Foreword by Guest Editors COL Paul F. Evangelista & LTC James H. Schreiner

This special issue of the Industrial and Systems Engineering Review once again showcases the top papers from the annual General Donald R. Keith memorial capstone conference at the United States Military Academy in West Point, NY. Despite continued COVID restrictions, the truly innovative conference included a mix of in-person presentations with over 50 live and remote judges from across academia and industry to create a high-quality event highlighting the undergraduate student team research. After consideration of over 50 academic papers, the eight listed in this issue were selected for publication in this special issue of the journal. The topics discussed are broad and diverse, however decision support within an uncertain and complex environment emerges as a theme. Much of the work completed by industrial and systems engineers focuses on getting decisions right by means of the tools of our trade. The suite of tools surveyed within these papers represents several state-of-the-art methods as well as time-proven techniques within a unique application domain. Military applications dominated several of the papers. Downey et al. studied massive datasets that represent military operational behaviors in training, seeking to better understand military operational capabilities. Ungrady and Dabkowski tackled the complexities of US Army recruiting through the application of fuzzy cognitive maps, searching for causation. Middlebrooks et al. studied military acquisition system decisions, applying system dynamics modeling. Process improvement represented another sub-theme, with continued focus on decision support. Enos et al. applied lean six sigma techniques to manufacturing processes. Katz et al. explored biomedical machine maintenance scheduling, seeking optimal solutions to a complex scheduling task. Kaloudelis et al. developed a pandemic decision support process for universities. Analytics and machine learning techniques applied to the information domain dominated the third sub-theme. Krueger and Enos developed analytics to support ice hockey strategies. Manzonelli et al. applied natural language processing against information operations, seeking to automate the examination of incredible amounts of narrative data that seek to shape beliefs and attitudes. Please join me in congratulating our authors, especially the young undergraduate scholars that provided the primary intellectual efforts that created the contents of this issue. COL Paul F. Evangelista Chief Data Officer United States Military Academy Taylor Hall, 5th Floor West Point, NY 10996 Email: [email protected] James H. Schreiner, PhD, PMP, CPEM, F.ASEM LTC(P), U.S. Army Associate Professor USMA Academy Professor Director, Engineering Management (EM) Program Department of Systems Engineering Head Officer Representative, Army Softball United States Military Academy Room 420 Mahan Hall West Point, NY 10996 Email: [email protected]

Oblique impact of ice hockey and plastic pucks with a rigid surface

The collision of a disk with a rigid surface is analysed in this paper assuming that the disk slides throughout the collision at glancing angles or grips the surface at other angles of incidence. Experimental results are presented for an ice hockey puck and a plastic disk, showing that there is no rolling involved, as assumed in previous studies. Measurements are presented of the outgoing speed, angle and spin as a function of the angle of incidence, and the results are described in terms of the normal and tangential coefficients of restitution plus the coefficient of sliding friction. The experiment would be suitable for use in a student laboratory.

Skill transfer through multi-sport play: A tennis and hockey example

The concept of “skill transfer” is introduced with the sports of ice hockey and tennis as examples. Skill transfer is addressed with a backdrop and understanding that it is based on existing concepts that have been researched significantly over the past few decades. They include Physical Literacy, Early Sport Specialization and Long-Term Athlete Development. Specific commonalities and skill benefits are highlighted. This inclusive, unified approach may serve as a catalyst to a better understanding of the benefits of skill transfer as well as the benefits of learning physical activities through two sport examples on multiple surfaces.

Sex Differences in Neck Strength Force and Activation Patterns in Collegiate Contact Sport

The purpose of this study was to assess changes in cervical musculature throughout contact-heavy collegiate ice hockey practices during a regular season of NCAA Division III ice hockey teams. In this cross-sectional study, 36 (male n = 13; female n = 23) ice hockey players participated. Data were collected over 3 testing sessions (baseline; pre-practice; post-practice). Neck circumference, neck length, head-neck segment length, isometric strength and electromyography (EMG) activity for flexion and extension were assessed. Assessments were completed approximately 1h before a contact-heavy practice and 15 min after practice. For sternocleidomastoid (SCM) muscles, males had significantly greater peak force and greater time to peak force versus females. For both left and right SCMs, both sexes had significantly greater peak EMG activity pre-practice versus baseline, and right (dominant side) SCM time to peak EMG activity was decreased post-practice compared to pre-practice. There were no significant differences for EMG activity of the upper trapezius musculature, over time or between sexes. Sex differences observed in SCM force and activation patterns of the dominant side SCM may contribute to head stabilization during head impacts. Our study is the first investigation to report changes in cervical muscle strength in men’s and women’s ice hockey players in the practical setting.

