Thesis: S.M. in Engineering and Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, System Design and Management Program, 2013. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 71-74). / The electrification of rural and remote villages in developing countries poses major challenges. While extension of the central power grid offers economies of scale in generation and transmission, distribution infrastructure to reach remote areas can be prohibitively costly to install and maintain. The low demand of newly electrified customers also makes many electrification projects economically unviable. Northern India provides a case study in the challenges of rural electrification. Microgrids, wherein smaller numbers of customers are connected to a local electricity infrastructure that may or may not be connected to the central grid, have long been studied as a potential way to electrify remote and rural customers. This study proposes and analyzes a set of technical and economic models describing a solar powered DC microgrid, where a private enterprise provides lighting and mobile phone charging as a service. The models are analyzed to determine sensitivity to factors such as village size, length of distribution networks, customer load, and operations and maintenance costs. The models are tested to determine the technical and economic factors that limit the practical applicability of the proposed enterprise. The microgrid enterprise is then compared to a similar company that uses single household solar home systems (SHS) to provide the same service. The study concludes with a general discussion of the differences between the solar home system and microgrid approaches. / by Andrew Campanella. / S.M. in Engineering and Management

Thesis (S.M. in Engineering and Management)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, System Design and Management Program, 2012. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 70-73). / The thesis that follows is an attempt to gain a deeper understanding of intellectual property from a policy as well as a strategic perspective. While the discussion that follows is applicable to intellectual property in general, the focus of this thesis is on a particular aspect of intellectual property i.e patents. Policy and strategic perspectives are covered in section I and 11 respectively. The section on policy explores the origin and evolution of intellectual property related policies by discussing key legislation and court cases. The two questions that were most relevant when exploring the policy side of the patent system were: -- Is the intellectual property system hindering or encouraging innovation? -- What changes, if any, are required to make the system more effective? The section on strategy looks at IP strategies (or lack thereof) of three leading companies, Apple, Google and Microsoft. These three companies were selected because of their apparently differing strategies and this cursory judgement was confirmed when the strategies of the companies were put under a microscope. The question that were central while exploring the strategic aspects of intellectual property were: -- How are these three companies coping with the patent system as it exists today? -- What changes can make the strategies employed more effective? The summary section at the end tries to reconcile these two different ways of looking at the intellectual property system into a coherent whole. / by Rishi Ahuja. / S.M.in Engineering and Management

Thesis (S.M. in Engineering and Management)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, System Design and Management Program, 2012. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 90-94). / Radiology is a medical specialty that employs imaging to diagnose and treat disease. It has long been an advance user of technology to capture, store, share, and use images electronically. In 2009, President Obama signed into law a measure, the HITECH Act (part of the stimulus package), that incentivizes healthcare providers to use electronic health records (EHR) in care delivery to improve quality, efficiency, safety, and reduce cost. The meaningful use (MU) program's Stage 1 requirements (part of HITECH Act) did not include imaging requirements, leading to confusion among radiologists and other specialties with regard to what MU offers to and requires of them. This thesis attempts to clarify the contribution radiology can make to MU by understanding radiology as a system, including its surrounding issues and its drivers, using Stage 1 MU requirements, data from qualitative research, and results from analysis. It answers the following question: Should Radiologists be considered part of the care team, leveraging EHR for meaningful use and hence eligible for incentive payments? It does so via the following methods: a) Discussing in detail current issues surrounding radiology systems from quality, safety, efficiency, and cost perspectives; b) Discussing MU in the context of radiology and reviewing what is missing in it for radiologists; c) Providing deeper systems analysis of current behaviors and why they have this form at this time; and d) Explaining how MU objectives can help to overcome many current issues and ultimately help to improve health outcomes. Specific changes to MU criteria to achieve these benefits are recommended. This thesis employs systems concepts and tools including system architecture and system dynamics for research and analysis to understand the system and derive hypotheses. A system dynamics model is used to analyze current drivers in imaging and to clarify the impact MU can have on these drivers. Thesis conclusions are supported by the analysis performed using the model as well as information gathered through industry interviews, online articles, academic and industry journals, and blogs. / by Palani Perumal. / S.M.in Engineering and Management

