http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/7741 2013-05-22T15:42:09Z http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/78515 The MQ-9 Reaper remotely piloted aircraft : humans and machines in action Cullen, Timothy M Remotely piloted aircraft and the people that control them are changing how the US military operates aircraft and those who fly, yet few know what "drone" operators actually do, why they do what they do, or how they shape and reflect remote air warfare and human-machine relationships. What do the remote operators and intelligence personnel know during missions to "protect and avenge" coalition forces in Iraq and Afghanistan and how do they go about knowing what they know? In an ethnographic and historical analysis of the Air Force's preeminent weapon system for the counterinsurgencies in the two countries, this study describes how social, technical, and cognitive factors mutually constitute remote air operations in war. Armed with perspectives and methods developed in the fields of the history of technology, sociology of technology, and cognitive anthropology, the author, an Air Force fighter pilot, describes how distributed crews represent, transform, and propagate information to find and kill targets and traces the observed human and machine interactions to policy assumptions, professional identities, employment concepts, and technical tools. In doing so, he shows how the people, practices, and machines associated with remotely piloted aircraft have been oriented to and conditioned by trust in automation, experience, skill, and social interactions and how they have influenced and reflected the evolving operational environment, encompassing organizations, and communities of practice. Thesis (Ph. D. in Technology, Management, and Policy)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, Technology, Management, and Policy Program, 2011.; Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 290-298). 2011-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/58866 Reduced DoD product development time : the role of the schedule development process McNutt, Ross Theodore Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, Technology, Management, and Policy Program, February 1999.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 539-544). 1999-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/39333 New venture commercialization of clean energy technologies Miller, David S. (David Seth) Clean energy technologies lower harmful emissions associated with the generation and use of power (e.g. CO2) and many of these technologies have been shown to be cost effective and to provide significant benefits to adopters. Examples of clean energy technologies include renewable and/or efficient distributed generation (e.g. solar, wind, geothermal, fuel cells, cogeneration); energy efficiency technologies; intelligent energy management; efficient energy storage; green building technologies; biofuels; and ancillary products and services that reduce emissions associated with power generation, transmission and distribution. This thesis examines why new ventures founded to commercialize these technologies have failed to achieve widespread adoption. Based on interviews with clean energy entrepreneurs and other stakeholders and on case studies of clean energy technology ventures, a new venture simulation model was developed that models the cash flow, labor force, market, competition, and product development for a prototypical clean energy technology venture. When the model is parameterized to correspond to a venture that starts with superior technology at an attractive price its behavior corresponds to the experience of many of the companies interviewed.; (cont.) The modeled venture takes many years to achieve profitability due to long sales cycles, limits to market growth, and the time needed to gain experience producing and selling its products, and therefore has a high probability of failure. Analysis of the model results in a set of guidelines for what these ventures, investors, and policy makers should do to increase their odds of success. The venture is better off starting with more sales and marketing personnel and expertise rather than engineers, and should develop no more product features than are necessary to sell the product. The venture should forego recurring revenue and instead receive payments up front whenever possible. A single initial equity investment in the venture is considerably more valuable than a series of investments. Government policies that raise the cost of carbon emissions; reduce barriers and increase incentives for adoption of clean energy technologies; and subsidize the development of these technologies can greatly increase the growth of these ventures and the odds of success. Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, Technology, Management, and Policy Program, 2007.; "June 2007."; Includes bibliographical references (p. 245-250). 2007-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/39334 A life-cycle flexibility framework for designing, evaluating and managing "complex" real options : case studies in urban transportation and aircraft systems McConnell, Joshua B. (Joshua Bryan), 1974- Designing a flexible system with real options is a method for managing uncertainty. This research introduces the concept of "complex" real options, which are composed of interconnected echnological, organizational and process components. "Complex" real options differ from the "standard" real options described in the literature in the option life-cycle activities of design, evaluation and management. To address the challenges posed by "complex" real options, the Life-Cycle Flexibility (LCF) Framework was created. The framework addresses issues along the entire life-cycle of an option, in both technical and social system dimensions. Two case studies were considered in this research to better understand "complex" real options and test the LCF Framework: 1) a large blended wing body aircraft in a commercial aircraft manufacturing enterprise and, 2) Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) capabilities in an urban region with multiple public and private stakeholders. For the case studies, both a quantitative and qualitative analysis was completed. System dynamics and traffic demand models were used to quantitatively evaluate flexibility for each case study. Forty interviews with practitioners were conducted to better understand the practical challenges associated with flexible systems.; (cont.) This research found that there are significant differences between "standard" and "complex" real options. In the design phase, enterprise architecture issues must be considered either as a precursor or simultaneously with the design of the option. In the evaluation stage, option valuation techniques more sophisticated than those found in the real options literature were needed to value the "complex" real options. In the management stage, political considerations were of great importance as political opposition could prevent option exercise from occurring. Without the LCF framework, existing processes for evaluating real options are not adequate for taking into account the interacting technical, organizational and process components of 'complex" real options. In summary, this research provides new insights into the design, evaluation and management of "complex" real options. Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, Technology, Management, and Policy Program, 2007.; Includes bibliographical references. 2007-01-01T00:00:00Z