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The purpose of this project was to develop an instructional packet designed to help instructors create effective product assessment projects for use in assessing students' understanding of course material. The specific audience for this packet was instructors of courses offered at Brigham Young University who rely on product assessment to evaluate students' understanding and skills in any content area. The packet I prepared explains the principles of effective product assessment as they are currently understood by assessment specialists and models how to implement these principles during the creation of a product assessment project. I assembled this packet based on the current thought on product assessment and created instructions to guide instructors in developing effective product assessment projects. This instructional packet was given to a few instructors to guide them as they created product assessment projects for their courses. The packet was then improved based on their feedback so that it can best help instructors create effective product assessment projects as they assess their students.

This thesis is an attempt to embody sustainability by discovering value that transcends cost or function. Many objects are considered waste when they still function, but no longer delight the user. Using digital modeling tools and computer numerical controlled machines, designers can digitally craft products unique to the individual. Utilizing these aspects to create pleasure, designers can motivate consumers to be more thoughtful in their consumption, extend the desirable life of a product, and change the current societal norm of disposability. / Master of Science

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In the thesis, the development of asymmetric organocatalytic [3+3] sequences for the assembly of aminocyclitols is described. A water-based Wittig reaction was developed in order to produce the key enal-based starting materials, which were otherwise difficult to obtain commercially and synthetically. The enals derived from the Witig reaction were employed in the synthesis of both natural products and synthetic analogs of compounds in the amaryllidaceae family. The [3+3] Michael-aldol sequence described herein provided regio-, diastereoand enantioselective access to the core of the various targeted molecules, containing 3 to 4 defined stereocenters. The sequence was optimized via manipulation of the structures of both the organocatalyst and base used leading to increased selectivity and yield. Complete total synthesis of the natural product (+)-trans-dihydrolycoricidine was achieved using the optimized organocatalytic Michael-aldol sequence. The most effective catalyst/base combination for this synthesis was found to be a comercial diphenylsilylprolinol ether and quinidine, which led to a dramatic reduction in the number of synthetic steps taken to the final product, and highest yield, when compared to other reported approaches: in 9 chemical steps, 12% overall yield and 98% e.e. were achieved. Two non-natural analogues were also synthesized using this methodology in order to probe the minimum pharmacophore of the amaryllidaceae derivatives, as they are known to express anti-viral and anti-cancer activity for certain cell lines. (+)-3- Deoxydihydrolycoricidine containing 4 chiral centers, was synthesized via the same [3+3] Michael-aldol sequence as the natural product in 6 steps with 15% yield and >99% e.e. Similarly, (+)-trans-3-epidihydrolycoricidine was obtained in 6 steps, 27% yield and >99% e.e. The biological activity of these derivatives is yet to be examined. This highly effective method for the preparation of chiral aminocycllitols can be generalized toward the synthesis of numerous targets, which will be the focus of future research. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

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The effect of high molecular weight carboxylate ligands as compared to naphthenate ligands on the effectiveness of transition metals as additives for reducing soot particulates was studied in the combustion of diesel fuel and distillate fuel oil by use of a laboratory scale burner. A mechanism involving pseudoheterogenous catalytic reactions is proposed. A simple system to evaluate fuel additives by burning only a few milliliters of oil was designed, developed, and used. Polybutene with an average molecular weight of 920 was the raw material in this study. The polymer was oxidized with KMnO4 to the corresponding acid from whose potassium salt the transition metal-polymer complex obtained. Special treatments were required during the synthesis because of unique viscosity and solubility properties exhibited by the polymer. The oxidation was carried out in the presence of dicyclohexane 18-crown-6 ether as a phase transfer catalyst.

