Using a prototype Total Quality Management (TQM) assessment methodology, this project accomplished an assessment of the quality management practices of the General Electric Company Management and Data Systems Operations (M&DSO) Division, Systems Integration Program Department (SIPD) with respect to the operation and management of a large-scale Request for Change System (RFC). In addition, guidelines were proposed for the planning, design, and implementation of a TQM system. These guidelines can be used by SIPD management if they chose to integrate a Total Quality Management System into the organization. <p>An agenda of enhancement opportunities for quality management practices was identified as a result of the assessment. <p>A complete description of the RFC system, a systems analysis of the RFC system, the assessment methodology, and the criteria used to evaluate SIPD's quality management practices is included. / Master of Science

The chapter included the results of the survey indicating that the majority of students agreed with the need, procedures and processes of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University's and the NCAA's drug testing programs. This followed by suggested courses of action based on the opinions of the student-athletes toward drug testing. The chapter ends with the author making recommendations based on the research findings. / Master of Science

Advances in technology have led to fully integrated operator consoles which offer a broad range of solutions. Industry's move towards networking has resulted in the operator consoles being located at critical sites throughout the plant-floor. However, a lot of programming effort is required in order to use these consoles effectively. <p>The project addressed the problem by developing a software interface for the future user in a distributed automation environment. The system developed is capable of operating on IBM industrial computers, connected through a communications network on a DAE environment. By using the functions provided, the future user is insulated from the lower level control sequences of the operator interface and need only be concerned about the operation of these functions. <p>A description of the development of each phase project is given, and the purpose and operation subroutines are also presented in this report. / Master of Science

<p>At present, the United States of America and its allies have no significant defense against intercontinental ballistic missiles, ICBMs. In this paper, the systems engineering process is applied to the United States' problem with defense against ICBMs. The need for a system that negates this problem is first considered. The need is established. Thus, analysis of the system's feasibility is required. The optimal system chosen to satisfy the need is Global Protection Against Limited Strike~ GPALS. The component of GPALS that will be studied is Brilliant Eyes. Brilliant Eyes is a constellation of satellites that detects and tracks ballistic missiles. The requirements for Brilliant Eyes are set to ensure that the need is achieved. A conceptual design for Brilliant Eyes is performed to analyze trade-offs in satellite configurations. The optimal configuration is obtained. From the conceptual design, a preliminary design is developed. The minimum number of satellites required for the configuration is determined in the preliminary design. In addition, the antenna dimensions and power requirements which provide optimal satellite communications are also obtained in the preliminary design. From the preliminary design, the optimal number of satellites for the Brilliant Eyes constellation is 56. Also from the preliminary design, each ground station supporting the constellation has an antenna diameter of 5.7 m with a transmitting power of 27.8 dBW. Each downlink antenna on the Brilliant Eyes satellite is 0.03 m in diameter with a transmitting power of 20 dBW. The crosslink antennas on the satellites are 0.7 m in diameter with a transmitting power of 0 dBW or 1 W. / Master of Science

Master of Science

Master of Science in Education

see document / Master of Science

see document / Master of Science in Education

<p>The effect of fourth pass cold reduction and final anneal temperature were investigated for aluminum alloy 3104. The material was received at 0.019" (82% reduction) and further reduced to: 84%, 86%, 88%, and 89%. The material was then heated for 2 hours between 85°C and 160°C.</p> <p> Samples were uniaxially tensile tested at 0.0167 per second for yield strength, ultimate strength, and total percent elongation. Samples showed an increase in ductility with increasing temperature. This is believed to be the result of recovery. Prior processing limited the possibility that age hardening effects would occur. No age hardening was found. TEM micrographs showed no evidence for the presence of GP zones or the S' Al₂CuMg metastable phase.</p> / Master of Science

<p>Satellite Look Angles are the coordinates to which an earth station antenna must point to communicate with a satellite. Each satellite has it's own unique set of look angles. The first method, developed to calculate a satellite's look angles, uses standard plane and spherical trigonometry and assumes a perfectly spherical earth. The second method developed is unique to this paper and wi11 not be found anywhere, including general satellite communication textbooks. This method uses a geodetic reference system which refers to the earth as an ellipsoid rather than a sphere. This second method is a more rigorous approach to determining look angles and readily lends itself to pointing at satellites in any given orbit. Fortran code was written implementing both methods and it is concluded that employing a geodetic reference frame is viable where high degrees of accuracy are required. Fortran code was also developed to calculate the pointing angles for Radio Sources such as pulsars and quasars. This code corrects for precession, nutation, annual aberration, and polar motion of the earth.</p> / Master of Science