This dissertation investigates causal factors that lead to implementing a top-down approach to platform product design as well as performance outcomes from such a design. A top-down approach to platform product design requires intentional planning of a new platform-based product design during the new product development process, incorporating a level of modularity into the new design, and planning derivative products based on common subsystems and interfaces. A thorough review of literature was used to build a theory of platform product design founded on risks and benefits. Benefits are that platform design can drive revenue, introduce cost and time efficiencies, lead to more reliable products and offer managerial benefits in the form of adjacencies. Risks include increased costs and time to market for the first product, reduced revenue due to commonality, sub-optimal product design, and increased management complexity during the NPD process. A conceptual model was then developed encompassing antecedents, contributing factors, and market performance measures to implementing a top-down approach to new platform product design. The model was empirically tested in the context of U.S. manufacturing firms using data collected from 249 manufacturing product design managers. Respondents included managers from B2B firms and B2C firms as well as small and large firms. In order to test the model, a new continuous multidimensional measurement scale of top-down platform product design was developed. Results showed that market turbulence, technological turbulence, a product that is new to the market and competitive strategies of differentiation and design for supportability are positively related to platform design. Firm type - B2B versus B2C - and firm size - large firms versus small firms - was found to moderate this relationship. Regarding firm type, products that are new to the market are positively related to platform design for B2C firms, not B2B firms, while a competitive strategy of design for supportability is positively related to platform design for B2B firms, not B2C firms. Regarding firm size, a competitive strategy of design for supportability is positively related to platform design for large firms, not small firms. These findings suggest that an important predictor of top-down platform design is risk or uncertainty. Results also showed that top-down platform product design is positively related to both short term and long term market performance although this relationship is significantly greater for long term market performance. In the short-term, performance as measured by sales and market share was greater than performance as measured by profits. In the long-term, performance measured by sales and profits was greater than performance measured by market share. Organizational support in the form of management buy-in and cross-functional integration partially mediates the relationship between platform design and long term market performance. Finally, strategic flexibility was found to have an inverse relationship with top-down platform down. Firms lacking strategic flexibility were more likely to pursue a top-down platform design. This is in line with findings that suggest top-down platform design is undertaken when uncertainty is high and strategic flexibility is an advantage These findings contradict conventional wisdom in new product development literature and offer a better understanding of why platform design is important in a way that has not been previously defined. / Business Administration/Marketing

<p> The simulation of soft tissue deformations has many practical uses in the medical field such as diagnosing medical conditions, training medical professionals and surgical planning. While there are many good computational models that are used in these simulations, carrying out the simulations is time consuming especially for large systems. This is because most simulators are based on software, which are run on general-purpose computers (GPC) that are not optimized to carry out the operations needed for simulation. In order to improve the performance of these simulators, field-programmable-gate-arrays (FPGA) based accelerators for carrying out Matrix-by-Vector multiplications (MVM) have been implemented by Ramachandran in 1998 and Zhuo et. al. in 2005. Zhuo et. al. also looked at the best ways to store a matrix in memory, and how this is affected by certain properties of the matrix.</p> <p> A better approach is to implement an accelerator for carrying out all operations required for simulation on hardware. In this study we propose a hardware accelerator for simulating soft-tissue deformation using finite-difference approximation of elastodynamics equations based on conjugate-gradient inversion of sparse matrices. We designed and implemented the accelerator, which is optimized for use with sparse matrices, on FPGA. We also conducted performance and resource requirements analysis for the accelerator. Our results show this approach is capable of achieving sufficiently high computational rate for carrying out real-time simulation; even with large grids or meshes. Finally, we developed computational models for carrying out real-time simulation of tissue deformation.</p> / Thesis / Master of Applied Science (MASc)

