MS, University of Cincinnati, 2006, Engineering : Civil Engineering

The construction industry is one of the largest and fastest growing industries in the USA as well as in most parts of the world. The US department of commerce reported that construction industry spending peaked all-time in the month of November 2005 with an annual spending of over $1160 billion. It presently employs over 10 million people. However, increasing demand for better services at lower costs resulting in greater market share, profits and client satisfaction compel the construction industry to focus on intangible parameters that affect its competitiveness. As a tool to aid construction management (CM) and other project activities it encompasses, scores of PM software applications have been written over the years. However, with increasing availability of a broad range of such applications, organizations are generally disoriented and uncertain with respect to which applications and tools are best suited to their business goals. Furthermore, with project management systems becoming more and more complex with time and encompassing sophisticated practices for better management and control, selection of such tools has become increasingly difficult. Amidst all of this technology development, investments and implementation towards CM efficiency, it is imperative that the project executives and senior management, who are also the primary users of such applications, be facilitated a simple decision support system that acts as a framework towards justifying investments, setup and installation, utilization and upgrade of project management applications. This study, through a broad preview of the past, current and futuristic CM application functioning, its developmental history and an industry-wide survey aims to demarcate current IT and software solutions trends in the US construction industry. Some of the pertinent issues addressed include critical business areas, investments, deployment, expenditures and work environment. Categories include computing, networking and t (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Dr. Sam Salem (Advisor) Subjects: Engineering, Civil

PHD, Kent State University, 2013, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Modern and Classical Language Studies

In the current global business environment many endeavors are undertaken as projects. Translation, localization and other language services are no exception and must be viewed and studied as services performed in a projectized environment. If they are not, there will continue to be gaps between the way translation is taught and researched (as an isolated activity) and how it is performed in the business world (as part of projects). The existence of these gaps not only prevents translation practitioners from recognizing and communicating the value of the service that they provide, but also diminishes the value of the training that future translators receive. Lack of understanding of the context in which translation is performed limits the opportunities for mutually beneficial cooperation between translation studies and other disciplines in the academic environment, and between organizations and divisions within a given organization in the business environment. This study proposes to contribute to the research on translation in project contexts by examining risk management, which is an important area of focus for organizations and professionals in many sectors, but which is largely ignored in the language industry. This study first provides an overview of the language industry, explores key concepts, such as risk, uncertainty, project management, risk management and maturity model, and explains the role and relevance of risk management in the language industry. It then reviews existing risk management frameworks developed by project management and risk management practitioners, including the framework developed by the Project Management Institute (PMI). Next, a model of risk sources developed specifically for application in translation and localization projects is presented and discussed. The theoretical discussion is followed by a case study in which PMI's project risk management framework is implemented and the proposed model of risk sources is applied in a real (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Gregory Shreve (Advisor); Françoise Massardier-Kenney (Committee Member); Sue Ellen Wright (Committee Member); Jayaram Muthuswamy (Committee Member); Frederick Schroath (Committee Member) Subjects: Foreign Language; Language

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) in Organizational Leadership , Franklin University, 2024, International Institute for Innovative Instruction

The enterprise resource planning (ERP) industry is a billion-dollar software industry with two prominent higher education ERP companies bringing in a combined $14.27 billion the third quarter of their 2024 fiscal years (Oracle, 2023; Workday, 2023). ERP systems stemmed from materials resource planning (MRP) systems in the manufacturing industry (Jacobs & Weston, 2006; Lowson, 2002; Nowak, 2021) and were designed to mitigate risk, centralize data, and create consistency (Albarghouthi et al., 2020; Alhazmi et al., 2022; Kumar et al., 2022; Liu et al., 2023; Rubel et al., 2023). Multiple sources indicate that the failure rate of ERP systems within higher education institutions (HEIs) surpasses that of other sectors, which is why it is essential to examine critical success factors of ERP implementations (Albarghouthi et al., 2020; Alhazmi et al., 2022; Kajbaje & Kamatchi, 2022; Skoumpopolou et al., 2022; Soliman & Noorliza, 2020). This study aimed to explore the practical strategies for ERP success by analyzing lived experiences of leaders at two-year community and technical colleges in the upper Midwest. The exploration was achieved by conducting a qualitative phenomenological study that consisted of semi-structured interviews with 12 leaders at three sites. There were eight interview questions; two were introductory demographic questions. There were six detailed interview questions, with two specifically addressing the research question, and four designed to lead participants into a more in-depth analysis of factors related to leadership approaches and ERP project success factors. Interviews were conducted via Zoom and in-person, based on the participants' preferences. The interview transcriptions were analyzed via Atlas.ti using a thematic coding approach resulting in four themes: (1) project and change management, (2) strategic guidance, (3) resource alignment and allocation, (4) vendor and software. Theme one is comprised of eight sub-themes covering specifics abou (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Patrick Bennett (Committee Chair); Yuerong Sweetland (Committee Member); Tarae Terry (Committee Member) Subjects: Educational Leadership; Educational Software; Educational Technology; Higher Education

Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 2020, Environment and Natural Resources

The complex system of watersheds involves interconnections of water cycles, human behaviors, and the surrounding environment. Growing demand for water resources due to expanding populations throughout the world has led to the need for better management of watersheds. An increasingly popular approach involves collaborative management of watersheds that engages stakeholders and governance actors working at different scales. At the same time, watershed management has been impacted by a trend toward the decentralization of government services and decision making, particularly in developing countries. Decentralized watershed governance often faces problems including the transfer of authority from federal to regional and local government, building the capacity and resources of local stakeholders, institutional conflicts over management of the watershed, and development of policies and regulations that support local collaborative approaches. Utilizing qualitative methods, this study builds on previous research on the necessary conditions and outcomes required for successful collaborative projects to explain the dynamics and outcomes associated with watershed management in the Wanggu Watershed, Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia. Results found that many of the prerequisites for effective collaborative management exist at the provincial and local watershed scale. While there is evidence that processes have been put in place that supports collaborative management, particularly the role of a formal interagency watershed forum at the provincial level, evidence of successful implementation of programs and actual improvements in watershed conditions was less common. Some factors limiting success include political dynamics and turnover, and changes in regulations that do not always empower local leaders. In addition, the success of decentralized watershed governance was shaped by the presence of international aid organizations that were critical convenors of program implementation (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Douglas Jackson-Smith (Advisor); Eric Toman (Committee Member); Matthew Hamilton (Committee Member) Subjects: Environmental Science; Natural Resource Management

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1980, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects: Education

Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 2015, Civil Engineering

Construction projects are always expected to be delayed, but the likelihood of a delay varies between projects because of the particular circumstances and schedule for that project. It is usually left to the scheduler to estimate these future circumstances of the project when preparing the schedule and determining the duration of the project. However, the schedule of the Critical Path Method (CPM) does not indicate the factors that are assumed to participate in determining the likelihood for delay. These deterministic durations, apart from the relationship between the activities, are the dominant contributor to the critical path in the CPM calculation. Risk management focuses on the processes that are considered critical, although delay may emerge from non-critical paths. In this study, a new fuzzy model is proposed to provide a subjective assessment of the likelihood of delay for activities in different periods. Using this model, the scheduler's assessment of the likelihood of delay for each activity can be combined to determine the likelihood of a project delay. This process is done utilizing fuzzy logic and fault-tree analysis and is then combined with the CPM schedule of the project. The result is a fuzzy fault-tree that shows the potential delay of the project and its contributing paths. Applying this method on a sample project, the results show that risk of delay comes not only from critical paths but also from non-critical paths. Consequently, the CPM schedule duration can be reevaluated such that the project can be rescheduled to account for the new findings and, at the very least, the risk of delay can be accounted for.

Committee: Fabian Tan (Advisor); Tarunjit Butalia (Committee Member); Rachel Kajfez (Committee Member) Subjects: Civil Engineering; Engineering; Industrial Engineering; Logic; Management; Mathematics; Operations Research

MS, University of Cincinnati, 2001, Engineering : Civil Engineering

Constructability implementation right from project conception to completion results in gains to owners, designers, fabricators, and contractors in terms of time and cost without compromising on quality. Constructability implementation optimizes all the phases of a construction project including planning, design, and construction stages. Success of constructability implementation can be easily measured by taking into consideration cost and schedule performance. Higher the degree of constructability implementation, the more efficiently a constructor can build, eventually leading to an economical project for the owner. The use of constructability to reduce costs and simplify construction implies neither lower quality nor compromise in design. Constructability requires that companies, particularly owners, go beyond conventional approaches to project execution by expanding front-end planning and investing additional effort in order to anticipate potential problems. The degree to which a constructability program is needed varies greatly with the size and complexity of a project. The work undertaken herein concentrates on studying constructability application in detail, when to use and how to use constructability, and effectively and efficiently implementing it for providing positive moment connections in bridges.

