Abstract: Different contract types means different incentives, burdens and relationships. The contract type responsibilities and price should be in accordance with the project needs and organization capacities, not knowing this could entail less project profitability and chances of success. It is necessary to understand the alternatives and how they behave, in order to develop the right strategies to avoid overruns and improve the project quality. The goal of this thesis is to develop a decision analysis model for contract type selection. This model will become a useful tool for contractor and client preferences in an easy and effective way. Decision analysis is a powerful tool that will help us to bring clarity of thought in this process; during this thesis it is described what is a project, its phases, activities and the components that understand it, in the same way it is presented the contract management life cycle. This model attempts to link and evaluate the contract types, differentiators, and the client and contractor preferences in order to quantify the costs and benefits of each type, which could be the best option. One priority of this thesis is to understand the synergetic relationship between contract type, contract management, project management and contract price, in order to take the best decision, increasing the probability to achieve a successful project execution. As application example, a contract type selection for the EPCI (Engineering, Procurement, Construction & Installation) of a topside for a semisubmersible platform is presented.Resumen: Diferentes tipos de contrato significa diferentes incentivos, cargas y relaciones. Las responsabilidades y el precio del tipo de contrato deben estar de acuerdo con las necesidades del proyecto y las capacidades de la organización, sin saber que esto podría implicar una menor rentabilidad del proyecto y posibilidades de éxito. Es necesario comprender las alternativas y la forma en que se comportan, a fin de desarrollar las estrategias correctas para evitar los excesos y mejorar la calidad del proyecto. El objetivo de esta tesis es desarrollar un modelo de análisis de decisión para la selección del tipo de contrato. Este modelo se convertirá en una herramienta útil para las preferencias de los contratistas y clientes de una manera fácil y efectiva. El análisis de decisiones es una herramienta poderosa que nos ayudará a tener claridad de pensamiento en este proceso; Durante esta tesis se describe qué es un proyecto, sus fases, actividades y los componentes que lo comprenden, de la misma manera que se presenta el ciclo de vida de gestión de contratos. Este modelo intenta vincular y evaluar los tipos de contrato, los diferenciadores y las preferencias del cliente y del contratista para cuantificar los costos y beneficios de cada tipo, lo que podría ser la mejor opción. Una de las prioridades de esta tesis es comprender la relación sinérgica entre el tipo de contrato, la gestión de contratos, la gestión de proyectos y el precio del contrato, para tomar la mejor decisión, aumentando la probabilidad de lograr una ejecución exitosa del proyecto. Como ejemplo de aplicación, se presenta una selección de tipo de contrato para el EPCI (Ingeniería, Aprovisionamiento, Construcción e Instalación) de un topside para una plataforma semisumergible.

Abstract: The Environmental Control System (ECS) allows the control of the environment within the cabin and flight deck for pilot and passenger comfort, and protects them from adverse weather conditions. This study presents a Matlab-Simulink® model developed to calculate the shaft power and ventilation required by the ECS during different flight conditions. The ECS model includes two blocks. The first block determines the requirements of the ECS by means of the analysis of thermal loads presented inside the helicopter. The second block computes the ECS air-conditioning pack of the helicopter (for cooling, heating and demisting). Two different ambient and flight conditions are simulated to find the power consumption of the air-conditioning pack once a comfortable cabin environment has been achieved. It is concluded that by using this model, the changes in the comfort level can be predicted in real time in order to intelligently reduce the ECS overall power consumption in a helicopter by choosing among five different ECS configurations the most appropriated, thus maintain the thermal comfort of the pilot and the passengers. Resumen: El Sistema de Control Ambiental (ECS por sus siglas en inglés) permite el control del ambiente dentro de la cabina y la consola de control del helicóptero, proporcionando confort y protección a los pilotos y pasajeros en condiciones climáticas adversas. Este estudio presenta un modelo en Matlab-Simulink® aplicable a diversas condiciones de vuelo para calcular la potencia mecánica y la ventilación requerida por el ECS. El modelo ECS incluye dos bloques. El primer bloque determina los requerimientos del ECS por medio del análisis de cargas térmicas presentadas en el interior del helicóptero. El segundo bloque computa el sistema de acondicionamiento de aire del ECS dentro de un helicoptero (para refrigeración, calefacción y desempañado). Dos condiciones diferentes de ambiente y de vuelo son simuladas para encontrar el consumo de potencia del sistema de acondicionamiento de aire una vez alcanzado un ambiente de cabina confortable. Se concluye que por medio de este modelo, los patrones de cambio próximos en el nivel de confort se pueden predecir en tiempo real con el fin de reducir de forma inteligente el consumo general de energía del ECS en un helicóptero al seleccionar entre 5 configuraciones la más apropiada, y asi mantener el confort térmico del piloto y los pasajeros.