Examining the Correlation between Smartphone Addiction and Leisure Boredom Perception in Ice Hockey Players

The purpose of this study was to determine smartphone addiction and leisure boredom perception levels in ice hockey players in Turkey, examine them in terms of age, sex and educational level, and investigate the correlation between smartphone addiction and leisure boredom perception. The population of the study consisted of athletes actively playing in ice hockey leagues in Turkey. The sample group comprised a total of 85 athletes (51 males and 34 females) who were selected randomly from the population and were voluntary to participate in the study. In the study, a questionnaire with three sections was used as the data collection tool. The first section of the questionnaire was a personal information form prepared by the researcher to determine the age, sex, and educational background of the participants. In the second section of the questionnaire, the Smartphone Addiction Scale-Short Version (SAS-SV) was used for measuring the smartphone addiction levels of the participants. In the third and last section of the questionnaire, the Leisure Boredom Scale (LBS) was used for determining the leisure boredom perception of the participants. In the data assessment, the SPSS 26 package software was used. After transferring the data collected via the data collection tool into the electronic environment, the normality was first tested and then non-parametric analyses were performed upon detecting that the data were not normally distributed. When examining the findings of the study, it was observed that most of the participants were male, had high school education and below and were aged 15 to 17 years. In addition, the mean scores of the participants were higher in the Leisure Boredom Scale Boredom Subscale, moderate in the Leisure Boredom Scale Satisfaction Subscale and higher in the Smartphone Addiction Scale-Short Version. It was determined that the female participants had higher mean ranks in the Leisure Boredom Scale Boredom Subscale compared to the male participants at a statistically significant level. When examining the correlation between the smartphone addiction and leisure boredom perception of the participants, it was also observed that there was a statistically significant, positive, and weak correlation between the smartphone addiction and the boredom subscale of the leisure boredom perception.

Brain, Spinal Cord and Labyrinthine Concussion in Sports

In this paper, we discuss the 3 types of concussion that occur in sports; brain concussion, spinal concussion (spinal cord neurapraxia), and labyrinthine (inner ear) concussion. Brain concussion data was collected from professional ice hockey players (Tohoku Free Blades, Japan) during 9 consecutive seasons. Spinal cord concussion and Labyrinthine concussion data was collected from athletes who sustained the injury in various sports including ice hockey. Material and methods The average incidence of brain concussion in professional ice hockey players was 2.0 per season. All 13 cases of spinal cord concussion were cervical cord concussion. Seven cases showed evidence of spinal cord compression; six cases had no radiological abnormality observed. All cases of labyrinthine concussion were sustained through a traumatic blow to the lateral aspect of the head. Results In any sports injury, all three of these concussions can co-exist and requires the team doctor to be at the site in order to fully assess the injury.

Self-Regulation in High-Level Ice Hockey Players: An Application of the MuSt Theory

The purpose of the study was to examine the validity of core action elements and feeling states in ice hockey players in the prediction of performance. A second aim of the study was to explore the effectiveness of a 30-day program targeting action and emotion regulation. Participants were male ice hockey players drawn from two teams competing at the highest level of the junior Finnish ice hockey league. They were assigned to a self-regulation (n = 24) and a control (n = 19) group. The self-regulation program focused on the recreation of optimal execution of core action elements and functional feeling states. Separate repeated measures MANOVAs indicated significant differences in ratings of perceived control and execution accuracy ratings of self-selected visual and behavioral components of the action (critical for optimal performance) and psychobiosocial (feeling) states across recalled best and worst games. Results support the use of both action- and emotion-centered strategies for performance enhancement. Future research including psychophysiological markers is warranted.