Committee: Dr. Makarand Hastak (Advisor) Subjects: Engineering, Civil

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2008, Public Policy and Management

It is the desire for government that works well for citizens and prevents things from going terribly wrong that drives an interest in understanding the causes of government performance. Generally, government performance is determined by the management actions of government agencies operating within various practical and political constraints, which are in large part set by the policy authority and resources given to agency management by elected officials. Shedding light on the nature and impact of management on government performance is a major challenge for scholars given the difficulty of measuring such a complex concept and the complexity of factors that determine performance outcomes. Unfortunately, our current understanding of these issues is limited.This dissertation provides insights into how to better measure management and assess its impact on government performance outcomes. I address these issues by analyzing the validity of the Government Performance Project state management grades, comparatively testing the explanatory power of the Government Performance Framework and the Mazmanian and Sabatier Implementation Framework in state environmental and transportation performance contexts and demonstrate three approaches for improving management research into the causes of government performance. My analysis generates useful insights regarding: 1. the usefulness of the GPP as a measure of management quality and how it could be improved, 2. the potential performance gains that can be achieved by improving management quality, 3. how public administration research can better generate useful insights about the impact of management and other factors impacting government outcomes by using a comparative research design and simulation methods. I conclude that research using better measures of management quality, more advanced analytical techniques, comparative research designs, and mixed methods will be needed if management scholars want to move management research f (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Trevor Brown PhD (Advisor); Anand Desai PhD (Committee Member); Andrew Keeler PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Environmental Science; Management; Organization Theory; Organizational Behavior; Political Science; Public Administration; Transportation

Master of Science in Engineering, Youngstown State University, 2024, Department of Civil/Environmental and Chemical Engineering

The Central Lake Erie Basin has been encountering escalating challenges in stormwater management, marked by shifting precipitation patterns and intensified weather extremes due to climate change. Consequently, conventional drainage systems, entrenched in gray infrastructure, have been exacerbating downstream urban flooding, prompting urgent exploration of alternative solutions. Low Impact Development (LID), particularly Green Infrastructure (GI) emerges as a promising avenue to mitigate flooding and enhance stormwater resilience. Since many sustainable stormwater management projects falter due to numerous factors including insufficient community involvement, inadequate consideration of local conditions, and limited resources for maintenance, this study engaged the community extensively to incorporate community input in decision-making for stormwater management. Out of the seven GIs, stakeholders preferred to explore permeable pavement and rain gardens. This study employed a comprehensive approach to evaluate the effectiveness of rain gardens and permeable pavement in stormwater management within the Town of Willoughby. By integrating climate data from Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP) Phases 5 and 6 datasets with hydrological modeling, the research investigated the impacts of evolving precipitation patterns and climate trajectories on stormwater management practices. The developed PCSWMM model encompassed 54 sub-catchments, with permeable pavement applied to 46 of the sub catchments in the parking lots of commercial buildings and public spaces. Additionally, rain gardens were implemented in 35 sub-catchments with one rain garden allocated per residential house. Through rigorous analysis, the research evaluated GI's capacity to address evolving precipitation patterns and climate trajectories, providing nuanced insights into its potential implications for sustainable stormwater management practices. GI measures such as permeable pavements and ra (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Suresh Sharma PhD (Advisor); Sahar Ehsani PhD (Committee Member); Bradley Shellito PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Civil Engineering

Doctor of Business Administration (D.B.A.), Franklin University, 2024, Business Administration

