Systems Engineering Commons^™

Can Generative Ai Make Farming Decisions? Current Status And Future Pathways: A Case Study In Row Crop Production With Chatgpt, Nipuna Chamara, Yufeng Ge, Joe Luck, Yu Pan, Saleh Taghvaeian, Cory Walters, Christopher Proctor, Daran Rudnick, Daren Redfearn

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

The agricultural decision-making process is experience-based, knowledge-dependent, time-sensitive, complex, and driven by historical data. Planting, fertilization, irrigation, and chemigation are key categories in farm decision-making, and currently there is no one-shot decision-support tool that covers all these activities. Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) models are more advanced than traditional machine learning and deep learning models. These models have been trained on vast amounts of data from the internet, allowing them to accept unstructured data in various forms and generate human-like text, solutions to problems, and scenario predictions. Given this capability, we became interested in exploring the potential of generative AI in …

An Analytical Framework For Quantifying Urban And Community Resilience To Natural Hazards From Cell-Phone Gps-Location And Traffic-Flow Data, Georgios Chatzikyriakidis

Civil and Environmental Engineering Theses and Dissertations

Urban areas are increasingly exposed to natural hazards while accommodating a growing share of the global population, yet a consistent science-based framework for quantifying urban and community resilience remains lacking. This dissertation develops a physics-based analytical framework grounded in statistical mechanics and the quantitative theory of Brownian motion. A city is conceptualized as a complex medium in which citizens move analogously to Brownian particles within a viscoelastic environment, influenced by socioeconomic interactions and infrastructure functionality.

A central premise is that urban resilience, interpreted as engineering resilience (an outcome), can be quantified through a single metric: the mean-square displacement MSD=⟨r²(t)⟩, of …

Assessing Passenger Electric Vehicle Growth Strategies And Their Impacts On Electricity Demand Load And Co2 Emissions In Aceh Province To Achieve Net Zero Emission Target By 2060, Taufik Hidayat, Widodo Wahyu Purwanto

Journal of Materials Exploration and Findings

The electrification of the transport sector is a crucial pathway for achieving Indonesia’s Net Zero Emissions (NZE) target by 2060. This study assesses the potential impact of passenger electric vehicle (EV) penetration on electricity demand and CO2 emissions in Aceh Province through a scenario-based modelling approach. Two policy-aligned scenarios are assessed: a low-penetration (LP) scenario and a high-penetration (HP) scenario. Using the Gompertz model and the ASIF framework, total CO2 emissions were projected from 2020 to 2060. Results show that although higher EV penetration reduces direct emissions from internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, total CO2 emissions increase more significantly under …

Statewide Corridor Evacuation Response And Re-Entry Behaviors In Florida During Hurricane Irma, Xin Wang, Yuan Zhu, Hong Yang, Kun Xie

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Hurricane Irma stands as one of the most destructive tropical storms to make landfall in the United States, particularly impacting the State of Florida, where it prompted the largest evacuation in history with approximately 7 million residents. The profound consequences of mass evacuation underscore the critical need to understand travel behaviors during hurricane evacuation and the recovery process. This research analyzes statewide evacuation and re-entry patterns, leveraging diverse datasets, including TTMS data from main corridors and GIS data. A statewide corridor-based empirical analysis framework is constructed to characterize evacuation and re-entry response patterns using sensor-based traffic observations. The results show …

Workshop Outcomes Report: 2nd International Workshop On Seismic Resilience Of Arctic Infrastructure And Social Systems, Majid Ghayoomi, Daniela Morganti

Faculty Publications

The report provides an overview of the second international workshop on Seismic Resilience of Arctic Infrastructure and Social Systems. The report discusses agenda, workshop activities, interdisciplinary working groups, and results. It ends with several strategic questions and investigation plans that were developed as part of the workshop activities.