As it has been proved in several researches carried out by different authors, riverine floods and the scour induced by these are one of the main causes of bridge collapse. More specifically, local scour causes a loss in the lateral resistance of bridge foundation, thus potentially increasing the seismic vulnerability of a bridge system. The present study assesses the combination of scour and earthquake effects for a bridge located in a road network crossing valleys in the Pyrenees Mountain range (France). The bridge spans over a river stream of trapezoidal cross-section, which is more able to capture actual physical behaviours than the rectangular section generally used for similar studies. The bridge consists in a continuous RC deck supported by two multi-column piers. Making use of the OpenSees software, a 3D finite-element model of the bridge is built and subjected to a suite of 312 ground motions (i.e., non-linear time history analyses). Fragility curves are developed for this multi-hazard case study, considering specific levels of damage that might be of interest, as well a comparison between fragility characteristics obtained in the absence and presence of scour. In order to fully study the potentially detrimental effects of scour on the dynamic behavior of the considered bridge, it is considered different scour combinations in the non-linear time-history analyses, such as: • Equal scour depth in all columns. • Same scour depth in the columns of the same pier. • Same scour depth in columns of different piers. • Scour depth concentrated in just one column of the bridge This study demonstrates the ability of a given numerical model to account for various hazard loadings and failure mechanisms, thus providing support to decision making regarding bridge management and monitoring.

In the Healthcare field, Business Intelligence and Data Mining techniques have been proven efficient mainly in the fields of contagious diseases and hospital productivity, however their usage is today still very limited, specially in specific fields like chronic disease management. This paper presents a methodology to develop Data Mining and Business Intelligence based on remote chronic patient management databases. This document also introduces a technical methodology to build a conceptual Data Model for Data Mining based on HL7-v3, with the objective of analyzing patient behavior, detecting triggers for future patient crisis, predicting patient behavior and contribute to improve management plans, resource usage optimization and higher Returns on Investment. Distinciones: Graduado como mejor estudiante de la promoción.

Worldwide electricity power systems are evolving from conventional/dispatchable sources to environmental friendly but Not-dispatchable renewable energy (RE) sources. This has effects on the dynamic of the system and on conventional and RE generators, electricity quality and energy cost. This research identifies the main effects of higher portions of Non-dispatchable RE based on a reference case. An MATLAB/EXCEL “ad-hoc” model has been developed. It simulates the Unit Commitment (UC) and Economic Dispatch (ED) with 10 conventional generators and one zero fuel cost RE generator (Non-dispatchable RE as “study-case” and Dispatchable RE “reference-case”). Results indicated that higher portions of Non-dispatchable RE had a swapping effect where base load units were displaced. Consequently, the system ran at lower cost-efficient point, the number of Start-ups and RE curtailment increased compared to the reference case. Furthermore, conventional generators running cost and system running cost followed the variable pattern of the Non-dispatchable RE source. Meanwhile, these costs were linked to the demand in the reference case. Ultimately, higher portions of Non-dispatchable RE made the system underperform compared to the reference case. Therefore, this incentive technology that lessen unwanted effects. Future studies shall focus on increasing the number of units and complexity of the system by using more powerful software.

In order to receive the title of Master of Science in Industrial Engineering and Management, the author Juan Pablo Rolón Paz, developed the current Master Thesis, which by the hand of the Dutch company ASML Holding, identified, described and analysed strategies to service generations of machines developed by ASML, now referred as platforms, during the decline stage and post Product Life Cycle (PLC). ASML is a company that designs, develops, integrates, markets and services machines to create chips that power electronic, communications, and information technology products. The services provided by ASML include spare parts, tooling and labour. ASML is characterised to offer perpetual support for their products. They service their recently released equipment, to the ones developed over the life of the company. In this light, ASML wants to identify strategies to service their platforms during the decline stage of product life cycle. This means, strategies to service their aged platforms. ASML is interested in identifying the criteria for deciding whether to stop offering their service products or not, and in the situation they agree to stop offering their service products, what approaches to take regarding post PLC.  To identify strategies to service platforms in the decline stage and post PLC, we decided to do a literature and benchmarking study, to get the best practices in service management, service parts management and service parts logistics for aged products. We met with people within ASML, and people of other companies in The Netherlands, and the United States of America. The results were triangulated with the information gathered through the literature research, meetings with experts on product life cycle and spare parts management, and having feedback from managerial people of ASML. In the next chapter, we define the research, developing the research statement, objectives, questions, scope, delineation, deliverables, method and structure.