<p> The purpose of this research is to develop a general method for capturing and separating specific targets. Nucleic acid aptamers are short sequences of single-stranded DNA or RNA which have the ability to bind to the small organic or inorganic molecules such as protein and metal ions with high binding affinity. In this study, a bioconjugate re-usable system was developed. It can reversibly load or unload DNA aptamers.</p> <p> To allow separation, a thermally responsive polymer (N-isopropylacrylamide, PNIPAM) is used. This polymer can undergo a reversible phase transition upon adding NaCl and/or increasing temperature. A short sequence of single stranded DNA (ssDNA) was coupled to PNIPAM. The ssDNA will experience a reversible phase transition because of the PNIPAM.</p> <p> The DNA sequence for an aptamer can be extended to contain a sequence that is complementary to that of the ssDNA coupled to PNIPAM. Adding this extended aptamer to the conjugate will result in spontaneous hybridization of the two strands of DNA. These strands can be separated using an agent (e.g. urea) that destroys hydrogen bonding. The conjugate can be recovered using a reversible inverse phase transition.</p> <p> The same PNIPAM-ssDNA conjugate can be used reversibly for coupling different aptamers. The aptamers did not lose their binding ability when coupled with PNIPAM-ssDNA conjugates. In the process of precipitation separation targets, the PNIPAM-ssDNA conjugate showed little loss with applied phase transition. Moreover, the coupling efficiency of the ssDNA to PNIPAM conjugates was determined. The binding ability of the ATP aptamers to ATP was also investigated.</p> / Thesis / Master of Applied Science (MASc)

Platform-centric startups that generate value by facilitating interactions between two or more interdependent groups digitally transform and disrupt the business environment, leading to significant changes in how people purchase, sell, communicate, and even live. Some of these, such as Uber and Airbnb, have become among the most beloved and successful brands, though they had serious challenges in building up their brands at the early stages due to lack of resources. The purpose of this dissertation is to develop a framework of branding in platform-centric startups by identifying the pillars of brand‐building and linking the relevant factors. This study employs qualitative method to propose a four-level framework including passion, innovation, co-creation, and moralization for brand-building in startups. The novelty of this framework reveals that the locus of brand-building is gradually expanding from the founders to the company, then to the customers, and finally to a larger societal constituency. The framework can assist founders and stakeholders in monitoring the growth of a new venture in the real business world while guiding branding scholars to investigate the discipline of startup branding.

Att använda low-code för applikationsutveckling har blivit allt vanligare, men säkerhetsförutsättningarna när low-code används är däremot inte helt kartlagda. Denna studie fokuserar på ett av de största företagen inom mjukvaruutveckling, Microsoft. Microsoft tillhandahåller tjänsten MS Power Platform som innehåller verktyg för low-code utveckling och samverkar med Microsofts andra tjänster. En stor del av informationssäkerheten hanteras av Microsoft på grund av att MS Power Platform använder low-code och integrerar molntjänster. Syftet med denna studie var att ta reda på vilka utmaningar it-konsulter möter i sitt arbete när de använder MS Power Platform när det gäller informationssäkerhet. Kvalitativa, semistrukturerade intervjuer har genomförts med it-konsulter som arbetat med MS Power Platform. Empirin har analyserats med hjälp av CIA-Triaden där förhållandet till informationssäkerhet kontrollerades genom CIA-Triadens tre delar: konfidentialitet, integritet och tillgänglighet. Resultatet från denna studie visade att Microsofts tjänster för roller och grupper har en stark inverkan på informationssäkerheten. Detta gäller särskilt hur verksamheterna som it-konsulterna arbetar med har implementerat roller och grupper i sin identity access management. Studien visade också att kommunikation kring informationssäkerhet inte är en kontinuerlig del av it-konsulternas arbete. Implementation av ytterligare säkerhetsfunktioner utöver de inkluderade i Microsofts tjänster var heller inte vanligt.

