MFA, Kent State University, 2014, College of Communication and Information / School of Visual Communication Design

No matter how an entrepreneur defines failure, statistics on the success rate of start-up businesses is disheartening. Around 30 to 40 percent of start-up businesses liquidate all assets, losing all investor funding, while 70 to 80 percent fail to produce the projected return on investment. There is a strong need for effective incubation facilities which compress the learning curves of the start-ups and provide them with necessary initial support in order to improve their sustainability. There are around 1,200 business incubators operating in the United States. Joining an incubator is a great way for inexperienced entrepreneurs to receive funding and guidance to help get their ideas off the ground. It blends office spaces with mentoring programs, financial assistance, business services and the opportunity to network with experts and fellow entrepreneurs. Most incubator facilities in the U.S. are public-private partnerships, with initial support coming from the federal, state and local government bodies. Approximately half of these total facilities are affiliated with universities. While traditional business models are adequate for many established companies, the types of problems that face new businesses have changed. A decade ago, entrepreneurs were not expected to start their own brands from scratch, they were simply too hard and expensive to create and could survive by simply differentiating themselves based on product or service. Since then, expectations have risen as the start-up field has grown. It's not enough to stand out with a single idea; you have to combine it with a great product, engaging consumer experience and a voice that sets it apart from the competition. Creating a brand isn't a project with a beginning, middle and end. Instead it requires constant vigilance and must be monitored throughout the course of the brand's life. In the process of starting a company, people are often too focused on raising the capital to grow, rather than building (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Ken Visocky O'Grady (Advisor); David Middleton (Committee Member); Julie Messing (Committee Member) Subjects: Business Administration; Business Community; Business Education; Design; Entrepreneurship

MARCH, University of Cincinnati, 2017, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Architecture

Since the 1990 publication of The Fifth Discipline by Peter Senge, Learning Organization theory has informed countless managers on how to develop and structure competitive advantage through continual, systemic learning. However, a growing number of change managers are recognizing the role of the physical environment in shaping both individual and organizational behavior. This thesis proposes a system for identifying the characteristics of space desirable for each discipline of Senge's Learning Organization theory, as well as for a sixth discipline- Empowering Leadership- which addresses key criticisms of Senge's model. These twelve environmental variables are then employed in the design of an incubator facility for design-focused startups in the Clifton Neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio. The design focuses on optimizing space for each discipline within a unified palate and familiar typology of spaces in order to promote each discipline both independently and systemically. Ultimately, the final design is conceptualized not as a perfect solution, optimized without respect to its environment, but as an example of these design values employed in a real-world scenario. Future research may elect to revise the individual values associated with each space- thus revising the expressions leading to the final result- or simply to revise the expression of these values in the physical environment. Ultimately, the expectation is that by providing space for each discipline in turn, the physical environment can support the total learning needs of young organizations and better support their learning and long-term success.

Committee: Elizabeth Riorden M.Arch. (Committee Chair); Udo Greinacher M.Arch. (Committee Member) Subjects: Architecture

Master of Science in Chemical Engineering, Cleveland State University, 2013, Fenn College of Engineering

Under this research, live cell imaging of osteoblast-like marrow stromal cells has been carried out on polished and nanotextured (NaOH-etched) medical-grade titanium alloy (Ti-6Al-4V) surfaces to examine cellular adhesion and migration. The purpose of this research was to: 1) Build and assemble suitable hardware and software to conduct live cell imaging in a micro-incubator over an extended period of time. 2) Monitor and record live osteoblast-like marrow stromal cells on polished and NaOH-etched titanium alloy surfaces from cell inoculation to about one week of culture. 3) Measure location, area and perimeter of individual cells as a function of time, and examine if, as compared / contrasted with the polished titanium surface, that the NaOH-etched titanium surface promotes adhesion and migration of cells. This was achieved by describing the mobility, morphology and overall behavior of osteoblast-like marrow stromal cells. During the cell growth cycles, data generated from image analysis included the cells' center of mass (X,Y), their area, perimeter and shape as a function of incubation time. From the change in center of mass after each 15-minute interval, the real time speed of the cells was obtained. Major observations to support comparison studies between the surfaces determined that compared with polished titanium, NaOH-etched titanium promotes cellular filopodia growth, thus, promotes attachment. Filopodia provide cellular anchoring support and when prevalent, make cells more angular in shape. The median aspect ratio (length / width) of cells was found to be 1.38 on polished and 2.36 on NaOH-etched titanium. This, in addition to lower mean circularity shape factor values of 0.26 ± 0.03 on polished and 0.11 ± 0.01 on NaOH-etched titanium imply that the nanotextured surface promotes growth of cells more anchored to the substrate. This is also confirmed by increased perimeters of cells found on the NaOH-etched surface (950.92 ± 84.88 μm) compared with perime (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Surendra Tewari PhD (Committee Chair); Joanne Belovich PhD (Committee Member); Ronald Midura PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Biomedical Engineering

