Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “project”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 37 records · Page 2
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2007

Adapting Project Management Practices to Research-Based Projects

From dealing with the inherent uncertainties in outcomes of scientific research to the lack of applicability of current NASA Procedural Requirements guidance documentation, research-based projects present challenges that require unique application of classical project management techniques. If additionally challenged by the creation of a new program transitioning from basic to applied research in a technical environment often unfamiliar with the cost and schedule constraints addressed by project management practices, such projects can find themselves struggling throughout their life cycles. Finally, supplying deliverables to a prime vehicle customer, also in the formative stage, adds further complexity to the development and management of research-based projects. The Biomedical Research and Countermeasures Projects Branch at NASA Johnson Space Center encompasses several diverse applied research-based or research-enabling projects within the newly-formed Human Research Program. This presentation will provide a brief overview of the organizational structure and environment in which these projects operate and how the projects coordinate to address and manage technical requirements. We will identify several of the challenges (cost, technical, schedule, and personnel) encountered by projects across the Branch, present case reports of actions taken and techniques implemented to deal with these challenges, and then close the session with an open forum discussion of remaining challenges and potential mitigations.

Bahr, P.↗
NASA NTRS2011

Habitat Demonstration Unit Project: Leadership and Management Strategies for a Rapid Prototyping Project

This paper gives an overview of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) led multi-center Habitat Demonstration Unit (HDU) project leadership and management strategies being used by the NASA HDU team for a rapid prototyping project. The HDU project team constructed and tested an analog prototype lunar surface habitat/laboratory called the Pressurized Excursion Module (PEM) during 2010. The prototype unit subsystems were integrated in a short amount of time, utilizing a tiger team rapid prototyping approach that brought together over 20 habitation-related technologies and innovations from a variety of NASA centers. This paper describes the leadership and management strategies as well as lessons learned pertaining to leading and managing a multi-center diverse team in a rapid prototype environment. The PEM configuration went from a paper design to an operational surface habitat demonstration unit in less than 12 months. The HDU project is part of the strategic plan from the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate (ESMD) Directorate Integration Office (DIO) and the Exploration Mission Systems Office (EMSO) to test destination elements in analog environments. The 2011 HDU-Deep Space Habitat (DSH) configuration will build upon the PEM work, and emphasize validity of crew operations (remote working and living), EVA operations, mission operations, logistics operations, and science operations that might be required in a deep space context for Near Earth Object (NEO) exploration mission architectures. The 2011 HDU-DSH will be field-tested during the 2011 Desert Research and Technologies Studies (DRaTS) field tests. The HDU project is a "technology-pull" project that integrates technologies and innovations from multiple NASA centers. This project will repurpose the HDU 2010 demo unit that was field tested in the 2010 DRaTS, adding habitation functionality to the prototype unit. This paper will describe the strategy of establishing a multi-center project management team that put in place the key multi-center leadership skills and disciplines to enable a successful tiger team approach. Advocacy was established with key stakeholders and NASA Headquarters (HQ) by defining a strategic vision, mission, goals and objectives for the project and team. As a technology-pull testbed capability the HDU project was able to collaborate and leverage the Exploration Technology Development Program (ETDP) and individual NASA center investments which capitalized on their respective center core competencies and skills. This approach enable the leveraging of over $7.5m of value to create an operational habitat demonstration unit 2010 PEM configuration.

Kennedy, Kriss J.↗
DOE OSTI2017

Designing a Successful Transportation Project: Lessons Learned from the Clean Cities American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Projects

The largest source of funding for alternative fuel vehicle and infrastructure projects in the U.S. Department of Energy's Clean Cities program's history came from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act). In 2009, the 25 cost-share projects totaled nearly $300 million in federal government investment. This effort included the involvement of 50 Clean Cities coalitions and their nearly 700 stakeholder partners who provided an additional $500 million in matching funds to support projects in their local communities. In total, those 25 projects established 1,380 alternative fueling stations and put more than 9,000 alternative fuel and advanced technology vehicles on the road. Together, these projects displaced 154 million gasoline gallon equivalents (GGE) of petroleum and averted 254,000 tons of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, while supporting U.S. energy independence and contributing to regional economic development. During post-project interviews, project leaders consistently cited a number of key components - ranging from technical and logistical factors, to administrative capabilities - for accomplishing an effective and impactful project. This report summarizes the high-level project design and administrative considerations for conducting a successful transportation project.