Thesis (S.M. in System Design and Management)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2010. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references. / "In 2008, the cumulative cost growth in the Department of Defense's (DoD) portfolio of 96 major defense acquisition programs was $296 billion and the average delay in delivering promised capabilities to the war fighter was 22 months." This statement from the Director of Acquisition and Sourcing Management of the Government Accountability Office (GAO) before a House of Representatives panel is in reference to an alarming, decades-long trend in the Defense Industry of budget and schedule overruns. Defense projects are complex systems of humans, software, and hardware interacting in unpredictable and often-uncontrolled ways. The research presented in this thesis demonstrates that component and systemic failures in DoD systems have much in common with the overruns that their executing organizations experience. Complex systems accidents occur when their control mechanisms do not sufficiently enforce constraints on system components and their interactions. Similarly, project losses, in terms of budget and schedule overruns, occur when the control mechanisms of the executing organization do not sufficiently enforce constraints on project teams and their interactions. This thesis proposes a framework based on the principles of Control Theory, Systems Safety Analysis, and Earned Value Management, which project managers can apply in order to reduce programmatic risk on complex systems projects. The objectives of the thesis are: to provide project managers with a mechanism to control risk within the scope of the work they oversee, to provide individual contributors with a mechanism to control risk within the scope of the work they execute, to clearly demonstrate how poorly designed organization structures facilitate program losses, and to clearly demonstrate how well-designed organization structures can prevent or at the minimum mitigate program losses. At the completion of this thesis, it was found that complex systems programs have many tools at their disposal for defining relationships between elements of project scope and between teams in the executing organization. But few tools are available to specify how exactly a manager can accurately monitor and safely affect the scope elements under their control. The control structure specification and design presented within this thesis will address the primary causes of risk that lead to program losses. / Mark Minnucci. / S.M.in System Design and Management

Thesis: S.M. in Engineering and Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, System Design and Management Program, 2014. / 81 / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 177-184). / Safety, efficiency and productivity are top priorities for rail industries, but technology implementation faces many barriers. While the demands of locomotive engineers and railroads are increasing, the industry lacks a clear roadmap for technology development, design, and transition for in-cab display technologies. The needs and goals of the moving map, a representative in-cab display technology, are characterized via an analysis of the stakeholders and other socio-technical influences. These activities are conducted in parallel with requirements generation, design, prototyping, and evaluation. Through an analysis of socio-technical influences, the main industry barriers to transition of in-cab display technologies are identified: a lack of a unified industry stance on the direction of in-cab technologies; ineffectiveness developing, implementing, and overseeing standards; and a need for a systems approach throughout the lifecycle of a technology. A strategic approach is needed for the industry to be able to successfully (efficiently, affordably, safely) transition these technologies across U.S. Rail. A committee chartered to identify and create roadmaps for significant technologies, such as moving maps, can facilitate these objectives and is recommended. The trend in transportation and in foreign rail service is shifting toward increased levels of automation and an Advanced Automation Roadmap is recommended. / by Kathleen Voelbel. / S.M. in Engineering and Management

Thesis: S.M. in Engineering and Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, System Design and Management Program, 2015. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 96-98). / The automobile innovation transformed the human life style ever since its introduction to the public, and for over the last one hundred years incumbent technologies have been adopted to improve its performance characteristics. Yet, we need a holistic approach to understand that automobiles shifted from being a mere assembly of mechanical parts to a multidisciplinary system that form the modern automobile. Thanks to the increased use of electronics and software in automobiles, consumers benefit from better gas mileage, more amenities and features, such as comfort, driving assistance, and entertainment. At the same time, stability and performance of automobiles as systems have been facing deterioration, and eventually vehicle owners are finding that features and functions become inoperative over time, causing frustration, loss of time and money. Reports of problems experienced by vehicle owners have stem from casual factors of system defects that model-based systems engineering can reduce or eliminate. This research presents a model-based systems engineering approach to an automobile electronic system design. The work is founded on a comprehensive OPM model and engineering guidelines for electronic control module software design. The purpose of the framework developed in this study is to support development of complex vehicle software that allows flexibility for changing features and creating new ones, and enables software developers to pinpoint systemic faults quicker and at earlier lifecycle phases, reducing rework, increasing safety, and providing for more effective resolution of such problems. / by Juan Manuel Quezada Gomez. / S.M. in Engineering and Management

