Doctor of Philosophy / Electrical and Computer Engineering / Sanjoy Das / Quantum circuit synthesis is one of the major areas of current research in the field of quantum computing. Analogous to its Boolean counterpart, the task involves constructing arbitrary quantum gates using only those available within a small set of universal gates that can be realized physically. However, unlike the latter, there are an infinite number of single qubit quantum gates, all of which constitute the special unitary group SU(2). Realizing any given single qubit gate using a given universal gate family is a complex task. Although gates can be synthesized to arbitrary degree of precision as long as the set of finite strings of the gate family is a dense subset of SU(2), it is desirable to accomplish the highest level of precision using only the minimum number of universal gates within the string approximation. Almost all algorithms that have been proposed for this purpose are based on the Solovay-Kitaev algorithm. The crux of the Solovay-Kitaev algorithm is the use of a procedure to decompose a given quantum gate into a pair of group commutators with the pair being synthesized separately. The Solovay-Kitaev algorithm involves group commutator decomposition in a recursive manner, with a direct approximation of a gate into a string of universal gates being performed only at the last level, i.e. in the leaf nodes of the search tree representing the execution of the Solovay-Kitaev algorithm. The main contribution of this research is in integrating conventional optimization procedures within the Solovay-Kitaev algorithm. Two specific directions of research have been studied. Firstly, optimization is incorporated within the group commutator decomposition, so that a more optimal pair of group commutators are obtained. As the degree of precision of the synthesized gate is explicitly minimized by means of this optimization procedure, the enhanced algorithm allows for more accurate quantum gates to be synthesized than what the original Solovay-Kitaev algorithm achieves. Simulation results with random gates indicate that the obtained accuracy is an order of magnitude better than before. Two versions of the new algorithm are examined, with the optimization in the first version being invoked only at the bottom level of Solovay-Kitaev algorithm and when carried out across all levels of the search tree in the next. Extensive simulations show that the second version yields better results despite equivalent computation times. Theoretical analysis of the proposed algorithm is able to provide a more formal, quantitative explanation underlying the experimentally observed phenomena. The other direction of investigation of this research involves formulating the group commutator decomposition in the form of bi-criteria optimization. This phase of research relaxed the equality constraint in the previous approach and with relaxation, a bi-criteria optimization is proposed. This optimization algorithm is new and has been devised primarily when the objective needs to be relaxed in different stages. This bi-criteria approach is able to provide comparably accurate synthesis as the previous approach.

Master of Science / Department of Architectural Engineering and Construction Science / Julia A. Keen / The purpose of this report is to provide information on Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) as a construction project delivery method and identify some of the obstacles that are limiting its implementation into the design and construction industry. This report includes a general overview of IPD and a comparison to traditional project delivery methods: Design-Bid-Build, Design-Build, and Construction Manager at Risk. The advantages of IPD and its possible positive impact on the industry is introduced followed by the three major obstacles that must be evaluated and resolved before this delivery method can begin to be embraced by the industry. The three major obstacles include: contracts, insurance, and IPD structure for facilitation. Each of these obstacles is explored in detail and solutions being successfully implemented by industry professionals are presented. Finally, conclusions about the future of IPD are presented along with future research that needs to be conducted for a better overall understanding of IPD.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering / Steve Eckels / A new human thermal model was developed to predict the thermal responses of human body in various environments. The new model was based on Smith's model, which employed finite element method to discretize the human body. The body parts in our new model were not limited to the cylindrical shape as in Smith's model, but subjected to arbitrary shapes. Therefore, the new model is capable of dealing with more complicated shapes of the human body. Steady-state and transient temperatures of fifteen body parts were calculated for three environments: cold, neutral, and warm. Our results were compared with the data from Zhang's experimental research on the human subjects. For all three conditions, our results showed better agreement with experimental data than Smith's results did. The maximal deviation is 1ºC for neutral and warm condition; for cold condition, a maximal deviation of 3.5ºC is reported at hand. The comparison indicated that our new model could provide a more accurate prediction on the body temperatures. Follow-up experiments were conducted to investigate the local and overall heat transfer from a moving cylinder in air flow. This study was expected to provide the local convective heat transfer coefficients of the human body to our new human thermal model to simulate moving humans. An experiment of a stationary cylinder in cross flow was performed to verify the accuracy and consistency of our system. Then, the experiment of a transverse oscillating cylinder in cross flow was conducted, with a oscillation frequency of 0.15 and Strouhal number of 0.3 to 1.5, depending on wind velocity. The overall Nusselt number (Nu) of the oscillating cylinder remained unaffected, compared to the stationary cylinder. This observation showed agreement with previous studies. The pivot experiment was performed to investigate swinging movement of human arms. The cylinder was positioned axially in cross flow, and reciprocated on a fixed point between horizontal and vertical positions under three wind speeds and two oscillating frequencies. The results showed that the overall Nu was between the Nu at horizontal and vertical positions in stationary state. A correlation was presented to predict the Nu of pivotal moving cylinder by using stationary Nu at horizontal and vertical positions. The correlation was proved to be valid ( error less than 5%) within the range of conditions in our experiment.

