Thesis (Ph.D.)--Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2009. / Committee Chair: Aral, Mustafa; Committee Member: Guan, Jiabao; Committee Member: Kim, Seong-Hee; Committee Member: Roberts, Philip; Committee Member: Uzer, Turgay.

abstract: The ever-changing economic landscape has forced many companies to re-examine their supply chains. Global resourcing and outsourcing of processes has been a strategy many organizations have adopted to reduce cost and to increase their global footprint. This has, however, resulted in increased process complexity and reduced customer satisfaction. In order to meet and exceed customer expectations, many companies are forced to improve quality and on-time delivery, and have looked towards Lean Six Sigma as an approach to enable process improvement. The Lean Six Sigma literature is rich in deployment strategies; however, there is a general lack of a mathematical approach to deploy Lean Six Sigma in a global enterprise. This includes both project identification and prioritization. The research presented here is two-fold. Firstly, a process characterization framework is presented to evaluate processes based on eight characteristics. An unsupervised learning technique, using clustering algorithms, is then utilized to group processes that are Lean Six Sigma conducive. The approach helps Lean Six Sigma deployment champions to identify key areas within the business to focus a Lean Six Sigma deployment. A case study is presented and 33% of the processes were found to be Lean Six Sigma conducive. Secondly, having identified parts of the business that are lean Six Sigma conducive, the next steps are to formulate and prioritize a portfolio of projects. Very often the deployment champion is faced with the decision of selecting a portfolio of Lean Six Sigma projects that meet multiple objectives which could include: maximizing productivity, customer satisfaction or return on investment, while meeting certain budgetary constraints. A multi-period 0-1 knapsack problem is presented that maximizes the expected net savings of the Lean Six Sigma portfolio over the life cycle of the deployment. Finally, a case study is presented that demonstrates the application of the model in a large multinational company. Traditionally, Lean Six Sigma found its roots in manufacturing. The research presented in this dissertation also emphasizes the applicability of the methodology to the non-manufacturing space. Additionally, a comparison is conducted between manufacturing and non-manufacturing processes to highlight the challenges in deploying the methodology in both spaces. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Industrial Engineering 2011

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:26:17Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2012-10-19Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T19:54:29Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 izeppe_fr_me_bauru.pdf: 611833 bytes, checksum: 53d37685fbb7cb8638351abeced8fb26 (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / Os sistemas certificáveis de gestão são padrões ou conjunto de requisitos, reconhecidos internacionalmente, passíveis de certificação. Sistematizar diretrizes para a implantação coletiva e semipresencial desses sistemas nas empresas, sem a participação ativa de um consultor ou especialista, é o objetivo deste estudo. Caracterizada de cunho teórico-conceitual, esta pesquisa foi motivada, justamente, pela lacuna científica nessa área e, para o seu desenvolvimento, foram estudadas quatro experiências práticas de implantação coletiva e semipresencial, das quais, em conjunto com o referencial teórico forneceram subsídios para a sua sistematização. A partir dos resultados desta pesquisa, percebe-se que o processo de implantação fortalece o envolvimento das pessoas e, ao final dela, são propostas diretrizes para implantação coletiva e semipresencial, de sistemas certificáveis de gestão, relacionadas aos elementos: seleção das empresas; sensibilização; diagnóstico; planejamento; treinamentos; implementação; verificação e correção, que posteriormente foram validadas por especialistas e poderão ser desenvolvidas tanto por iniciativas privadas como governamentais / The cetifiable management systems are standard or set of requirements, internationally recognized, subject to certification. The main purpose of this research is to systematize guidelines for collective and semi-presence implementation of these systems in companies without the active participation of a consultants or specialists. Characterized of theoretical-conceptual, this research was motivated precisely by the scinetific gap in this area and for their development, were studied four practical experiences of implementating collective and blended, which, together with the theoretical provided information for its systematization. From this research, it is clear that the deployment process strengthens the involvement of people at the end of it, are proposed guidelines for collective and semi-presence implementation of certifiable management systems, related to the elements: selection of companies; awareness, diagnosis, planning, training, implementation, verification and correction, which could be developed both by private sector and government

Orientador: Otávio José de Oliveira / Banca: João Pedro Albino / Banca: Daniel Jugend / Resumo: Os sistemas certificáveis de gestão são padrões ou conjunto de requisitos, reconhecidos internacionalmente, passíveis de certificação. Sistematizar diretrizes para a implantação coletiva e semipresencial desses sistemas nas empresas, sem a participação ativa de um consultor ou especialista, é o objetivo deste estudo. Caracterizada de cunho teórico-conceitual, esta pesquisa foi motivada, justamente, pela lacuna científica nessa área e, para o seu desenvolvimento, foram estudadas quatro experiências práticas de implantação coletiva e semipresencial, das quais, em conjunto com o referencial teórico forneceram subsídios para a sua sistematização. A partir dos resultados desta pesquisa, percebe-se que o processo de implantação fortalece o envolvimento das pessoas e, ao final dela, são propostas diretrizes para implantação coletiva e semipresencial, de sistemas certificáveis de gestão, relacionadas aos elementos: seleção das empresas; sensibilização; diagnóstico; planejamento; treinamentos; implementação; verificação e correção, que posteriormente foram validadas por especialistas e poderão ser desenvolvidas tanto por iniciativas privadas como governamentais / Abstract: The cetifiable management systems are standard or set of requirements, internationally recognized, subject to certification. The main purpose of this research is to systematize guidelines for collective and semi-presence implementation of these systems in companies without the active participation of a consultants or specialists. Characterized of theoretical-conceptual, this research was motivated precisely by the scinetific gap in this area and for their development, were studied four practical experiences of implementating collective and blended, which, together with the theoretical provided information for its systematization. From this research, it is clear that the deployment process strengthens the involvement of people at the end of it, are proposed guidelines for collective and semi-presence implementation of certifiable management systems, related to the elements: selection of companies; awareness, diagnosis, planning, training, implementation, verification and correction, which could be developed both by private sector and government / Mestre

