Barrett, The Honors College Thesis/Creative Project Collection

The ASU COVID-19 testing lab process was developed to operate as the primary testing site for all ASU staff, students, and specified external individuals. Tests are collected at various collection sites, including a walk-in site at the SDFC and various drive-up sites on campus; analysis is conducted on ASU campus and results are distributed virtually to all patients via the Health Services patient portal. The following is a literature review on past implementations of various process improvement techniques and how they can be applied to the ABCTL testing process to achieve laboratory goals. (abstract)

This thesis was conducted to study and analyze the fund allocation process adopted by different states in the United States to reduce the impact of the Covid-19 virus. Seven different states and their funding methodologies were compared against the case count within the state. The study also focused on development of a physical distancing index based on three significant attributes. This index was then compared to the expenditure and case counts to support decision making.
A regression model was developed to analyze and compare how different states case counts played out against the regression model and the risk index.

Perfection is extremely difficult to achieve when playing team sports. This is especially true for lacrosse, a sport where dropped passes, missed shots and turnovers are prevalent even at the college and professional levels of the game. In order to improve on mistakes, teams must first recognize where the errors are being made. The purpose of this project is to implement the DMAIC process improvement method into lacrosse, with the goal of identifying and implementing improvements, leading to a more successful team.
In order to use DMAIC, lacrosse was expressed as a process that included five phases: offense, defense, riding, clearing and faceoffs. Data was gathered for each phase using game film from the Arizona State Men’s Club Lacrosse Team over the course of the 2019 and 2020 seasons. The data was then analyzed by comparing the output statistics of each phase to the goal differential, number of goals scored, and number of goals against. Once the areas of improvement were determined, additional analysis was done to determine why these certain areas needed improvement. The results provided what changes needed to be made in order to improve the team. In order to ensure the team sustained their success, control measures were put in place to determine what action needs to be taken and when.

The primary purpose of this paper is to evaluate the energy impacts of faults in building heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems and determine which systems’ faults have the highest effect on the energy consumption. With the knowledge obtained through the results described in this paper, building engineers and technicians will be more able to implement a data-driven solution to building fault detection and diagnostics

In the United States alone, commercial buildings consume 18% of the country’s energy. Due to this high percentage of energy consumption, many efforts are being made to make buildings more energy efficient. Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems are made to provide acceptable air quality and thermal comfort to building occupants. In large buildings, a demand-controlled HVAC system is used to save energy by dynamically adjusting the ventilation of the building. These systems rely on a multitude of sensors, actuators, dampers, and valves in order to keep the building ventilation efficient. Using a fault analysis framework developed by the University of Alabama and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, building fault modes were simulated in the EnergyPlus whole building energy simulation program. The model and framework are based on the Department of Energy’s Commercial Prototype Building – Medium Office variant. A total of 3,002 simulations were performed in the Atlanta climate zone, with 129 fault cases and 41 fault types. These simulations serve two purposes: to validate the previously developed fault simulation framework, and to analyze how each fault mode affects the building over the simulation period.

The results demonstrate the effects of faults on HVAC systems, and validate the scalability of the framework. The most critical fault cases for the Medium Office building are those that affect the water systems of the building, as they cause the most harm to overall energy costs and occupant comfort.