Digital Commons Network^™

Floating Offshore Wind Turbine Analysis And Discovery, Payton Maddaloni

Honors Theses and Capstones

No abstract provided.

Fluorotelomer Carboxylic Acid Degradation: Implications For Septic Systems, Alexis Marie Eaton

Honors Theses and Capstones

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, are a group of manmade organic chemicals that have been widely used since the 1940’s due to their resistance to heat, water, and oil. These compounds are associated with negative health outcomes including poor thyroid function, reproductive toxicity, and carcinogenicity. Because products with PFAS are widely used in residential settings, and because many PFAS do not completely degrade during wastewater treatment/handling, septic systems may be an important non-point source of PFAS to groundwater. Many homes that have septic systems, which discharge wastewater effluent to the subsurface, also use groundwater as a drinking water source; …

Floating Offshore Wind Turbine Analysis And Discovery, Payton Summer Maddaloni

Honors Theses and Capstones

This poster encompasses yearlong literary research into floating offshore wind turbines. Limitations created by society are discussed, these have prohibited large leaps to get the turbines out of the design phase. Traditional platform designs are displayed to show the potential the industry has to offer as the next renewable energy source. The maintenance phase seeks optimization. A case study by the University of Cincinnati used production losses as a consideration to lower the total cost of traditionally expensive maintenance. Finally, the end-of-life scenarios are currently being overlooked by developers. This opens the door to multiple options for disposal. Mimicking the …

Non-Invasive Monitoring Device For Early Detection Of Breast Cancer Related Lymphedema, Amy Prendergast

Honors Theses and Capstones

Breast Cancer Related Lymphedema (BCRL) is a common co-morbidity in cancer survivors following neoadjuvant therapies such as chemotherapy, radiation, and/or surgery. It is brought about by the disruption in the lymphatic system (think lymph node biopsy) that leads to a buildup of lymphatic fluid in the arm. Current diagnostic strategies for this condition are merely retroactive, and fairly limited in the parameters that are examined to ensure patient well-being long term. We hypothesize that with an approach that mimics bioimpedance spectroscopy analysis, we will be able to provide a clinical support tool that would better determine early stages of lymphedema …

The Effect Of Phase-Separated Microstructures On Cell Migration In 3d Dextran Hydrogels, Jenifer Sidhwa

Honors Theses and Capstones

No abstract provided.

Securing Internet Of Things (Iot) Data Storage, Savannah Malo

Honors Theses and Capstones

Internet of Things (IoT) devices are commonly known to be susceptible to security attacks, which can lead to the leakage, theft, or erasure of data. Despite similar attack methods used on conventional technologies, IoT devices differ in how they consist of a small amount of hardware, limited networking capability, and utilize NoSQL databases. IoT solutions prefer NoSQL databases since they are compatible for larger datasets, unstructured and time-series data. However, these implementations are less likely to employ critical security features, like authentication, authorization, and encryption. The purpose of this project is to understand why those security measures are not strictly …

Eeg-Based Spanish Language Proficiency Classification: An Eeg Power Spectrum And Cross-Spectrum Analysis, Blaise Xavier O'Mara, Skyler Baumer

Honors Theses and Capstones

Second language proficiency may be predicted with electrophysiological techniques. In a machine learning application, this electrophysiological data may be used for language instructors and language students to assess their language learning. This study identifies how electroencephalogram (EEG) power spectrum and cross spectrum data of the brain cortex relates to Spanish second language (L2) proficiency of 20 Spanish language students of varying proficiency levels at the University of New Hampshire. The two metrics for assessing cortical power and processing were event-related desynchronization (ERD)—a measure of relative change in power—of the alpha (8-12 Hz) brain frequency band, and alpha and beta (13-30Hz) …

Bioinspired Redox Active Pyrogallol For Aqueous Ion Separations, Matt Libby

Honors Theses and Capstones

No abstract provided.

A Literature Analysis Of Microgrid Optimization Studies, Izzy Medeiros

Honors Theses and Capstones

Senior civil engineering student, Izzy Medeiros, is presenting her honors thesis in the form of a literature analysis. Her research involved investigating existing microgrid studies and where there are current gaps in the knowledge. About 40 publications written within the last 20 years were analyzed for their research goals, optimization objectives, and microgrid design, pointing to where this research is currently lacking. Most real studies were conducted in Asia, as Southeast Asia has island communities that need the reliability of a renewable microgrid during extreme weather events. Photovoltaic panels in combination with wind turbines comprise the most common configuration of …

Reducing The Variability And Cost Of Determining The Coefficient Of Friction Of Various Lubricants, James M. Wirth

Honors Theses and Capstones

The Navy requires accurate fastener preloading for many of its fastened applications to protect the safety of the vessel and its personnel, and to ensure proper operation of various components. The preload is based on many properties including fastener materials, fastener geometries, and the coefficient of friction (COF) between mating surfaces. The COF is a critical value in determining the torque-load relationship of a fastener, and is dependent on the contact surface area and the materials in contact, the condition and finish of the contact surfaces, and any lubricant applied in these contact areas. Due to the large amount of …

