Collaborative groups are important both in the learning environment of engineering education and, in the real world, the business of engineering design. Selecting appropriate individuals to form an effective group and monitoring a group’s progress are important aspects of successful task performance. This exploratory study looked at using the concepts of cognitive social structures, structural balance, and centrality from social network analysis as well as the measures of emotional intelligence. The concepts were used to analyze potential team members to examine if an individual's ability to perceive emotion in others and the self and to use, understand, and manage those emotions are a factor in a group’s performance. The students from a capstone design course in computer engineering were used as volunteer subjects. They were formed into groups and assigned a design exercise to determine whether and which of the above mentioned tools would be effective in both selecting teams and predicting the quality of the resultant design. The results were inconclusive with the exception of an individual's ability to accurately perceive emotions. The instruments that were successful were the Self-Monitoring scale and the accuracy scores derived from cognitive social structures and Level IV of network levels of analysis.

Countries invest a large amount of money in talent development and talent identification. The Swedish ice hockey federation is reorganizing and evaluating the national team selection system. Relative age effect (RAE) refers to a selection bias when relatively older athletes get selected because maturity can be mistaken for talent. This study aimed to examine the selection patterns in the Swedish ice hockey national team and see if there is a relationship between selected players and their birth month. Studies on selections have been conducted in Canadian ice hockey and different leagues, but no one has investigated selections in national team ice hockey.  A Quantitative approach was used, to analyze the sample from this retrospective study.The sample contained 384 players that has been selected for the Swedish youth and junior national team once or more from five different cohorts from 1997-2001. The statistical analyses were conducted through 𝑋!test of association, 𝑋! goodness of fit and factorial ANOVA. The significance level was set to £0,05. Cramers V and h2 was used to measure the effect size.  The results showed that 78% of selected players got re-selected, and most players were entering the system early. A relationship between players birth distribution and selection for the Swedish youth and junior national team was obtained, more players selected were born in the first half of the year. No significant difference in birth distribution was found among the players that played in the World Junior Championship (WJC) in 2017-2021. 92 players were selected for the world junior championship (WJC) rosters. 139 spots were available and 58 of these were taken by underaged players. Underaged players showed a significant difference in birth distribution. Underaged players born in the first half of the year were more likely to be selected as underaged for the U20 WJC rosters compared to their relatively younger peers. No significant difference was found in players height and weight between the four birth quarters.  In conclusion, the Swedish ice hockey national team has adopted a collectivistic approach, players could enter the system at a later stage and still be selected to play in the U20 WJC. Most players are initially selected at age 16, which can indicate that the system is closed. Differences in players birth distribution were found and players born early in the year are more likely to be selected for the national team, however in the WJC squads the birth distribution evens out. / Länder investerar mycket pengar i talangutveckling och talangidentifikation. Svenska ishockeyförbundet genomför en omorganisation och ska utvärdera systemet för landslagsuttagningar. Studiens syfte var att undersöka selektions mönstren inom svensk ishockeys ungdoms- och juniorlandslag, och se om relativ ålder påverkar vem som blir uttagen till landslaget. Studier på uttagningar inom ishockey har tidigare genomförts i Kanada i olika ligor, men ingen har undersökt landslagsuttagningar inom ishockey. RAE hänvisas till en urvalsbias, där relativt äldre atleter blir uttagna på grund av att mognad kan missta sig som talang. Spelarnas position undersöktes också för att se om det finns några skillnader i uttagningar mellan olika positioner.  Studien utgick från en kvantitativ ansats, för att analysera landslagsuttagningarna genomfördes en retrospektiv studie. Urvalet bestod i 384 spelare som blev uttagna en gång eller fler, från fem olika generationer 1997–2001. 𝑋!test of association and 𝑋!goodness of fit, och factorial ANOVA användes för att genomföra dataanalyserna. Signifikansnivån sattes till £ 0,05. Cramers V och h2 användes för att mäta effektstorleken.  Resultatet visar att 78% av de uttagna spelarna blir omvalda, de flesta spelarna kommer in i systemet tidigt. Ett samband mellan spelares födelsedistribution och uttagning till det svenska ungdoms- och juniorlandslaget erhölls. Fler uttagna spelare var födda under det första halvåret (Q1 och Q2), ingen signifikant skillnad i födelsedistribution erhölls bland de uttagna spelarna för junior världsmästerskapet (JVM) i ishockey, åren 2017–2021. 92 spelare blev uttagna till JVM trupperna. Totalt fanns 139 platser tillgängliga i de svenska JVM trupperna, 58 platser fylldes av underåriga spelare. Underåriga spelare visade en signifikant skillnad i födelsedistribution. Underåriga spelare födda under det första halvåret hade större sannolikhet att bli uttagna som underåriga för U20 JVM trupperna. Ingen signifikant skillnad upptäcktes i spelarnas längd och vikt mellan de olika födelse kvartalen.  Slutsats, svensk ishockeys landslagsuttagningar har en kollektivistisk approach. Det var möjligt för spelare att komma in i systemet senare och fortfarande ha möjligheten att representera Sverige i U20 VM. De flesta spelarna blir uttagna vid 16 års ålder, vilket kan indikera att systemet är stängt. Skillnader i spelarnas födelsedistribution hittades, och spelare tidigt födda på året var över representerade i landslagen, men i junior VM truppen jämnade åldersdistributionen ut sig.

Human Systems Integration Capstone / Approved for public release;distribution is unlimited. / In the United States Air Force (USAF), a system is generally thought of in terms of technology; but there are other types of systems supporting our warfighters. A system is “a group of related parts that move or work together” (Merriam-Webster, 2014), suggesting that systems can also be a compilation of human activities and interactions. One such system is the Air Force Medical Service (AFMS). The AFMS has been charged with the delivery of healthcare for the USAF. It is an organization within which there are many workplaces, and these are prototypical of workplaces in the USAF. The USAF currently has no framework for developing organizations. This capstone project took an inside look into the organizational structure of the Keesler Air Force Base’s Base Operational Medicine Cell (BOMC). By conducting a macroergonomic analysis, I was able to make recommendations for an effective and fully harmonized organizational design. Human systems integration (HSI) played a pivotal role in the evaluation of the Keesler BOMC, as Manpower, Personnel, and Training (MPT) are key drivers in the development of organizations. The results of this analysis lead to the development of BOMC requirements and subsequently HSI requirements for organizations, or an HSI Framework for Organizations.