for analyzing accelerated testing data in the context of a reliability growth program for a complex multi-component system. Each component has multiple failure modes and the growth program consists of multiple test-fix stages with corrective actions applied at the end of each stage. The first group of methods considers time-to-failure data and test covariates for predicting the final reliability of the system. The time-to-failure of each failure mode is assumed to follow a Weibull distribution with rate parameter proportional to an acceleration factor. Acceleration factors are specific to each failure mode and test covariates. We …

Improvement Of Geometric Quality Inspection And Process Efficiency In Additive Manufacturing, Yu Jin

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Additive manufacturing (AM) has been known for its ability of producing complex geometries in flexible production environments. In recent decades, it has attracted increasing attention and interest of different industrial sectors. However, there are still some technical challenges hindering the wide application of AM. One major barrier is the limited dimensional accuracy of AM produced parts, especially for industrial sectors such as aerospace and biomedical engineering, where high geometric accuracy is required. Nevertheless, traditional quality inspection techniques might not perform well due to the complexity and flexibility of AM fabricated parts. Another issue, which is brought up from the growing …

Simulation Modeling Of Cross-Dock And Distribution Center Based Supply Chains, Ghewa Al Chall

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Companies are implementing new strategies to meet the customer requirements in terms of quality, timing, and cost. One of these strategies is cross-docking, which can be defined as the process of consolidating the products coming from different suppliers, but having the same destination, with minimal handling and almost no storage between loading and unloading of the goods. The purpose of this research is to investigate the benefits of having a cross-docking facility in a supply chain. In this research, we focus on developing discrete event simulation models using the opensource Java Simulation Library (JSL). Also, we work on augmenting an …

Dual-Axis Solar Tracker, Bryan Kennedy

All Undergraduate Projects

Renewable energies, and fuels that are not fossil fuel-based, are one of the prolific topics of debate in modern society. With climate change now becoming a primary focus for scientists and innovators of today, one of the areas for the largest amount of potential and growth is that of the capturing and utilization of Solar Energy. This method involves using a mechanical system to track the progression of the sun as it traverses the sky throughout the day. A dual-axis solar tracker such as the one designed and built for this project, can follow the sun both azimuthally and in …

The Business Case For Industrial Safety: Revealing The Comprehensive Value Of Ergonomic Investments For Manufacturing Enterprises In Industry 4.0, Shane Stan

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

How can today’s manufacturing enterprises construct, implement, and optimize modern safety initiatives in a manner that will present maximum return on investment and facilitate enterprise growth? Furthermore, how can these manufacturers assure individual ergonomic investments become part of a larger strategy to facilitate organizational change in safety? This work addresses these questions by placing industrial ergonomics in a business improvement context which comprehensively presents the financial returns and growth opportunities poised by modern safety initiatives. Additionally, to further strengthen the business case for industrial safety, an ergonomic action planning framework is established to guide the creation of holistic safety programs …

Generalized Relay Network Design And Collaborative Dispatching In Truckload Transportation, Amin Ziaeifar

Operations Research and Engineering Management Theses and Dissertations

The truckload industry faces a serious problem of high driver shortage and turnover rate which is typically around 100\%. Among the major causes of this problem are extended on-the-road times where drivers handle several truckload pickup and deliveries successively; non-regular schedules and get-home rates; and low utilization of drivers dedicated time. These are by-and-large consequences of the driver-to-load dispatching method, which is based on point-to-point dispatching or direct shipment from origin-to-destination, commonly employed in the industry. In this dissertation, we consider an alternative dispatching method that necessitates careful design of an underlying network. In this scheme, a truckload on its …