Research in System Engineering and Management
Research Activities
(1) Design and Analysis of Reliable Multistage Interconnection Network Systems
Although computer processing power has increased tremendously in the last few decades, the demand for processing power far exceeds the processing power that is currently available. Thus there is a need for improved techniques that will deliver higher computer processing power to satisfy the needs of processor-intensive applications such as military, biological and chemical simulations. This research looks at the notion of interconnection network as a means to fulfilling the demand for higher computer processing power
Interconnection network technology is used to link together multiple processors-memory modules or computers in order to share resources, exchange data or to achieve parallel processing capability. Interconnection networks are applied in many fields such as telephone switches, supercomputers with multi processor and wide area networks.
Principal Investigators: Dr Indra Gunawan
(2) Dynamic Planning for Fast-Tracking Projects
The fast-tracking delivery method has received considerable attention over the last decade and its time saving feature has placed it as a possible alternative to the traditional more sequential method. Along with its benefits, however, fast-tracking also has greater potential to impact the project development process than the traditional method . In the literature, this is usually attributed to the increased level of uncertainty and researches on fast-tracking have mainly focused on uncertainty reduction but without explicit study of the feedback processes involved in fast-tracking . However, closer observations of the project development process suggest that to effectively handle uncertainty and minimize the negative impact of fast-tracking , the feedback processes involved in fast-tracking need to be identified and the dynamic behavior of construction resulting from those feedback processes needs to be dealt with in a systematic manner.
As an effort to meet these needs, this research presents Dynamic Planning Methodology (DPM) , a planning methodology based on System Dynamics. Focusing on the dynamic behavior of fast-tracking projects, DPM aims to improve the planning and management of fast-tracking projects by providing overlapping strategies, workforce control policies, and schedule adjustments that will minimize the negative impact of fast-tracking.
Principal Investigators: Dr Indra Gunawan
(3) A Comparative Productivity Study of Pre-Cast vs. Conventional Cast-In-Situ Methods
Advantages of pre-cast technology in the construction of commercial, residential and institutional buildings are well documented in literature. However, the acceptance of this technology in Malaysia is relatively low with few projects being constructed with pre-cast components. It is commonly acknowledged that pre-cast technology has tremendous potential towards productivity improvement as it encompasses aspects of standardization, highly controlled and quality pre-cast components which complements the various programs to increase productivity and quality through the adoption of Modular Coordination (MC) and IndustrializedBuilding System (IBS).
The project objectives are to measure productivity in terms of labor productivity, machine utilization, to examine productivity indicators between pre-cast and cast-in-situ methods, and to explore areas of improvements to promote adoption of pre-cast technology in Malaysia.
Principal Investigators: Dr Indra Gunawan
(4) Assessing Project Evaluation Techniques Used For Major Transportation Projects in Asia
The purpose of the research is to identify and develop methods that can be used to help public officials, government agencies, developers, and other actors prepare better proposals through better understanding and discussion of the range of options – engineering, financial, institutional, and geographical - that are available. The research will utilize case studies and comparisons of major transportation projects in Asia, including major bridges, new airports, transit systems, or high speed raillines.
The research will help ensure that the right questions are asked and that the major options and issues are presented early enough to receive serious consideration. The research will help government agencies in Malaysia identify and evaluate a broader range of possible transportation projects and, over time, to implement more effective projects.
Principal Investigators: Dr Indra Gunawan
(5) Quantifying the Effects of Safety Practices on Productivity
The safety practices encountered on construction sites are as varied as the sites themselves and the assessment of the risk of accidents is, in most cases, more subjective than objective. However, the contention of the research is that a priori data can be used to quantitatively estimate the risk of accidents based on current safety practices and the performance expected on a construction project.
As an analysis of the risk of accidents at a construction site usually begins with a determination of the work practices and conditions that create an unsafe work place, this research will firstly develop a systematic approach to identify significant factors affecting safety of several processes commonly employed on construction sites (i.e., trenching, slab construction, excavation, and so forth). For each selected construction process, the identified safety factors and the current safety practices will then be analyzed in order to evaluate the probability of accidents based on a priori data analysis, using fuzzy mathematical techniques and input from safety professionals.
Secondly, process modeling and simulation techniques will be used in order to quantify the impacts of accident probability on the productivity of each selected construction process. In other words, the effects of safety practices employed in a construction project will be quantified in terms of productivity variation.
Principal Investigators: Dr Indra Gunawan, Dr Pollaphat Nitithamyong
(6) A Capacitated Supply Network with Pooled Inventory and Differentiated Service
This project was initiated with a major chip design/manufacture company and a supply chain software company. The supply chain at this manufacturer exhibits a number of difficult yet interesting characteristics. First, the supply chain is a complicated general network from suppliers to customers. Second, there are multiple products which share numerous types of capacities. Third, uncertainty permeates the supply chain; from product quality at suppliers to yields at manufacturing to demand at customers. Fourth, customers receive differentiated service on the basis of geography, customer type, and product. The goal of the manufacturer is to couple their customer-service strategy with a joint production-inventory plan to maximize total profit. We have provided the company some initial software solution. However, in the research and software society, we are still lack of some fundamental results.
Principal Investigators: Dr Yuelin Shen
(7) Procurement Risk Management in Short Lifecycle Product
We study hybrid versus single sourcing strategies for short lifecycle products, where one component can be sourced by two parts which have opposite properties. The first part has a lower variable cost but must be bought far in advance; the second part is expensive but can be available immediately from spot market. A typical example is the application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) and field programmable gate array (FPGA) in the industry of integrate circuits. We study the optimal sourcing of integrated circuits to short lifecycle products either for the end-of-life products or the products through the entire lifecycle.
Principal Investigators: Dr Yuelin Shen
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