Thesis (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1982. / Typescript. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 189-192).

Thesis (Ph. D.)(Systems Engineering)--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Includes summary. Includes bibliographical references. Available on the Internet via the World Wide Web.

Thesis (Ph.D) - Swinburne University of Technology, Faculty of Information & Communication Technologies, 2008. / Submitted in fulfillment of the requirements of for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, Faculty of Information and Communication Technologies, Swinburne University of Technology, 2008. Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (p. 228-238)

This research was an investigation into the influences systems engineering has on projects and the systems engineering workforce conditions. It focussed on all industries that have projects and utilised the systems engineering process in South Africa. The research examined the knowledge and understanding of the workforce in the systems engineering domain and some of the specific functions of systems engineering that add value to projects. The constraints the organisation and the workforce experience with regard to culture, resources, management support and systems thinking were also investigated. The research methodology followed a deductive reasoning approach. The most suitable strategy, given the crosssectional time horizon, was a monomethod survey. This was represented with a quantitative questionnaire and nonprobability sampling techniques. Respondents i.e. project managers, engineers and clients from related organisations, were invited to participate. The results revealed that the systems engineering was fairly new field in the South African environment. Although respondents understood the basic concept of systems engineering, they were uncertain of the actual functions of systems engineering. There was clear indication that skills shortages existed. Respondents were willing to learn and the organisation could do more to develop the systems engineering field. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

Please read the abstract in the section 00front of this document / Dissertation (MIng (Industrial Engineering))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Industrial and Systems Engineering / unrestricted

A new model for power system transient stability tests has been developed. It includes a dc motor simulated prime mover with a governor control synthesized by dc booster generator field control, a solid state voltage regulator and exciter, a synchronous machine with a large field time constant realized by negative resistance in the field circuit, a transmission system with time setting SCR controlled fault and clear sequence switchings, an accurate torque angle deviation transducer (Chapter 2), and analogs to realize conventional stabilization and nonlinear optimal control (Chapter 5). Three state variable mathematical models of the test model with various degrees of detail are derived in Chapter 3. Comparisons of results of digital computation and real model tests of a typical power system disturbed by a short circuit are given also in Chapter 3. A parameter sensitivity study is carried out in Chapter 4. Comparisons of digital computation of transient stability with a nonlinear optimal control derived in this thesis and power and speed stabilization derived by another colleague of the power group at U.B.C., with the transient stability tests on the test model are given in Chapter 5. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Electrical and Computer Engineering, Department of / Graduate

Analog computer methods are developed for iterative parameter optimization and continuous identification of linear systems with time delay. A unified treatment of structural sensitivity analysis is presented. New results are presented on the simultaneous generation of the second-order sensitivity functions for a class of systems. To test the theory, a simple controller is proposed for a linear time-invariant process with time delay. The controller parameters are to be adjusted so that the process output closely approximates some desired output, while remaining insensitive to fluctuations in the plant delay. For this purpose, an iterative procedure is used to minimize a combined error-sensitivity performance index. Two continuous identification methods are presented. The first of these is an output error method derived using structural sensitivity analysis, while the second is an equation error method. It is assumed that processes to be identified can be represented by linear differential-difference equations. Unknown parameters in these equations are determined by a steepest descent technique. Both methods are applied for the first time to the important problem, of identifying constant and time varying time delays. The two methods are compared, and the equation error method is found to be superior. It is shown that this method is stable in the linear region in parameter space, and is always stable if all process delays are known. Techniques leading to a more economical implementation of the equation error method are presented. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Electrical and Computer Engineering, Department of / Graduate