The United States Air Force (USAF) purchases billions in arms, equipment, and services to support the Department of Defense and its mission to defend the public from all enemies, foreign and domestic. Program Managers (PM) are the leaders appointed to develop, deliver, and sustain a solution for the capability gaps identified by operational leaders. PMs oversee programs of all sizes across many domains. A substantial proportion of programs fail to meet the triple constraint of cost, schedule, and performance. It is in the interest of the public who funds these purchases to identify the skills that can help PMs deliver programs within the triple constraint. PMs require skills to lead an effective program. The researcher used Katz's (1955) framework to identify the technical, human, and conceptual skills PMs need. The researcher interviewed nine retired USAF acquisition members and identified seventeen PM skills required to deliver programs within the triple constraint alongside other observations about the acquisition field. The seventeen skills include (1) General Military Knowledge, (2) Programmatic Knowledge, (3) Functional Knowledge, (4) Program-specific Knowledge, (5) Technological Proficiency, (6) Leadership, (7) Mentorship, (8) Communication, (9) Relationship Management, (10) Emotional Intelligence, (11) Political Skills, (12) Stakeholder Management, (13) Requirement Management, (14) Problem-solving, (15) Critical Thinking, (16) Outlook, and (17) Continuity. PMs can use the seventeen skills from this study as possible competencies to identify where they excel and need improvement and create a plan of action to improve performance at their current job and prepare for the next. Career managers can use the skill set as criteria to consider in selecting, developing, and retaining PMs to meet today's and tomorrow's needs. Additionally, the USAF should incorporate the seventeen skills into professional development, education, and training. The study further se (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Leo Sedlmeyer (Committee Chair); Charles Fenner (Committee Member); David McCurry (Committee Member) Subjects: Business Administration

Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, 2021, Management

Information technology (IT) projects are getting more complex by the day. From piloting to deployment, through different project phases and cycles, the IT field is still experiencing catastrophic failure. Seventy-one percent (71%) of IT projects are either outright failures or remain significantly challenged during the project execution, and most are related to soft-skills inadequacies. The three studies in this dissertation provide empirical evidence through various theoretical lenses that help explain how to avoid such failures. In particular, I focus on IT project managers' influence in forming critical project alignment toward actualizing project benefits and shaping consequent project success. Study 1 researched factors that lead IT projects to fail. I intended to better understand what shapes project outcomes, that is, causes that contribute to failure. Findings revealed, the use/lack of power, authority, and influence shapes project outcome. Study 2 investigated the role of the IT project manager's influence toward actualizing project benefits realization. I developed a model of benefits realization at the project level and analyzed to what extent it is driven by the stakeholders' and business alignment induced by three types of influence (dimensions); behavioral, and informational, and power-based held associated with the project manager's role. Findings revealed information and behavioral-based influence are significant means of impacting stakeholder alignment to realize benefits. Also, my research suggested that power and behavioral-based influence are significant means of impacting business alignment to realize benefits. Study 3 aimed to uncover the influence tactics (success elements) IT project managers enact while creating stakeholders and business alignment. Results revealed that IT project managers use different tactics to achieve the desired results and/or actualize benefits while engaging with business and stakeholders. Nonetheless, this behavior i (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Kalle Lyytinen (Committee Chair); Richard J. Boland, Jr (Committee Member); William Brake (Committee Member); George Vairaktarakis (Committee Member) Subjects: Business Administration; Business Community; Computer Science; Epistemology; Information Systems; Information Technology; Management; Social Research; Social Structure; Sustainability; Systems Design; Technology

Doctor of Professional Studies (D.P.S.) in Instructional Design Leadership, Franklin University, 2020, International Institute for Innovative Instruction

This study surveyed 86 instructional design professionals based on a two-part approach to identify and validate the most critical instructional design project management competencies. First, a systematic review of instructional design project management literature was conducted to identify key project management competencies. Next, a survey instrument was created based on common themes identified during the systematic analysis of qualitative study results on instructional design project management competencies. Validation of the survey instrument was conducted by subject matter experts. An online, cross-sectional survey invitation was sent to 62 colleges and universities with instructional design or related programs, ten instructional design or related LinkedIn groups, and one professional organization to post for alumni and professionals using convenience sampling. A sub-analysis was conducted to determine statistically significant differences in instructional design project management competencies based on role and industry. Globalization, technology, and most recently, the Covid-19 pandemic are causing disruptions to the nature of work and forcing organizations to quickly adapt to heightened competition and disruptions (Djankov & Saliola, 2018). To support employee learning and adaptability, many organizations employ instructional designers to create training, develop performance solutions, and lead learning initiatives. The purpose of instructional design is to create learning experiences that improve learning and performance. Instructional designers use a systematic process to develop personalized learning experiences that support organizations' learning outcomes (Brown & Green, 2018; Dick et al., 2009). Instructional design is inherently complex (Dick et al., 2009), and it can be challenging to manage large, complex instructional design projects effectively (Dick et al., 2009). Preparing people in organizations with the right knowledge and skill (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Joel Gardner, Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Lewis Chongwony, Ph.D. (Committee Member); Niccole Hyatt, Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Instructional Design