MCP, University of Cincinnati, 2011, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Community Planning

Small businesses have generally been considered an engine of job creation and economic growth in the United States since the 1970s. This can be attributed to two factors. First, economic restructuring—characterized by the transformation from a manufacturing into a service-oriented economic base—left many formerly prosperous communities fragmented by corporate downsizing and industrial departure. Second, groundbreaking research published by David L. Birch of MIT during this era showed that job creation was being driven primarily by enterprises of twenty or fewer employees; a trend postulated to continue indefinitely. Small-business development efforts arose in this context as a strategy to overcome unemployment and to stimulate potential growth industries. Also known as entrepreneur-led economic development, many state and local governments made small-business assistance a policy priority. It is an empirical fact, however, that despite their role in job creation and economic development, small businesses have very high failure rates and their attrition occurs within a narrow timeframe. Therefore, efforts to help small-businesses start needed to be compounded with efforts to help them survive and grow in order to realize their economic benefit. Becoming mainstream in the 1980s, the business incubator is one policy innovation designed specifically to accomplish this task. There is no single definition for business incubation or a business incubator. Conceptually, business incubators nurture the development of entrepreneurial companies, helping them survive and grow during the start-up period, when they are most vulnerable. Client companies are co-located within a single incubator facility and each benefits from flexible reduced rents, business support services and resources tailored to young firms such as networking assistance. Business incubators can public, private or nonprofit entities or sponsored by an educational institution, although many are developed collabor (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Beth Honadle PhD (Committee Chair); Michael Romanos PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Urban Planning

Master of Science in Engineering, University of Akron, 2006, Biomedical Engineering

Premature birth is a world wide problem. Neonates, who are born premature, often don't have enough maturity to regulate their temperature. These infants have low metabolic heat production rate and may have high heat loss from the skin. Premature infants are kept in infant incubators which provide convective heating. There are two kinds of techniques available to control the incubator temperature. Currently either the incubator air temperature is sensed and used to control the heat flow, or infant's skin temperature is sensed and used in the close loop control. Skin control often leads to large fluctuations in the incubator air temperature. Air control also leads to skin temperature fluctuations. The question remains if both the skin temperature and the air temperature can be simultaneously used in the control. The purpose of the present study was to address this question by developing a fuzzy logic control which incorporates both incubator air temperature and infant's skin temperature. The temperature space was divided into a number of sub-domains. The crisp values of skin and air temperature were first fuzzified to obtain membership values which were then input to a rule base to obtain the output. This output was defuzzified to obtain a crisp value for the heat flow parameter. This fuzzy logic control system was evaluated using a mathematical model of the infant incubator system (Simon, Reddy, and Kantak, 1994). Simulation results revealed that fuzzy logic system, incorporating both skin and air temperatures, provide a smooth control when compared to either the air or skin control.

Committee: Narender Reddy (Advisor) Subjects: Engineering, Biomedical

MARCH, University of Cincinnati, 2013, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Architecture

Young generations, such as the Millennials are growing up in a dynamic, yet complicated era, exposed to continuously accelerating advancements in technology and mobility, making the world seemingly smaller every day. Simultaneously, higher education is at crossroads, desperately trying to reinvent itself in this new age of ever continuing developments, slowly pushing itself towards integrating corporate models, and making way for a globalized talent and knowledge economy. High youth unemployment throughout the world reveals the large gap between the academic and corporate atmosphere. This `tripologies' thesis proposes to blur the boundaries between three segments of life that are universally experienced segregated and isolated into one interactive environment, saturated with creativity, talent and knowledge capital. The combination and hybridization of residential life, work environment and hospitality will each contribute to an incubator where young urban professionals and graduate students can pursue and develop their dreams, materialize innovations, and expand their starting professional network to make them happen. The key focus of this future development revolves around the synergy that emerges from the collaboration of talented individuals and the interaction of their ideas. This tripologies thesis will propose a much needed framework; one which can provide for when these creative minds collide, socialize and inspire each other. Currently, precedents are omnipresent that show incredible results through collaborations between various fields and expertises. The project site has been chosen in the United Kingdom, more specifically at King's Cross, which is rooted along a key transportation hub in London. This is an ideal location to experiment with the ideas of the tripologies concept. The goal is to create an intercultural and multidisciplinary springboard for young academics and professionals to launch their (global) careers, forming a figurative bridge (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Michael McInturf M.Arch (Committee Chair); Aarati Kanekar Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Architecture