The accumulation of plastic waste in the natural environment has been a major environmental concern for many decades. However, the environmental impacts associated with leakage are not taken into consideration under current life-cycle based approaches, despite packaging being a major application area of life cycle assessment. Furthermore, there is limited quantitative information on the leakage propensities and rates of different products. This presents a critical limitation during the life cycle management (LCM) of products destined for regions where they are likely to be dumped or littered. This thesis investigates the feasibility and influence of using product specific leakage rates as a proxy indicator for potential marine environmental impacts, to inform the life cycle management of products in which plastic is a material choice. In particular, it explores whether a realistic understanding of leakage rates, differentiated by major use, may facilitate the development of effective interventions to mitigate the growing problem of marine plastic pollution. This entails the quantification of leakage rates for selected plastic items identified as highly prone to leakage based on a series of beach surveys. The potential influence of providing such specific knowledge is investigated via the exploration of current LCM practices for plastic products employed by key value-chain actors in the plastics industry. In addition, the life cycle management of three key items identified as problematic (straws, cotton bud sticks and beverage bottle lids) is explored via a case study approach. Beach accumulation surveys are often used to estimate plastic flows into the marine environment. Thus, two series of beach surveys were conducted across five beaches with varying catchment area characteristics in Cape Town, over two periods in 2017 and 2018 – 2019 respectively. Daily accumulation rates varied across all sites ranging from 38 – 2962 items.day-1 .100m-1 during the first sampling period and 305 – 2082 items.day-1 .100m-1 during the second. Plastic was the major contributor accounting for 85.6 – 98.9% of all items by count. Despite the variations in litter accumulation rates and composition, there was significant commonality in the items which were identified as major contributors. The top 12 most prevalent and abundant identifiable plastic items accounted for 43 – 66% during the first sampling period, and 41 – 73% during the second. Ten of these items were prevalent during both periods, eight of which were associated with food consumed on-the-go, including beverage bottle lids, polystyrene food containers, single sweet wrappers, snack packets and straws. This indicates that the high litterability of these items was consistent across catchment areas and sampling periods. Furthermore, when ratioed to waste generation, items found to be major contributors were found to have significantly higher leakage rates in comparison to less prevalent items. The increasing concern surrounding plastic pollution has pressured value-chain actors to review their approaches to the life cycle management of plastic products. This has led to the development of strategies focussed on plastic packaging which were not commonplace across all companies. However, these strategies are not necessarily aimed at mitigating plastic pollution but are more broadly concerned with sustainable product design, emphasising design for recycling and supporting recycling activities at end-of-life as part of their extended producer responsibility. Thus, the extent to which these strategies address plastic pollution is limited. Furthermore, value-chain actors reported varied approaches to product prioritisation for intervention which are often not grounded in empirical evidence but instead based on anecdotes and limited logic. This may be attributed to a lack of reliable product-specific information surrounding plastic pollution. Such approaches have the potential to prioritise products ii which are not major contributors to marine pollution in lieu of those that are. Interventions targeted towards products that were identified as prone to leakage, including straws and cotton bud sticks, were catalysed by consumer pressure and societal expectations at large. Ultimately, this thesis demonstrates the need for product-specific knowledge on leakage to facilitate responsible and effective life cycle management of products involving plastic as a material choice. Furthermore, it has demonstrated the feasibility of providing such information through the use of leakage rates. Leakage rates have the potential to play an important role in product life cycle management, allowing for the identification of products which are highly prone to leakage into the environment. Thus, their integration into LCM practice has the potential to facilitate the development of targeted strategies to address plastic pollution.

Saudi Arabia is the biggest Arab state in the Middle East. The Kingdom has a total population of about 30 million people of which about 29.4% are less than 15 years old, 67.6% are between 15 and 64 years old, and 3% are over 65 years old. This creates a need for sophisticated infrastructure that is able to cater to the needs of an aging population, especially in big cities. Despite the fact that the country is divided into 13 provinces, about 60% of the population lives in only three provinces, which are Jeddah, Riyadh and Dammam. Unfortunately, the medical system of the country has become obsolete and, from my own experience of being born and raised in the Kingdom, I believe time has come to bring changes to it if we want to remain among the leaders of the Arabian Peninsula. Through this project, I will highlight the current medical system in Saudi Arabia and explain how I can apply the System Engineering process in order to create a fantastic system that will facilitate the organization and hasten the availability of medical data to medical practitioners.

No description available.