Developing A Waste-To-Energy Assessment Framework Integrating Engineering And Policy Dimensions Using A Triple Bottom Line Approach, Izech Brian O. Edwin, King Harold A. Recto

Electronics, Computer, and Communications Engineering Faculty Publications

The management of municipal solid waste (MSW) in swiftly urbanizing Philippine cities has emerged as a critical concern in both energy and governance. Dependence on landfills is approaching critical thresholds as disposal sites near saturation, transportation costs escalate, and host communities increasingly resist garbage transfers. In response, this study proposes a comprehensive Waste-to-Energy (WtE) assessment framework that integrates engineering evaluation with policy and stakeholder analysis to support sustainable decision- making.

Using Baguio City as a case study, the framework applies a Triple Bottom Line (TBL) approach to evaluate three waste management scenarios: (1) current landfill-dominated practices, (2) engineered landfill with …

Data-Driven Evaluation Of Sustainable Waste-To-Energy Pathways For Intelligent Urban Systems, Izech Brian O. Edwin, King Harold A. Recto

Electronics, Computer, and Communications Engineering Faculty Publications

The handling of municipal solid waste (MSW) in swiftly urbanizing Philippine cities poses intricate energy and governance challenges. In Baguio City, reliance on landfills has reached critical levels due to diminishing capacity, rising transport costs, and opposition to trash transfers by nearby LGUs. Although shaped by unique topographical and governance constraints, Baguio’s situation reflects issues faced by other rapidly growing Philippine cities; therefore, analyzing it offers insights for national MSW decision-making. This study applies a triple bottom line (TBL) framework to assess three management scenarios: (1) Status Quo, where all MSW is landfilled with no energy recovery; (2) Landfill with …

Engineering Risk And Indigenous Resilience Toward Intelligent Decision Support For Mining In Ancestral Lands, Izech Brian O. Edwin, King Harold A. Recto

Electronics, Computer, and Communications Engineering Faculty Publications

Mining within ancestral territories reveals an ongoing conflict between technical viability and Indigenous consent. This collaborative study, conducted by an engineering scholar and a policy researcher of Indigenous heritage in Benguet among the Ibaloi and Kankanaey peoples, investigates how risk transparency and policy alignment can bridge existing divides, while formulating principles applicable to other Indigenous mining contexts. The study provides an initial evaluation of the feasibility of a proposed large-scale mining operation within a risk-informed, data-driven governance framework. Three elements of engineering risk were assessed utilizing literature-derived and proxy parameters: (1) Land degradation is indicated by a Soil Productivity Index …

Carbon Accountability Scores: A Process-Oriented Approach For Carbon Offsetting Using Ai Agents, Joshit Mohanty, Vaishali Vaishali

Graduate Student Government Association Research Conference

Conventional carbon offset programs rely on quantified emissions to determine balancing requirements. While this approach offers a standardized means of measuring carbon output, it often provides industries with a loophole—allowing them to offset their emissions by purchasing equivalent credits for activities such as tree planting rather than tackling inefficiencies at the source. This research proposes a process-based framework called Carbon Accountability Scores (CA scores) to offer a proactive strategy for assessing and reducing carbon footprints. Instead of focusing on the mere balancing of emitted and sequestered carbon, CA scores integrate an organization’s operational processes into the calculation, thereby offering the …

The Application Of Decision Analysis Theory For Space Allocation At The Air Force Institute Of Technology, Damian N. Soriano

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis investigates the application of Decision Analysis Theory to optimize space allocation at the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT). Through a Multi-Objective Decision Analysis (MODA) framework, this study addresses existing methodologies for space allocation in military, academic, and office settings; the rules, limitations, and factors influencing space utilization at AFIT; and approaches to improve office and lab allocations for institutional efficiency and fairness. This research incorporates qualitative and quantitative metrics, including faculty and student data, research outputs, and historical space usage. These findings highlight significant complexities in space allocation, particularly in reconciling administrative and research requirements with structural …

Physics-Informed Deep Learning With Kalman Filter Mixture For Traffic State Prediction, Niharika Deshpande, Hyoshin (John) Park

