Computational Engineering Commons^™

Complementary Companion Behavior In Video Games, Gavin Scott

Master's Theses

Companion characters in are present in many video games across genres, serving the role of the player's partner. Their goal is to support the player's strategy and to immerse the player by providing a believable companion. These companions often only perform rigidly scripted actions and fail to adapt to an individual player's play-style, detracting from their usefulness. Behavior like this can also become frustrating to the player if the companions become more of a hindrance than they are a benefit. Other work, including this project's precursor, focused on building companions that mimic the player. These strategies customize the companion's actions …

On The Impact Of Android Api Evolution On Education Materials, Kennedy Owen

Master's Theses

The recent growing popularity of mobile devices has led to the establishment of several popular mobile platforms such as the Android operating system. To foster growth in this evolving market, Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) were created to enable developers to create mobile device applications that utilize mobile device features and functionality for personal or widespread commercial use. However, as a result of excessive device and API evolution, mobile development faces increasingly complex issues, including an alarmingly rapid decay of development resources.

This thesis conducts a case study around one such resource: a series of Android app development lab …

Advanced Text Analytics And Machine Learning Approach For Document Classification, Chaitanya Anne

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Text classification is used in information extraction and retrieval from a given text, and text classification has been considered as an important step to manage a vast number of records given in digital form that is far-reaching and expanding. This thesis addresses patent document classification problem into fifteen different categories or classes, where some classes overlap with other classes for practical reasons. For the development of the classification model using machine learning techniques, useful features have been extracted from the given documents. The features are used to classify patent document as well as to generate useful tag-words. The overall objective …

Uncertainty Quantification Of Turbulence Model Closure Coefficients On Openfoam And Fluent For Mildly Separated Flows, Ike Witte

McKelvey School of Engineering Theses & Dissertations

In this thesis, detailed uncertainty quantification studies focusing on the closure coefficients of eddy-viscosity turbulence models for several flows using two CFD solvers have been performed. Three eddy viscosity turbulence models considered are: the one-equation Spalart-Allmaras (SA) model, the two-equation Shear Stress Transport (SST) k-ω model, and the one-equation Wray-Agarwal (WA) model. OpenFOAM and ANSYS Fluent are used as flow solvers. Uncertainty quantification analyses are performed for subsonic flow over a flat plate, subsonic flow over a backward-facing step, and transonic flow past an axisymmetric bump. In the case of flat plate, coefficients of pressure, lift, drag, and skin friction …

An Exact Analysis For Four-Order Acousto-Optic Bragg Diffraction Which Incorporates Both Incident Light Angle And Sound Frequency Dependencies, Adeyinka Sunday Ademola

Electrical Engineering Theses

This thesis extends the prior work which produced an exact solution to the four-order acousto-optic (AO) Bragg cell with assumed fixed center frequency and with exact Bragg angle incident light. The extension predicts the model that incorporates the dependencies of both the input angle of light and the sound frequency. Specifically, a generalized 4^th order linear differential equation (DE), is developed from a simultaneous analysis of four coupled AO system of DEs. Through standard methods, the characteristic roots, which requires solving a quartic equation, is produced. Subsequently, a derived system of homogeneous solutions, which absorbs the roots obtained using …

Target Detection With Neural Network Hardware, Hollis Bui, Garrett Massman, Nikolas Spangler, Jalen Tarvin, Luke Bechtel, Kevin Dunn, Shawn Bradford

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Improving Predictive Capabilities Of Classical Cascade Theory For Nonproliferation Analysis, David Allen Vermillion

Doctoral Dissertations

Uranium enrichment finds a direct and indispensable function in both peaceful and nonpeaceful nuclear applications. Today, over 99% of enriched uranium is produced by gas centrifuge technology. With the international dissemination of the Zippe archetypal design in 1960 followed by the widespread illicit centrifuge trafficking efforts of the A.Q. Khan network, traditional barriers to enrichment technologies are no longer as effective as they once were. Consequently, gas centrifuge technology is now regarded as a high-priority nuclear proliferation threat, and the international nonproliferation community seeks new avenues to effectively and efficiently respond to this emergent threat.