The application of product families and platforms has gained attention as a promising approach to achieving organizational objectives that provide customers with mass customized products while allowing for significant savings from commonality and reuse strategies. While the single-platform strategy has been widely studied, it may lead to the over expansion of the product family. Designers have to either continuously extend the exiting platform and/or impose strict constraints on new variants in order that there is a fit. On the one hand, continuously “extending“ or “'stretching“ the platform forces the platform to become overburdened and less efficient. On the other hand, imposing strict constraints on new variants will force new variants to compromise performances. In this research, the concept of a multi-platform strategy has been put forward to reduce or eliminate negative effects of the single-platform strategy by coordinating products in a complex product family into two or more platforms to provide enough product variety as well as commonality. The method is developed by adopting and synthesizing various tools and concepts from different research areas, such as design management tools, clustering analysis, statistics, decision analysis, mathematical programming, and engineering costing. The product assets that can be shared by the products are determined through product asset value analysis and redesign effort analysis. The number of platforms is flexibly determined by a hierarchical clustering method based on product similarity/dissimilarity. The product-platform assignment problem is simultaneously solved during the clustering process. A multi-objective optimization model is formulated to determine the design specifications and address the product positioning. A Consistent Aggregate Function Formation Method (CAF2M) is put forward to convert the multi-objective optimization model into a single-dimension problem that can quantitatively balance the tradeoff among the multiple objectives. To evaluate the economic benefit from the platform-based product development, an adjusted Activity-Based Costing approach is utilized to identify the cost savings with the consideration of learning effects. A case application with seven automobile models is utilized to illustrate the proposed multi-platform strategy. The method was found helpful for determining and integrating critical design information into the design of product families and platforms. / Ph. D.

This dissertation comprises three essays on theoretical and empirical issues in industrial organization. Chapter 1 outlines the issues explored in the subsequent chapters and briefly describes their conclusions. Chapter 2 explores how product differentiation impacts the incentive compatibility condition for firms to sustain implicit collusion in games of repeated interaction where, in contrast to previous studies, I focus on a market which is simultaneously vertically and horizontally differentiated. To achieve this objective, vertical differentiation is incorporated into an otherwise standard Hotelling framework. The ensuing mixed model of differentiation shows how the interrelationships between both forms of differentiation impact the incentives to collude, and is more general since it replicates previous findings throughout the literature. In Chapter 3, a multiproduct oligopoly model admitting product differentiation and a discrete choice demand model are proposed and estimated to determine if patterns of anti-competitiveness exist across distinct segments of the European car market. This chapter focuses on the evolution of price competition at a finer level than has been studied with a view to empirically challenge the notion that the European car market is wholly anti-competitive. Empirical results show that firm conduct varies due to the intensity of within-segment competition among rival firms. There is evidence of softer competition in the larger, mid- to full-sized segments and more aggressive competition in the smaller, entry-level subcompact segment. Chapter 4 represents a formal extension of the analysis in Chapter 3. In this chapter I examine the competitive structure of the U.S. automobile market using proprietary data comprising actual dealer-level transaction prices of several models of cars and light trucks sold in the domestic U.S. market between 2004 and 2007. The chapter is the first such study to employ consumer end-prices for automobiles in a structural New Empirical Industrial Organization (NEIO) framework. Empirical results reveal that there is more aggressive pricing in the light truck segments comprising minivans/SUVs and pickups, Bertrand pricing in the smaller, entry-level car segments, and softer competition in the full-size car segment. There is also a strong preference for domestically produced light trucks although consumers generally prefer to drive fuel efficient vehicles. / Ph. D.

This dissertation consists of three essays in empirical industrial organization with applications in U.S. airline and automobile industries. Chapter 1 motivates the aim of this dissertation with a brief summary of the main goals and findings of the subsequent chapters. The main focus of this dissertation is to higlight the changing environments in the U.S. airline and automobile industries in recent years and investigate their implications for the nature of industry competitiveness. Following the recession of 2000 and post 9/11 events, the U.S. airline industry has undergone major restructuring which has defined the way airlines compete today. Chapter 2 of this dissertation explores the impact of the presence of Low Cost Carriers (LCCs) on consumer welfare in this newly restructured market environment. Previous studies on LCC competition have not addressed the welfare issue and have only been limited to impact of LCC entry on average airfare. Departing from previous literature, this question is posed using a discrete choice model of demand for differentiated products. In chapter 3 we use a structural oligopoly model for differentiated products similar to chapter 2 to unveil the nature of conduct that exists in markets with endpoints which qualify as hubs of legacy carriers. In contrast to previous literature on airline hub market conduct, this chapter investigates the nature of conduct that exists in markets defined exclusively by network carrier hubs as a whole group incorporating product differentiation in the model framework. Finally chapter 4 uses the same methodological framework outlined in chapter 3 to explore the importance of frequent incidence of manufacturer incentives in shaping market conduct in the automobile industry. Unlike past literature on automobile market conduct, this is achieved using proprietary dealer level average transaction price data obtained from J.D. Power and Associates (JDPA) with a focus on the Big Three automakers. Specifically we use the widely successful Employee Discount Pricing (EDP) promotional program of 2005, the first of its kind, as a backdrop to identify changes in the nature of short run conduct among the Big Three that might be signalled by such promotional programs. / Ph. D.