Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Measurement Program'

Dissertation (Ph.D.)--University of Toledo, 2009.
Typescript. "Submitted as partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy in Foundations of Education, Research and Measurement." Bibliography: leaves 114-127.

This master’s dissertation stands as a guideline for defining a measurement program for GEEE that can be piloted at the Gothenburg site EEEG. The measurement program is based on the “CMMI process area Measurements and Analysis, Level 2”. The proposed measurement program is designed in such a way that is applicable for repeatable process measurement with potential minor alters depending on the nature of the process being examined. Major effort has been made on creating a program that not only collects the numerical data but also delivers substantial results in terms of goal setting, data analysis and decision making. Designing a process for measurement facilitate organizational strategy toward process improvements. This measurement program is designed with the help of some well-known methods such as: GQM (Goal-Question-Metric), PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act) and ETVX (Entry-Task-Validation- Exit) where five major phases are resulted, namely; Identify, Define, Collect data, Analysis, Evolve, thereafter embedded in a template-shaped tool. The whole template, after a complete fulfillment, would provide the organization with a guideline to achieve the organizational objectives. It is vital to mention that this template itself does not improve the processes. It only shows the status of the chosen project/process after having the filled template executed. What this template generates is to provide the stakeholders with necessary information and basis to make informed decision afterwards in order to improve the chosen processes/projects. Since the processes in “Maturity Level 2 of CMMI” are project based, it is important the status of processes can be measured and communicated. This procedure plays a crucial role in creating a platform for moving to the next maturity level.

Thesis: Ph. D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Architecture and Planning, Program in Media Arts and Sciences, 2015.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 206-220).
Chronic psychological stress carries a wide array of pathophysiological risks, including cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, diabetes, and immune dysregulation. An important step in managing stress, before it becomes chronic, is recognizing precisely when and where it occurs. This thesis creates and evaluates new methods to improve the measurement of stress by leveraging state-of-the-art wearable devices. The first part of the thesis systematically compares gathering self-reported stress levels with head and wrist-worn devices, and compares them to the traditional cellphone in the pocket. In particular, 15 participants were asked to carry these devices during five days of their regular work day and to self-report their emotional state several times a day with our custom experience sampling application. We found that both head and wrist-worn devices significantly outperformed the phone in terms of the amount of answered prompts and the speed to start answering. However, different factors such as interaction types, screen size, and familiarity with the devices affected users' experience and responses. The second part of the thesis develops novel methods to comfortably capture physiological signals associated with the stress response. In particular, 36 participants were asked to carry either a head-worn device, a smartwatch or a smartphone while performing different "still" body postures in a controlled laboratory study. Using the proposed methods, we demonstrated that wearable motion-sensitive sensors inside these devices can capture heart and breathing rates as accurately as FDA-cleared devices from traditional body locations. Furthermore, using the data collected from the 15 participants, we demonstrated that our methods can be opportunistically used in real-life when people are relatively "still. " In our study, for instance, the head-worn device provided accurate heart rate assessments around 20% of the work day. Finally, the third part of the thesis uses supervised learning methods to automatically infer self-reported stress levels from different types of wearable data, including physiological, contextual and behavioral signals. While there is not a one-size-fits-all solution, we found that electrodermal activity, head motion and atmospheric pressure were the more relevant signals across the 15 participants. Furthermore, we characterized many of the challenges that plague the task of real-life stress recognition.
by Javier Hernandez Rivera
Ph. D.

Background and purpose. This thesis documents a program of five studies concerned with the assessment of software measurement. The goal of this program is to assist the software industry to improve the information support for managers, analysts and software engineers by providing evidence of where opportunities for improving measurement and analysis exist. Methods. The first study examined the assessment of software measurement frameworks using models of best practice based on performance/success factors. The software measurement frameworks of thirteen organisations were surveyed. The association between a factor and the outcome experienced with the organisations' frameworks was then evaluated. The subsequent studies were more info-centric and investigated using models of information quality to assess the support provided for software processes. For these studies, information quality models targeting specific software processes were developed using practitioner focus groups. The models were instantiated in survey instruments and the responses were analysed to identify opportunities to improve the information support provided. The final study compared the use of two different information quality models for the assessing and improving information support. Assessments of the same quantum of information were made using a targeted model and a generic model. The assessments were then evaluated by an expert panel in order to identify which information quality model was more effective for improvement purposes. Results. The study of performance factors for software measurement frameworks confirmed the association of some factors with success and quantified that association. In particular, it demonstrated the importance of evaluating contextual factors. The conclusion is that factor-based models may be appropriately used for risk analysis and for identifying constraints on measurement performance. Note, however, that a follow-up study showed that some initially successful frameworks subsequently failed. This implied an instability in the dependent variable, success, that could reduce the value of factor-based models for predicting success. The studies of targeted information quality models demonstrated the effectiveness of targeted assessments for identifying improvement opportunities and suggest that they are likely to be more effective for improvement purposes than using generic information quality models. The studies also showed the effectiveness of importance-performance analysis for prioritizing improvement opportunities.

This study has presented findings on the correlations of the attitudes of the health promotion program provider and the program decision-maker in measuring the success of their worksite health promotion programs. The purpose of this study was to answer the following three questions: 1) Do company decision-makers and primary program providers agree upon which evaluation methods are currently being used in their worksite health promotion program? 2) Do the company decision-makers and primary program providers rank the top five evaluation criteria in the same order of importance? and 3) In rank order, what are the top five preferred evaluation criteria of the program provider? Results indicate a strong correlation of agreement for questions 1 and 2 (0.937 and 0.951 respectively). The data suggests that primary health promotion program providers and company decision-makers share strong agreement on which evaluation criteria should measure program success. Justification of worksite health promotion requires that the program provider be accountable for the criteria on which the decision-maker bases the programs' success.
Fisher Institute for Wellness