arra, doe, recovery act,clean cities, alternative ↗
DOE OSTI2017

A Practical Application of Integrated Systems Engineering and Project Management on a Complex EPC Project - 17207

This paper introduces how an integrated set of Systems Engineering (SE) and Project Management (PM) processes were applied in a practical way, to address the challenges on a complex, highly technical, Engineering Procurement Construction project within the nuclear field. This approach was inspired by: - the principles contained in a Community of Practice on Lean in Program Management jointly established in May 2012 by MIT, PMI and INCOSE; - an opportunity to apply international standard ISO/IEC 15288:2008(E) Systems and software engineering - System life cycle processes on a real-life situation; - and the belief that there is great value in applying Systems Engineering and Project Management in an integrated manner on a project. The project offering this opportunity was the Detail Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Cold Commissioning (EPC) of the Silo Direct-encapsulation Plant (SDP). This project was undertaken by the Joint Venture (JV) formed by Areva, Mace and Atkins (a.m.a. Nuclear Ltd). Unfortunately, early termination of the project, at a stage when only a part of the processes and tools were being implemented, did not allow this integrated approach to be demonstrated in full. However, the benefits achieved in the early stages in aligning and forming an integrated project execution team, showed potential for great benefits. This paper covers an introductory analysis of the situation, the successes and benefits achieved from implementing an integrated SE - PM approach up to the stage when the project was terminated, and possible path forward had the project continued. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2015

WE-EF-207-04: An Inter-Projection Sensor Fusion (IPSF) Approach to Estimate Missing Projection Signal in Synchronized Moving Grid (SMOG) System

Purpose: A synchronized moving grid (SMOG) has been proposed to reduce scatter and lag artifacts in cone beam computed tomography (CBCT). However, information is missing in each projection because certain areas are blocked by the grid. A previous solution to this issue is acquiring 2 complimentary projections at each position, which increases scanning time. This study reports our first Result using an inter-projection sensor fusion (IPSF) method to estimate missing projection in our prototype SMOG-based CBCT system. Methods: An in-house SMOG assembling with a 1:1 grid of 3 mm gap has been installed in a CBCT benchtop. The grid moves back and forth in a 3-mm amplitude and up-to 20-Hz frequency. A control program in LabView synchronizes the grid motion with the platform rotation and x-ray firing so that the grid patterns for any two neighboring projections are complimentary. A Catphan was scanned with 360 projections. After scatter correction, the IPSF algorithm was applied to estimate missing signal for each projection using the information from the 2 neighboring projections. Feldkamp-Davis-Kress (FDK) algorithm was applied to reconstruct CBCT images. The CBCTs were compared to those reconstructed using normal projections without applying the SMOG system. Results: The SMOG-IPSF method may reduce image dose by half due to the blocked radiation by the grid. The method almost completely removed scatter related artifacts, such as the cupping artifacts. The evaluation of line pair patterns in the CatPhan suggested that the spatial resolution degradation was minimal. Conclusion: The SMOG-IPSF is promising in reducing scatter artifacts and improving image quality while reducing radiation dose.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS1990

Space Projects: Improvements Needed in Selecting Future Projects for Private Financing

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and NASA jointly selected seven projects for commercialization to reduce NASA's fiscal year 1990 budget request and to help achieve the goal of increasing private sector involvement in space. However, the efforts to privately finance these seven projects did not increase the commercial sector's involvement in space to the extent desired. The General Accounting Office (GAO) determined that the projects selected were not a fair test of the potential of increasing commercial investment in space at an acceptable cost to the government, primarily because the projects were not properly screened. That is, neither their suitability for commercialization nor the economic consequences of seeking private financing for them were adequately evaluated before selection. Evaluations and market tests done after selection showed that most of the projects were not viable candidates for private financing. GAO concluded that projects should not be removed from NASA's budget for commercial development until after careful screening has been done to determine whether adequate commercial demand exists, development risks are commercially acceptable and private financing is found or judged to be highly likely, and the cost effectiveness of such a decision is acceptable. Premature removal of projects from NASA's budget ultimately can cause project delays and increased costs when unsuccessful commercialization candidates must be returned to the budget. NASA also needs to ensure appropriate comparisons of government and private financing options for future commercialization projects.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS2000

How Project Managers Really Manage: An Indepth Look at Some Managers of Large, Complex NASA Projects

This paper reports on a research study by the author that examined ten contemporary National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) complex projects. In-depth interviews with the project managers of these projects provided qualitative data about the inner workings of the project and the methodologies used in establishing and managing the projects. The inclusion of a variety of space, aeronautics, and ground based projects from several different NASA research centers helped to reduce potential bias in the findings toward any one type of project, or technical discipline. The findings address the participants and their individual approaches. The discussion includes possible implications for project managers of other large, complex, projects.