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

Accurate traffic forecasting is crucial for understanding and managing congestion for efficient transportation planning. However, conventional approaches often neglect epistemic uncertainty, which arises from incomplete knowledge across different spatiotemporal scales. This study addresses this challenge by introducing a novel methodology to establish dynamic spatiotemporal correlations that captures the unobserved heterogeneity in travel time through distinct peaks in probability density functions, guided by physics-based principles. We propose an innovative approach to modifying both prediction and correction steps of the Kalman Filter (KF) algorithm by leveraging established spatiotemporal correlations. Central to our approach is the development of a novel deep learning model …

Examining The Impact Of Customer Rfp Characteristics On Award Compliance, Laasya Ravipati

Data Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

In the context of intermodal transportation, understanding the dynamics of award compliance holds significant importance for operational efficiency and strategic decision-making. Award compliance refers to the percentage of awarded freight volume that is realized, indicating the extent to which contractual agreements are fulfilled. This analysis delves into the intricate relationship between customer characteristics and award compliance, aiming to provide valuable insights into the variability and predictability of compliance rates. By analyzing Request for Pricing (RFP) data and primary awarded freight volumes, the study seeks to address the need for more accurate volume estimations, crucial for sales planning, revenue projections, and …

Box Packaging Waste Reduction By Largest Area First Fit Algorithm And Minimum Cuboid Estimation Of Irregular Shape Products, Jimmy Kwon, Sungmin Kwon

Journal of Applied Packaging Research

Nowadays, packaging waste is a prevalent issue due to the increase in deliveries from online shopping. In this research paper, a new approach to the issue of cardboard box packaging waste is proposed by selecting an optimal box that will contain both regular and irregular products while minimizing wasted volume. The method can be utilized so that packaging workers can select an appropriate, yet sustainable box. For computing a minimal cuboid of irregular objects, the system setup with two cameras is prepared to capture the overhead and sideview images, estimating the box's width, depth, and height in pixels. The proposed …

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, …

Operations Research In Civil And Environmental Engineering, Nicholas Lownes

Open Educational Resource

The purpose of this text is introduce fundamental operations research techniques to the civil and/or environmental engineering student, providing a broad background in linear programming, integer programming and network optimization. The material is presented in such a manner so that the student does not need an extensive background in operations research or or linear algebra. Applications include transportation engineering, project management and general civil and environmental engineering applications.

User-Interaction With A Web-Served Global Ground Motion Relational Database, T. E. Buckreis, C. C. Nweke, P. Wang, S. J. Brandenberg, R. Shams, M. E. Ramos-Sepulveda, R. Pretell, S. Mazzoni

Civil & Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

We present an application programming interface (API) which facilitates public access to a global relational database of earthquake ground motion intensity measures, associated metadata, and time-series data. Next Generation Attenuation (NGA)-East and NGA-West2 project spreadsheets have been adapted into a relational database format composed of multiple tables through a series of primary and foreign keys. The combined dataset has been expanded to include contributions from earthquakes, generally with magnitudes greater than M3.9, that have occurred since the conclusion of the data synthesis component of both projects in 2011. Currently the database includes 62,449 ground motions recorded at 9,092 stations for …

Effects Of Individual Strategies For Resource Access On Collaboratively Maintained Irrigation Infrastructure, Jordan L. Stern, Afreen Siddiqi, Paul N. Grogan

Faculty Publications

Built infrastructure for water and energy supply, transportation, and other such services underpins human well-being and socioeconomic development. A fundamental understanding of how infrastructure design and user strategies interact can guide important design decisions as well as policy formulation for ensuring long-term infrastructure viability in conjunction with improved individual user benefits. In this work, an agent based model (ABM) is developed to study this issue for the specific case of irrigation canals. Cooperatively maintained irrigation canals serve essential roles in sustaining agriculture-based economies in many regions. Canal system design can strongly affect benefits derived by distributed users, regional agricultural output, …

A Comparative Analysis Of Coastdown Testing Methods From An Electric Drive Unit Engagement Perspective Using A Student-Designed Parallel Hybrid Electric Vehicle, Dawson Everett Dunnuck

