The Grainger College of Engineering
Industrial & Enterprise Systems Engineering

James V Carnahan

James V Carnahan
James V Carnahan
  • Adjunct Professor

Education

  • Ph.D., Engineering Sciences, Purdue University, 1973
  • M.S., Engineering Sciences, Purdue University, 1970
  • B.S., Engineering Sciences, Purdue University, 1968

Academic Positions

  • Adjunct Professor (10%) December 2004 - present Department of Industrial and Enterprise Systems Engineering (formerly Department of General Engineering)
  • Lecturer and Adjunct Professor (50%) August 2001 - November 2004 Department of General Engineering
  • Coordinator of Project Design Activity (100%) June 1993 - May 2001 Department of General Engineering
  • Visiting Assistant Dean August 1992 - June 1993 College of Engineering
  • Visiting Assistant Professor August 1992 - June 1993 Department of General Engineering
  • Assistant Professor (100%) August 1983 - August 1990 Department of General Engineering

Other Professional Employment

  • Carnahan Engineering and Surveying, principal, Providence, Kentucky, 1979-1983
  • General Motors Research Laboratories, research engineer, Warren, Michigan, 1973-79
  • Purdue University, research and teaching assistant, West Lafayette, Indiana, 1968-1973
  • Naval Avionics Facility, staff engineer, Indianapolis, Indiana, 1968- 1969

Major Consulting Activities

  • The PERTAN Group, Champaign, IL – reliability studies
  • FONA International, Geneva, IL – optimization of flavor manufacturing
  • Ruhl Forensic, Inc., Champaign, IL - forensic investigation of vehicular accidents, as well as product failures.
  • U. S. Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratory – time series analysis for energy demand, life cycle cost estimation for underground heat distribution systems

Resident Instruction

  • GE 494, IE 494 Senior Engineering Project

Design Teams

  • Optimization of Atomization for Scrap Copper, Harger International, 2015
  • Atomization Experimentation for Scrap Copper, Harger International, 2015
  • Bond Improvement for Sensor Potting, Magnetrol, 2015
  • Oxidation of Atomized Copper, Harger International, 2014
  • Scrap Reduction, Harger International, 2014.
  • Fry Basket Redesign and Testing, Marmon Industries, 2014.
  • Optimization of Bearing Assembly Process, NTN-Bower, 2014.
  • Process Control for Bearing Component Production, NTN-Bower, 2013.
  • Extrusion Process Modeling, FONA International, 2010.

Research Interests

  • Maximum Likelihood Estimation for Beta Distribution
  • Putting Performance in Golf
  • Congestion in Pedestrian Flow
  • Theoretical models for Bulk Conveying Systems
  • Analysis of Options for Dental Anesthesia
  • Occupant Injury Analysis by Vehicle Size and Accident Type
  • Decision Support for Pavement Maintenance
  • Speed and Distance Estimation Error by Human Subjects
  • Reliability, Life Cycle costs, Energy Supply Resiliency

Chapters in Books

  • "Intelligent Evaluation of Design for Manufacturing Cost," a chapter in Concurrent Engineering: Automation, Tools and Techniques, Andrew Kusiak , Ed., John Wiley and Sons, 1992, D.L. Thurston, J. V. Carnahan.
  • "Nondestructive Evaluation and Characterization of Adhesive Bonded Connections in Wood Structures," Nondestructive Testing and Evaluation for Manufacturing and Construction, Hemisphere Publishing Corp., New York, New York, pp. 197- 207, 1989, H. Reis, F. Beall, J. V. Carnahan, M. Chica, K. Miller, and V. Klick.