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program, 1999.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 99-102).
Teams are rapidly becoming the primary work unit across business and industry. Much has been written about the advantages of teams in problem solving, decision-making, quality improvement and performing complex tasks. Likewise, the body of knowledge surrounding team development, teamwork and team dynamics has grown rapidly over the last 15 to 20 years. Many theories of team performance have been developed. However, few unified approaches to measuring team performance have been proposed. Team performance measurement (TPM) is important for several reasons: 1) team measures have a motivating and focusing influence on team processes; 2) measurement provides necessary feedback for decision-making, problem diagnosis and intervention; and 3) measurement is fundamental to team learning and continuous improvement. The premise of this thesis is that the design and deployment of effective team performance measurement strategies can best be accomplished through a systems approach. A systems approach to TPM considers the following: I) The object of the measurement, the team is a system. 2) Team performance measurement strategies must consider the elements of the system (members, sub-teams, tasks, processes and interfaces) in addition to system outputs. 3) The team operates within an organizational super-system, which imposes contextual and environmental influences on team performance. 4) Team performance measurement is itself a system, with an associated function, interrelated elements, interfaces, influences and context. This thesis suggests an architectural framework for analyzing the critical factors influencing team performance and a holistic TPM framework for developing and deploying a balanced set of team measures.
by Daryl R. Hunt.
S.M.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Program in Media Arts & Sciences, 2000.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 131-135).
Inertial measurement components, which sense either acceleration or angular rate, are being embedded into common user interface devices more frequently as their cost continues to drop dramatically. These devices hold a number of advantages over other sensing technologies: they measure relevant parameters for human interfaces and can easily be embedded into wireless, mobile platforms. The work in this dissertation demonstrates that inertial measurement can be used to acquire rich data about human gestures, that we can derive efficient algorithms for using this data in gesture recognition, and that the concept of a parameterized atomic gesture recognition has merit. Further we show that a framework combining these three levels of description can be easily used by designers to create robust applications. A wireless six degree-of-freedom inertial measurement unit (IMU), with a cubical form factor (1.25 inches on a side) was constructed to collect the data, providing updates at 15 ms intervals. This data is analyzed for periods of activity using a windowed variance algorithm, whose thresholds can be set analytically. These segments are then examined by the gesture recognition algorithms, which are applied on an axis-by-axis basis to the data. The recognized gestures are considered atomic (i.e. cannot be decomposed) and are parameterized in terms of magnitude and duration. Given these atomic gestures, a simple scripting language is developed to allow designers to combine them into full gestures of interest. It allows matching of recognized atomic gestures to prototypes based on their type, parameters and time of occurrence. Because our goal is to eventually create stand-alone devices,the algorithms designed for this framework have both low algorithmic complexity and low latency, at the price of a small loss in generality. To demonstrate this system, the gesture recognition portion of (void*): A Cast of Characters, an installation which used a pair of hand-held IMUs to capture gestural inputs, was implemented using this framework. This version ran much faster than the original version (based on Hidden Markov Models), used less processing power, and performed at least as well.
by Ari Yosef Benbasat.
S.M.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Architecture and Planning, Program in Media Arts and Sciences, 2003.
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 69-70).
We describe theoretical and practical aspects of the particle trap as an inertial sensor. The insight motivating this approach is that a trapped particle acts like a mass on a spring, but the restoring forces are provided by electrostatic fields. Exquisitely machined physical mechanisms can be replaced by carefully tuned mechanical physics. Such inertial sensors could be simpler to build yet exhibit superior performance because their operating parameters can be dynamically controlled. Most currently available inertial sensors are inherently planar devices that obtain no more than two degrees of motional sensitivity from a given proof mass. The availability of an accurate, inexpensive, integrated six-degree-of-freedom inertial sensor would enable new applications of inertial sensing that are presently either infeasible or unconsidered. By adding inertial terms to the Paul trap dynamics we derive classical observables that depend on the local acceleration field. We also confirm that these observables appear in practice, in what we believe to be the first electrodynamic particle trap accelerometer. An important (and unusual) aspect of our accelerometer is its dynamic tunability: its effective spring constant depends on the trap drive parameters. Our roughly constructed trap also exhibits a large region of linear response to acceleration, and we present evidence suggesting that our accelerometer has performance comparable to commercially available sensors.
by Ernest Rehmatulla Post.
Ph.D.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Program in Media Arts & Sciences, 2001.
MIT Institute Archive copy: p. 59-60 bound after p. 91.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 71-73).
By giving users a way to vent, we transform their frustration into a valuable source of information for adapting interfaces. Drawing from psychophysiology and tactile sensing, we present frustration sensors as a way of incorporating user feedback into interface design processes. This thesis documents the development of designs for several sensors aimed at detecting user frustration with computers. Additionally the thesis explores the design space between active sensors that facilitate the communication of frustration and passive sensors that detect frustration without demanding the user's attention. During evaluations we learned several things: -- Participants liked having devices to communicate frustration. -- The data that was collected during active and passive user interactions can be used for redesigning and adapting systems (either by hand, or automatically). -- User behaved differently during usability problems. In a comparative study of three active designs (Frustrometer, Squeezemouse, and traditional feedback web page) we found that users prefer the Frustrometer to a web feedback page. Preliminary results suggest that frustration-stimulated behavior can also be detected through passive sensors. When combined with other contextual information, these sensors provide a crucial building block in systems that interact and adapt to human behavior by indicating where and when change is needed.
Carson Jonathan Reynolds.
S.M.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Architecture and Planning, Program in Media Arts and Sciences, 2010.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 59-61).
Physiological arousal is an important part of occupational therapy for children with Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) but therapists do not have a way to objectively measure how therapy affects arousal. We hypothesized that when children with SPD participate in guided activities within an occupational therapy setting, informative changes in electrodermal activity (EDA) can be detected using iCalm. iCalm is a small, wireless sensor developed at MIT that measures EDA and motion, worn on the wrist or above the ankle. Twenty-two children (ages 3-10) with a clinical diagnosis of SPD participated. EDA was measured from the backs of the children's ankles. Concurrent video recordings allowed for comparison of therapeutic activities and children's EDA. Overall, we measured 77 therapy sessions. All measurements were in-situ, during regularly scheduled therapy sessions. Statistical analysis describing how equipment affects EDA was inconclusive, suggesting that many factors play a role in how a child's EDA changes. Case studies provided examples of how occupational therapy affected children's EDA. This is the first study of the effects of occupational therapy's in-situ activities using continuous physiologic measures. The results suggest that careful case-study analyses of the relation between therapeutic activities and physiological arousal may inform clinical practice.
by Elliott B. Hedman.
S.M.

In dimensional measurements, it is required to specify uncertainty in the measurement as the range of possible deviation for the measurement result. In this thesis, a computer program is developed for evaluating uncertainty in measurement of commonly used dimensional measuring devices like vernier callipers, micrometers, comparators, and gauge blocks. In evaluation of the uncertainty in measurement, some uncertainty sources like temperature difference between the measured part and the instrument, uncertainty in reference gauge block&rsquo
s dimension, mechanical effects, etc. are considered. The program developed, employs the EAL, NIST and GUM uncertainty evaluation equations as standard equations. However, the program can also be used for other measuring instruments and the users can define their own uncertainty equation. In the evaluations, for the standard uncertainty of the variables considered, symmetric distributions are used. The program gives the uncertainty budget and to compare the contribution of each variable on the overall uncertainty of the measurement, the uncertainty effect ratio is also given. In this thesis the evaluation process for uncertainty in measurement, the difference between the measurement error and uncertainty in measurement and the structure of the program are discussed. Also, a set of experiments has been made to illustrate the application of the program for evaluating the measurement uncertainty of vernier callipers with 1/50 and 1/20 resolutions, digital vernier calliper and 25 mm micrometer.

Thesis: Ph. D. in Bioinformatics and Integrative Genomics, Harvard-MIT Program in Health Sciences and Technology, 2016.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 149-158).
Next-generation DNA sequencing has allowed us to extract vast quantities of functional information from genetic systems. However, natural systems represent only a fraction of all possible DNA sequences. Our understanding of how genomes function is limited by our ability to make modifications and test hypotheses. Multiplexed DNA synthesis now allows us to generate thousands of computationally designed sequences, each representing a physical hypothesis to test. Here, we combine DNA sequencing and synthesis technologies to design, make, and measure the behavior of thousands of new genetic elements in the bacterium E. coli. We begin by quantifying the interactions between regulatory elements that control transcription and translation and show that these interactions create large deviations from the predicted behavior of individual elements. Regulatory elements also interact with the codons of the genes they control. We show that rare codon usage at the beginning of genes unexpectedly leads to a strong increase in protein translation due to the relationship between codon rarity, genomic nucleotide bias, and mRNA structure. We next examine the behavior of regulatory elements that bind transcription factors by designing and synthesizing over 100,000 transcriptional circuits. From each circuit we measure repression, activation, and small-molecule induction, deriving relationships between DNA sequence features and functional properties including cooperativity, sensitivity, and dynamic range of gene expression response. Finally, as the scale and speed of DNA synthesis and functional readout continues to increase, our ability to computationally design and analyze genetic systems has become the bottleneck. We have built software to predict and design individual genetic elements in high throughput (Promuter) as well as software to analyze and compare hundreds of evolved or engineered bacterial whole genomes (Millstone). As generating high dimensional datasets becomes exponentially easier than designing experiments and extracting knowledge, bioinformatics, machine learning, and data science will become the primary tools we use to pose new hypotheses and build models of biology.
by Daniel B. Goodman.
Ph. D. in Bioinformatics and Integrative Genomics