Effective response first requires an …

Simulating Foodborne Pathogens In Poultry Production And Processing To Defend Against Intentional Contamination, Silas B. Lankford

Computer Science and Computer Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

There is a lack of data in recent history of food terrorism attacks, and as such, it is difficult to predict its impact. The food supply industry is one of the most vulnerable industries for terrorist threats while the poultry industry is one of the largest food industries in the United States. A small food terrorism attack against just a single poultry processing center has the potential to affect a much larger population than its immediate consumers. In this work, the spread of foodborne pathogens is simulated in a poultry production and processing system to defend against intentional contamination. An …

Generation And Analysis Of A Social Network: Hamlet, Preston Evans

Computer Science and Computer Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

This paper examines the generation and analysis of a social network produced from Shakespeare’s play Hamlet. An XML file of Hamlet was parsed to extract the characters within the play and also identify when the characters appeared within the same scene. After parsing the speakers and the connections between characters, a network graph was generated that displayed all the characters in Hamlet, represented by nodes, and edges that represented the connections between characters as measured by their scene co-appearance. The results of the network graph were then compared to a published social network for Hamlet created by hand. The two …

Mixed-Mode Dynamic Crack Propagation Using The Discontinuous Galerkin Method, Russell Thomas Hollman

Masters Theses

A recently proposed Discontinuous Galerkin (DG) method for modeling nonlinear fracture mechanics problems in the context of the finite element method is investigated. The DG method provides a framework for fracture mechanics by employing interface elements within the region of interest where cracking is expected. Previous studies have shown that the use of traction-separation laws within the DG method have enhanced stability for dynamic problems by removing the issue of artificial compliance compared to intrinsic cohesive zone elements. The purpose of this thesis is to apply the DG method to a mixed-mode dynamic crack propagation problem, namely the Kalthoff-Winkler experiment. …

A Framework For Post-Stroke Quality Of Life Prediction Using Structured Prediction, Andrew Hines, John D. Kelleher

Conference papers

This paper presents a conceptual model that relates Quality of Life to the established Quality of Experience formation process. It uses concepts developed by the Quality of Experience community to propose an adapted framework for developing predictive models for Quality of Life. A mapping of common factors that can be applied to health related quality of life is proposed and practical challenges for modelling and applications are presented and discussed. The process of identifying and categorising factors and features is illustrated using stroke patient treatment as an example use case.

Detection Of Leukocytes Stained With Acridine Orange Using Unique Spectral Features Acquired From An Image-Based Spectrometer, Courtney J. Hunter

Biomedical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

A leukocyte differential count can be used to diagnosis a myriad blood disorders, such as infections, allergies, and efficacy of disease treatments. In recent years, attention has been focused on developing point-of-care (POC) systems to provide this test in global health settings. Acridine orange (AO) is an amphipathic, vital dye that intercalates leukocyte nucleic acids and acidic vesicles. It has been utilized by POC systems to identify the three main leukocyte subtypes: granulocytes, monocytes, and lymphocytes. Subtypes of leukocytes can be characterized using a fluorescence microscope, where the AO has a 450 nm excitation wavelength and has two peak emission …

Effects Of Computer Simulation And Animation (Csa) On Students’ Problem Solving In Engineering Dynamics: What And How, Seyed Mohammad Tajvidi

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Previous studies have shown that in many fields, computer simulation and animation (CSA) improve students’ learning and problem solving. However, despite the massive body of research on the role of computers in education, little research has been conducted to qualitatively examine how they affect the learning of engineering students. The purpose of this study was to explore how learning and problem solving were affected by computer modules and what similarities and differences existed between computer representations and paper-based examples.

