Systems Engineering Commons^™

Sports Analytics: Putting The Fun Back Into Analytics, Walt Degrange

Operations Management Presentations

With the recent success of sports teams heavily using analytics (Dodgers, Patriots, Capitals, Warriors, Leicester City F.C.), does this mean that analytics has gained a foothold in the sports world? I use a k-means clustering model to determine if performance since 2015 in the four major US sports can support this question. And is there a career path that a high school student can use to become a sports analytics professional? This presentation attempts to answer that question by exploring all the areas of the application of analytics in sports. The final point the brief makes is that by using …

Change Management: Increasing The Odds Of Adoption, Travis Mcneal

Operations Management Presentations

With rapid changes happening all around, organizations are finding themselves in positions where they need their workforce to adapt to new ways of working (technology, structural, process). Organizations develop strategies, programs and projects intended to address these changes. Unfortunately, history is littered with strategies and programs that fail to live deliver on expected results. This has led to the recent rise and proliferation of Change Management as a practice and skill set. Often times, however, Change Management theory is given preeminence over practicality. This webinar will explore practical and actionable ways you can take to immediately increase the odds …

Resilient Design And Crisis Management, Rich Ham

Operations Management Presentations

Explores the techniques to design resilience into systems, business functions, compliance, quality assurance and response to uncertainty. Includes an overview of Federal Emergency Management Agency principles in resilient design and crisis management, including implementation of National Incident Management System processes and industry standards to frame resilient design, procedures and planning documents. Learn to focus on the use of testing, exercises, and implementation of Plan, Do, Check, Act model to continually improve government, business and personal continuity through periods of cascading uncertainty.

Maintenance Isn’T Just About Grease, Jim Burgin

Operations Management Presentations

Document maintenance is becoming a bit of a challenge. Slowly, but surely, business leaders are realizing that maintenance isn’t just a “necessary evil” but a competitive advantage that can help differentiate their company from others in the same industry. Maintenance is a broad concept, and this webinar is just to get you thinking about maintenance in a different way. Because of the “necessary evil” concept, professional maintenance resources are rare.

Maintenance costs real money. Depending on the size of the operation, labor, contractors, and material costs can be significant. While that seems like a lot of money, consider the costs …

Curriculum Optimization Via Activity-On-Node Network Modeling, Caroline Rhomberg

Industrial Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

University degree plans must be carefully planned so that they allow students the best chance of succeeding. Although for the better, with the advancement of technology and its incorporation into the classroom, it can be argued that the complexity and difficulty of some long-established engineering core classes has changed. With this trend certain combinations of engineering courses have become unfavorable in terms of course withdrawal and fail rates stemming from the interaction of course challenges. A wealth of data has been collected on this topic and will be utilized in this project. As one can imagine, the probability of success …

Intruder Preference And Route Selection: A Gis Data Approach, Griffin Mathews

Industrial Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) requested an Engineering Research and Development Center study incorporating modeling and simulation to determine the selection, amount, and optimal location of sensor suites along the U.S. Border. The study objective is to maximize the probability of detection and apprehension of illegal elements attempting to enter. A study on intruders and their preferences were conducted to create an intruder preference value map to determine the preferred intruder routes taken after crossing the border. The results of this research were integrated into another study on the selection and simulation of sensor suites.

Intruder context and preferences …

When Optimal Isn’T Optimal, Robin Burk

Operations Management Presentations

Whether you’re an operations manager, a financial executive, an engineer, or an analyst, chances are you’ve been taught to optimize the outcomes of your decisions. And taken in a vacuum, that makes a good deal of sense. But as the new discipline of complex adaptive networks shows, in our heavily interconnected, interdependent world optimizing can introduce hidden vulnerabilities to surprisingly expensive failures. In this webinar we’ll discuss examples of such failures and identify conditions for which a satisfactory but not optimal solution is the best approach overall.

Bootstrap Statistics, Greg Hutto

Operations Management Presentations

Bootstrap Statistics is an intuitive approach to learning statistics because of its simplicity, freedom from assumptions and wide applicability. This webinar will refresh your knowledge of statistics and give you intuitive tools to apply concepts. We will deduce robust methods to build point estimates, interval estimates and assert differences or similarities. If time permits, we’ll even evaluate statistical power! And we’ll do it all with only one major assumption and no curtain of math or normal theory clouding our procedures. The webinar will be accompanied by three papers, tool references, slides and a sample data set with solutions.

