The increased use of advanced composites in aerospace manufacturing has led to the development of new production processes and technology. The implementation of advanced composites manufacturing technology is poorly served by traditional cost accounting methods, which distort costs by using inappropriate volume-based allocations of overhead. Activity-based costing has emerged as a methodology which provides more accurate allocation of costs to products or activities by their usage of company resources. Better designs may also be produced if designers could evaluate the cost implications of their choices early in the design process. This research describes a methodology whereby companies can improve product cost estimation at the conceptual design phase, using intelligent searching and arrangement of existing accounting data to enable designers to access the activity cost information more readily. The concept has considerable scope for application in industry because it will allow companies to make better use of information that is already being recorded in their information systems, by providing it in a form which will enable designers to make better informed decisions during the design process. The design decision support framework is illustrated by applying it to a typical problem in aerospace composites manufacturing. Feasibility of the approach is demonstrated using a prototype software model of the Design Decision Support System, implemented using commercially available software. / Ph. D.

In this diploma thesis, we propose a prototype of a dental sandblasting machine. This machine’s drawing is composed using a CAD program, which helped with checking the assembly ability. Later in this work, we discuss the design of each component and chosen technologies for production. We chose to describe in detail and prototype using the CNC machine the “exit jet” component, which combines an abrasive and air with water. The main outputs of this work are the prototype of this component and its technical rating and the technical-economical rating of the whole proposed design of the machine.

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Regional growth literature indicates that the relations between the core and the peripheral regions, and the process by which growth is transmitted between regions are of prime importance in discussing growth disparities. Northeastern Ontario is a peripheral region, economic­ally subordinate to the Ontario core region, and exhibits ad­verse growth conditions. Diversification of the region's resource dependent economy has been called for by many groups but has been hindered by the perception of higher manufacturing production costs, However, these costs have not been investigated. In this thesis, Northeastern Ontario centers' factor costs in manufacturing are compared with core centers' costs by utilizing a cost accounting method. The results indicate that some Northeastern locations may be cost attractive locations. However, low costs derived for Toronto would indicate continued manufacturing concentration in the principle centers of the core region. When costs are calculated for hypothetical firms, the importance of the factor requirement structure is indicated in determining location. Northeastern locations would be attractive to firms with large land, and low labour requirements. If future analyses verify these results, alternative explanations of the development problem of the Northeast should be explored. / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA)

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Work zones associated with highway construction projects create localized bottlenecks where the average traffic speed is reduced and queues are formed, thus causing increased costs as a result of the additional time and fuel needed to traverse the work zone. These user costs can be estimated and applied as a form of incentive to the contractor to complete the work sooner, thus allowing traffic to return to the free-flow speed. Methods to determine user costs are explored through a literature search, questionnaire survey, and interviews with employees of the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT). Based on the research and interviews, a program named DUCK was developed to estimate the costs attributed to the reduction of speed through a work zone. A plan using DUCK and another program, DelayE, is recommended to UDOT, along with a description of these computer programs and how they estimate user costs.

While direct measurements of energetic demands are nearly impossible to collect on large cetaceans, comprehensive bioenergetic models can give insights on such parameters by combining physiological and ecological knowledge. This model was developed to estimate necessary food intake of gray whales, Eschrichtius robustus, of the Eastern North Pacific stock. Field Metabolic Rates (FMR) for gray whales were first estimated based on various assumptions (e.g. volumetric representation of gray whales, extent of their feeding season, and blubber depth distribution) using morphometric data, energetic costs, and food assimilation according to age and gender specific requirements. Food intake rates for gray whales of varying maturity and gender were then estimated based on FMR and caloric value of prey and compared to food intake rates of previous studies. Monte Carlo simulations and sensitivity analysis were performed to assess the model's predictions compared to observed field data from previous studies. Predicted average food intakes for adult male, pregnant/ lactating female, and immature whales were 475 ± 300, 525 ± 300 and 600 ± 300 kg d-1, respectively. Estimated blubber depths resulting from these food intakes were comparable to field data obtained from whaling data. Sensitivity analysis indicated food intake, from all parameters, as having the highest impact on the percent change in ending mass from a simulation. These food intake estimates are similar to those found in a previous study and fall within the range of food intake per body mass observed in other species of cetaceans. Though thermoregulation can be a factor in some cetaceans, it appears not to be an additional cost for gray whales as the present model's predicted lower critical temperatures for the whales (TLC) were below ambient temperatures. With temperatures increasing in the Bering Sea, the main prey of gray whales, ampeliscid amphipods, could be adversely affected, possibly resulting in increased food shortages leading to a surge in gray whale strandings.

There had been a number of researches that investigated on the security market without transaction costs. The focus of this research is in the area that when the security market with transaction costs is fair and in such fair market how one chooses a suitable portfolio to optimize the financial goal. The research approach adopted in this thesis includes linear algebra and elementary probability. The thesis provides evidence that we can maximize expected utility function to achieve our goal (maximize expected return under certain risk tolerance). The main conclusions drawn from this study are under certain conditions the security market is arbitrage-free, and we can always find an optimal portfolio maximizing certain expected utility function.