Mulenburg, Gerald M.↗
NASA NTRS2018

An “EPIIC” Vision to Evolve Project Integration, Innovation, and Collaboration with Broad Impact for How NASA Executes Complex Projects

Evolving Project Integration, Innovation, and Collaboration (EPIIC) is a vision defined to transform the way projects manage information to support real-time decisions, capture best practices and lessons learned, perform assessments, and manage risk across a portfolio of projects. The foundational project management needs for data and information will be revolutionized through innovations on how we manage and access that data, implement configuration control, and certify compliance. The embedded intelligence of new interactive data interfaces integrate technical and programmatic data such that near real time analytics can be accomplished to more efficiently and accurately complete systems engineering and project management tasks. The system-wide data analytics that are integrated into customized data interfaces allows the growing team of engineers and managers required to develop and implement major NASA missions the ability to access authoritative source(s) of system information while greatly reducing the labor required to complete system assessments. This would allow, for example, much of what is accomplished in a scheduled design review to take place as needed, between any team members, at any time. An intelligent data interface that rigorously integrates systems engineering and project management information in near real time can provide substantially greater insight for systems engineers, project managers, and the large diverse teams required to complete a complex project. System engineers, programmatic personnel (those who focus on cost, schedule, and risk), the technical engineering disciplines, and project management can realize immediate benefit from the shared vision described herein. Implementation of the vision also enables significant improvements in the performance of the engineered system being developed.

Moreland, Robert J.↗
DOE OSTI2015

High-resolution dynamically downscaled projections of precipitation in the mid and late 21st century over North America

This study performs high-spatial-resolution (12 km) Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) simulations over a very large domain (7200 km × 6180 km, covering much of North America) to explore changes in mean and extreme precipitation in the mid and late 21st century under Representative Concentration Pathways 4.5 (RCP 4.5) and 8.5 (RCP 8.5). We evaluate WRF model performance for a historical simulation and future projections, applying the Community Climate System Model version 4 (CCSM4) as initial and boundary conditions with and without a bias correction. WRF simulations using boundary and initial conditions from both versions of CCSM4 show smaller biases versus evaluation data sets than does CCSM4 over western North America. WRF simulations also improve spatial details of precipitation over much of North America. However, driving the WRF with the bias-corrected CCSM4 does not always reduce the bias. WRF-projected changes in precipitation include decreasing intensity over the southwestern United States, increasing intensity over the eastern United States and most of Canada, and an increase in the number of days with heavy precipitation over much of North America. Projected precipitation changes are more evident in the late 21st century than the mid 21st century, and they are more evident under RCP 8.5 than under RCP 4.5 in the late 21st century. Uncertainties in the projected changes in precipitation due to different warming scenarios are non-negligible. Differences in summer precipitation changes between WRF and CCSM4 are significant over most of the United States.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2025

Comparisons of Montane Snow Water Equivalent Projections: Calculating Total Snow Mass in Regions with Projection Agreement and Divergence in the Western United States

Montane snowpack is a vital source of water in the western United States. Here, we use a large-ensemble approach to evaluate the agreement across 124 snow water equivalent (SWE) projections with statistically downscaled forcing between end-of-century (2076–95) and early twenty-first century (2106–35) periods. Comparisons were performed on dates corresponding with the end of winter (15 April) and midspring snowmelt (15 May) in five western U.S. domains. Using 1) the percent change to end-of-century SWE across different ensembles of snow projections and 2) the shift between early twenty-first century and end-of-century SWE distributions for each snow projection, we identified relationships between projections that were consistent across each domain. In low to midelevations, end-of-century SWE decreases were 48% and larger on 15 April. These regions had projected changes to SWE that were both high confidence and in relative agreement across projections. Despite this, the majority of 15 April SWE volume existed in higher elevations where the magnitude and direction (positive or negative) of SWE changes were most uncertain. The results of this study show that large-ensemble approaches can be used to measure coherence between snow projections and identify 1) the highest confidence changes to future snow water resources and 2) the locations and periods where and when improvements to snow projections would most benefit estimates of future snow water resources.