Thesis: S.M. in Engineering and Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, System Design and Management Program, 2014. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 82-83). / The amount of data that we produce and consume is growing exponentially in the modem world. Increasing use of social media and new innovations such as smartphones generate large amounts of data that can yield invaluable information if properly managed. These large datasets, popularly known as Big Data, are difficult to manage using traditional computing technologies. New technologies are emerging in the market to address the problem of managing and analyzing Big Data to produce invaluable insights from it. Organizations are finding it difficult to implement these Big Data technologies effectively due to problems such as lack of available expertise. Some of the latest innovations in the industry are related to cloud computing and Big Data. There is significant interest in academia and industry in combining Big Data and cloud computing to create new technologies that can solve the Big Data problem. Big Data based on cloud computing is an upcoming area in computer science and many vendors are providing their ideas on this topic. The combination of Big Data technologies and cloud computing platforms has led to the emergence of a new category of technology called Big Data as a Service or BDaaS. This thesis aims to define the BDaaS service stack and to evaluate a few technologies in the cloud computing ecosystem using the BDaaS service stack. The BDaaS service stack provides an effective way to classify the Big Data technologies that enable technology users to evaluate and chose the technology that meets their requirements effectively. Technology vendors can use the same BDaaS stack to communicate the product offerings better to the consumer. / by Benoy Bhagattjee. / S.M. in Engineering and Management

Thesis (S.M. in System Design and Management)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2010. / Vita. Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 113-119). / Currently, program-funding allocation is based on program performance. Funding cuts commonly lead to a poor reflection on the program management assigned to the given program. If additional factors such as program risk and benefit are objectively factored in, this may lead to a more effective exit strategy for program capabilities, which are no longer required. An enterprise architecture analysis and applied framework case study were carried out to develop a methodology to quantify system-level value for the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition Research, Development, Test and Evaluation portfolio. Portfolio value is quantified in order to transition from a single program, single stakeholder value analysis to a program portfolio and stakeholder system composite analysis. This methodology is developed based on interviews, official organization literature, and a case study. The results of the applied framework case study on a portfolio of seven programs showed a positive correlation between quantitative capability, execution and risk data at the portfolio level and access to a more informed and objective identification of programs of greatest interest and concern as compared to a qualitative program-by-program analysis when allocating Air Force Acquisition resources. This system includes 17 stakeholder categories, which significantly influence the allocation of resources for a portfolio worth roughly 0.4% of the US GDP. Interviews include high-ranking leadership, including two 3-Star Generals in the US Air Force. / by Cheri Nicole Markt Burgess. / S.M.in System Design and Management

Thesis (S.M. in Engineering and Management)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, System Design and Management Program, 2011. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 35-36). / The paper reports the results of a study of innovations and new product development in biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies in Boston/Cambridge cluster. The purpose of the study was to test the hypothesis that more intensive or frequent communications correlate positively with higher productivity, measured as the number of patents, new drugs or clinical trials per employee. No significant correlations were found between communications and new drugs or clinical trials. Statistically significant (p < 0.05) negative correlations were found between Number of Patents per Employee and the three metrics devised for intensity of communications. / by Dmitry Kolosov. / S.M.in Engineering and Management

Thesis (S.M. in Engineering and Management)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2012. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 85-89). / This thesis explores an enterprise systems architecting approach to investigate the greenhouse gas reduction strategies followed by industries, especially for automotive industry and Information Technology industry. The strategic dimensions of greenhouse gas reduction aspects-drivers, actions and challenges-faced by industries are identified and a survey was circulated among the senior and mid-level managers of both industries. The survey results are compiled and analyzed to understand the leading drivers, actions and challenges in addition to the ranking of the eight views of enterprise architecting. The results are then used to identify gaps between the current status and the envisioned future state of the companies, based on the survey results, internal assessments and prevailing state of the art greenhouse gas reduction strategies. Several candidate architectures are developed based on the identified gaps for both industries. An alignment matrix for all the eight views with the candidate architectures is also developed. Generic frameworks to evaluate candidate architectures using 'ilities' and weighting factors are discussed. Greenhouse gas profiles of both the industries are compared, and future research scope to extend this thesis is presented. / by Kumaresh Babu Tanthullu Athmaram. / S.M.in Engineering and Management