Data traffic demand has been increasing exponentially and this trend will continue over theforeseeable future. This has forced operators to upgrade and densify their mobile networks toenhance their capacity. Future networks will be characterized by a dense deployment of different kinds of base stations (BSs) in a hierarchical cellular structure. However network densification requires extensive capital and operational investment which limits operator revenues and raises ecological concerns over greenhouse gas emissions. Although networks are planned to support peak traffic, traffic demand is actually highly variable in both space and time which makes it necessary to adapt network energy consumption to inevitable variations in traffic demand. In this thesis, stochastic geometry tools are used to perform simple and tractable analysis of thecoverage, rate and energy performance of homogeneous networks and heterogeneous networks(HetNets). BSs in each tier are located according to independent Poisson Point Processes(PPPs) to generate irregular topologies that fairly resemble practical deployment topologies. The homogeneous network is optimized to determine the optimal BS density and transmit power configuration that minimizes its area power consumption (APC) subject to both coverage and average rate constraints. Results show that optimal transmit power only depends on the BSpower consumption parameters and can be predetermined. Furthermore, various sleep modemechanisms are applied to the homogeneous network to adapt its APC to changes in userdensity. A centralized strategic scheme which prioritize BSs with the least number of usersenhances energy efficiency (EE) of the network. Due to the complexity of such a centralizedscheme, a distributed scheme which implements the strategic algorithm within clusters of BSsis proposed and its performance closely matches that of its centralized counterpart. It is more challenging to model the optimal deployment configuration per tier in a multi-tier HetNet. Appropriate assumptions are used to determine tight approximations of these deployment configurations that minimize the APC of biased and unbiased HetNets subject tocoverage and rate constraints. The optimization is performed for three different user associationschemes. Similar to the homogeneous network, optimal transmit power per tier also depends onBS power consumption parameters only and can also be predetermined. Analysis of the effect of biasing on HetNet performance shows appropriate biasing can further reduce the deploymentconfiguration (and consequently the APC) compared to an unbiased HetNet. In addition, biasing can be used to offload traffic from congesting and high-power macro BSs to low-power small BSs. If idle BSs are put into sleep mode, more energy is saved and HetNet EE improves. Moreover, appropriate biasing also enhances the EE of the HetNet.

To meet the latest requirements of the 6G standards, several techniques have been proposed in the open literature, such as millimeter waves, terahertz communication, and massive MIMO. In addition to these recent technologies, the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is strongly advocated for 6G networks, as the 6G standard will not be dedicated to broadband services, but will rather be oriented towards reduced geographical cellular coverage. In this context, the deployment of UAVs is considered a key solution for seamless connectivity and reliable coverage. Although UAVs are characterized by their high mobility and their ability to establish line-of-sight links, their use is still impeded by several factors such as weather conditions, their limited computing power, and, most importantly, their limited energy. In this work, we are aiming for the novel technology that enables indefinite wireless power transfer for UAVs using laser beams. We propose a novel UAV deployment strategy, based on which we analyze the overall performance of the system in terms of wireless coverage and provide some useful insights. To this end, we use tractable tools from stochastic geometry to model the complex communication system.

This qualitative study used an exploratory phenomenological approach to examine professional school counselors‘ perspectives on the effects of military parental deployment on school aged children and adolescents. The voices of school counselors who work with military connected children are absent from the literature. The research site was a professional counseling conference in Germany in the fall of 2010. Participants consisted of 12 professional school counselors who work with school-aged children and adolescents who have experienced parental military deployment. Participants adopted pseudonyms though several indicated an affiliation with Department of Defense Dependent Schools (DODDS) and therefore offered their unique perspectives as school counselors living in military communities and working almost exclusively with military connected children and families. Data collection consisted of individual interviews with counselor participants. Data analysis consisted of coding meaningful words and phrases and yielded 33 preliminary categories that became new codes. Analysis of relationships between codes resulted in the emergence of four distinct themes: Military Life, Stages of Deployment, Role of the Counselor, and Children and Adolescents. Themes were supported by quotations of meaningful statements, thus participant voices provide thick, rich descriptions of the phenomenon. Validity strategies included peer debriefing, researcher positionality, and multiple examinations of the data set.