Selected Articles in Journals

  • "An Injury Threshold Model for Two-Car Collisions," Management Science, Vol. 29, No. 8, Aug. 1983, pp. 909-926, K. S. Krishnan, J. V. Carnahan, and M. J. Beckmann.
  • "Analysis of the Effect of Car Size on Accident Injury Probability Using Automobile Insurance Data," Accident Analysis and Prevention, Vol. 17, No. 2, April 1985, pp. 171-177, K. S. Krishnan and J. V. Carnahan.
  • "Decision Support for Road Surface Maintenance," OMEGA: The International Journal of Management Science, Vol. 15, No. 4, 1987, pp. 313-322, W. J. Davis and J. V. Carnahan.
  • "Optimal Maintenance Decisions for Pavement Management," ASCE Journal of Transportation Engineering, Vol. 113, No. 5, Sept. 1987, pp. 554-572, J. V. Carnahan, W. J. Davis, M. Y. Shahin, P. Keane and M. Wu.
  • "Analytical Framework for Optimizing Pavement Maintenance," ASCE Journal of Transportation Engineering, Vol. 114, No. 3, May 1988, pp. 307-322, J. V. Carnahan.
  • "A Bayesian Approach for Analyzing the Results of Vehicle Collision Tests," Decision Sciences, Vol. 20, No. 4, 1989, pp.746-758, J. V. Carnahan and K. S. Krishnan.
  • "Maximum Likelihood Estimation for the Four-Parameter Beta Distribution," Communications in Statistics - Simulation and Computation, Vol. 8, No. 2, 1989, pp. 513-536, J. V. Carnahan.
  • "Cost Analysis of Leak Location and Repair in Underground Heat Distribution Systems," ASCE Journal of Transportation Engineering, Vol. 117, No. 3, 1991, pp. 265 - 280, J.V. Carnahan, K. Miller, and E. Segan.
  • "Design Methods for Sizing Segregation Bins in Bulk Conveyor Systems with Multiple Discrete Loading Sources," Engineering Costs and Production Economics, Vol. 21, No. 1, pp. 69-80, 1990, J.V. Carnahan, S. D. Thompson, P. Webster.
  • "Determining Gathering Belt Capacities for Bulk Conveyor Networks with Multiple Discrete Loading Sources," Engineering Costs and Production Economics, Vol. 22, No. 1, pp. 81-91, 1991, S. D. Thompson, J. V. Carnahan, P. Webster.
  • "Fuzzy Ratings and Utility Analysis in Preliminary Evaluation of Multiple Attributes," ASME Journal of Mechanical Design, Vol. 114, No. 4, pp. 648-658, 1992, D. L. Thurston, J. V. Carnahan.
  • "Failure of the Mecron Screw-in Ring," Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, Vol. 75, No. 1, pp. 485-86, 1993, W. Capello, R. Colyer, C. Kernek, J. V. Carnahan.
  • “Incorporating End-Users' Attitudes Towards Uncertainty into an Expert System,” ASME Journal of Mechanical Design, Vol. 116. No. 2, pp. 511-512, 1994, Tian, Y.Q., Thurston, D.L., and Carnahan, J.V.
  • "Fuzzy Ratings for Multiattribute Design Decision-Making," ASME Journal of Mechanical Design, Vol. 116, No. 2, June 1994. Carnahan, J.V., Thurston, D.L., and Liu, T.
  • "Optimization of Design Utility," ASME Journal of Mechanical Design, Vol. 116, No. 3, pp. 801-808, 1994, Thurston, D. L., Carnahan, J.V., and Liu, T.
  • “Trade-off Modeling for Product and manufacturing Process Design for the Environment,” Journal of Industrial Ecology, Vol. 2, No.1, pp. 79-91, 1998, J. V. Carnahan and D. Thurston
  • “Comparative Life-Cycle Cost Analysis of Underground Heat Distribution System,” ASCE Journal of Transportation Engineering, Vol. 124, No. 6, pp 594-605, 1998, C. Marsh and J. V. Carnahan.
  • "Comparison of Failure Rates in Conduits for Underground Heat Distribution", ASCE Journal of Transportation Engineering, Vol. 124, No. 6, pp 589-593, 1998, J. V. Carnahan and C. Marsh.  
  • “Pollution prevention at Armstrong World Industries,” Environmentally Conscious Design and Manufacturing, Vol. 8, No. 4, 1999, D. L. Thurston and J. V. Carnahan.
  • “Machining Quality and Costs,” ASME Journal of Manufacturing Science and Engineering, 124:4, 840-851, 2002, P. Nicolaou, D. L. Thurston, J. V. Carnahan.
  • “The Relative Contribution of Department Ranking to College Ranking in Engineering Graduate Program Rankings Conducted By U.S. News and World Report.” ASSE J. of Engineering Education, 92:1, 65-72, 2003. Vojak, B.A., Price, R.L., and Carnahan, J.V.
  • “Distance Estimation Error in a Roadway Setting.” The Police Journal 82(3):247-264, 2009. Strauss, Mark G. and James V. Carnahan.
  • “Comparison of Third Molar Operative Times With and Without Dental Anesthesiologist – A Statistical Approach for Retrospective Analysis,” Reebye, U., Young, S., Boukas, E., Davidian, E., and Carnahan, J., accepted for publication in the Journal of Anesthesia Progress, August 2015.

Articles in Conference Proceedings

  • “The Accuracy of Pedestrians in Estimating the Speed of a Moving Vehicle.” SAE paper 2013-01-0785. SAE World Congress, Detroit, MI, 2013. Strauss, Mark G., Carnahan, James V., and Ruhl, R. A.
  • “Observed Errors in Distance Estimates.” SAE paper 2010—01-0046, SAE World Congress, Detroit, MI, 2010. Strauss, Mark G., and Carnahan, James V.
  • “A Statistical Basis for Choosing a Putter or Putting Method.” Science and Golf V, Proceedings of the World Scientific Congress of Golf, 2008, pp 376-386. Tempe, AZ, Ironwood Lithographers. James V. Carnahan.
  • “Experimental Study of Effects of Distance, Slope, and Break on Putting Performance for Active Golfers”, Science and Golf IV, Proceedings of the World Scientific Congress of Golf, 2002, pp 113-126. London, Routledge, James V. Carnahan.
  • "A Simulation Approach to Evaluating Pier Arm Width," Proceedings of the Eighth Annual Pedestrian Conference, Boulder, Colorado, Oct. 1987, pp. 223-232, J. V. Carnahan.

Honors

  • Engineering Council (Accenture) Award for Excellence in Advising, University of Illinois College of Engineering (2001, 2002)
  • Anderson Consulting Award for Excellence in Advising, University of Illinois College of Engineering (1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1999, 2000)

Teaching Honors

  • Department of General Engineering, Outstanding Professor (2003)
  • Department of General Engineering, Outstanding Professor (1991)
  • Finalist in Competition for Urbana-Champaign All-Campus award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching (1990)
  • Everitt Award for Undergraduate Engineering Teaching Excellence, 1989 (1989)
  • Department of General Engineering, Outstanding Professor (1986)