Browsing Engineering Systems - Ph.D. / Sc.D. by Title
Now showing items 1-20 of 181
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Accounting for non-hazardous industrial waste in the United States
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2016)This dissertation presents a method for estimating the tonnage and composition of non-hazardous industrial waste (NHIW) flows in the United States. For thirty years, it has been an accepted fact that NHIW is generated at ... -
Air quality and Intelligent Transportation Systems : understanding Integrated Innovation, Deployment and Adaptation of Public Technologies
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2006)During the past two decades, Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) have provided transportation organizations with increasingly advanced tools both to operate and manage systems in real-time. At the same time, federal ... -
Air quality impacts and benefits under U.S. policy for air pollution, climate change, and clean energy
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2015)Policies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions can also reduce outdoor levels of air pollutants that harm human health by targeting the same emissions sources. However, the design and scale of these policies can affect the ... -
An algorithmic approach to system architecting using shape grammar-cellular automata
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2008)This thesis expands upon the understanding of the fundamentals of system architecting in order to more effectively apply this process to engineering systems. The universal concern about the system architecting process is ... -
Analysis of capacity pricing and allocation mechanisms in shared railway systems
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2015)In the last 15 years, the use of rail infrastructure by different train operating companies (shared railway system) has been proposed as a way to improve infrastructure utilization and to increase efficiency in the railway ... -
Approximate life-cycle assessment of product concepts using learning systems
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2002)This thesis develops an approximate, analytically based environmental assessment method that provides fast evaluations of product concepts. Traditional life-cycle assessment (LCA) studies and their streamlined analytical ... -
Architectural innovation, functional emergence diversification in engineering systems
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2007)The evolution of the architecture of long-lived complex socio-technical systems have important consequences and can happen in unexpected ways. This dissertation explores this question through the study of the architectural ... -
Architectures for a space-based information network with shared on-orbit processing
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2005)This dissertation provides a top level assessment of technology design choices for the architecture of a space-based information network with shared on-orbit processing. Networking is an efficient method of sharing ... -
Attribution principles for data integration : technology and policy perspectives
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2002)This thesis addresses problems of attribution that arise from the data integration that is exemplified by data re-use and re-distribution on the Web. We present two different perspectives. We begin with a simple definition ... -
Backroom space allocation in retail stores
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2018)Space is one of the most scarce, expensive, and difficult to manage resources in urban retail establishments. A typical retail space broadly consists of two areas, the customer facing frontroom area and the backroom area, ... -
Beating the system : accelerating commercialization of new materials
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2005)Over the past century, materials have faced notoriously long delays between invention and commercialization. These delays make private investment very difficult, and can prevent good materials from reaching markets. A ... -
Beyond gates, guards and guns : the systems-theoretic framework for security at nuclear facilities
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2018)Current approaches to nuclear security can produce elegantly designed physical protection systems (PPS) that may be limited by untenable assumptions or well stated-albeit vague and imprecise-descriptions of how to improve ... -
Beyond industry : an expanded definition of authentic engineering design education
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2019)Authentic approaches to design education are typically defined as experiences centered on industry involvement. This industry connection is commonly either in the form of projects provided by industry partners or practicing ... -
Bioenergy and its use to mitigate the climate impact of aviation
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2017)The use of modern bioenergy presents an opportunity to mitigate CO2 emissions contributing to anthropogenic climate change by offsetting fossil fuel use, and the work presented in this thesis contributes to the literature ... -
Bringing policy into space systems conceptual design : qualitative and quantitative methods
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2002)A change in government policy can send waves of crippling impacts through the design and development of publicly funded complex engineering systems. Thus it is important for system architects and designers to understand ... -
Building technological capability within satellite programs in developing countries
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2012)Global participation in space activity is growing as satellite technology matures and spreads. Countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America are creating or reinvigorating national satellite programs. These countries are ... -
Cars on a diet : the material and energy impacts of passenger vehicle weight reduction in the U.S.
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2010)Vehicle weight reduction is a known strategy to address growing concerns about greenhouse gas emissions and fuel use by passenger vehicles. We find that every 10% reduction in vehicle weight can cut fuel consumption by ... -
Characterizing the materials footprint of a university campus : data, methods, recommendations
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2020)Universities are major consumers and disposers of many materials, but their specific flows are not well characterized. Both energy and material consumption drive a university's environmental impact. Many universities collect ... -
Classes of defense for computer systems
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2015)Computer security incidents often involve attackers acquiring a complex sequence of escalating capabilities and executing those capabilities across a range of different intermediary actors in order to achieve their ultimate ... -
Climate and energy policy for U.S. passenger vehicles : a technology-rich economic modeling and policy analysis
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2011)Climate and energy security concerns have prompted policy action in the United States and abroad to reduce petroleum use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from passenger vehicles. Policy affects the decisions of firms and ...