Thesis: Ph. D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Computational and Systems Biology Program, 2016.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 82-85).
Whether at the level of a single protein, or in the cytoplasm as a whole, the diffusive mobility of proteins plays a key role in biological function. To measure protein diffusion in cells, researchers have developed multiple fluorescence microscopy methods, and have tested them rigorously. However, using these methods for precise measurement of diffusion coefficients requires expertise that can be a barrier to broad utilization of these methods. Here, we report on a new method we have developed, which we name Photo-converted Intensity Profile Expansion (PIPE). It is a simple and intuitive technique that works on commercial imaging systems and requires little expertise. PIPE works by pulsing photo-convertible fluorescent proteins, generating a peaked fluorescence signal at the pulsed region, and analyzing the spatial expansion of the signal as diffusion spreads it out. The width of the expanding signal is directly related to the protein ensemble mean-square displacement, from which the diffusion coefficient of the ensemble is calculated. In the main part of the thesis, we demonstrate the success of PIPE in measuring accurate diffusion coefficients in silico, in vitro and in vivo. We then broaden the discussion, and challenge the assumption that the Fickian diffusion equation is the most appropriate model for describing protein motion in the cytoplasm. Since the cytoplasm is crowded with obstacles that trap proteins for a wide range of times, the motion of those proteins may be more accurately described by models of anomalous diffusion. To contribute to the ongoing debate about anomalous diffusion, we show how PIPE can be used to measure the degree of diffusion anomality by examining the temporal scaling of the mean-square displacement. Whether for measuring normal or anomalous diffusion, we suggest that the simplicity and user-friendliness of PIPE could make it a useful tool in molecular and cell biology.
by Rotem Gura Sadovsky.
Ph. D.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Architecture and Planning, Program in Media Arts and Sciences, 2007.
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 45-46).
Active leg prostheses can lead to more natural and less energy consuming gait patterns for amputees than passive prostheses can, because they provide a better approximation of the functions of the human leg. Active prostheses use motors to supply torques for added force and greater control at the joints (replacing the functions of normal limb musculature). The necessary amount of torque to apply must be closely correlated with gait characteristics. To properly control an active prosthesis, it is necessary to determine whether one is walking at a stable or varying velocity, on level ground, stairs, or a hill or ramp, and in the latter cases whether one is ascending or descending. In all cases, it is essential to detect transitions between gaits as early as possible, ideally before the foot makes contact with the ground, in order for the control system to adjust accordingly. In this thesis, a sensor system for a lower leg prosthesis is described, and a method for determining the gait transitions from this system are presented. The sensor system consists of an inertial measurement unit comprising three accelerometers and three rate gyroscopes installed on the prosthetic limb and a set of strain gauges on the limb to detect changes in force. Using this instrumented prosthesis, data are collected while an amputee participant transitions from level ground to stair ascent/descent. These data are then processed using an intent recognition method based on a hybrid discrete-continuous physical model of human walking. This method is evaluated for accuracy and robustness for real-time use.
by Benjamin Baruch Aisen.
S.M.

This thesis comprises an investigation in order to find possibilities to implement the method used in the automotive industry to automatically generate a collision free measurement program within the aircraft components manufacturer. The purpose with the study was to compare and analyse the different methods used to generate measurement programs at GKN Aerospace Engine Systems in Trollhättan, National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS) and Volvo Cars Corporations (VCC).The study was conducted through meetings, observations and questionnaires with staff from the geometry assurance engineering (GAE) departments and measurement departments in each company. By mapping the virtual GAE process started from concept development in CAD to the measurement phase in which components are measured in coordinated measuring machines (CMM), a chain of activities was analysed.NEVS and VCC are today using RD&T and IPS to generate optimized CMM programs in which a time efficient measurement path can be generated. This method was compared with the current approach at GKN Aerospace where they use one supplier for offline CMM programming (OLP) software solutions and CMMs. They are thereby working in a closed system where the OLP communicates with the CMM by supplier specific methods. The automobile manufacturer NEVS and VCC, in contrast, uses a DMIS protocol which is an ISO and ANSI standard.The study shows that an implementation of the software used by the Swedish automobile manufacture NEVS and VCC at GKN Aerospace in Trollhättan, may not have any significant improvements regarding time savings and thereby no economic benefits. However, the approach for generating an optimized measurement program in RD&T and IPS may have major improvements in other facilities within the aerospace industry which has also resulted in an instruction manual to be used for potential implementation.

Thesis: M.B.A., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 2014. In conjunction with the Leaders for Global Operations Program at MIT.
Thesis: S.M., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Chemical Engineering, 2014. In conjunction with the Leaders for Global Operations Program at MIT.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 75-77).
Some biopharmaceutical companies have responded to evolution of the competitive landscape by placing additional emphasis on reducing their costs of manufacturing as a means of maintaining competitiveness. The prototypical current generation biopharmaceutical drug substance manufacturing facility requires a large upfront capital investment. Improving efficiency of use of existing facilities, such as by improving production throughput through the adoption of technology, represents one way in which a company may reduce its costs of manufacturing and/or avoid or delay investments in additional capacity needed to meet future demand. Reducing the variability in the performance of a liquid filling operation taking place during the protein production step is desirable, because it: (1) enables process optimization, including potential throughput expansion, (2) demonstrates control over the process, and (3) improves step yield reproducibility. The technical and economic bases for the implementation of an alternative process control strategy intended to reduce this variability are presented. This strategy involves controlling the fill operation using an inline concentration measurement of the parameter of interest. An engineering-probabilistic approach, consisting of a transient concentration profile model built into a Monte Carlo framework, is applied to predict the variability of the performance of a concentration-based control strategy for filling an agitated, gassed bioreactor. An optimization methodology for selecting an appropriate post-fill target concentration and for quantifying the economic benefit of reducing variability is proposed.
by Matthew P. Dumouchel.
M.B.A.
S.M.

Thesis: S.M. in Oceanographic Engineering, Joint Program in Applied Ocean Science and Engineering (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Mechanical Engineering; and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution), 2017.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 83-87).
Recent advances in acoustic navigation methodologies are enabling the way for AUVs to extend their submerged mission time and maintain a bounded XY position error. Additionally, advances in inertial sensor technology have drastically lowered the size, power consumption, and cost of these sensors. Nonetheless, these sensors are still noisy and accrue error over time. This thesis builds on the research and recent developments in single beacon one-way-travel- time (OWTT) acoustic navigation and investigates the degree of bounding position error for small AUVs with a minimal navigation strap-down sensor suite, relying mostly on a consumer grade microelectromechanical system (MEMS) inertial measurement unit (IMU) and a vehicle's dynamic model velocity. An implementation of an Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) that includes IMU bias estimation and coupled with a range filter, is obtained in the field on two OceanServer Technology, Inc. Iver2 AUVs and one Bluefin Robotics SandShark [mu]AUV. Results from these field trials on Ashumet Pond of Falmouth, Massachusetts, the Charles River of Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Monterey Bay near Santa Cruz, California show a navigation solution accuracy comparable to current standard navigation techniques.
by James H. Kepper, IV.
S.M. in Oceanographic Engineering

Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division; in conjunction with the Leaders for Global Operations Program at MIT, 2011.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 86-89).
This thesis proposes a methodology to create an effective performance measurement system for an interconnected organization. The performance measurement system is composed of three components: a metrics set, a metrics review business process, and a dashboard visualization technique to display the data. If designed according to the proposed methodology, the combination of these three elements produces a performance measurement system which drives behavior, creates accountability, and fosters continuous organizational improvement. The proposed methodology has been demonstrated by its application to a supply planning organization within a major technology manufacturing company. Specifically, the performance measurement system of this supply planning organization was redesigned using the proposed methodology and pilot-tested over the course of a six-month period. First, the metrics set was redesigned based on alignment to strategic objectives and grounded in metrics design fundamentals. Second, the business process to review the organization's metrics and spur action was streamlined and redesigned for maximum impact and engagement. Finally, a visualization dashboard was created to communicate key metrics clearly to all members of the organization. The resulting performance measurement system demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed methodology and has been adopted as the system-on-record for the organization. Broadly speaking, the principles of performance measurement design provided in this thesis can be applied to other interconnected organizations.
by David Hwang.
S.M.
M.B.A.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Architecture and Planning, Program in Media Arts and Sciences, 2001.
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 84-87).
The violin has long been admired as one of the most beautiful, complex, and challenging musical instruments. With its capacity for nuance, richness of tone, and flexibility of range, its expressive qualities have been surpassed by none, despite the fact that its construction has not been changed for hundreds of years. It is the form and function of the traditional violin that inspired the work detailed in this thesis. Here, the design and construction of a new violin interface, the Hyperbow, is discussed. The motivation driving the research of this instrument was the desire to create a violin bow capable of measuring the most intricate aspects of violin technique, the subtle elements of physical gesture that immediately and directly impact the sound of the instrument while playing. In order to provide this insight into the subtleties of bow articulation, a sensing system was implemented to measure changes in position, acceleration, and the downward and lateral strains on the bow stick. These sensors were fashioned using an electromagnetic field sensing technique, commercial MEMS accelerometers, and foil strain gauges. Because the forces and stresses applied to the bow are immediately connected to a violinist's experience while playing, the implementation of a new music controller that utilizes these intimate aspects of physical interaction between a player and an instrument may inspire altogether new methods of expression. The measurement techniques used in this work were found to be quite sensitive and yielded sensors that were easily controllable by a player using traditional right hand bowing technique. In addition, the Hyperbow proved to be helpful in recognizing and analyzing the physical parameters of common bowstrokes
by Diana S. Young.
S.M.

