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Description
Lithium ion batteries are quintessential components of modern life. They are used to power smart devices — phones, tablets, laptops, and are rapidly becoming major elements in the automotive industry. Demand projections for lithium are skyrocketing with production struggling to keep up pace. This drive is due mostly to the rapid adoption of electric vehicles; sales of electric vehicles in 2020 are more than double what they were only a year prior. With such staggering growth it is important to understand how lithium is sourced and what that means for the environment. Will production even be capable of meeting the demand as more industries make use of this valuable element? How will the environmental impact of lithium affect growth? This thesis attempts to answer these questions as the world looks to a decade of rapid growth for lithium ion batteries.
ContributorsMelton, John (Author) / Brian, Jennifer (Thesis director) / Karwat, Darshawn (Committee member) / Chemical Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2021-05
Description
Rapid advancements in Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning, and Deep Learning technologies are widening the playing field for automated decision assistants in healthcare. The field of radiology offers a unique platform for this technology due to its repetitive work structure, ability to leverage large data sets, and high position for clinical and social impact. Several technologies in cancer screening, such as Computer Aided Detection (CAD), have broken the barrier of research into reality through successful outcomes with patient data (Morton, Whaley, Brandt, & Amrami, 2006; Patel et al, 2018). Technologies, such as the IBM Medical Sieve, are growing excitement with the potential for increased impact through the addition of medical record information ("Medical Sieve Radiology Grand Challenge", 2018). As the capabilities of automation increase and become a part of expert-decision-making jobs, however, the careful consideration of its integration into human systems is often overlooked. This paper aims to identify how healthcare professionals and system engineers implementing and interacting with automated decision-making aids in Radiology should take bureaucratic, legal, professional, and political accountability concerns into consideration. This Accountability Framework is modeled after Romzek and Dubnick’s (1987) public administration framework and expanded on through an analysis of literature on accountability definitions and examples in military, healthcare, and research sectors. A cohesive understanding of this framework and the human concerns it raises helps drive the questions that, if fully addressed, create the potential for a successful integration and adoption of AI in radiology and ultimately the care environment.
ContributorsGilmore, Emily Anne (Author) / Chiou, Erin (Thesis director) / Wu, Teresa (Committee member) / Industrial, Systems & Operations Engineering Prgm (Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
The premise of this thesis developed from my personal interests and undergraduate educational experiences in both industrial engineering and design studies, particularly those related to product design. My education has stressed the differences in the ways that engineers and designers approach problem solving and creating solutions, but I am most interested in marrying the two mindsets of designers and engineers to better solve problems creatively and efficiently.
This thesis focuses on the recent appearance of generative design technology into the world of industrial design and engineering as it relates to product development. An introduction to generative design discusses the uses and benefits of this tool for both designers and engineers and also addresses the challenges of this technology. The relevance of generative design to the world of product development is discussed as well as the implications of how this technology will change the roles of designers and engineers, and especially their traditional design processes. The remainder of this paper is divided into two elements. The first serves as documentation of my own exploration of using generative design software to solve a product design challenge and my reflections on the benefits and challenges of using this tool. The second element addresses the need for employing quantitiative methodologies within the generative design process to aid designers in selecting the most advantageous design option when presented with generative outcomes. Both sections aim to provide more context to this new design process and seek to answer questions about some of the ambiguous processes of generative design.
This thesis focuses on the recent appearance of generative design technology into the world of industrial design and engineering as it relates to product development. An introduction to generative design discusses the uses and benefits of this tool for both designers and engineers and also addresses the challenges of this technology. The relevance of generative design to the world of product development is discussed as well as the implications of how this technology will change the roles of designers and engineers, and especially their traditional design processes. The remainder of this paper is divided into two elements. The first serves as documentation of my own exploration of using generative design software to solve a product design challenge and my reflections on the benefits and challenges of using this tool. The second element addresses the need for employing quantitiative methodologies within the generative design process to aid designers in selecting the most advantageous design option when presented with generative outcomes. Both sections aim to provide more context to this new design process and seek to answer questions about some of the ambiguous processes of generative design.
ContributorsElgin, Mariah Crystal (Author) / Bacalzo, Dean (Thesis director) / Gel, Esma (Committee member) / Industrial, Systems & Operations Engineering Prgm (Contributor) / Dean, Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
In March 2019, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released a report describing the critical importance of the next decade in mitigating the effects of climate change. From a consumer perspective, the most impactful method of reducing greenhouse gas emissions is by altering and/or reducing usage of personal and public transportation. Despite the significant technological advances in vehicle electrification, vehicle mileage, and hybrid technology, there is a gap in analysis performed about the relationship between oil prices and electric vehicle sales. This can be largely attributed to the large variation in oil and gas prices within the last decade and the short timeframe in which electric vehicles have been available to the average consumer. In addition to oil prices, significant driving factors of consumer electric vehicle purchases include battery range, availability and accessibly of charging infrastructure, and tax incentives. While consumers clearly have a significant role to play in driving electric vehicle sales, by virtue of the time commitment required to research and develop these emerging technologies, manufacturers have an arguably greater role in determining the market share EVs possess. The concept of “market disruption” versus “market replacement” is an intriguing explanation for the failure of electric vehicles, which as of early 2019 held a market share of less than 2%, to become the primary mode of transportation for most Americans, despite their wide-ranging financial and societal benefits, which will be a key challenge for the industry to overcome in the years to come.
ContributorsStout, Julia (Author) / Jennings, Cheryl (Thesis director) / Metcalfe, Carly (Committee member) / Industrial, Systems & Operations Engineering Prgm (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05