F. Javier Otamendi

International temporary mobility of researchers: a cross-discipline study

The increasing literature addressing international mobility of researchers has repeatedly pointed out the lack of empirical data compiled over the last two decades, jeopardizing progress in the understanding of the characteristics and impacts of such human flows. This paper makes a contribution to the field by exploring the extent to which information obtained from researchers’ electronic curriculum vitae (CV) may be used to study temporary geographical mobility. We exploit a new type of data set—a comprehensive database of electronic CVs—developing a broad set of cross-discipline mobility indicators to assess the dimensions and characteristics of international research visits among a population of over 10,000 researchers. The sample population is made up of PhD holders working in the regional research system of Andalusia, Spain. Information regarding their international research visits over the last four decades is downloaded from CVs contained in the electronic scientific information system of the region. We assess mobility rates and the characteristics of the temporary mobile population. The analysis of visiting patterns shows significant differences in mobility profiles in terms of frequency, duration and destination of visits, across disciplines, career stages and time periods. The study also shows how different definitions of international mobility lead to substantial variations in cross-discipline mobility rates.

Simulation Software and Technologies for “Green” Eco-Production

The chapter presents the results of the research related to the applicability of software technologies for simulation in green production and logistics. Green requirements for these technologies are defined. In the first phase, simulation techniques like spreadsheets, programming languages, programming libraries, specialist simulation software and agent technologies are evaluated and compared. In the second phase, five specialist simulation packages were chosen and evaluated in detail. From this list, one package was selected with built-in “green” functions. Finally, an example of using the selected software package to investigate carbon dioxide emissions in factory which produce bottled milk and cheese was described.

Agent-based decision-making process in airport ground handling management

Recent research on highly distributed control methods has produced a series of new philosophies based on negotiation, which bring together the process engineering with computer science. Among these control philosophies, the ones based on Multi-agent Systems (MAS) have become especially relevant to address complex tasks and to support distributed decision making in asset management, manufacturing, and logistics. However, these MAS models have the drawback of an excessive dependence on up-to-date field information. In this work, a theoretical and experimental MAS, called MAS-DUO, is presented to test new strategies for managing handling operations supported by feedback coming from radio frequency identification (RFID) systems. These strategies have been based on a new distributed organization model to enforce the idea of division between physical elements and information and communication technologies (ICT) in the product scheduling control. This division in two platforms simplifies the design, the development, and the validation of the MAS, allowing an abstraction and preserving the independency between platforms. The communication between both platforms is based on sharing the parameters of the Markov reward function. This function is mainly made up of the field information coming from the RFID readers incorporated as the internal beliefs of the agent. The proposed MAS have been deployed on the Ciudad Real Central Airport in Spain in order to dimension the ground handling resources.

Agent-Based Distributed Control for Improving Complex Resource Scheduling: Application to Airport Ground Handling Operations

Recent research on highly distributed control methods has produced a series of new philosophies based on negotiation, which bring together process engineering with computer science. Among these control philosophies, the ones based on multiagent systems (MASs) have proved to be especially suitable to address distributed decision making in highly volatile environments. Furthermore, this agent-based approach allows using new manufacturing concepts in scheduling problems because of its scalability, ability to negotiate, and distributed capabilities. However, MAS models have the drawback of excessive dependence on up-to-date field information. In this paper, a theoretical and experimental MAS is presented to test new strategies for managing handling operations supported by radio-frequency identification information feedback. Based on this new visibility framework, these strategies applied to scheduling control have been structured on a new distributed organization model to enforce the idea of the division between physical elements and information and communication technologies. This division into two platforms simplifies the design and development of the MAS, providing a higher level of abstraction and preserving the independence between platforms. The proposed MAS, called MAS-DUO, has been validated using a test bench simulator and at the Ciudad Real Central Airport in Spain.

meSO: simulation optimization using a multicriteria process capability index and evolutionary algorithms

A successful implementation of a simulation-optimization (SO) methodology is presented. Based on evolutionary algorithms with a multicriteria fitness function, the new SO is used to developed weekly schedules at a ship building factory that manufactures around 60 jobs per week. Simulation modeling is used to account for randomness on the input data, as well as to correctly abstract the complex operations carried out in the real system. A variant of genetic algorithms is used to search for the appropriate schedule. Its fitness function is a multicriteria process capability index that aggregates three individual criteria, namely, makespan, line blockage and idleness of resources. The index is based on the satisfaction of thresholds for each and every criterion, thresholds that are tightened as improved schedules are found. The thresholds are also used to reject non-promising alternatives without having to perform the same number of runs as for the candidates that stand out for implementation. The name of the methodology is meSO: multicriteria evolutionary SO.

SIMULATING CAPACITY AUCTIONS WITH econport

A simulator environment to study and understand capacity auction has been developed based on the online web simulator econport. The goods to auction are unloading rights for ships that transport liquefied natural gas (LNG) into harbours. Experiments have been carried out at a company that will participate in the future capacity market. The efficiency of the auctions both for the auctioneer and the bidders is assessed.

Sequential Auctions with Capacity Constraints: An Experimental Investigation

We conduct a laboratory experiment where groups of 4 subjects constrained to obtain at most one good each, sequentially bid for three goods in first and second price auctions. Subjects learn at the beginning of each auction their valuation for the good and exit the auction once they have obtained one good. We show that, contrary to equilibrium predictions, subjects’ bidding behavior is excessively similar across units and across mechanisms at the aggregate level. We provide two (complementary) explanations for these departures. One is bounded rationality. Subjects do not fully comprehend subtle differences between mechanisms. The other is self-selection. Subjects are very heterogeneous and some of them deviate more from equilibrium than others. Since deviations take mostly the form of overbidding, these subjects win the first or second good and exit the auction, leaving those who play closer to theoretical predictions to bid for the third good. Support for this hypothesis comes from the documented higher bidding, lower efficiency and lower profits associated with the first and second unit compared to the third one.

By Sport Predictions Through Socio Economic Factors and Tradition in Summer Olympic Games: The Case of London 2012

Socio-economic prediction of medals for London 2012 is performed “by sport” using OLS and a discretization routine. The success ratio is above 65 % for any given sports, especially for disciplines that award more than 30 medals. At the overall country level, the success raises above 85 %. The analysis of the award winning process by sports shed also new light about the critical factors that might dictate the success and that are liable to set sport policies, including the development of sound social networks and the investment on sport infrastructures to foster talent.

Decision Support Simulation System Based on Synchronous Manufacturing

The focus of the article was the redesign of an assembly cell in a car manufacturing company. The new design had to include the operations related to the assembly of new roofs without disrupting the throughput rate. The theory-of-constrains framework has been used to propose designs as well as to define the evaluation criteria. The complexity of the system has been studied using a discrete-event simulation model. The traditional scholar steps have been followed to develop a robust decision support simulation system (DSSS).

Assessing The Severity Of Recreational Boating Accidents.

The severity of the incidents of recreational boats in Spain during 2011 is analyzed in terms of the region in which the crafts were registered. The data was obtained and coded from the damage reports of one of the main Spanish marine surveyors, source that has been used for the first time to our knowledge in the academic literature. About 1400 incidents are statistically compared in terms of location, craft characteristics and skipper accreditations. Multiple hypothesis tests of averages are used to determine which categories of the study variables by location are different than the country average.