Background Evaluation of interprofessional education (IPE) has been limited to students’ self-report and rarely assessed content validity using real-world input. Purpose This study compared students who did and did not complete an IPE curriculum using a mock interview. Aims were to compare them: 1) in terms of competencies around team based care, and 2) as rated by clinicians providing team based care. Method Students participated in a mock field placement interview. Study staff rated transcripts on IPE competencies. Clinicians rated and ranked students in terms of their knowledge/values and preference for hiring. Discussion. IPE students had higher ratings on seven of eleven competences than non-IPE students. Clinical experts rated IPE students higher and ranked them as more preferable. Conclusions This study demonstrates the efficacy and validity of foundational IPE beyond self-report. IPE impacted students’ responses in a real-world scenario in a way that discriminated them from their peers.

Context. Most organizations are aware of the significance of software measurement programs to help organizations assess and improve the ways they develop software. Measurement plays a vital role in improving software process and products. However, the number of failing measurement programs is high and the reasons are vary. A recent approach for planning measurement programs is GQM+Strategies, which makes an important extension to existing approaches, it links measurements and improvement activities to strategic goals and ways to achieve this goals. However, concrete guides of how to collect the information needed to use GQM+strategies is not provided in the literature yet. Objectives. The contribution of this research is to propose and assess an elicitation approach (The Goal Strategy Elicitation (GSE) approach) for the information needed to apply GQM+strategies in an organization, which also leads to a partial evaluation of GQM+strategies as such. In this thesis, the initial focus is placed on eliciting the goals and strategies in the most efficient way. Methods. The primary research approach used is action research, which allows to flexibly assess a new method or technique in an iterative manner, where the feedback of one iteration is taken into the next iteration, thus improving on the method or technique proposed. Complementary to that, we used literature review with the primary focus to position the work, explore GQM+strategies, and to determine which elicitation approach for the support of measurement programs have been proposed. Results. The Goal Strategy Elicitation (GSE) approach as a tool for eliciting goals and strategies within the software organization to contribute in planning a measurement program has been developed. The iterations showed that the approach of elicitation may not be too structured (e.g. template/notation based), but rather shall support the stakeholders to express their thoughts relatively freely. Hence, the end-result was an interview guide, not based on notations (as in the first iteration), and asking questions in a way that the interviewees are able to express themselves easily without having to e.g. distinguish definitions for goals and strategies. Conclusions. We conclude that the GSE approach is a strong tool for the software organization to be able to elicit the goals and strategies to support GQM+Strategies. GSE approach evolved in each iteration and the latest iteration together with the guideline is still used within the studied company for eliciting goals and strategies, and the organization acknowledged that they will continue to do so. Moreover, we conclude that there is a need for further empirical validation of the GSE approach in further full-scale industry trials.

The thesis deals with formation of a workplace for preparation gaseous mixtures and their future usage. The main goal of the thesis is testing of new materials which have suitable usage as catalysts. Gaseous mixture is prepared by calorimetric mass flow meters with control valve and multiposition microelectric valve actuators. The next part describes measuring of pressure and temperature and controlling of furnace temperature. The thesis deals with specifications of all devices, their circuitry, communication and program controlling. All devices are controlled by computer with program which is programmed in LabVIEW.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Architecture and Planning, Program in Media Arts and Sciences, 2007.
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 181-186).
Virtuosic bowed string performance in many ways exemplifies the incredible potential of human physical performance and expression. Today, a great deal is known about the physics of the violin family and those factors responsible for its sound capabilities. However, there remains much to be discovered about the intricacies of how players control these instruments in order to achieve their characteristic range and nuance of sound. Today, technology offers the ability to study this player control under realistic, unimpeded playing conditions to lead to greater understanding of these performance skills. Presented here is a new methodology for investigation of bowed string performance that uses a playable hardware measurement system to capture the gestures of right hand violin bowing technique. Building upon previous Hyperstring research, this measurement system was optimized to be small, lightweight, and portable and was installed on a carbon fiber violin bow and an electric violin to enable study of realistic, unencumbered violin performances. Included in the system are inertial and force sensors, and an electric field position sensor. In order to maximize the applicability of the gesture data provided by this system to related fields of interest, all of the sensors were calibrated in SI units.
(cont.) The gesture data captured by these sensors are recorded together with the audio data from the violin as they are produced by violinists in typical playing scenarios. To explore the potential of the bowing measurement system created, a study of standard bowing techniques, such as detache, martele and spiccato, was conducted with expert violinist participants. Gesture data from these trials were evaluated and input to a classifier to examine physical distinctions between bowing techniques, as well as between players. Results from this analysis, and their implications on this methodology will be presented. In addition to this examination of bowing techniques, applications of the measurement system for study of bowed string acoustics and digital music instrument performance, with focus on virtual instruments created from physical models, will be discussed.
by Diana Young.
Ph.D.

Thesis (Ph. D. in Electrical and Medical Engineering)--Harvard-MIT Program in Health Sciences and Technology, 2013..
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 64-72).
Mucus is a biological hydrogel which lines the wet (non-keratinized) epithelia of the body. Mucus provides a gateway between the cells of the epithelium and the outside world, and is postulated to provide a selective filtering function which is critical to physiological functioning and has been implicated in diseases. Currently, much of the mechanisms and criteria of this selective filtering function is not well understood. In this thesis, we contribute novel microfluidic devices to characterize the selective permeability properties of the mucus barrier. Microfluidics provides the engineering ability to create channels with precise geometries, fluid flow capability, and allow chemical concentration gradients. Our devices mimic the physiological environment of the mucosa and enable improved measurements of the mucus layer selective permeability. The first microfluidic device mimics the acid barrier function of the stomach mucus layer. This device reproduces on-chip the secretion of mucus by the gastric mucosa into an acidic stomach lumen. We use this device to demonstrate that the secretion of mucins, the glycoprotein structural component of mucus, contributes significantly to the acid barrier function by continuously binding H'. The second microfluidic device probes the permeability of the mucus barrier to nanoscale peptides, as a model for drug molecules and in vivo signaling molecules. The device enabled the creation of a mucus layer next to a flowing aqueous layer, mimicking the in vivo mucus layer and lumen of the gastrointestinal, respiratory, and female reproductive tracts. Peptides added to the aqueous flow diffused across the mucus barrier interface into the mucus layer. This device demonstrated that the mucus barrier provides selective permeability to nanoscale peptides based on electrostatic interactions, and suggest novel surface functionalization strategies for drug carriers to improve mucosal drug delivery. Taken together, this thesis provides new microfluidic tools to probe the selective permeability function of the mucus barrier. Using the microfluidic tools, we show new mechanistic understanding of this barrier.
by Leon Daliang Li.
Ph.D.in Electrical and Medical Engineering

First, the concepts of reflection coefficients, s-parameters, Smith chart, noise figure, and available power gain will be introduced. This lays out the foundation for the presentation of techniques on measuring noise figure and gain of high speed bipolar junction transistors. Noise sources in a bipolar junction transistor and an equivalent circuit including these noise sources will be presented. The process of determining the noise parameters of a transistor will also be discussed. A Pascal program and several TEKSPICE scripts are developed to calculate the stability, available power gain, and noise figure circles. Finally, these circles are plotted on a Smith chart to give a clear view of how a transistor will perform due to a change in source impedances.