Climate models↗
DOE OSTI2016

El Paso County Geothermal Project at Fort Bliss. Final Project Report

The El Paso County Geothermal Project at Fort Bliss was an effort to determine the scale and scope of geothermal resources previously identified on Fort Bliss’ McGregor Range in southern Otero County, New Mexico. The project was funded with a $5,000,000 grant to El Paso County from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and a $4,812,500 match provided by private sector partners. The project was administered through the DOE Golden Field Office to awardee El Paso County. The primary subcontractor to El Paso County and project Principal Investigator - Ruby Mountain Inc. (RMI) of Salt Lake City, Utah - assembled the project team consisting of Evergreen Clean Energy Management (ECEM) of Provo, Utah, and the Energy & Geoscience Institute at the University of Utah (EGI) in Salt Lake City, UT to complete the final phases of the project. The project formally began in May of 2010 and consisted of two preliminary phases of data collection and evaluation which culminated in the identification of a drilling site for a Resource Confirmation Well on McGregor Range. Well RMI 56-5 was drilled May and June 2013 to a depth of 3,030 ft. below ground level. A string of slotted 7 inch casing was set in 8.75 inch hole on bottom fill at 3,017 ft. to complete the well. The well was drilled using a technique called flooded reverse circulation, which is most common in mineral exploration. This technique produced an exceptionally large and complete cuttings record. An exciting development at the conclusion of drilling was the suspected discovery of a formation that has proven to be of exceptionally high permeability in three desalinization wells six miles to the south. Following drilling and preliminary testing and analysis, the project team has determined that the McGregor Range thermal anomaly is large and can probably support development in the tens of megawatts.

15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2020

Machine learning model to project the impact of COVID-19 on U.S. motor gasoline demand

Owing to the global lockdowns that resulted from the COVID-19 pandemic, fuel demand plummeted and the price of oil futures went negative in April 2020. Robust fuel demand projections are crucial to economic and energy planning and policy discussions. Here we incorporate pandemic projections and people's resulting travel and trip activities and fuel usage in a machine-learning-based model to project the US medium-term gasoline demand and study the impact of government intervention. We found that under the reference infection scenario, the US gasoline demand grows slowly after a quick rebound in May, and is unlikely to fully recover prior to October 2020. Under the reference and pessimistic scenario, continual lockdown (no reopening) could worsen the motor gasoline demand temporarily, but it helps the demand recover to a normal level quicker. Under the optimistic infection scenario, gasoline demand will recover close to the non-pandemic level by October 2020. The COVID 19 pandemic and consequent lockdown has had a substantial impact on mobility and therefore fuel demand and it is not clear when demand will recover. Ou et al. use a machine learning model that integrates health recovery scenarios to project the near-term future of gasoline demand.

COVID-19 pandemic↗
DOE OSTI2023

3D Modeling of Safety-Related Upgrade Pilot Project

Constellation Energy and the United States Department of Energy (DOE) have established a public/private partnership to implement a pilot digital upgrade to replace legacy analog, safety-related reactor protection and emergency safety feature actuation systems (RPS/ESFAS) with modern digital systems. This effort is occurring at Constellation’s Limerick Generating Station. This project is being performed in accordance with industry processes that have been adapted to better support digital upgrades. These processes include IP-ENG-001, Standard Design Process, NISP-EN-04, Standard Digital Engineering Process and Electric Power Research Institute Report 3002011816, Digital Engineering Guide. The Light Water Reactor Sustainability (LWRS) Program at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) has been supporting this effort. Latest INL HFE efforts in support of this project have focused on definition and implementation of the Human Factors Engineering (HFE) Program in support of Constellation design and related licensing efforts. This paper will present the development of the HFE 3D modeling execution of the Main Control Room safety upgrades. New equipment and modifications are planned for upgrading the new safety systems. 3D modeling allows for visualization of the new equipment and modifications to be shared with engineering and design teams for evaluation and review. Anthropometric considerations such as sight lines and functional reach can be evaluated directly using the 3D model. This effort has helped to provide visualizations for additional review with operations personnel and project stakeholders.