Master of Science / Department of Architectural Engineering and Construction Science / Kimberly Waggle Kramer / Cold-formed steel framing sheathed with wood structural panels is a common method of construction for wall, roof and floor systems in cold-formed steel structures. Since wood structural panels are attached with screws at relatively close spacing, a certain amount of composite behavior will be present. However, the benefit of composite behavior of this system is currently not being taken advantage of in the design of these structural systems. While composite effects are present, they are not yet being accounted for in design due to a lack of statistical data. To determine the amount of composite action taking place in these systems, the slip modulus between steel and wood is required. The slip modulus reflects the amount of shear force able to be transferred through the screw connection, to either member of the composite system. This thesis presents the results of a study conducted to determine values of the slip modulus for varying thicknesses of cold-formed steel and plywood sheathing. Push tests were conducted and the slip moduli were determined based on ISO 6891 and ASTM D1761. Compared with data from a previous preliminary study performed by others, the values determined from these tests for the slip modulus were deemed reasonable. The determination of the slip modulus will lead to the ability to calculate a composite factor. Determination of a composite factor will allow cold-formed steel wood structural panel construction to become more economical due to the available increase in bending strength.

Master of Science / Department of Civil Engineering / Hani Melhem / Researchers have been compiling lists of key factors the presence or absence of which have determined the success or failure of projects. Early researches of critical success factors were largely theory based; subsequent researches employed the use of statistics and continuously refined methods like neural network and the analytical hierarchy process. Over the passage of time, the focus has narrowed down from broad generalization of ‘projects’ to ‘project classes’. The thesis can be broadly divided into three components. First Component: The first component (Chapter 1, 2, and 3) leads an insight into the basic concept of success factor studies, and the empirical frameworks adopted for identification of critical success factors. The second and the third component, comprises literature review and original research, respectively. These components pertain to success factor studies of construction projects, and are introduced as below. Second Component: The second component (Chapter 4: Review Component) sets out to choose from among a treasure of resources on construction projects, three such state of the art works that can best explain the progress in search of success factors over a period of the foregoing 25 years. After discussing each work in detail, the reader’s attention is drawn to a collective discussion, and summary towards the end of the Review Component. The review includes the following works: (1) Pinto and Covin, 1989, (2) Ashley et al., 1987, and (3) Kog and Loh, 2011. Pinto and Covin (1989) endeavored to set aside the convenient research trend of treating all project types (Manufacturing, R&D, Construction etc.) as similar. It was felt that management practitioners considered the generalized project management prescriptions offered by researchers as mostly inapplicable to the unique situations posed by their respective classes of projects. Stepwise regression analysis was employed to seek separate sets of CSFs for construction and R&D projects. The choice of these two project types was made as they apparently lied on opposite ends of the spectrum of characteristics. The phases of project lifecycle considered for determining CSFs were conceptualization, planning, execution, and termination. It was concluded that though identification of a set of general critical success factors has some benefits for both academics and practitioners, strict adherence to them would not necessarily ensure project success. It was proved that every project type offers its own set of problems, and that these vary over a project’s lifecycle. The review briefly touches upon the work of Ashley et al. (1987) so as to lead an insight into yet another methodology adopted by CSF researchers. This study views project success from the project managers’ perspective for the owner and contractor organizations they works for, and does not take into consideration the view point of other professionals working for owner, contractor and consultant organizations. Hypothesis testing was employed to find those factors that exhibited strong statistical difference while going from average to outstanding projects. Kog and Loh (2011) studied a possible dissimilarity between CSFs pertaining to different components of construction projects: (1) civil works, (2) architectural works, and (3) mechanical and electrical works. Using the Analytical Hierarchy Process the CSFs were compared separately for the objectives of budget, schedule, quality, and overall performance. They concluded that, on the whole, markedly distinct sets of factors were perceived as crucial by professionals associated with these three components. Apart from their varying job descriptions, the