International Telemetering Conference Proceedings / October 25-28, 1999 / Riviera Hotel and Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada
The Air Force SEEK EAGLE Office (AFSEO) was chartered by the Secretary of the Air Force in December 1987. The mission of the AFSEO is to provide the United States Air Force increased combat capability through central management of the aircraft-stores certification process and provide in-house engineering and operations research capabilities. Additionally, the AFSEO is required to ensure the future viability of the aircraft-stores organic in-house capability with the insertion of evolving technologies. To accomplish this mission, the AFSEO employs all phases of the test process; from Digital Model and Simulation (DMS) to Open Air Range (OAR) flight tests. The AFSEO desires to prepare for the future DoD environment, and minimize the cost of developing its products that require advanced sensors and telemetry capability. For a number of years, a mainstay in the process has been instrumented aircraft. These aircraft were specially instrumented to support the mission of AFSEO. Similarly, stores were instrumented to obtain environmental data such as loads and vibration. With the rising cost of instrumentation and the national DoD trend to reduce the cost of development and maintenance of instrumentation, a new method will need to be found. Several advanced concepts in ground and airborne instrumentation at Eglin AFB are needed to support the mission of the AFSEO. These include a new generation of telemetry devices, sensors, and data acquisition components to provide rapid and cost effective instrumentation of test aircraft, stores, and suspension equipment. The new generation telemetry will provide integrated circuitry with “peel and stick” subminiature telemetry sensors. These telemetry sensors will provide flutter and structural loads data for aircraft-stores combinations. In conjunction with the telemetry sensors, advanced aircraft platform instrumentation will be needed to match precision flight mechanics to the spatial telemetry measurements for stress, strain, and dynamic activity of stores.

Thesis: M.B.A., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 2014. In conjunction with the Leaders for Global Operations Program at MIT.
Thesis: S.M., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Mechanical Engineering, 2014. In conjunction with the Leaders for Global Operations Program at MIT.
29
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 72-74).
General Motors (GM) is one of the world's largest automobile manufacturing companies and does business in over 120 countries, requiring a complex operations network. Operating with a focus on environmental impact has become a strategic pillar within the company, both in its products and in its supply chain. Specifically, the GM global logistics organization is driving toward greater emissions visibility and the identification of carbon dioxide reduction opportunities within its network. Key objectives of this thesis work include creating business tools and processes to record global logistics emissions data, which will allow GM to more accurately report logistics emissions and reduction efforts to shareholders, track network emissions over time, pinpoint carbon reduction opportunities that align with cost savings efforts, and understand and mitigate future risks to the business. The approach taken to address the above objectives unfolds into three distinct work streams: (1) implementation of industry-recognized methods and processes, (2) development of a global carbon footprint measurement model, and (3) emissions analysis of network change activities. Industry research and data analysis along with internal cost and network data were used to develop carbon measurement tools. These tools are capable of estimating mass emissions (tons C02) generated by logistics operations globally as well as the increase or decrease in mass emissions generated by individual network change events (e.g., changes in mode, mileage, shipment frequency, etc.). Furthermore, through close collaboration with logistics providers, GM fulfilled the necessary requirements to become an official shipper partner of the USEPA SmartWay program. Immediate benefits of the project work include using the resulting data for global reporting and benchmarking purposes, providing management with a new set of information that can be used to strengthen network change proposals, and tracking improvements in overall network emissions as well as the performance of individual providers. Long term benefits include stronger relationships with providers, reputational and governmental risk mitigation, and cost savings from increased fuel efficiency of operations.
by Adam J. Miller.
M.B.A.
S.M.

Thesis (S.M. in Engineering and Management)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, System Design and Management Program, 2011.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references.
Sony, in 2010, introduced innovative product line-up setting process for its TV, using the technique of market segmentation and conjoint analysis. This practice was expected to increase its sales compared to traditional vertical line-up, as academia has for long asserted that meeting specific needs of consumer groups in customized way with the most preferred combination of features identified through conjoint analysis is a way to bring the most willingness to pay from consumers. However, contrary to its estimate, Sony lost its market share significantly in 2010. In this thesis, I analyze how Sony actually came up with needs-based product line-up and check on whether there has been any problem in its process reflecting on the framework proposed by academia. Consequently, three possible reasons to explain its failure were identified: -- The result of conjoint analysis should have been used in market segmentation; -- Purchasing decision of TV is not made at the individual level; -- Use of Meta attributes in conjoint analysis can be beneficial. In order to address the first issue, I recommend Sony to adopt a componential segmentation to execute both consumer segmentation and conjoint analysis, while for the second to consider the effect of group decision mechanism onto its conjoint analysis and to introduce consumer segmentation concept into the model of calculating group utility. Finally, in order to reflect Meta attributes in its conjoint analysis more properly, I propose that Sony should adopt prototype in preference measurement process, take business-oriented perspective in product planning process, and prepare to reshuffle its product line-up from scratch. Those recommendations will ensure increase of the efficiency of preference-based product line-up setting in estimating market reaction.
by Chang Bae Park.
S.M.in Engineering and Management

Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2005.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 56).
Customer perception of brake pedal feel quality, as related to the perception of the brake pedal feeling soft or mushy, depends on both the customer's subjective judgment of quality and the actual build quality of the brake system. This project analyzed the different factors contributing to the soft brake condition using a fishbone diagram. A low cost tool to objectively measure brake pedal feel was developed and tested. Using this tool we found a negative linear correlation between residual air in the brake system and brake pedal feel. Even in the worst-case, a residual air level of 0.9 mL or greater is required before the brake pedal force drops 10%. The air evacuation step in the brake fluid filling process was investigated by the addition of a vacuum accumulator tank, and we found the air evacuation to depend on the brake system cross-sectional area (i.e. tube diameter) and not on the vacuum pressure. Organizational process issues were analyzed, and we found that greater cross-functional communication and collaboration are needed between manufacturing and external groups such as design and marketing.
by Jeffrey T. Cerilles.
S.M.
M.B.A.