3D Modeling↗
DOE OSTI2018

Sustainable Solar Education Project - Final Project Report

This project supported the sustainable growth of the distributed solar market by providing information and training to state and municipal officials to help ensure that distributed solar electricity remains consumer friendly and benefits low- and moderate-income households. Our project’s official name was “Training for State Officials to Make Solar More Inclusive, Affordable, and Consumer Friendly,” but we publicly referred to it as “the Sustainable Solar Education Project.” The project started March 1, 2016 and ran through July 2018. The first year of the project centered around research, development, and production of a series of guides for state and municipal officials on topics related to solar consumer protection and equitability. The final year and a half was focused on providing in-person training on project issues and disseminating project resources to reach our target audience.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
NASA NTRS1976

The project scientist's role in scientific spacecraft project management

The project scientists is in a position which rates very high in terms of behavioral study recommendations. His influence over objectives is generally considered to be important. He is highly autonomous in a moderately coordinated environment. He has diverse managerial and technical functions and the performance of these functions require him to grow beyond his role as an experimenter. However, the position within the line organization for those interviewed is also very stimulating, rating almost as high by the same criteria. The role of project scientist may not be the dominant means of professional growth for the experienced scientific investigators. The influence which the project scientist exerts on the project and the stimulation of that position for him are determined largely by his position outside the defined project scientist role. The role of the project scientist is changing because the environment of those who become project scientists is changing.

Eller, E. L.↗
DOE OSTI2020

Enhancing Neutrino Event Reconstruction with Pixel-Based 3D Readout for Liquid Argon Time Projection Chambers

In this paper we explore the potential improvements in neutrino event reconstruction that a 3D pixelated readout could offer over a 2D projective wire readout for liquid argon time projection chambers. We simulate and study events in two generic, idealized detector configurations for these two designs, classifying events in each sample with deep convolutional neural networks to compare the best 2D results to the best 3D results. In almost all cases we find that the 3D readout provides better reconstruction efficiency and purity than the 2D projective wire readout, with the advantages of 3D being particularly evident in more complex topologies, such as electron neutrino charged current events. We conclude that the use of a 3D pixelated detector could significantly enhance the reach and impact of future liquid argon TPC experiments physics program, such as DUNE.

Adams, C↗
DOE OSTI2015

Using Project Complexity Determinations to Establish Required Levels of Project Rigor

This presentation discusses the project complexity determination process that was developed by National Security Technologies, LLC, for the U.S. Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration Nevada Field Office for implementation at the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS). The complexity determination process was developed to address the diversity of NNSS project types, size, and complexity; to fill the need for one procedure but with provision for tailoring the level of rigor to the project type, size, and complexity; and to provide consistent, repeatable, effective application of project management processes across the enterprise; and to achieve higher levels of efficiency in project delivery. These needs are illustrated by the wide diversity of NNSS projects: Defense Experimentation, Global Security, weapons tests, military training areas, sensor development and testing, training in realistic environments, intelligence community support, sensor development, environmental restoration/waste management, and disposal of radioactive waste, among others.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2016

Toward more realistic projections of soil carbon dynamics by Earth system models

Soil carbon (C) is a critical component of Earth system models (ESMs), and its diverse representations are a major source of the large spread across models in the terrestrial C sink from the third to fifth assessment reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Improving soil C projections is of a high priority for Earth system modeling in the future IPCC and other assessments. To achieve this goal, we suggest that (1) model structures should reflect real-world processes, (2) parameters should be calibrated to match model outputs with observations, and (3) external forcing variables should accurately prescribe the environmental conditions that soils experience. First, most soil C cycle models simulate C input from litter production and C release through decomposition. The latter process has traditionally been represented by first-order decay functions, regulated primarily by temperature, moisture, litter quality, and soil texture. While this formulation well captures macroscopic soil organic C (SOC) dynamics, better understanding is needed of their underlying mechanisms as related to microbial processes, depth-dependent environmental controls, and other processes that strongly affect soil C dynamics. Second, incomplete use of observations in model parameterization is a major cause of bias in soil C projections from ESMs. Optimal parameter calibration with both pool-and flux-based data sets through data assimilation is among the highest priorities for near-term research to reduce biases among ESMs. Third, external variables are represented inconsistently among ESMs, leading to differences in modeled soil C dynamics. Furthermore, we recommend the implementation of traceability analyses to identify how external variables and model parameterizations influence SOC dynamics in different ESMs. Overall, projections of the terrestrial C sink can be substantially improved when reliable data sets are available to select the most representative model structure, constrain parameters, and prescribe forcing fields.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