Investigation In Engineering Leadership Using System Engineering And Virtual Reality, Charles Davis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

System Engineering can help derive requirements and specifications to build virtual environments which are good to test behaviors and attitudes. Virtual simulations can have a strong impact because role-playing facilitates active learning, permits the acceptance of new concepts, and generates increased interest, enthusiasm, and motivation. Research over the last 50 years has shown that reasoning with and about context is an essential aspect of human cognition, permeating language, memory, and reasoning capabilities. This integral process is developed over a lifetime through experiential learning. In this research, we utilize systems engineering to capture guidelines from psychologist and concepts of technological leadership. …

Queueing-Inventory Models For A Two-Vendor System With Positive Service Times, Srinivas Chakravarthy, Khizer Hayat

Industrial & Manufacturing Engineering Publications

Queueing-inventory systems wherein the demands are processed with random service times have been getting a lot of attention recently. In such systems, each demand needs one or more inventory items and needs positive processing times. The inventory is generally replenished using -type policy and the lead times are assumed to be random. In this paper we introduce the concept of multiple vendors who will be responsible for the replenishment of inventory. Under the assumptions of a two-vendor system wherein the demands occurring according to a Markovian arrival process, the service times to be of phase type, and the lead times …

Enabling Flexibility Through Strategic Management Of Complex Engineering Systems, Walter Louis Barnes Ii

Doctoral Dissertations

”Flexibility is a highly desired attribute of many systems operating in changing or uncertain conditions. It is a common theme in complex systems to identify where flexibility is generated within a system and how to model the processes needed to maintain and sustain flexibility. The key research question that is addressed is: how do we create a new definition of workforce flexibility within a human-technology-artificial intelligence environment?

Workforce flexibility is the management of organizational labor capacities and capabilities in operational environments using a broad and diffuse set of tools and approaches to mitigate system imbalances caused by uncertainties or changes. …

Mazak Laser Optimization, Maylon Ellington, Terrilian E. Agbor Oji, William N. Palm

Senior Design Project For Engineers

Starflex Fabrication is a manufacturing company that thrives to provide custom, precision fabricated parts, and assemblies to their customers.The Mazak laser is Starflex Fabrication’s primary cutting machine and is critical to the overall process for each order. Team Flex will look to optimize the laser’s process and improve overall shop throughput.

Space Optimization And Process Improvement, Harith Alshareef

Senior Design Project For Engineers

Siemens Energy warehouse located in Suwanee, GA runs out of space in the Precision Lab due to rapid growth, seasonal peaks, and poor space utilization. The objective of the project is to redesign the Precision Lab layout and improve the tool assessment process to increase efficiency, productivity, and profitability.

The first solution is to add shelves in the Precision lab as well as the Torque lab and reduce the honeycombing effect on the shelves, which results in a 120%-150% increase in the storage space. We propose adding Tablets that include barcode scanner features to reduce the time spent on the …

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 …

Simulating Alternative Tuberculosis Diagnosis Methods In Underdeveloped Countries, Luke Turner

Industrial Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Tuberculosis is the deadliest infectious disease in the world; it is especially rampant in underdeveloped countries because they do not have the infrastructure, technology, or funding to properly combat the infection. However, the development of portable point-of-care diagnosis machines can reverse this epidemic as they far surpass conventional laboratory identification. The question now is where to place these machines, which is a difficult decision with a lack of data. Therefore, a flexible simulation model is created to test the implementation of these machines with different countries and configurations. The simulation tests the baseline model and three proposed implementations of the …

Extreme Altitude Search And Rescue Helicopter, Matthew J. De Sieno, Anthony Chavarria, David Stuver, Zach Boss

Senior Design Project For Engineers

The goal of this design was to develop an extreme altitude rescue helicopter capable of retrieving hikers stranded on top of Mount Everest. Using the Eurocopter AS350 as a baseline, a conceptual model was produced that is fully capable of hovering and delivering forward flight at the desired altitude of 8,848 meters. Combined blade element momentum theory, proper airfoil selection, and forward flight calculations were utilized in order to optimize the rotor for the given flight conditions on top of Mount Everest. Conceptual fluid dynamics and CAD modeling aided in the process of visually designing the fuselage and rotor. Not …

Supply Chain Network Analysis For Outboard Motors At Motor Boaters Usa, Seyedalireza (Ali) Ghiasi, Chase Griffith, Djanene Manuel, Yesenia Pérez, Alvand Rafiee

Senior Design Project For Engineers

Motor Boaters USA found themselves possibly spending too much on their current network distribution of small and large outboard motors and requested new distribution alternatives for the U.S. Through past network distribution data analysis, the team devised 3 scenarios it believed would provide one or more cost effective distribution networks applicable to the request. Through what-if analysis, the teams' calculations produced solid results, which were then presented to Motor Boaters USA for reflection and possible implementation.