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Coastdown testing and road load determination are pivotal parts of the automotive design process. Vehicle manufacturers and independent companies perform and analyze road loads determined through a coastdown or similar method to determine a vehicle’s road load for modeling and EPA certification. For a traditional coastdown, the vehicle’s drivetrain must be disconnected through a clutch between the engine and the transmission while traveling at a high rate of speed to place the vehicle in neutral. This changes for hybrid and electric vehicles. Some hybrid, and most electric, vehicles delivered to customers do not have this clutch action to grant the …

Autonomous Vehicles On The Smart Roads: Challenges And Potentials, Laura Cristancho, Baleki Campbell, Mahyar Amirgholy

The Kennesaw Journal of Undergraduate Research

Self-driving vehicles and smart roads are not new concepts. These ideas have been discussed for many years but for much of this time, the required technology was not available to make them a reality. Just recently has our technology caught up to our ideas and we are beginning to see progress towards the realization of the automated highway system. As the transition to a complete automated system is still in progress, this leaves many questions that still need to be answered as well as allowing for novel solutions to be presented. Using modern research papers to formulate a sound basis …

Comparing Actively Managed Mutual Fund Categories To Index Funds Using Linear Regression Forecasting And Portfolio Optimization, Luke Weiner

Industrial Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

The global investment industry offers a wide variety of investment products especially for individual investors. One such product, index funds, which are younger than actively managed mutual funds, have typically outperformed managed funds. Despite this phenomenon, investors have displayed a tendency to continue investing in actively managed funds. Although only a small percentage of actively managed funds outperform index funds, the costs of actively managed funds are significantly higher. Also, managed fund performances are most often determined by their fund category such as growth or real estate. I wanted to answer the following question for individual investors: can we …

A Thematic And Reference Analysis Of Touchless Technologies, Eric R. Curia

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research is to explore the utility and current state of touchless technologies. Five categories of technologies are identified as a result of collecting and reviewing literature: facial/biometric recognition, gesture recognition, touchless sensing, personal devices, and voice recognition. A thematic analysis was conducted to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of the five categories. A reference analysis was also conducted to determine the similarities between articles in each category. Touchless sensing showed to have the most advantages and least similar references. Gesture recognition was the opposite. Comparing analyses shows more reliable technology types are more beneficial and diverse.

Quantifying Project Complexity To Resource Project Managers, Jereme R. Henrard

Theses and Dissertations

This research develops a multi-criteria decision analysis model to quantify project complexity and inform decision-makers in resource-constrained organizations with the Tyndall Program Management Office (PMO) as a case study. The complexity score is used as a risk metric to determine the appropriate number of skilled or novice project managers to effectively manage the PMO portfolio to mitigate cost and schedule overruns. The research provides an innovative approach to consider manning levels at the PMO and other project management-focused organizations/sections.

Adapting The Human Factors Analysis And Classification System For Commercial Fishing Vessel Accidents, Peter Zohorsky, Holly Handley, Ronald Boring (Ed.)

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

The commercial fishing industry is frequently described as one of the most hazardous occupations in the United States. The objective, to maximize the catch, is routinely challenged by a variety of elements due to the environment, the vessel, the crew, and how they interact with each other. This study developed and evaluated a version of Wiegmann and Shappell’s (2003) Human Factors Analysis and Classification System (HFACS), specifically for commercial fishing industry vessels (HFACS-FV), using data from ten years of fatal fishing vessel accidents. For this study, the accident investigation information was converted into the HFACS-FV format by independent raters and …

A Primer On The Human Readiness Level Scale (Ansi/Hfes 400-2021), Kelly Steelman, Holly Handley, Katie Plant (Ed.), Gesa Praetorius (Ed.)

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

"The Human Readiness Level (HRL) Scale is a simple 9-level scale for evaluating, tracking, and communicating the readiness of a technology for safe and effective human use. It is modeled after the well-established Technology Readiness Level (TRL) framework that is used throughout the government and industry to communicate the maturity of a technology and to support decision making about technology acquisition. Here we (1) introduce the ANSI/HFES 400-2021 Standard that defines the HRL scale and (2) provide concrete examples of evaluation activities to support the application of HRLs in the development of automated driving systems."