Master of Science, University of Toledo, 2009, Civil Engineering

Prediction of future pavement conditions is one of the important functions of pavement management systems. They are helpful in determining the rate of roadway network deterioration both at the network-level and project-level management, which forms a major part of engineering decision making and reporting. Network-level management focuses on determination and allocation of funds to maintain the pavement network above a specified operational standard and does not give importance to how the individual pavement sections deteriorate. Therefore, a survival time analysis is determined to predict the remaining service life. At the project-level, engineers make decisions on which pavement to repair, when and how to repair. Therefore, it requires more condition accuracy than network-level. The two adjustment methods proposed by Shahin (1994) and Cook and Kazakov (1987) are often used to obtain more condition prediction at the project-level. Both the Shahin and the Cook and Kazakov models take into account a family average curve in predicting deterioration of individual pavement sections. This prediction is done through the latest available condition-age point of an individual pavement section and does not consider all available data points. This study considers the most commonly used pavement condition prediction models viz. linear regression, polynomial constrained least squares, S-shape and power curve. The prediction accuracy of these four models is compared. Further the prediction accuracy of each of the four models is compared with their respective the Shahin's and the Cook's models to determine whether is it possible to further improve the prediction accuracy error for each of the four models.

Committee: Eddie Y. Chou PhD (Committee Chair); George J. Murnen PhD (Committee Member); Andrew G. Heydinger PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Civil Engineering; Engineering; Transportation

Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 2018, Mechanical Engineering

APEX, Alternative Perspective for the User Experience, is a two-year collaboration between Ohio State University, ArtCenter College of Design, and Honda R&D Americas, Inc. The purpose of this project was to determine the millennial vision of the future of mobility. Honda tasked student teams at ArtCenter and OSU to design the user experience of an autonomous vehicle interior for millennial women in 2030. The final output of the project was a full-scale functional interior prototype. Honda will validate user experience concepts from this project with millennial women to ensure the APEX experience meets target customer needs and to guide future research. Out of the six project phases, OSU led the latter three which involved the design, implementation, and validation of the high-level interior prototype. The OSU team utilized principles of design thinking and lean startup, as well as project frameworks such as scrum and the V-model, throughout the project. This paper discusses the design, implementation, and testing of the APEX autonomous vehicle interior prototype. The paper will especially focus on management of the resources and technical partners involved in the project, and the integration of the vehicle subsystems into a functioning prototype.

Committee: Shawn Midlam-Mohler (Advisor); Annie Abell (Committee Member) Subjects: Design; Engineering; Mechanical Engineering

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1973, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects: Education

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1969, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects: Business Administration

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, 2016, Electrical Engineering & Computer Science (Engineering and Technology)

Software development consists of different phases: initiation, planning, execution, monitoring and control, and closing. At the initiation phase a project is approved and a project manager, PM, is assigned. At the planning phase PM defines the project schedule, cost, tasks (work items), resources (team), and assigns project tasks to resources. At the execution phase, project tasks are implemented. At the closing phase, the project is delivered to customer. Across all phases, PM continue to monitor, analyze, manage, and control the execution of the project. The objective here is to keep the project under control and deliver the project on time and within planned budget. This dissertation addresses the issues of managing project tasks, resources, documents, and software defects. PMs utilize project management software to manage project schedule, tasks, and resources. These systems provide visualizations to display project information (e.g., task name, resource name, task duration, task start date, defect ID, defect description, defect severity, etc.). To help PMs analyze and manage project schedule, tasks, and resources, they currently utilize common two-dimensional (2D) visualization methods such as Gantt charts and tables/spreadsheets. They also utilize defect tracking systems and common 2D visualization to analyze and manage the software defects found during the development of software systems. The common 2D visualizations currently supported by project management and defect tracking systems have these limitations: it is difficult to see the entire schedule in a single view especially in the case of large data, they do not display analysis information, and they do not support interacting, e.g., rotating the view, with the displayed data to ease the comprehension of the data. This dissertation develops an approach that presents project tasks, resources, and defect information in three-dimensional (3D) visualizations to overcome the above limitations. To asse (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Chang Liu (Advisor) Subjects: Computer Science