An Engineered Approach To Site Selection: Determining Where Facilities Should Be Located, Kerry Melton

Operations Management Presentations

The importance of facility location has dramatically increased over the last several years as the U.S. economy has expanded and different metropolitan areas and markets have experienced population growth, infrastructure changes, labor availability improvements, and better technologies. Global competition has also created the need to further drive down costs and strategize the location of facilities such as distribution centers, freight consolidation centers, retail stores, manufacturing plants, supplier locations for raw materials, farms to grow crops, port facilities, etc. Due to the importance of facility location, this presentation will consider and evaluate several traditional and more modern methods for determining the …

An Aco-Inspired, Probabilistic, Greedy Approach To The Drone Traveling Salesman Problem, Jessica Houseknecht

Senior Honors Theses

In recent years, major companies have done research on using drones for parcel delivery. Research has shown that this can result in significant savings, which has led to the formulation of various truck and drone routing and scheduling optimization problems. This paper explains and analyzes a new approach to the Drone Traveling Salesman Problem (DTSP) based on ant colony optimization (ACO).

The ACO-based approach has an acceptance policy that maximizes the usage of the drone. The results reveal that the pheromone causes the algorithm to converge quickly to the best solution. The algorithm performs comparably to the MIP model, CP …

Quantifying Impact Of Cyber Actions On Missions Or Business Processes: A Multilayer Propagative Approach, Unal Tatar

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Ensuring the security of cyberspace is one of the most significant challenges of the modern world because of its complexity. As the cyber environment is getting more integrated with the real world, the direct impact of cybersecurity problems on actual business frequently occur. Therefore, operational and strategic decision makers in particular need to understand the cyber environment and its potential impact on business. Cyber risk has become a top agenda item for businesses all over the world and is listed as one of the most serious global risks with significant financial implications for businesses.

Risk analysis is one of the …

Supply Chain Risk, Ed Pohl

Operations Management Presentations

Supply chains are becoming more and more extended, leaner, and complicated. Not only has the global economy contributed to the complication and risk of our supply chains, we also face significant potential challenges with technology, economic, environmental changes, and social issues. Practitioners have never experienced so many challenges at one time in their career and these challenges are coming in ways we never anticipated. In this presentation, we will address the nature of supply chain risk in today’s world, how to identify the greatest risks in your supply chain, and strategies for mitigating the risks. Examples of specific risk factors …

Project Selection: The $1 Trillion Decisions, Leonard Nethercutt

Operations Management Presentations

This webinar will discuss project selection with a focus on both strategic and fi­nancial factors. Project selection directly influences the future results of a busi­ness either positively or negatively over time. During this presentation, we will examine the important link between strategic management, project management, and operations management to create future results and value. You will learn project selection methods and tips to help your organization make a positive impact on the future of your business.

The Role Of Artificial Intelligence In Business Decision Making, Chase Rainwater

Operations Management Presentations

When we think of artificial intelligence, we often are drawn to the self-driving cars, voice-based home technologies and automated online interactions that fill the news and drive our daily activities. However, the root of these advancements, machine learning, is a predictive analytics technique that has much broader applicability. With the age of “big data” and the buzz around “data science” continuing to grow, decision-makers are asking themselves if emerging technologies, such as machine learning, can help improve business processes.