This thesis reveals relationships between the neoliberal subject and the suburban subject relative to the built environment. It argues that today's "architecture" is an integration of digital and analog worlds. The thesis articulates that American society's subjectivity is imposed by a consumer condition that is tied to the iconography of suburban landscape, such as the iconic house shape or a recognizable brand icon. The advent of the internet accelerated this condition by providing additional conduits of capital-based icons to emerge from and merge with the suburbs. The work focuses on creating parallels between the American suburban landscape, the suburban home, digital infrastructure, and the emerging structures which merge with the internet. The thesis asserts that the suburban project dominates the entirety of the landscape and is the governing force building an incipient landscape. The written part of the thesis discusses how our modern identity, influenced by both physical and digital worlds, has evolved from suburban roots, while the visual commentary uses architectural drawings to reveal four modalities which frame our environment and shape our lives and interactions. / Master of Science / This thesis looks at how architecture shapes our lives and frames our interactions with the world around us. It specifically focuses on how suburban landscapes influence our identity and behavior, emphasizing the typical suburban elements like single-family housing, commercial strip development, and global consumer goods that define this environment. The rise of the internet has intensified these suburban influences by connecting the suburban environment more deeply with the flow of money and data. The research interrogates and uses images and symbols from the suburban landscape to comment on their latent impact on our surroundings and how they now blend with digital technology. The thesis develops the connections between the physical suburban environment and developing digital infrastructures to articulate emergent structures in their combination. The written part of the thesis discusses how our modern identity, influenced by both physical and digital worlds, has evolved from suburban roots. A visual commentary uses architectural drawings to reveal four modalities which frame our environment and shapes our lives and interactions.

When an embankment is to be constructed over ground that is too soft or compressible to adequately support the embankment, columns of strong material can be placed in the soft ground to provide the necessary support by transferring the embankment load to a firm stratum. This technology is known as column-supported embankments (CSEs). A geosynthetic-reinforced load transfer platform (LTP) or bridging layer may be constructed immediately above the columns to help transfer the load from the embankment to the columns. There are two principal reasons to use CSEs: 1) accelerated construction compared to more conventional construction methods such as prefabricated vertical drains (PVDs) or staged construction, and 2) protection of adjacent facilities from distress, such as settlement of existing pavements when a roadway is being widened. One of the most significant obstacles limiting the use of CSEs is the lack of a standard design procedure which has been properly validated. This report and the testing described herein were undertaken to help resolve some of the uncertainty regarding CSE design procedures in light of the advantages of the CSE technology and potential for significant contributions to the Strategic Highway Research Program, which include accelerated construction and long-lived facilities. Twelve design/analysis procedures are described in this report, and ratings are assigned based on information available in the literature. A test facility was constructed and the facility, instrumentation, materials, equipment, and test procedures are described. A total of 5 CSE tests were conducted with 2 ft diameter columns in a square array. The first test had a column center-to-center spacing of 10 ft and the remaining four tests had center-to-center spacings of 6 ft. The Adapted Terzaghi Method of determining the vertical stress on the geosynthetic reinforcement and the Parabolic Method of determining the tension in the geosynthetic reinforcement provide the best agreement with the test results. The tests also illustrate the importance of soft soil support in CSE performance and behavior. A generalized formulation of the Adapted Terzaghi Method for any column/unit cell geometry and two layers of embankment fill is presented, and two new formulations of the Parabolic Method for triangular arrangements is described. A recommended design procedure is presented which includes use of the GeogridBridge Excel workbook described by Filz and Smith (2006, 2007), which was adapted for both square and triangular column arrangements. GeogridBridge uses the Adapted Terzaghi Method and the Parabolic Method in a load-displacement compatibility design approach. For completeness, recommended quality control and quality assurance procedures are also provided, and a new guide specification is presented. / Ph. D.