divergence in views of professionals was interpreted to be an outcome of the different frames of time that they mostly work in. While a major portion of civil and structural works would be undertaken in early project-life, mechanical and electrical works, and architectural works would be initiated later in the project’s life. For the three components of construction projects (C&S: civil & structural, M&E: mechanical & electrical, and architectural works), the highest correlation of views was seen to exist between the C&S and M&E, while the lowest was always that between the M&E and the architect. This trend remained the same whether the goal of overall performance or any of the three objectives were taken into consideration. Third Component: The thesis terminates with the original work (Research Component: Chapter 5) conducted by the author in the light of Chua et al. (1999) that had attempted, though very briefly, to distinguish between CSFs for different organizations involved in construction projects. Because the survey sample of Chua et al. (1999) was quite small, the researchers referred to their findings regarding organization-based CSFs as inconclusive. It was suggested that further research be conducted in this regard. Addressing these recommendations, the ‘Research Component’ has differentiated the CSFs based on organizational backgrounds of project participants: consultants, contractors, and project management organizations. Spearman’s test on overall rankings of 40 significant factors results in a highest level of correlation between the managers and contractor personnel (rs=0.54), followed by that between the managers and the consultants (rs=0.50), and a least correlation between the contractor personnel and the consultants (rs=0.19). Managers not only maintain a significant presence on the site with the contractors, but also coordinate with the consultants regarding any design-construction issues that arise more than often during project execution: No wonder why their pivotal position helps the managers to establish a higher understanding with both contractor personnel and consultants. The lowest correlation of views between the contractor personnel and the consultants arise from the spot on difference between their workspace environments. Whereas the contractor personnel operate in the field, the consultants are mostly restricted to their design offices.

Master of Science / Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering / Sanjoy Das / Noel Schulz / In a shipboard power system (SPS) there are many possible locations for faults along power lines. It is important to identify the location and isolate these faults in order to protect the equipment and loads. The shipboard systems represented in this research are based on an all-electric ship that is presented by Corzine and a simplified version of the same ship. This research considers faults at the ends on the lines. Sensors collect data in order to determine where the fault has occurred. The fault location identification algorithm being presented uses data collected from simulations of different switch configurations and different loads. After the data is collected, Bayesian techniques are used to determine where the fault is located. An online training technique is presented to adjust to changes in loads over time to increase the accuracy of the algorithm.

Master of Science / Department of Civil Engineering / Kyle Riding / Over the past few years, state governments and entities have become concerned with energy consumption and efficiency at their facilities. The Department of Energy has become increasingly involved in energy code enforcement, and has established initiatives to help states monitor and improve energy consumption. In order to reduce energy consumption and increase building efficiency, facilities must be compared to a baseline building and changes made accordingly. The thesis objectives are to establish a process that all states and state-funded facilities can follow that determines the baseline, establish an energy auditing procedure, and recommend monitoring techniques. In addition, this report documents a procedure developed to make recommendations for improvements and select building and equipment upgrades based and return on investment calculations. The procedures and processes established are designed so that any employee, especially non-engineers, can accomplish changes that will improve facility energy efficiency. In order to develop simplified energy auditing procedures for large and dispersed organizations, a literature review of prevalent energy codes and standards was conducted, as well as documents outlining energy audit procedures. An energy audit workbook outlining a simplified auditing procedure was created. Six KDOT facilities were audited using the procedure as part of the case study. The audit results were then used to determine practical economic calculations and determine viable improvements that reduce energy consumption. As a result of this research and case study, a simplified energy audit procedure was created. This procedure was developed to include selecting a baseline of requirements, conducting an energy audit, and selecting viable improvements using economics. All of these procedures are able to be executed by any state employee, specifically those at the facilities who may not be engineers.

