IEMS 2022
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Item Marketing challenges for the next generation of nuclear power: Has deregulation eliminated the nuclear option?(Association for Industry, Engineering and Management Systems, 2022-03) Dansky, Stephen; Cudmore, B. AndrewThe purchase of a nuclear plant relies on bank financing and lenders emphasize the quality of the nuclear plant's projected income stream to repay the financing. This is why all previous nuclear plant financings relied on the monopoly status of the purchaser with its legislatively anointed captive market to ensure an adequate income stream. Today, due to deregulation, electric utilities can't own regulated power plants in two-thirds of the country. In these states, electricity is generated and sold on a competitive basis by Independent Power Producers, end-use customers are free to choose their electric suppliers, and state regulators no longer ensure cost coverage of the nuclear-related risks. However, policymakers at last year's United Nations COP26 and other environmental forums touted nuclear power as a solution to climate change because it doesn't produce greenhouse gases. Missing is a discussion and analysis of the impact of this deregulation (and its loss of a guaranteed revenue stream) on the ability to obtain financing and, in turn, on the potential size of this market. Thus, deregulation may have eliminated nuclear power as an option to fight climate change. This presentation builds on earlier research by proposing an analysis of survey data regarding two post-deregulation risk factors (long-term price certainty and long-term output quantity certainty) versus the likelihood to obtain financing.Item Executive innovation(Association for Industry, Engineering and Management Systems, 2022-03) Arbogast, Gordon W.; Jadav, ArpitaOne recent quote for the role of CEOs and other C-Suite executives on the innovation of a firm is: "Innovation executives are not expected to be the innovators, but the great ones can facilitate ideation processes effectively to generate great ideas" (Soloman, 2005). This paper explores the role of CEO/Top Executive participation in innovation in modern business. At the turn of the 20th century, there were many great inventors who also became successful businessmen. They founded and played key management roles in firms that created the backbone in the infrastructure and business growth of the country. Thomas Edison (GE), Alexander Graham Bell (AT&T) and the Wright Brothers (Aircraft) are just a few that come to mind. However, as the 20th century wore on, America's big business organizations became more bureaucratic with CEOs and executives leaving entrepreneurship and innovation primarily to their R&D divisions (e.g., Bell Labs and RCA Labs) and to outside organizations that could be acquired if necessary. However, recent trends indicate that this may be changing. This paper looks at today's state of innovation and examines the current role of innovation as it pertains to CEO and Top Executives. This subject of CEO/Executive innovation is approached with a view of: (1) examining if the spirit of innovation is alive at the CEO level; and (2) if it is, determining if today's CEOs/Executives are contributing to innovation in U.S. major firms. A literature review addresses some of the authors and academicians who have contributed current major ideas concerning innovation. Joel Barker is a futurist who has spent his career focusing on paradigm shifts and innovation. A famous MIT professor, Clayton Christensen, was another who developed and documented key ideas in innovation that are now mainstream e.g., the theory of disruptive innovation. Lastly, most graduate books on Business Strategy address innovation in a separate chapter and describe the latest ways that a firm can embrace innovation to be successful. Much insight into this topic was gained by examining a recent Forbes list of Executive Innovators (Forbes 2019). At the top of the Forbes list are found some common names of U.S. CEOs and Executives. Quite a few have recently displayed a healthy penchant toward reaping the benefits of innovation. Included in the list were: Sundar Pichai at Alphabet (Google); Jeff Bezos at Amazon; and Elon Musk at Tesla. Three major recent CEOs who epitomized the best in the successful harnessing of innovation over the past 30 years are also discussed in some detail: Steve Jobs (computers and other related fields), Edward Whitacre (Telecommunications) and E. Hunter Harrison (Railroads). While examining these leading CEO/Executives, deregulation in the United States economy was identified to be a potential important construct that may well have influenced positively the changing role of modern CEOs and top Executives in innovation. It is concluded that all innovation does not necessarily have to be driven by intrapreneurs within a firm or acquired from outside a firm. In fact, CEOs are more active today in driving innovation than at any time since the earliest 20th century. It appears that innovation at the CEO/Executive level has been revived and is far from being defunct!! Future CEO and Top Executive position hires