An analysis of collected data, observations of participants’ problem-solving activities, and interviews revealed that computers can enhance students’ analytical thinking, organizing, …

Detection Of Pheromone Laying Event In Foraging Data Of Harvester Ants Using Change Point Analysis Method, Safeeul Bashir Safee

Computer Science ETDs

Communication is an important factor in the foraging performance of social insects, such as ants. During foraging, ants keep track of food sources by using memory (site fidelity) or by communicating through pheromones. Previous field experiments showed that the rate of seed collection depends on the distribution of food in the environment. If food is spatially clustered, then it is beneficial for ants recruit nest mates to collect seeds from large clusters. However, we do not know when the recruitment occurs in natural ant population. To explore this question, we used a power law distribution to arrange seeds in piles …

On Intelligent Mitigation Of Process Starvation In Multilevel Feedback Queue Scheduling, Joseph E. Brown

Master of Science in Computer Science Theses

CPU time-share process schedulers for computer operating systems have existed since Corbato published his paper on the Compatible Time Sharing System in 1962 [8]. With this new type of scheduler came the need to effectively divide CPU time between N processes, where N could be 2 or more processes. Modern time-sharing process schedulers which have been developed in the decades since have been designed to favor shorter, interactive processes over long-running processes, especially when incoming demand for CPU time exceeds supply and process starvation is inevitable. These schedulers, including Linux CFS, FreeBSD Ule, and the Solaris Fair Share Scheduler, are …

Aspect Extraction From Product Reviews Using Category Hierarchy Information, Yifeng Yang, Chen Cen, Minghui Qiu, Forrest Sheng Bao

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Aspect extraction is a task to abstract the common properties of objects from corpora discussing them, such as reviews of products. Recent work on aspect extraction is leveraging the hierarchical relationship between products and their categories. However, such effort focuses on the aspects of child categories but ignores those from parent categories. Hence, we propose an LDA-based generative topic model inducing the two-layer categorical information (CAT-LDA), to balance the aspects of both a parent category and its child categories. Our hypothesis is that child categories inherit aspects from parent categories, controlled by the hierarchy between them. Experimental results on 5 …

Explorations Into Machine Learning Techniques For Precipitation Nowcasting, Aditya Nagarajan

Masters Theses

Recent advances in cloud-based big-data technologies now makes data driven solutions feasible for increasing numbers of scientific computing applications. One such data driven solution approach is machine learning where patterns in large data sets are brought to the surface by finding complex mathematical relationships within the data. Nowcasting or short-term prediction of rainfall in a given region is an important problem in meteorology. In this thesis we explore the nowcasting problem through a data driven approach by formulating it as a machine learning problem.

State-of-the-art nowcasting systems today are based on numerical models which describe the physical processes leading to …

The Impact Of Quantum Size Effects On Thermoelectric Performance In Semiconductor Nanostructures, Adithya Kommini

Masters Theses

An increasing need for effective thermal sensors, together with dwindling energy resources, have created renewed interests in thermoelectric (TE), or solid-state, energy conversion and refrigeration using semiconductor-based nanostructures. Effective control of electron and phonon transport due to confinement, interface, and quantum effects has made nanostructures a good way to achieve more efficient thermoelectric energy conversion. This thesis studies the two well-known approaches: confinement and energy filtering, and implements improvements to achieve higher thermoelectric performance. The effect of confinement is evaluated using a 2D material with a gate and utilizing the features in the density of states. In addition to that, …

Corgi: Compute Oriented Recumbent Generation Infrastructure, Christopher Allen Hunt

Master's Theses

Creating a bicycle with a rideable geometry is more complicated than it may appear, with today’s mainstay designs having evolved through years of iteration. This slow evolution coupled with the bicycle’s intricate mechanical system has lead most builders to base their new geometries off of previous work rather than expand into new design spaces. This crutch can lead to slow bicycle iteration rates, often causing bicycles to all look about the same. To combat this, several bicycle design models have been created over the years, with each attempting to define a bicycle’s handling characteristics given its physical geometry. However, these …

On The Development Of A One-Time Pad Generator For Personalising Cloud Security, Paul Tobin, Lee Tobin, Michael Mckeever, Jonathan Blackledge

Conference papers

Cloud computing security issues are being reported in newspapers, television, and on the Internet, on a daily basis. Furthermore, in 2013, Edward Snowden alleged backdoors were placed in a number of encryption systems by the National Security Agency causing confidence in public encryption to drop even further. Our solution allows the end-user to add a layer of unbreakable security by encrypting the data locally with a random number generator prior to uploading data to the Cloud. The prototype one-time pad generator is impervious to cryptanalysis because it generates unbreakable random binary sequences from chaos sources initiated from a natural noise. …