Actualmente los sistemas de control de riego SCADA son diseñados con modelos y protocolos que dependen exclusivamente de cada fabricante. Si se requiere una interoperabilidad a nivel de programación de riegos y estado real de actuadores y sensores, con algún sistema de gestión que no sea del mismo fabricante, significa una alta inversión económica y tecnológica, que en la mayoría de casos no es posible realizar. Adicionalmente los mecanismos de diagnóstico de fallos actuales, no permiten determinar los fallos que se presentan en los sensores, lo cual se vuelve crítico cuando se presenta una anomalía en el sistema y no se puede cumplir con una demanda de riego exigida. La finalidad principal de esta tesis es contribuir a la estandarización de los sistemas de control de riego y a la integración de mecanismos de diagnóstico de fallos avanzados. Para ello y partiendo de un caso de estudio de un sistema de control de riego piloto, la memoria se encuentra constituida por las siguientes tres partes: En la primera, se propone un modelo de procesos que pretende estandarizar los sistemas de control de riego y su interoperabilidad con sistemas de gestión. Todo esto bajo las normativas ISA-88 e ISA-95 y la especificación XML del ISA-88: Batch-ML. En este punto la tesis trata la descripción de los modelos físicos, de procedimientos y de procesos de sistemas de control de riego, por medio del lenguaje de marcas extensibles (XML), centrándose principalmente en la programación de órdenes de riego y en la determinación en tiempo real del estado de los dispositivos del sistema. Para validar dicha descripción, en la segunda parte se presenta la implementación de un software prototipo que supervisa y controla, por medio del protocolo industrial OPC, un sistema de control de riego piloto que actualmente pertenece al grupo de investigación CEPIMA (Centre d´Enginyeria de Processos i Medi Ambient) de la UPC, el cual colabora como socio académico del grupo de empresas públicas TRAGSA. Finalmente en la tercera parte, se realiza un estudio del diagnóstico de fallos del sistema - caso de estudio, partiendo de la problemática que este tipo de sistemas conlleva, al sólo poder determinar automáticamente los fallos que se presentan en las válvulas más no en los sensores de caudal existentes en el sistema. Por lo tanto se plantea utilizar una técnica de diagnóstico de fallos a nivel estructural, que permite detectar y aislar los fallos desde el análisis del comportamiento del mismo sistema. Todo esto desde el enfoque FDI.

Mobile devices and theri applications continue increasing at a fast rate. Android is the leading mobile operating system, with more than 1 billion active devices worldwide. In order to improve the quality of Android applications, we must explore and nd cost-e cient solutions to automate part of their testing process. GUI Ripping is a technique that allows a systematic and automated exploration of an application's Graphical User Interface (GUI). During this exploration, test cases are generated and executed. To evaluate GUI Ripping, I conducted an empirical experiment using GUI Ripper and the Monkey. The e ciency of these testing tools was evaluated, comparing the code coverage and the number of faults detected on two Android applications.The experiment results showed the better e ciency of GUI Ripping, achieving higher code coverage and fault detection rate.

In this study, the Colombian electricity market, its regulation and its current tariff scheme was examined. Here, the operation of the electricity system and its value chain are described in detail. Future scenarios of supply and demand are also shown. The study presents a description of the legal incentives given by the government for the promotion of renewable energies, and strategic aspects and recommendations for the development of solar photovoltaic (PV) industry in Colombia were identified and formulated. In particular, strategies for collaboration between Colombia and Germany, which is a leader in the PV industry. The report presents an overview of solar PV systems markets worldwide and in Colombia. Regarding the solar market in Colombia, not only the historical development of the PV industry in the country is explained, but also the solar radiation in the whole country is shown. In the same way, this study shows a description of the most common alternatives for the electrification in off-grid areas and an enumeration of drivers and barriers for the development of the PV industry in the country.

The oil and gas industry has long recognized the inadequacy of existing theories to predict the behavior and outcome of some hydraulic fracturing treatments. Data sets compiled over the last two decades are incompatible with the conventional picture of a single planar hydraulic fracture. These data sets include field studies, laboratory studies and theoretical models. Several field and laboratory observations show very complex fracture paths, multisegmented fractures, branching, asymmetry and the presence of multiple fractures. The purpose of this study is to investigate the pressure behavior of systems containing near wellbore and far field multiple vertical fractures. This objective is achieved by using two analytical models. These newly developed models are used to explore pressure behavior and to generate type curves using the pressure derivative concept. The first new analytical model considers a composite reservoir with the inner zone containing an arbitrary number of dendritic multiple hydraulic fractures and the outer zone showing natural fractures. Transient pressure, derivative and flow regimes of the fractured system are investigated using this model. This study also uses a numerical model to calibrate and validate the analytical model. Pressure transient behavior of multiple fractures is modeled using a full field model (FFM) with a detailed Cartesian local grid refinement (LGR) around the fractures. The model was calibrated and validated using the case of two wing fractures at 180o. Simulations of the two types of multiple fractures, dendritic and parallel, validate some results of the analytical solutions. The TDS technique is also used to analyze the linear and pseudo-radial flow regimes in order to find fracture length, angle between fractures, fracture conductivity and several conventional reservoir parameters, e.g. permeability, wellbore storage and skin.  Multiple fractures create more surface area in direct communication with the wellbore. As a consequence, a greater volume of fluid can be produced from the wellbore per unit time. While fracture treatments continue to be designed using the best tools and techniques available, geometry estimates from fracture models have been difficult to verify. Pressure transient analysis is one of the fracture diagnostic techniques available to fill this knowledge gap, improving our understanding of hydraulic fracture behavior. It is an excellent calibration tool because it lets us evaluate the effective length of the fracture, and determine the appropriate length to use in history matching. Also, regardless of the application, identifying and understanding fracture complexities can lead to improved treatment designs, better completion strategies, and the potential for significant economic rewards through improved well performance and/or reduced completion cost.