Thesis (MSc)--Stellenbosch University, 2012.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In this thesis we consider the problem of building a dense and consistent map of a mobile robot’s environment that is updated as the robot moves. Such maps are vital for safe and collision-free navigation. Measurements obtained from a range sensor mounted on the robot provide information on the structure of the environment, but are typically corrupted by noise. These measurements are also relative to the robot’s unknown pose (location and orientation) and, in order to combine them into a world-centric map, pose estimation is necessary at every time step. A SLAM system can be used for this task. However, since landmark measurements and robot motion are inherently noisy, the pose estimates are typically characterized by uncertainty. When building a map it is essential to deal with the uncertainties in range measurements and pose estimates in a principled manner to avoid overconfidence in the map. A literature review of robotic mapping algorithms reveals that the occupancy grid mapping algorithm is well suited for our goal. This algorithm divides the area to be mapped into a regular lattice of cells (squares for 2D maps or cubes for 3D maps) and maintains an occupancy probability for each cell. Although an inverse sensor model is often employed to incorporate measurement uncertainty into such a map, many authors merely state or depict their sensor models. We derive our model analytically and discuss ways to tailor it for sensor-specific uncertainty. One of the shortcomings of the original occupancy grid algorithm is its inability to convey uncertainty in the robot’s pose to the map. We address this problem by altering the occupancy grid update equation to include weighted samples from the pose uncertainty distribution (provided by the SLAM system). The occupancy grid algorithm has been criticized for its high memory requirements. Techniques have been proposed to represent the map as a region tree, allowing cells to have different sizes depending on the information received for them. Such an approach necessitates a set of rules for determining when a cell should be split (for higher resolution in a local region) and when groups of cells should be merged (for lower resolution). We identify some inconsistencies that can arise from existing rules, and adapt those rules so that such errors are avoided. We test our proposed adaptive occupancy grid algorithm, that incorporates both measurement and pose uncertainty, on simulated and real-world data. The results indicate that these uncertainties are included effectively, to provide a more informative map, without a loss in accuracy. Furthermore, our adaptive maps need far fewer cells than their regular counterparts, and our new set of rules for deciding when to split or merge cells significantly improves the ability of the adaptive grid map to mimic its regular counterpart.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: In hierdie tesis beskou ons die probleem om ’n digte en konsekwente kaart van ’n mobiele robot se omgewing te bou, wat opgedateer word soos die robot beweeg. Sulke kaarte is van kardinale belang vir veilige, botsingvrye navigasie. Metings verkry vanaf ’n sensor wat op die robot gemonteer is, verskaf inligting rakende die struktuur van die omgewing, maar word tipies deur ruis vervorm. Hierdie metings is ook relatief tot die robot se onbekende postuur (posisie en oriëntasie) en, om hulle saam te voeg in ’n wêreldsentriese kaart, is postuurafskatting nodig op elke tydstap. ’n SLAM stelsel kan vir hierdie doeleinde gebruik word. Aangesien landmerkmetings en die beweging van die robot inherent ruiserig is, word die postuurskattings gekarakteriseer deur onsekerheid. Met die bou van ’n kaart moet hierdie onsekerhede in afstandmetings en postuurskattings op ’n beginselvaste manier hanteer word om te verhoed dat te veel vertroue in die kaart geplaas word. ’n Literatuurstudie van karteringsalgoritmes openbaar die besettingsroosteralgoritme as geskik vir ons doel. Die algoritme verdeel die gebied wat gekarteer moet word in ’n reëlmatige rooster van selle (vierkante vir 2D kaarte of kubusse vir 3D kaarte) en onderhou ’n besettingswaarskynlikheid vir elke sel. Alhoewel ’n inverse sensormodel tipies gebruik word om metingsonsekerheid in so ’n kaart te inkorporeer, noem of wys baie outeurs slegs hulle model. Ons herlei ons model analities en beskryf maniere om sensorspesifieke metingsonsekerheid daarby in te sluit. Een van die tekortkominge van die besettingsroosteralgoritme is sy onvermoë om onsekerheid in die postuur van die robot na die kaart oor te dra. Ons spreek hierdie probleem aan deur die opdateringsvergelyking van die oorspronklike besettingsroosteralgoritme aan te pas, om geweegde monsters van die postuuronsekerheidsverdeling (verskaf deur die SLAM stelsel) in te sluit. Die besettingsroosteralgoritme word soms gekritiseer vir sy hoë verbruik van geheue. Tegnieke is voorgestel om die kaart as ’n gebiedsboom voor te stel, wat selle toelaat om verskillende groottes te hê, afhangende van die inligting wat vir hulle verkry is. So ’n benadering noodsaak ’n stel reëls wat spesifiseer wanneer ’n sel verdeel (vir ’n hoër resolusie in ’n plaaslike gebied) en wanneer ’n groep selle saamgevoeg (vir ’n laer resolusie) word. Ons identifiseer teenstrydighede wat kan voorkom as die huidige reëls gevolg word, en pas hierdie reëls aan sodat sulke foute vermy word. Ons toets ons voorgestelde aanpasbare besettingsroosteralgoritme, wat beide metings- en postuuronsekerheid insluit, op gesimuleerde en werklike data. Die resultate dui daarop dat hierdie onsekerhede op ’n effektiewe wyse na die kaart oorgedra word sonder om akkuraatheid prys te gee. Wat meer is, ons aanpasbare kaarte benodig heelwat minder selle as hul reëlmatige eweknieë. Ons nuwe stel reëls om te besluit wanneer selle verdeel of saamgevoeg word, veroorsaak ook ’n merkwaardige verbetering in die vermoë van die aanpasbare roosterkaart om sy reëlmatige eweknie na te boots.

The aim of the present study was to assess the effectiveness of a cognitive-behavioral smoking cessation program combined with nicotine patches in a university student sample. Moreover, changes in self-efficacy judgments of both experimental and control group participants were examined. 37 students from various departments of Middle East Technical University participated in the study. Participants in the experimental group received a 6-week group based multicomponent smoking cessation program combined with nicotine patches, whereas those in the control group were provided with self-help booklets. Point prevalence abstinence was used as the main outcome measure, which was verified by CO-measurement in exhaled air both at post-treatment and follow-ups. Separate one-way ANOVAs and repeated measures ANOVAs were used in data analysis. Results showed that there were no significant differences between the experimental and control group in terms of their degree of motivation, readiness and decision to quit smoking, nicotine dependence, depression, self-efficacy, and perceived social support at pre-treatment. Results of the repeated measures ANOVA with CO-values showed that the CO-levels of experimental groups significantly declined from pre-treatment to post-treatment and to follow-ups. Abstinence rates for the experimental group were found to be 66.67%, 55.55% and 45.44% at post-treatment, 1-month follow-up and 2-months follow-up respectively. On the other hand, abstinence rates for the control group were found to be 11.76%, 5.88% and 5.88% at post-treatment, 1-month follow-up and 2-months follow-up respectively. Moreover, it was found that self-efficacy scores of experimental group participants significantly increased at post-treatment, whereas those of control group participants significantly decreased from pre-treatment to post-treatment. The findings were discussed in the light of the relevant literature. After discussing the limitations and implications of the study, directions for future studies were suggested.

Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Chemical Engineering; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2006.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 70-71).
The Broad Institute of MIT, Harvard, and the Whitehead Institute, contains the world's highest-throughput genome sequencing center, which contributed approximately one third of the sequence for the Human Genome Project (HGP) completed in 2003. Broad's Genome Sequencing Operations Group has acquired a cost leadership position within the genome sequencing industry through its competitive advantage in developing and implementing innovative, industrial-scale process technologies. Yet, this group has the opportunity to further improve its position as a leader in the genome sequencing industry by improving its operations capability to levels of world-class manufacturing organizations in other industries. At the highest level, Broad's management team sponsors Leaders for Manufacturing (LFM) internships as a long-term investment to improve the operations capability of its Genome Sequencing Group. Employees at Broad ultimately learn about leading-edge operations tools and principles through their exposure to LFM interns and their projects.
(cont.) While these investments have led to some significant operations improvements, the Genome Sequencing Group has not yet transformed into an organization that strives for operational excellence in the same way that world-class manufacturing organizations do. Thus, the primary goal of this thesis is to provide a methodology to transform the Genome Sequencing Group's culture and catalyze the development of its operations capability. Just as DNA contains the genetic instructions specifying the biological development of an organism, a performance measurement system contains the instructions that guide the development of an entire organization. Performance measurement systems provide the explicit incentive and accountability mechanisms necessary to motivate employees to achieve operational excellence. While training programs and exposure to leading-edge thinking are valid approaches to achieving operations improvements, these limited initiatives are simply not enough. The implementation of a performance measurement system at Broad would significantly enhance the results of Broad's current approach to developing the operations capability of its workforce.
by Scott A. Couzens.
S.M.
M.B.A.