The widespread emergence of computing devices that go beyond the capabilities of traditional desktop computers has created a challenge for user interface (UI) developers who face the problem of a lack of a unified development process for building these UIs. This dissertation research focuses on creating a simplified development process for building UIs for multiple platforms. As part of this, the necessary building blocks (and their relationships) that can be used in a process to develop multi-platform UIs (MPUIs) are identified and specified. A task model, which is an abstract representation of the tasks that users perform with a system, is used as a high-level platform-independent specification for representing UIs for multiple platforms. The task model is supplemented with additional navigation attributes and containment operators for each target platform to facilitate the UI development process. This contribution is based on the insight that an uncontaminated task model, in conjunction with additional operators, allows different styles of UIs to be derived for different platforms. This development process is evaluated by functional comparison with a few other multi-platform development processes, based on a set of criteria. In particular, a detailed comparison of this approach is performed with the approach used in the TERESA development environment. The process is also evaluated by demonstrating how the new features of this approach allow different styles of UIs to be built not only for a single platform, but also for different platforms. The two underlying notations that are used in this work include the Concurrent Task Tree (CTT) modeling notation for the task model and an intermediate language for UIs, the User Interface Markup Language (UIML). This research associates a new vocabulary with the UIML language to facilitate a multi-step transformation-based MPUI development process. / Ph. D.

In today's market, companies are faced with pressure to increase variety in product offerings. While increasing variety can help increase market share and sales growth, the costs of doing so can be significant. Ultimately, variety causes complexity in products and processes to soar, which negatively impacts product development, quality, production scheduling, efficiency and more. Product variety is just one common cause of product complexity, a topic that several researchers have tackled with several sources of product complexity now identified. However, even with such progress, product complexity continues to be a theoretical concept, making it difficult for companies to fully implement advances and fully manage product complexity. More and more companies are relying on product family design to handle product variety. Broadly, a product family can be defined as a group of products sharing common elements. The advantages for companies using product family strategies can be significant: they enable efficient derivation of product variants, reduce inventory and handling costs, as well as setup and retooling time. The design challenge however, is to select the product platform to generate a variety of products with minimum deviation from individual requirements. Accordingly, the structure of product families makes designing and evaluating them a challenging process. In order to fully embrace the relationships between variety, product complexity, and product families an understanding of product complexity causes and impacts is essential. This research begins by introducing four main dimensions of product complexity within the context of a generalized definition. Product complexity indicators suitable in product design, development and production are derived. By establishing measurements for the identified indicators and using clustering techniques, a complexity evaluation approach for product family designs is also developed in this research. The evaluation approach is also applied on a component basis, to identify Critical Components that are main sources and contributors of complexity within product families. By standardizing identified Critical Components, product complexity levels and associated costs can be managed. A case application of three product families from a tire manufacturing company is used to verify that this research approach is suitable for evaluating and managing product complexity in product families. / Ph. D.

As the rate and severity of malicious software attacks have escalated, industrial control systems (ICSes) have emerged as a particularly vulnerable target. ICSes govern the automation of the physical processes in industries such as power, water, oil and manufacturing. In contrast to the personal computing space, where attackers attempt to capture information or computing resources, the attacks directed at ICSes aim to degrade or destroy the physical processes or plants maintained by the ICS. Exploits with potentially catastrophic results are sold on brokerages to any interested party. Previous efforts in ICS security implicitly and mistakenly trust internal software. This thesis presents an architecture for trust enhancement of critical embedded processes (TECEP). TECEP assumes that all software can be or has already been compromised. Trust is instead placed in hardware that is invisible to any malicious software. Software processes critical for stable operation are duplicated in hardware, along with a supervisory process to monitor the behavior of the plant. Furthermore, a copy of the software and a model of the plant are implemented in hardware in order to estimate the system's future behavior. In the event of an attack, the hardware can successfully identify the plant's abnormal behavior in either the present or the future and supersede the software's directives, allowing the plant to continue functioning correctly. This approach to ICS security can be retrofitted to existing ICSes, has minimal impact on the ICS design process, and modestly increases hardware requirements in a programmable system-on-chip. / Master of Science