should be examined with innovation in mind. At a minimum criterion for selecting a new CEO or Top Executive needs to include how well they have delivered innovation in their past executive assignments, as well as what ideas they have for generating innovation in their new job. Recommendations are also made as how to further research this topic to provide definitive factors that are driving innovation at the CEO and Executive levels today. Such research on innovation should not be limited to just technological innovations, but needs to be expanded to include innovations in such functional areas of business as marketing, operations, procurement, R&D etc. Lastly, future research could also be undertaken in innovation using techniques such as data analytics. A data-centric technique could be employed which would focus on using machine learning algorithms to identify themes that are driving the recent upsurge in CEO and Executive innovation.Item Assessing the usability of a desktop simulator for training Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) procedures(Association for Industry, Engineering and Management Systems, 2022-03) Blackford, Molly; Ramp, Katelynn; Jackobsen, Steffen; Carstens, Deborah S.The aviation industry has used simulator training devices as an inexpensive and safe alternative to flight training for decades. Many different simulation types have been developed, with varying quality levels in fidelity and realism. The study aim is to evaluate the usability of the RedBird JAY desktop simulator for training Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) procedures. Spradley's (2016) domain analysis is used to identify common themes in the participant's responses. Twelve pilots, holding an FAA private pilot certificate and instrument rating as a minimum and with mixed prior simulator experience, operated a Redbird JAY flight simulator configured with the Cessna 172 using standard analog instruments with a separate horizontal situation indicator (HIS) and Garmin G1000 integrated flight instrument system. Each participant was given three scenarios, consisting of approximately five minutes of flying in identical conditions for all participants. The results and future research areas are discussed in this paper.Item Construction estimating challenges after COVID 19 - the effect of price escalation and material shortages on construction cost and contract management(Association for Industry, Engineering and Management Systems, 2022-03) Haddad, BasharThe cost of building materials is imperative for determining the profitability and success of construction projects. This paper focuses on the effect of the COVID 19 pandemic on material prices and the availability of material. The input cost of materials and services utilized in construction rose by 27.4% from April 2020 to August 2021. Typically, the material and equipment costs could reach up to 50-60 percent of the construction project cost. Therefore, the increase in material prices and the availability of material pose a significant risk to contractors' ability to bid and execute projects. Prudent contractors must develop a plan to manage and mitigate the risk of material price escalation at the bidding phase, during contract negotiation, and during the built phase of the project. The researcher provides contractors with risk mitigation strategies at each phase of the project to manage and control price volatility.Item Solar Decathlon design challenge: A collaborative student-community engagement project(Association for Industry, Engineering and Management Systems, 2022-03) Mani, Nirajan; Chenot, D. KeithTo prepare our students for their chosen careers, it is important to provide opportunities that integrate their past studies and apply these through civic engagement. The Solar Decathlon competition sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) can be such a platform that challenges student teams to become involved with their community and apply their knowledge and design highly efficient and innovative buildings. According to the DOE, the Solar Decathlon competition provides participating students with unique training that prepares them for the clean energy workforce; educates students and the public about the latest technologies and materials in energy-efficient design, smart building solutions, and demonstrates to the public the comfort and savings of buildings that combine energy-efficient construction and innovative designs including onsite renewable energy production. Considering the dual benefits of this program, the Engineering Technology final year students at Fitchburg State University have participated in the Solar Decathlon Design Challenge. Under the supervision of faculty, students in coordination with local authorities selected a downtown urban property for redevelopment following the guidelines of the Solar Decathlon project competition. This paper presents the importance and challenges of this type of collaborative community engaged project to enhance the learning opportunities for undergraduate students. Moreover, it highlights the benefits of this type of real-world project in capstone course curricula.