Tutte le organizzazioni hanno un impatto che riguarda l'economia, la società e l'ambiente naturale. Gli studi accademici di diversi filoni di ricerca (ad business and society studies, accounting, strategic management) propongono diverse definizioni di "impatto sociale" (Latane, 1981; Burdge & Vanclay, 1996;. Emerson et al, 2000;. Clark et al, 2004 ). Tutte queste definizioni descrivono, in modo più o meno esplicito, il concetto di "cambiamento", essendo basati sulla “teoria del cambiamento” (Weiss, 1972; Anderson, 2004) - vale a dire, il cambiamento che un'organizzazione può produrre nel modo di vivere delle persone, nella cultura, personale nelle aspirazioni, ma anche rispetto alla comunità, ai sistemi politici, l'ambiente, la salute e il benessere. La misurazione dell’impatto sociale conduce l'organizzazione a considerare i cambiamenti prodotti sugli stakeholders come risultato di una serie di rapporti causa-effetto proposteidalla teoria del cambiamento. L'obiettivo della misurazione dell’impatto sociale è quindi di capire, in termini sociali, ambientali ed economici, i cambiamenti che si sono verificati nella vita delle parti interessate, a causa di attività di organizzazioni, al fine di comunicarlo (Nicholls et al, 2009). Nonostante il crescente interesse sulla misurazione dell'impatto sociale, la produzione accademica sull'argomento è ancora scarsa. La presente tesi contribuisce alla discussione in corso, concentrandosi sulla teoria, i concetti e strumenti per misurare l'impatto sociale. In particolare, due contesti di analisi sono presi in considerazione: la finanza etica e l'educazione all'imprenditorialità. La tesi si compone di tre articoli. La prima ricerca vuole fornire una revisione della letteratura sul tema della misurazione dell'impatto sociale nel contesto della finanza etica, il secondo articolo è una ricerca-azione su una metodologia per misurare l'impatto sociale delle banche etiche sviluppata attraverso lo studio del caso estremo di Banca Popolare Etica, e la terza ricerca riguarda il contesto della formazione imprenditoriale e mira a studiare l'impatto di un programma MBA sugli antecedenti dell’intenzione all'imprenditorialità di studenti in Ghana. Più in dettaglio, il primo documento è intitolato " Review of impact assessment methodologies for ethical finance ". Questo documento fornisce una rassegna completa della letteratura sulla misurazione dell'impatto sociale nelle banche etiche. In particolare, si discute l'approccio delle banche etiche all’impatto sociale e alla misurazione dell'impatto sociale considerando diversi studi e analisi, poi proponendo un elenco di indicatori e outcomes da utilizzare per evidenziare l'impatto sociale delle attività delle banche etiche. Si segnalano, inoltre, alcune lacune nella letteratura che abbiamo posto come questioni aperte per la ricerca futura. La ricerca è stata portata avanti con due partner: la Fédération Européenne des Banques et Ethiques Alternative (FEBEA) e l’Institute of Social banks (ISB). Il titolo della seconda ricerca è: " Measurement of social impact in financial institutions: the case of Banca Popolare Etica ". Si tratta di una ricerca-azione su una metodologia per misurare l'impatto sociale delle banche etiche, fondata sul caso di studio di Banca Popolare Etica. Usiamo un set di dati composto da 1.385 organizzazioni e 1324 individui, beneficiari dei finanziamenti, per studiare la misurazione dell'impatto sociale dei progetti finanziati. Integrando in un unico processo di valutazione (sia quantitative che qualitative) diverse metodologie generalmente utilizzate singolarmente per la misurazione di impatto sociale (Social Return on Investment (SROI), Impact Reporting Investment Standards (IRIS) e storytelling), il caso mostra come i limiti tradizionali di metodologie per misurare l'impatto sociale possono essere superati. Il terzo e ultimo studio è intitolato " Does entrepreneurial education impact on antecedents of entrepreneurial intention? An analysis of an Entrepreneurship MBA in Ghana". Questo studio ha lo scopo di analizzare gli effetti di un programma di educazione all'imprenditorialità, sugli antecedenti dell'intenzione imprenditoriale di studenti in un paese in via di sviluppo. Lo studio analizza i risultati di una ricerca di impatto eseguita con partecipanti di uno specifico programma di formazione all'imprenditorialità: il "E4impact MBA", tenuto dal l'Istituto Cattolico di Business and Technology - CIBT in Accra, Ghana. Il metodo misto impiegato, era un approccio esplicativo (Creswell, Plano Clark et al, 2003), con un disegno quasi-sperimentale (Cohen e Manion, 1989) con test pre e post e misure di cambiamento auto-percepito. Abbiamo valutato i cambiamenti nelle caratteristiche psicologiche imprenditoriali (Need for achievement, Self-efficacy, Locus of control; Risk taking propensity; Tolerance for ambiguity) e competenze e conoscenze personali (Creatività, Conoscenza, Flessibilità, Networking e analisi) sul modello esteso della Teoria del Comportamento Pianificato. L'analisi mostra che il programma di educazione all'imprenditorialità ha un forte impatto sugli antecedenti psicologici e cognitivi delle intenzioni imprenditoriali. Quindi, la partecipazione al programma di educazione all'imprenditorialità può influenzare positivamente le intenzioni imprenditoriali degli studenti e il controllo comportamentale percepito sostenendo l'idea che le università hanno un ruolo fondamentale nel plasmare e promuovere le intenzioni imprenditoriali e le abilità attraverso programmi di formazione all'imprenditorialità.
All organizations have impacts that affect economy, society and the natural environment. Academics from different streams of research (i.e. business and society studies, accounting, strategic management) propose several definitions of “social impact” (Latané, 1981; Burdge & Vanclay, 1996; Emerson et al., 2000; Clark et al., 2004). All these definitions describe, more or less explicitly, the concept of “change”, being each one based on the Theory of Change (Weiss, 1972; Anderson, 2004) – i.e., the change that an organization can produce in people’s way of life, culture, personal and property rights, fears and aspirations, but also with respect to community, political systems, environment, health and wellbeing. The measurement of social impact leads the organization to consider the changes on stakeholders as a result of the set of cause-effect relations proposed by the theory of change. The objective of social impact measurement thus is to understand, in social, environmental and economic terms, changes that have occurred in stakeholders’ lives because of organizations activities, in order to communicate it (Nicholls et al, 2009). Despite a growing interest on social impact measurement, academic production in the topic is still scarce. The present Ph.D. thesis contributes to the ongoing discussion by focusing on the theory, concepts and tools to measure social impact. In particular, two context of analysis are at issue: ethical finance and entrepreneurship education. The work consists of three papers. The first research wants to provide a review of the literature on the issue of measuring the social impact in the context of ethical finance, the second paper is an action research on a methodology for measuring the social impact of ethical banks developed through the extreme case study of Banca Popolare Etica, and the third research concerns the context of entrepreneurial education and aims at studying the impact of an MBA program on the antecedents of entrepreneurship intention of students in Ghana. More in details, the first paper is entitled “Review of impact assessment methodologies for ethical finance”. This paper provides a comprehensive review of the literature on measuring the social impact in ethical banks. Specifically, we discuss the approach of ethical banks to social impact and social impact measurement considering several studies and frameworks of analysis, then proposing a list of indicators and outcomes to be used to highlight the social impact of ethical banks’ activities. We also point out some gaps in the literature that we left as questions open for future research. The research was carried on with two partners: the Fédération Européenne des Banques Ethiques et Alternatives (FEBEA) and the Institute of Social banks (ISB). The title of the second paper is: “Measurement of social impact in financial institutions: the case of Banca Popolare Etica”. This is an action research on a methodology for measuring the social impact of ethical banks, grounded on the case study of Banca Popolare Etica. We use a dataset of 1,385 organizations and 1,324 individuals, recipients of funding, to study the measurement of the social impact of the projects funded. Integrating in a single assessment process (both quantitative and qualitative) various methodologies generally singularly used for the measurement of social impact (Social Return on Investment (SROI), Impact Reporting Investment Standards (IRIS) and storytelling), the case shows how the traditional limitations of methodologies to measure social impact can be overcome. The third and last study is entitled “Does entrepreneurial education impact on antecedents of entrepreneurial intention? An analysis of an Entrepreneurship MBA in Ghana”. This study has the aim to analyze the effects of an entrepreneurship education program, on the antecedents of entrepreneurial intention of students in a developing country. The study analyzes the results of an impact research conducted with participants to a specific entrepreneurship education program: the “E4impact MBA”, held by the Catholic Institute of Business and Technology – CIBT in Accra, Ghana. The mixed method design employed, was an explanatory approach (Creswell, Plano Clark et al., 2003) with a quasi-experimental design (Cohen and Manion, 1989) featuring both pre-post tests and self-perceived change measures. We assessed changes in entrepreneurial psychological characteristics (Need for achievement, Self-efficacy, Locus of control; Risk taking propensity; Tolerance for ambiguity) and personal skills and knowlwdge (Creativity, Knowledge, Flexibility, Networking and Analysis) following the extended model of the Theory of Planned Behaviour. The analysis shows that the entrepreneurship education program has a strong impact on psychological and cognitive antecedents of entrepreneurial intentions. That is, participation in entrepreneurship education program can positively influence students’ entrepreneurial intentions and perceived behavioral control supporting the idea that universities have a key role in shaping and fostering entrepreneurial intentions and abilities through entrepreneurship education program.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2001.
"June 2001."
Includes bibliographical references (leaf 31).
by David H. Campos.
S.M.