The sacrifices required of Navy families are substantial. In order to maintain readiness, the Navy must maintain high standards and retain well trained people. To retain experienced and productive service members, family life must be supported and enhanced as much as possible. This study examined deployment related stress as experienced by deployed staff of the SAS SCORPION and their spouses and the Command's responses in terms of alleviating such stresses. A qualitative research methodology was used employing an exploratory, descriptive strategy. The study made use of non-probability purposive sampling for all three samples. To ensure rich data semi-structured interviews were used for samples one and two. Data was collected by means of a workshop for sample three. Respondents from sample one and two indicated dissatisfaction in the areas of military support, crime, medical problems, military housing, crisis periods, unplanned trips, and prolonged sea service. Sample three responded by acknowledging hardships experienced by samples one and two. They agreed in principle that a deployment seminar be made compulsory for military families and an incumbent be employed as a Naval liaison officer to coordinate problems experienced by deployed members and their families. The findings of this research, indicated the need for support structures and preventative programmes. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sci.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1999.

Even though the necessity of water quality monitoring systems is increasing, and though mobile watery quality monitoring systems using the combination of automatic measuring devices and autonomous vehicles is becoming available, research on effective deployment of such systems is not studied well. The locations or paths to take the measurement are one of the most important design factors to maximize the performance of water quality monitoring systems, and they needs to be optimized to maximize the monitoring performance. To solve these optimization problems, multi-objective genetic algorithms were proposed and developed. The proposed optimization procedures were applied to hypothetical circular lakes and Lake Pontchartrain in order to obtain optimal monitoring locations, straight monitoring paths, and higher-order monitoring paths under various conditions. Also, the effect of various parameters such as the speed of a monitoring vessel, the weights of possible scenarios, and etc. are investigated. The optimization models found optimal solutions efficiently while reflecting various effects of complex physical settings. The results from the optimizations show that distribution of possible source locations is an important factor that affects optimal solutions greatly. In a closed water body, wind is major forcing that determines hydrodynamics and contaminant transport, and it affects optimal solutions as well. Straight monitoring lines do not perform very well due to their incapability to cover the irregular boundaries of water bodies. Higher-order optimal monitoring paths overcome this difficulty and perform well up to a comparable level of a few stationary monitoring locations even under realistic and transient conditions.

Human Development is not a term used in casual conversation, it describes the current approach used by large aide international development organizations like the United Nations; but most people are familiar with the terms “emergency relief” and “humanitarian intervention”. Emergency relief focuses on providing assistance to save lives, alleviate suffering, or protect populations; while human development uses various societal levers to improve living conditions. The United Nation has been publishing an annual report on human development since 1990 (UNDP 1990), and it is widely recognized as a consistent measure of global living conditions. Development strategies revolve around a transfer of something valuable to an aided population: education, vaccination, fertilizers, etc. In technology-based human development projects, technology artefacts (a medical record computer system, solar electrification systems, irrigation) and related knowledge (education, operation and maintenance instruction) are those valuables being transferred. The benefits of technology are specific to each economy, and dependant on how quickly technology is adapted and integrated in the local economy (Cypher & Dietz 2008). The value of ideas increases to the degree they can be shared with and used by others (Houghton & Sheehan 2000): the more knowledge is diffused and adopted, the greater its value. The success of free and open-source software exemplifies this principle, and a growing number of scholars agree that the model also applies to hardware (Balka et al. 2009; Thompson 2008). This thesis presents research on open source hardware and its knowledge-sharing approach as a means to human development. It presents a model that leverages the collaborative design methodology of open hardware for adoption of artefacts that address pressing “humanitarian technology” needs, for example, in health or education. To achieve this, critical literature reviews on open source and on technology-based human development are first done; the findings from literature are then complemented with the findings from interviews and case studies to model a sustainable deployment strategy for open source use in human development projects. Adopting the human development paradigm defined in the first Human Development Report (“HDR1990”), which aims at three people-centered aspirations: to live a long and healthy life, to be educated and to have access to resources needed for a decent standard of living (UNDP 1990). This thesis research models its deployment strategy using the Soft Systems Methodology (SSM), showing that: (a) open source hardware, like any technology used in development, can magnify effective development programs when used appropriately; (b) Dr. E.F. Schumacher’s appropriate technology principles, and P. Polak’s reinstatement, mesh very well with the open source methodology, as long as required constituents in the aided communities are taken care of (availability of electricity, internet access, technical know-how, etc.); (c) extreme affordability is particularly important for open source hardware, because a sustainable strategy is based on the belief that aided population would want to procure these artifacts if they improve their earning potential; (d) participatory human development practices work well with the open source methodology, but “solutions” must be fully verified before deployment. This document is structured in 5 chapters: introduction, literature review, research strategies, case studies and interviews, and conclusion. The appendix include three articles published on parallel work for the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) on defining a strategy for the IEEE’s use of opens source technology in their humanitarian activities. This research provides insight into the new topic of open source hardware and its proposed use in the mission critical context of international development; because entrepreneurship is a key enabler to the strategy it describes, I hope the research can support future work on that aspect.