Designing Effective Simulation Games for Active Learning in Systems Engineering

Simulation games have been an effective method of teaching, especially for Systems Engineering concepts. The hands-on activities facilitate active, experiential, and collaborative learning with fun elements. Many simulation games have been developed in the past, but not all are equally effective. How to design a simulation game that is effective and easy to implement? This paper attempts to identify the key design factors that affect the performance of simulation games for teaching systems engineering concepts. By reviewing designs of several existing simulation games, important design factors were identified and verified. With these factors, a more effective way to design new simulation games has been suggested.Cockrell School of Engineerin

Development of a Personalized Quantitative Faculty Annual Evaluation System

Faculty annual evaluation is critical for faculty career development and department success. Our department developed a quantitative faculty evaluation metrics system that is more objective, consistent, flexible, personalized, transparent, and dynamic scoring system. We have implemented the system for 2 years and the outcomes are very encouraging in promoting faculty and department success.Cockrell School of Engineerin

Impacto de las Herramientas Lean en el consumo de energía

Lean principles are mainly used for increasing productivity, reducing lead time, and eliminating waste. Energy impacts can also be assessed by using the lean principles. The objective of this paper is to measure the impact of Lean Manufacturing tools on energy consumption, with the base assumption that they should help decrease it. The methodology assesses and documents the energy utilization as a part of VSM. A pilot application in an industrial setting is presented.  Los principios de Lean Manufacturing se usan principalmente para mejorar la productividad, reducir el tiempo de entrega y eliminar desperdicios. Los impactos en consumo de energía también se pueden estimar usando principios de Lean. El objetivo de este artículo es el de medir el impacto del uso de herramientas de Lean Manufacturing en el consumo de energía, partiendo del supuesto de que su aplicación debería reducirlo. La metodología evalúa y documenta la utilización de la energía como parte de la elaboración de Mapas de la Cadena de Valor. Finalmente se presenta una aplicación piloto en una empresa industrial

Priorización de herramientas de manufactura liviana usando GAP análisis y proceso analítico en red [ANP]

Decision making can be a complicated process, especially when we need to consider a large number of factors. In the case of companies implementing Lean Manufacturing, the vast variety of lean tools makes it harder to select the right tools for the right system at the right time. In this paper, a systematic approach is proposed to assist the decision making process in two steps. In the first step, a Gap Analysis is carried out to compare the current state of the system with a benchmark to identify the deficiency of performance in various categories. The second step employs the Analytic Network Process (ANP) to prioritize lean tools by evaluating the needs and urgency of improvements. We use ANP to prioritize a list of lean tools that need to be implemented urgently considering the current status of a manufacturing firm. A hypothetical case study demonstrates that the proposed decision making approach is capable in selecting lean tools that are applicable, suitable, and urgently needed according to user’s inputs.La toma de decisiones puede ser un proceso complejo, especialmente cuando se debe considerar una gran cantidad de factores. En el caso de las compañías que usan Lean Manufacturing, la gran variedad de herramientas hace aún más complejo seleccionar: la herramienta correcta, para el sistema correcto, en el tiempo correcto. Este artículo propone un enfoque sistemático de apoyo el proceso de toma de decisiones, en dos pasos: en el primero, se lleva a cabo un análisis Gap, con el fin de comparar el estado actual de un sistema con una benchmark, y así identificar deficiencias en el desempeño en varias categorías; en el segundo paso, empleando el concepto de Análisis y proceso analítico en red [ANP], se priorizan herramientas lean en la evaluación de las necesidades y la determinación del nivel de urgencia de las mejoras. Usando ANP se establecen prioridades en una lista de herramientas lean, cuya implementación ser requiere con urgencia, considerando el estado actual de una empresa manufacturera. Un caso de estudio hipotético se utiliza para demostrar que el enfoque propuesto es capaz de seleccionar las herramientas que son aplicables y sostenibles, y a la vez responden a una necesidad urgente, de acuerdo con el input provisto por los usuarios

Constraints on the χ_(c1) versus χ_(c2) polarizations in proton-proton collisions at √s = 8 TeV

The polarizations of promptly produced χ_(c1) and χ_(c2) mesons are studied using data collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC, in proton-proton collisions at √s=8  TeV. The χ_c states are reconstructed via their radiative decays χ_c → J/ψγ, with the photons being measured through conversions to e⁺e⁻, which allows the two states to be well resolved. The polarizations are measured in the helicity frame, through the analysis of the χ_(c2) to χ_(c1) yield ratio as a function of the polar or azimuthal angle of the positive muon emitted in the J/ψ → μ⁺μ⁻ decay, in three bins of J/ψ transverse momentum. While no differences are seen between the two states in terms of azimuthal decay angle distributions, they are observed to have significantly different polar anisotropies. The measurement favors a scenario where at least one of the two states is strongly polarized along the helicity quantization axis, in agreement with nonrelativistic quantum chromodynamics predictions. This is the first measurement of significantly polarized quarkonia produced at high transverse momentum