This book presents a framework for development, optimization, and evaluation of behavioral, biobehavioral, and biomedical interventions. Behavioral, biobehavioral, and biomedical interventions are programs with the objective of improving and maintaining human health and well-being, broadly defined, in individuals, families, schools, organizations, or communities. These interventions may be aimed at, for example, preventing or treating disease, promoting physical and mental health, preventing violence, or improving academic achievement. This volume introduces the multiphase optimization strategy (MOST), pioneered at The Methodology Center at the Pennsylvania State University, as an alternative to the classical approach of relying solely on the randomized controlled trial (RCT). MOST borrows heavily from perspectives taken and approaches used in engineering, and also integrates concepts from statistics and behavioral science, including the RCT. As described in detail in this book, MOST consists of three phases: preparation, in which the conceptual model underlying the intervention is articulated; optimization, in which experimentation is used to gather the information necessary to identify the optimized intervention; and evaluation, in which the optimized intervention is evaluated in a standard RCT. Through numerous examples, the book demonstrates that MOST can be used to develop interventions that are more effective, efficient, economical, and scalable. Optimization of Behavioral, Biobehavioral, and Biomedical Interventions: The Multiphase Optimization Strategy is the first book to present a comprehensive introduction to MOST. It will be an essential resource for behavioral, biobehavioral, and biomedical scientists; statisticians, biostatisticians, and analysts working in epidemiology and public health; and graduate-level courses in development and evaluation of interventions.

"This is an engaging and informative book on the modern practice of experimental design. The authors' writing style is entertaining, the consulting dialogs are extremely enjoyable, and the technical material is presented brilliantly but not overwhelmingly. The book is a joy to read. Everyone who practices or teaches DOE should read this book." - Douglas C. Montgomery, Regents Professor, Department of Industrial Engineering, Arizona State University "It's been said: 'Design for the experiment, don't experiment for the design.' This book ably demonstrates this notion by showing how tailor-made, optimal designs can be effectively employed to meet a client's actual needs. It should be required reading for anyone interested in using the design of experiments in industrial settings." —Christopher J. Nachtsheim, Frank A Donaldson Chair in Operations Management, Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota This book demonstrates the utility of the computer-aided optimal design approach using real industrial examples. These examples address questions such as the following: How can I do screening inexpensively if I have dozens of factors to investigate? What can I do if I have day-to-day variability and I can only perform 3 runs a day? How can I do RSM cost effectively if I have categorical factors? How can I design and analyze experiments when there is a factor that can only be changed a few times over the study? How can I include both ingredients in a mixture and processing factors in the same study? How can I design an experiment if there are many factor combinations that are impossible to run? How can I make sure that a time trend due to warming up of equipment does not affect the conclusions from a study? How can I take into account batch information in when designing experiments involving multiple batches? How can I add runs to a botched experiment to resolve ambiguities? While answering these questions the book also shows how to evaluate and compare designs. This allows researchers to make sensible trade-offs between the cost of experimentation and the amount of information they obtain.

Introduction to Optimum Design, Fifth Edition is the most widely used textbook in engineering optimization and optimum design courses. It is intended for use in a first course on engineering design and optimization at the undergraduate or graduate level within engineering departments of all disciplines, but primarily within mechanical, aerospace and civil engineering. The basic approach of the text presents an organized approach to engineering design optimization in a rigorous yet simplified manner, illustrating various concepts and procedures with simple examples and demonstrating their applicability to engineering design problems. Formulation of a design problem as an optimization problem is emphasized and illustrated throughout the text. Excel and MATLAB are featured as learning and teaching aids. This new edition has been enhanced with new or expanded content in such areas as reliability-based optimization, metamodeling, design of experiments, robust design, nature-inspired metaheuristic search methods, and combinatorial optimizaton. - Describes basic concepts of optimality conditions and numerical methods with simple and practical examples, making the material highly teachable and learnable - Includes applications of optimization methods for structural, mechanical, aerospace, and industrial engineering problems - Covers practical design examples and introduces students to the use of optimization methods - Serves the needs of instructors who teach more advanced courses - Features new or expanded contents in such areas as design under uncertainty - reliability-based design optimization, metamodeling - response surface method, design of experiments, nature-inspired metaheuristic search methods, and robust design

Multi-criteria Decision Analysis for Supporting the Selection of Engineering Materials in Product Design, Second Edition, provides readers with tactics they can use to optimally select materials to satisfy complex design problems when they are faced with the vast range of materials available. Current approaches to materials selection range from the use of intuition and experience, to more formalized computer-based methods, such as electronic databases with search engines to facilitate the materials selection process. Recently, multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) methods have been applied to materials selection, demonstrating significant capability for tackling complex design problems. This book describes the rapidly growing field of MCDM and its application to materials selection. It aids readers in producing successful designs by improving the decision-making process. This new edition updates and expands previous key topics, including new chapters on materials selection in the context of design problem-solving and multiple objective decision-making, also presenting a significant amount of additional case studies that will aid in the learning process. - Describes the advantages of Quality Function Deployment (QFD) in the materials selection process through different case studies - Presents a methodology for multi-objective material design optimization that employs Design of Experiments coupled with Finite Element Analysis - Supplements existing quantitative methods of materials selection by allowing simultaneous consideration of design attributes, component configurations, and types of material - Provides a case study for simultaneous materials selection and geometrical optimization processes

This carefully edited collection synthesizes the state of the art in the theory and applications of designed experiments and their analyses. It provides a detailed overview of the tools required for the optimal design of experiments and their analyses. The handbook covers many recent advances in the field, including designs for nonlinear models and algorithms applicable to a wide variety of design problems. It also explores the extensive use of experimental designs in marketing, the pharmaceutical industry, engineering and other areas.

In today’s global and highly competitive environment, continuous improvement in the processes and products of any field of engineering is essential for survival. This book gathers together the full range of statistical techniques required by engineers from all fields. It will assist them to gain sensible statistical feedback on how their processes or products are functioning and to give them realistic predictions of how these could be improved. The handbook will be essential reading for all engineers and engineering-connected managers who are serious about keeping their methods and products at the cutting edge of quality and competitiveness.