Improving Logistics Efficiency Through Collaborative Truck Routing, Patrick Dougherty

Industrial Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

The logistics industry is among the world’s largest and most essential. Specifically, trucking is a massive component of the modern logistics system. In 2012, truck transportation carried 68% of all freight tonnage in the U.S. However, trucking currently faces significant problems with efficiency and sustainability. Of all miles driven by trucks yearly in the U.S., 25% are driven with empty loads and 36% are driven with underutilized loads. In addition to this economic inefficiency, the industry faces social and environmental challenges. Driver turnover rates are near 100%, and trucking accounts for a significant level of greenhouse gas emissions. One potential …

A Decision-Support System For The Deployment Tasking Process Of U.S. Air Force Civil Engineer Officers, Kenneth A. Neal

Theses and Dissertations

The Armed Forces frequently deploy their personnel to expeditionary locations around the world. For example, the Air Force tasks its personnel to deploy based on a six-month rotational cycle. In the current tasking process, the deployment makes its way down from combatant commanders to squadron commanders through the chain of command. The commander then has a few days to select an individual from their unit to fill the tasking. The commander may consider an individuals’ dwell time, home-station position, and upcoming significant life events; however, because commanders have little time and information, minimum requirements selection criteria often become the driving …

Computational Modeling For Decision-Making Under Climate Change Uncertainty: Reservoir Simulation Game, Julianne Quinn

All ECSTATIC Materials

Almost every decision you make is under uncertainty. Will I need a rain jacket in the afternoon? Will they say yes if I ask them out? Is 1 hour enough time to finish this assignment? Oftentimes, we can use computational modeling to simulate different scenarios of what might happen in the future to inform what decisions are best on average, or what decisions minimize the worst case outcome. For example, you could decide what player to draft for your Fantasy Football team by simulating player performance. In this activity, we will simulate how much water to release from a dam …

Analytical Assessment Of Project Complexity: A Guide To Managing Projects Through Reduction Of Complexity, Christopher Vanarsdale

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

This research discusses the characteristics that make projects difficult to manage. Project inefficiencies and failures can be attributed to the structure of a system. Developing a measurement for complexity based on the number and nature of interactions in the system can allow project complexity to be reduced while still meeting project objectives. Previous research has identified characteristics or markers of complex systems but does not address how to measure or how to reduce a system’s complexity.

The objective of this dissertation is to develop a metric for complexity that assists project and emergency managers in reducing project complexity either by …

Developing Open Source Software Using Version Control Systems: An Introduction To The Git Language For Documenting Your Computational Research, Jared D. Smith, Jonathan D. Herman

All ECSTATIC Materials

Version control systems track the history of code as it is committed (saved) by any number of developers. Have you made a coding error and cannot debug it? Version control systems allow for resetting code back to when it worked, and show what code has changed since previous commits.

The contents of this lecture provide an introduction to the git version control language, GitHub for cloud hosting open source code repositories, and tutorials that demonstrate common and useful git and GitHub practices. This lecture is intended to be coupled with a discussion on creating reproducible computational research.

The zipped folder …

Understanding Rural Water Services As A Complex System: An Assessment Of Key Factors As Potential Leverage Points For Improved Service Sustainability, Nicholas Valcourt, Jeffrey P. Walters, Amy Javernick-Will, Karl Linden, Betelhem Hailegiorgis

Faculty Publications - Biomedical, Mechanical, and Civil Engineering

Rural water supply services worldwide consistently fail to deliver full public health impacts as intended due to a low service sustainability. This failure is increasingly attributed to weak local systems composed of social, financial and environmental factors. Current approaches in the water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) sector for understanding and improving these systems typically focus on the strength and capacity of these factors, but not the interactions between them. We contend that these approaches overlook the inherent complexity and context-specific nature of each local system. To assess this complexity, we conducted four participatory factor mapping workshops with local stakeholders across …