Master of Science / Department of Architectural Engineering / Julia Keen / Conserving energy and minimizing utility consumption are primary focuses in educational facilities because annual budgets are often limited. Consequently, building energy audits are an effective tool to assist in evaluating existing buildings and identify methods of reducing annual energy use. Therefore, this report describes what building energy audits are, how they can be performed, and how to discover energy saving measures from the results. Specifically, the research considers physical building features and building operations and evaluates them for possible modification to reduce energy use. Proposed solutions vary from no-to-low cost options to larger capital investments. The research also analyzes building components for economic viability using the net present cost and payback period as the basis of comparison, permitting recommendations. The audit procedure and the economic analyses are presented in a manner that allows individual educational facility managers to assess their own buildings.

Master of Science / Department of Architectural Engineering and Construction Science / Fred Hasler / This paper discusses the color rendition capabilities of light emitting diodes (LEDs) and their relationship with the current standard for color rendition quality. The current standard for judging light source color rendering properties, known as the color rendering index (CRI), has come under heavy scrutiny in recent years with the introduction of LED in commercial lighting applications. LEDs, depending on construction type, have highly structured spectral distributions which do not scale well under the color rendering index; moreover, CRI for LEDs has become disjointed with the subjective measurement of human color preference. Unfortunately, given the multidimensional nature of color, an all-encompassing scale with a single rated value for color rendition capabilities of a light source has proven difficult to establish. An analysis on the human visual system is first discussed, establishing how the visual system first detects color in the eye and subsequently encodes that color information through a color-opponent process, formulating conscious color appearance. The formation of color appearance leads into a discussion on human color vision and the creation of three dimensional color space, which is subsequently used for the measurement of color fidelity (CRI) of consumer light sources. An overview of how LED lamps create light and color is then discussed, showing that the highly structured spectral distribution of LED lamps is often the cause of discrepancy within the CRI system. Existing alternatives to the CRI system are then compared and contrasted to each other, and the existing CRI system. A final color preference study was conducted where four LED lamps where compared to a reference lamp of equal correlated color temperature. Observers were asked to rate the various test lamps against the reference lamp in terms of vividness, naturalness, overall preference, and individual color preference. It was found that no significant difference was found between the first three dimensions measured but significant trend lines existed for the preference of individual colors when illuminated by either LED lamps or the reference source. Recommendations are then made for how the lighting industry could move forward in terms of color metrics.

Master of Science / Department of Chemical Engineering / Mary E. Rezac / Mary E. Rezac / Energy consumption due to heating, ventilation, and air conditioning amounts to 10-20% of global electrical energy usage. Air conditioning alone uses one trillion kilowatt hours globally. This energy is required for the dehumidification of air in addition to its cooling. New membrane technologies have the potential to decrease air conditioning energy requirements by significant amounts. A membrane acts as a partial heat and mass exchanger in conjunction with a traditional air conditioning system to remove water content and reduce the cooling load. Membranes vary according to their properties and method of mass transport. Liquid membranes have high permeability and selectivity, dense membranes have high selectivity and low permeability, and porous membranes have low selectivity and high permeability. A theoretical model was created to observe how membrane properties affected the potential energy savings of such systems. The most influential properties were flow rate, water permeability and selectivity, membrane area and thickness, and the purge flow temperature. Other properties were determined to be minimally important such as outdoor temperature and humidity. The effect on energy savings in many cases was not a linear relationship but suggested an optimal value beyond which energy savings did not significantly increase. The best simulations showed electrical energy savings of 86-95%.