Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 59-60). / The trend of technology evolution plays a very important role to understand how and why products evolve over time and define strategies of further improvements of products. The trend of evolution is based on the fact that all the products, process or technical systems will evolve over time. A cesium atomic clock is the most accurate realization of a reference unit that mankind has yet achieved. The commercial cesium atomic clock is very mature and the demand for this type of clocks expected to be flat. A size reduction is possible due to new physics improvement by using optical pumping technique, but no major changes in performance and prices are expected. The masers outperform the high performance cesium clocks for a time period of sub seconds to one day. The hydrogen maser is very mature product like cesium and the design has remained the same for the last 30 years. The product is expected to remain as presently available. Rubidium atomic clocks provide enhanced accuracy, stability and timing precision compared to quartz-based technologies. This market is large enough to support continuing technological innovation. The world's first commercially available miniature developed by Symmetricom in 2008 marks a major step toward in the evolution of rubidium atomic clocks. It is predicted that future of rubidium oscillators will be based on coherent population trapping technology. The miniature rubidium clocks will be smaller, cheaper, and will be operated by small batteries. / by Ben Entezam. / S.M.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references. / Developing nations around the globe are focused on ways to use Information and Computing Technologies (ICTs) as springboards to advance their national development in all areas, including education. There are multiple ways in which various organizations are tackling the unique challenges these nations face in equipping their schools with modem educational technologies. This study evaluates two examples of computing technology intended for wide-scale deployment in developing nations. It aims to test the hypothesis that in order to be successful, ICT implementations require adequate funding, available electrical and telecommunication infrastructure, the presence of strong local champions and a local support ecosystem. Interviews were conducted with stakeholders involved in two pilot implementations in Nigeria. A system dynamics model was used to investigate into the relative effects of relevant factors on the speed of ICT deployment. The results from the modeling show the need for a significant increase in financial investment, in order to cover all costs associated with ICT deployments. The results also revealed the daunting task nations face in equipping all students with individual laptops and it presents some alternatives to a wide-scale deployment of one-to-one computing. Finally, the results highlight the necessity of providing economical means of completely powering ICTs in order to rapidly deploy these technologies to the nation's schools. A number of recommendations were made for the consideration of any developing nation undertaking ICT implementations in education. / by Trinidad Grange-Kyner. / S.M.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 108-109). / An exploration of Software Product and Program Management as recently emergent roles in the information technology sector is presented. The exploration is presented in six sections divided into two major parts. The first part, in four sections, explores Product Management from a primarily anthropological and managerial perspective, while the second part, in two sections, explores major engineering issues related to the role. The first part gives a synopsis of the history and economics of software products, demonstrating the rapid evolution of a field facing unprecedented problems with product complexity and motivating the need for Product Management. The role of Product Manager is explored in detail using both extant literature and interviews conducted with current practitioners in industry. The related role of Program Manager is briefly discussed. Finally, an extended historical case study is presented demonstrating the struggles and pitfalls of Product Management in software product companies. The second part explores two major engineering issues related to the Product Management role: Project Management and Requirements Engineering. / (cont.) A survey of major Software Project Management methods in use is given along with critiques of their effectiveness. Finally, the emerging field of Requirements Engineering is studied, with the conclusion that purely analytical methods such as semi-formal modeling cannot obviate the need for social process methods. Such methods take into account the tendency for human communication problems both to sabotage and to become embedded within software systems. / by John A. Hempe. / S.M.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 65-66). / Global demand for energy is rising around the world. Middle East is a major supplier of oil and gas and remains an important region for any future oil and gas developments. Meanwhile, managing oil and gas projects are becoming more challenging and riskier than ever before. Therefore, risk analysis and development of strategies to manage risk are crucial to the reduction of potential future delays and cost overruns in oil and gas projects. This thesis focuses on analysis and management of the technical and institutional risks involved in oil and gas projects in the Middle East. In the first section, we describe various types of risk and introduce a framework for risk management. We then conduct a case study to highlight some of the most important risk factors involved in oil and gas projects as well as recommendations to deal with such risks. The case is based on publically available information and includes two distinct projects with similar geologies under two separate legal regimes in Iran and Qatar. / by Emad Zand. / S.M.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design & Management Program, 2002. / Vita. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 104-105). / Object-Process Methodology and Axiomatic Design are presented as two fundamentally different methods for representing systems. Strengths of the two methods are discussed and synergies are identified. The methods are shown to be complementary. When applied together as an integrated framework, they provide a system architect descriptive and evaluative capability unavailable from either methodology alone. The descriptive capabilities and definitional framework of Object-Process Methodology is used to improve formulation of Functional Requirements and Design Parameters in Axiomatic Design. Examples demonstrate that adequate descriptions of both function and architecture require a combination of objects and processes. Object- Process Methodology templates for describing function and architecture using such combinations are presented. Adherence to Axiomatic Design's Independence Axiom is evaluated through patterns identified in Object-Process Diagrams. / by Nathan R. Soderborg. / S.M.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 101-108). / Complex systems such as commercial aircraft are difficult for operators to manage. Designers, intending to simplify the interface between the operator and the system, have introduced automation to assist the operator. In most cases, the automation has helped the operator, but at times operator confusion as to what the automation is doing has created dangerous situations that lead to property damage or loss of life. This problem, known as mode confusion, has been difficult to analyze and thus solutions tend to be reactive instead of proactive. This thesis examines mode confusion as an emergent property of the operator and the automation. It develops models of the automation and the operator and then studies their emergent behavior. It then applies the model in a case study. / by Paul H. Wheeler. / S.M.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design & Management Program, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 148-150). / by Hans D. Schumacher and Donald J. Mecsey. / S.M.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design & Management Program, 2000. / This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 81-82). / by David M. Tonaszuck. / S.M.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 38). / A model of software applications for business process management based on colored Petri Networks is proposed and the corresponding application development process is exposed. A language is proposed to specify the enabling rules of the transitions. An algorithm to solve the binding problem is proposed and detailed. These elements allow the developers to isolate themselves from the very complex details of business process orchestration, transaction management, multi-threading issues, and to concentrate on the implementation of the transitions themselves. As a proof of concept, a lightweight business process engine based on that model has been implemented as well as the associated development and code generation tools. / by Michaël Visée. / S.M.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 117-122). / The paper studies a real word project of an enterprise software product re-architecting at a mid-sized telecommunication company. It begins with a description of the company and the software product, as well as an elaboration of the project under study. Using written surveys and follow-up interviews as the primary data gathering tools, the paper collects and tabulates first-hand experience and opinions from key project participants. Based on the survey results, the paper proposes an integrative implementation framework, based primarily on literature reviews in offshore outsourcing, systems and project management (SPM) and product design and development (PDD), for a detailed analysis of key challenges encountered by the project under study. The paper also investigates if specific key challenges could have been managed or influenced by the application of specific methods and tools within the proposed framework. / by Kok-Seng (Darrel) Quah. / S.M.