This project explores how to use band-pass filtering with a variety of filters to filter both two and three dimensional surface data. The software developed collects and makes available these filtering methods to support a larger project. It is used to automate the filtering procedure. This paper goes through the work-flow of the program, explaining how each filter was implemented. Then it demonstrates how the filters work by applying them to surface data used to test correlation between friction and roughness [Berglund and Rosen, 2009]. It also provides some explanations of the mathematical development of the filtering procedures as obtained from literature.

Thesis: Ph. D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Architecture and Planning, Program in Media Arts and Sciences, 2016.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 183-197).
The prosthetic socket, the mechanical interface between an amputated residuum and an external prosthesis, is of critical importance to the performance of a prosthetic limb system. Conventional prosthetic socket technology is derived using a non-quantitative, artisan methodology. Consequently, a comfortable socket interface cannot be made reproducibly, and persons with limb amputation too often experience discomfort. As a resolution to this difficulty, the field of digital prosthetic socket design seeks to advance a quantitative CAD/CAM methodology for socket production to produce reproducible and comfortable interfaces. Prosthetic researchers have proposed a digital socket production work flow comprising the steps of 1) assessment of residuum tissue biomechanics; 2) modeling optimization of the residuum-socket interface, and 3) fabrication of a variable-impedance socket system based upon these optimizations. In this thesis, two novel technologies are designed, built and evaluated at either end of this work flow, namely a multi-indenter device for in vivo biomechanical tissue measurement and a quasi-passive variable-impedance transtibial socket interface. An active indenter platform called the FitSocket is presented. To assess residual-limb tissue biomechanics, the FitSocket comprised 14 position and force controllable actuators that circumferentially surround a biological residuum to form an actuator ring. Each actuator is individually controllable in position (97.1?m accuracy) and force (330mN accuracy) at a PC controller feedback rate of 500Hz, allowing for a range of measurement across a residuum. At five distinct anatomical locations across the residual limb, force versus deflection data are presented, demonstrating the accuracy and versatility of the FitSocket for residual limb tissue characterization. A passive, single indenter version of the FitSocket, called the FitPen, is also presented. The FitPen is designed to be ultra-portable in order to take biomechanical measurements in the field outside the laboratory setting. A quasi-passive socket (QPS) is presented having spatially and temporally varying socket wall impedances. The QPS is an autonomous computerized transtibial prosthetic interface that can stiffen or become compliant using computer-controlled electrolaminate actuators. The QPS measures forces applied by the limb on the socket, 3-axis acceleration of the socket, and the position of the electrolaminates. On a test participant with transtibial amputation, the socket was evaluated through sit-to-stand tests to determine the viability of computer-controlled electrolaminate engagement, and through a walking study to evaluate the ability of the electrolaminates to maintain their clutched state during ambulation at a self-selected walking speed. The average deflections of forced tibia movement in the sit-to-stand tests were 7 ± 2 mm while sitting with the electrolaminates in an unclutched state, and 2.1 ± 0.6 mm while standing with the electrolaminates in a clutched state. Further, the walking study showed a maximum unclutched deflection (3.7 ± 0.9 mm)16 times larger than that of the maximum deflection while clutched. This work was supported by the United States Department of Veteran Affairs through the VA Innovation Initiative (VAi2) program.
by Arthur Joseph Petron.
Ph. D.

Thesis (S.M. in System Design and Management)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2010.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 68-71).
This paper reports results of an empirical study that aimed to demonstrate the link between software product design structure and engineers' effort to perform a code modification in the context of a corrective maintenance task. First, this paper reviews the current state of the art in engineering economics of the maintenance phase of software lifecycle. Secondly, a measure of software product complexity suitable to assess maintainability of a software system is developed. This measure is used to analyze the design structure change that happened between two versions of a mature software product. The product selected for this study underwent a significant re-design between two studied versions. Thirdly, an experiment is designed to measure the effort engineers spend designing a code modification associated with a corrective change request. These effort measurements are used to demonstrate the effect of product design complexity on engineers' productivity. It is asserted in the paper that engineer's productivity improvements have a significant economic value and can be used to justify investments into re-design of an existing software product.
by Andrei Akaikine.
S.M.in System Design and Management

The recent American college of Sports Medicine Position Stand concerning the quantity and quality of exercise for developing cardiovascular fitness (1) suggests a need for more information concerning the rate of improvement in aerobic power as a function of age. Therefore, the purpose of this retrospective study was to assess whether the change in maximal oxygen uptake (AVO2max) following endurance training varies as a function of age. Subjects were healthy men (N=277) and women (N=161), ranging in age from 20-72 years, who completed an endurance training program (= 3-5 months) between 1972 and 1987. The standard training stimulus consisted of individualized aerobic exercise (walking, walk-jog, or jogging) at about 75-85% maximal heart rate reserve for = 30-60 minutes, 3-4 sessions per week. A description of the %OVO2max expressed in relative and absolute terms, ± SEE are presented below.Variable20-29 yrs30-39 yrs40-49 yrs50-59 yrs60-69 yrsM 9/6AV02max ml•kg-1-min-'17.1 ± 13.220.0 ± 11.817.3 ± 13.319.5 ± 13.719.8 ± 9.1M%%OV02maxLmin-112.6 ± 10.616.0 ± 11.514.7 ± 11.616.6 ± 15.116.2 ± 9.8F °/oA VO2max mlkg''•min-'16.3 ± 9.022.5 ± 13.119.0 ± 10.917.6 ± 13.415.4 ± 6.8F%OV02maxL.min-'15.2±12.321.7±12.716.6±11.515.7±13.411.9±9.8N=Men women)20(17)87(54)112(51)46(30)12(9)A stepwise multiple regression analysis was used to assess the relationship between age and %OVO2max in both relative and absolute units, after adjusting for other parameters known to effect the training response. After adjusting for pre-training VO2max.(ml-kg-1-min-1) there was a significant negative correlation between OVO2max and age in both men (r = -0.31, p < 0.01) and women(r = -0.37, p < 0.01). When expressed as %OVO2max (L•min-1), the resultsrevealed the same age trend as that observed for the relative unit. Since the AVO2max after =3-5 months of training decreased as a function of age, this study supported the contention that training adaptations may be attenuated with increased age.
School of Physical Education

One major concern when developing a response to intervention (RTI) program is to select effective practices that will be successfully implemented and sustained with adequate organizational guidance and support. The purpose of this study was to explore patterns of student tier placement data as a school-based case example of the nature and utility of RTI in an applied setting. Specifically, this study aimed to explore the extent that the percentages of students placed in a three-tier program based on student oral reading fluency (ORF) level and growth trajectories reflect the standard RTI tier placement (80%, 15%, and 5%) at fall, winter, and spring in a school setting. Percentages of the total student population tier placement were explored with ORF data from third- and fourth-grade students (N = 429) at two schools in fall, winter, and spring. Results showed that school and ORF data reflected the standard percentages of student populations within each tier in fall, winter, and spring. However, slope data showed greater percentages of students in the more intensive tiers. Moreover, flexible grouping, or movement between tiers occurred for few students when movement occurred based on school or ORF level data. No significant differences were found between the school and ORF student tier placements in fall, winter, and spring. A significant difference was found in spring between placement methods with a larger proportion of students in Tier 1 based on the school assignments and a larger proportion of students in Tier 2 and Tier 3 based on ORF slope assignments.