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2015, Industrial and Systems Engineering

The trustworthiness of models and optimization is limited because the associated systems might be changing and data about them can be limited, i.e., there is "parametric" uncertainty. This dissertation provides applications and theory related to mitigating the effects of changing systems and data limitations in optimal decision-making. The primary application considered relates to reducing the maintenance costs associated with cyber security. By selecting optimal policies addressing data limitations, losses from stolen information and maintenance costs can be balanced. The approximated expected savings from implementing the suggested policies at a large Midwestern organization is over $14M with a discount factor of 0.95 monthly. The dissertation also integrates data and dynamic programming models for project management decision-making that accounts for coordination and planning costs. This facilitates more accurate schedules with significant cost savings. Insights are provided into the choice between traditional planning methods and agile project management methods that reduce planning complexity. In many situations, we find that the so-called optimal approaches are suboptimal because they fail to address sizable coordination and planning costs. Two types of parametric uncertainty are explored here, each of which results in fundamentally different formulations and solution schemes. The first type of uncertainty considered relates to system parameters fluctuating over time randomly. The related models differ from ordinary inhomogeneous approaches because the specific parameters are not known and are assumed to fluctuate with known distributions. Associated decision problems are referred to as "Markov decision processes with random inhomogeneity" and proposed optimal solutions methods. Proof is given that the solution produced by backward induction is optimal for the finite horizon problems, and that the value-iteration-based algorithm gives solutions converg (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Theodore Allen (Advisor); Nicholas Hall (Committee Member); Gagan Agrawal (Committee Member) Subjects: Industrial Engineering; Operations Research

Doctor of Business Administration, Cleveland State University, 2014, Monte Ahuja College of Business

Information systems (IS) development has been studied from many perspectives. Information systems are being viewed as a service as the economy shifts from being industrial-based to service-based. This shift is motivating the business user to become more involved with the development of the system. The once clear roles of user-as-specifier and IT professional-as-developer are blurring. This research addresses three objectives. First, we survey the actual business users themselves for their perception of activities and satisfaction with the completed system. Second, we analyze the separation of business requirements into two constructs representing the functional and presentation dimensions of these requirements to advance our understanding of user involvement on information system projects. Third, we explore the combinations of user characteristics and their activities that can improve IS project performance. A new comprehensive model is proposed to represent the business user as an active participant in system development. A survey instrument is developed from a widespread literature review of IS project performance, user involvement and project management. The instrument was tested to ensure its ease of completion and its comprehensibility. The revised instrument was sent to 3,419 U.S. business users in multiple industries from which 205 valid surveys were received. Structural Equation Modeling was used to validate the measurements and analyze the hypotheses and the overall model. The results confirm some previous findings and document new discoveries regarding the users, their activities and the impact on user satisfaction.

Committee: Oya Tukel PhD (Committee Chair); Walter Rom PhD (Committee Member); Ray Henry PhD (Committee Member); Tibor Kremic DBA (Committee Member) Subjects: Business Administration; Information Systems; Information Technology; Management; Operations Research

Master of Technical and Scientific Communication, Miami University, 2013, English

This four-chapter report describes the work I performed as a technical writing intern for the Warren County Engineer's Office (WCEO) in Lebanon, Ohio, during the summer of 2010. The report provides an overview of the county organization; a description of my role in the Engineer's Office, and the documents I created for Warren County, including an instructional pamphlet on stormwater drainage maintenance for Home Owner Associations (HOA) and a booklet on stream setbacks for the Warren County Soil and Water Conservation District (WCSWCD). (I also include an analysis and comparison of project management to my internship experience and how that affected the development of my documents and the exploration of the internship and how my experience compared to my classroom training as a technical writer.)

Committee: Jean Lutz Ph.D (Advisor); Katherine Durack Ph.D (Committee Member); Jerry Green Ph.D (Committee Member) Subjects: Technical Communication