In this seminar we will demystify the fundamental concepts that comprise machine learning. The differences between supervised and unsupervised learning, as …

A Design For Affordances Framework For Product Packaging: Food Packaging Case Study, Ahmad Abdelhafiz Mumani, Richard T. Stone, Esraa Abdelall

Journal of Applied Packaging Research

Since affordances provided by packaging features play a major role in facilitating user packaging interaction, it is important to integrate the concept of affordances into the packaging design process and to understand the interrelationships between packaging features and affordances. A framework is proposed for linking user requirements to packaging design features utilizing the concept of affordances. The framework is accomplished in two main steps; first, determine the affordances required to facilitate performing packaging-related tasks, and second, link these affordances to packaging features. Previous packaging usability studies were reviewed to elicit requirements in terms of affordance properties such as intuitiveness, responsiveness, …

Investigating A Cyber-Human System For Millennial Caregivers, Ashley Lofton

Theses

Research indicates that most caregiving of persons with dementia (PwD) is done by adults 49 years of age and older. However, millennials make up 25% of the estimated 44 million caregivers in the United States. Although the definition varies, “millennials” for this research is defined by those born between 1984 - 2000, which aligns with the research by Strauss and Howe (2003). Millennial caregivers are taking on this task as their parents or grandparents get older and diagnosed with dementia. Taking on the task of caring for a loved one with dementia can present itself as difficult because of competing …

An Analysis Of Resistance Spot Weld Quality Based On Acoustic And Electrical Signatures, Ivan Charles Butler

Theses and Dissertations--Manufacturing Systems Engineering

The union of a set of materials by way of Resistance Spot Welding is designed so that once fused together, a substantial amount of intentional, external force must be applied to separate the contents. Therefore, Resistance Spot Welding is often the preferred fusion method in high-volume manufacturing processes. The result of Resistance Spot Welding however is the formation of a weld nugget which is not visible to the naked eye. Destructive and/or ultrasonic methods applied off-line must be used to determine the quality of each weld; both inefficient and expensive processes. The following research analyzes the data fed back during …

Factors Affecting Systems Engineering Rigor In Launch Vehicle Organizations, Denton Gibson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Systems engineering is a methodical multi-disciplinary approach to design, build, and operate complex systems. Launch vehicles are considered by many extremely complex systems that have greatly impacted where the systems engineering industry is today. Launch vehicles are used to transport payloads from the ground to a location in space. Satellites launched by launch vehicles can range from commercial communications to national security payloads. Satellite costs can range from a few million dollars to billions of dollars. Prior research suggests that lack of systems engineering rigor as one of the leading contributors to launch vehicle failures. A launch vehicle failure could …

A Framework To Develop Anomaly Detection/Fault Isolation Architecture Using System Engineering Principles, Thomas Clark

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

For critical systems, timely recognition of an anomalous condition immediately starts the evaluation process. For complex systems, isolating the fault to a component or subsystem results in corrective action sooner so that undesired consequences may be minimized. There are many unique anomaly detection and fault isolation capabilities available with innovative techniques to quickly discover an issue and identify the underlying problems. This research develops a framework to aid in the selection of appropriate anomaly detection and fault isolation technology to augment a given system. To optimize this process, the framework employs a model based systems engineering approach. Specifically, a SysML …

Surface And Subsurface Damages In Rotary Ultrasonic Machining Of Ceramics: A Molecular Dynamics Method With Experimental Study, Yasser Hamouda Ahmed

Dissertations

Rotary ultrasonic machining (RUM) is one of the advanced machining processes for ceramics. Although many research papers about RUM have been published, there are very limited studies focusing on the effects of ultrasonic vibration on surface and subsurface damages. In this research, the surface and subsurface damages are compared for machining of dental ceramics (Al₂O₃) with and without ultrasonic vibration. The surface chippings are evaluated under microscope and the subsurface cracks are observed and quantified under scanning electron microscope (SEM). The contribution of this research is directed to use Molecular Dynamics (MD) method, which plays an …

Energy Efficiency Evaluation Of Blower Heater Non-Purge Compressed Air Dryers, Alexandra M. Botts

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

There are several compressed air dryers available for industrial use including, refrigerant, desiccant, and membrane. This research focuses on twin tower regenerative closed loop desiccant dryers, specifically: blower heater non-purge (BHNP) with and without cooling water pumps, Compressed-air Heater Purge (CHP), Blower Heater Purge (BHP), and Pressure Swing Heaterless (PSH). These styles of dryers are used mainly in industries that require extremely dry air such as, food manufacturing, medical air, or sensitive technology manufacturers. The research was conducted by collecting and analyzing real time current draw data on air compressors and associated dryers at eight different facilities (13 compressor systems) …