Occurrence Of Per- And Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (Pfas) In New Hampshire Biosolids, Katherine A. Wieck

Honors Theses and Capstones

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a group of over 4,000 compounds used in the manufacturing of products including aqueous film forming foams for firefighting, stain repellents, waterproofing agents, and nonstick cookware since their initial development in the 1940s. The long fluorinated carbon chain structure of PFAS causes chemical and thermal stability, and thus resistance to biodegradation. Biosolids produced at wastewater facilities for uses such as agricultural land-applied compost and fertilizer for lawns and athletic fields, as well as sludge disposed in landfills can cause contamination of groundwater and surface water. This poses a significant threat to human and environmental …

Investigation Of Mechanical Regulation On Stat3 Activity And Mmp Production, Jaxson R. Libby

Honors Theses and Capstones

Transcription factor, STAT3, is inappropriately expressed in cancer cells, and has contrasting activation in 2D versus 3D microenvironments. 2D plates are often used for drug screening and do not always recapitulate in vivo responses. To combat inaccurate 2D drug studies, a 3D hydrogel was created to support the growth of cancer cells into a tumor-like environment. The hydrogel consists of a biocompatible dextran homopolysaccharide, cell adhesion RGD sequences, and crosslinker MMP labile peptides. A pH dependent reaction couples the RGD sequences to dextran then the polymers are crosslinked into a gel. Crosslinking is accomplished using terminal cysteine peptide sequences, allowing …

Combating Climate Change: Saving American Wastewater Treatment Infrastructure, Seamus Quinn

Honors Theses and Capstones

Climate change is a significant issue currently facing the United States’ wastewater treatment sector. It is becoming increasingly clear that its effects have the potential to damage and disrupt the operations of both treatment facilities and associated systems. This study aims to determine which effects of climate change contribute to this risk based on feedback from a combination of academic researchers and industry professionals. A case study of the city of Warwick, Rhode Island’s wastewater treatment facility was used to supplement this information based on an evaluation of how this particular system has been impacted by the effects of climate …

Coastal Wave Powered Reverse Osmosis System, Alexander Raymond Charest, Joeseph Daniel Camobreco, Tori Sweet, Sam Williams, Andrew Lepage, Devan Sack, Meagan Wiggin, Chelsea Kimball, Brendan Reagan

Honors Theses and Capstones

Part of the Marine Energy Collegiate Competition (MECC) is the optional Build and Test Challenge where teams are encouraged to build a portion of their proposed solution. After the conducted testing the laboratory results are compared to the simulated and calculated models. For the MECC the University of New Hampshire (UNH) team decided to use a wave energy converter to produce pressurized water. The pressurized water would be filtered through a reverse osmosis membrane to make it potable. Our system uses the power of the ocean waves to move a float up and down in heave motion. This motion drives …

An Examination Of Effective Length In Moment Frames, Connor Stephen Schott

Honors Theses and Capstones

The honors thesis project I have been working on is called An Examination of Effective Length in Moment Frame. When loaded axially in compression columns experience a failure mode in compression that axially loaded members don’t experience in tension. This failure mode, elastic column buckling, doesn’t involve yielding or rupture; the column changes shape and deforms to the side. In order to come up with a solution to this failure mode, Leonhard Euler developed the critical buckling load equation. However, this equation uses an effective length of columns, which is the distance between two points of zero moment, or …

Removing Physical Presence Requirements For A Remote And Automated World - Api Controlled Patch Panel For Conformance Testing, Hunter George Wells

Honors Theses and Capstones

Quality assurance test engineers at the UNH-InterOperability Lab must run tests that require driving and monitoring a selection of DC signals. While the number of signals is numerous, there are limited ports on the test equipment, and only a few signals need patching for any given test. The selection of signals may vary between the 209 different tests and must be re-routed frequently. Currently, testers must leave their desk to manually modify the test setup in another room. This posed a considerable issue at the onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic when physical access was not possible. In order to enable …

Development Of A Fluxgate Magnetometer Model, Eleonora Olsmats

Honors Theses and Capstones

As a part of the UNH SWFO-L1 mission to monitor space weather and the sun’s behavior, the fluxgate magnetometer is an important component to measure external magnetic fields. The basic principle of a fluxgate magnetometer is to detect changes in the ambient magnetic field by inducing a magnetic field in a ferromagnetic material via a drive winding. Each magnetometer is unique due to the ferromagnetic properties of the core material which can be seen in the hysteresis loop which is a relationship between the magnetic field strength (H) and the induced magnetic field (B). Measuring the hysteresis of a fluxgate …

Experimental Characterization And Crystal Plasticity Modeling Of Mechanical Properties And Microstructure Evolution Of Additively Manufactured Inconel 718 Superalloy, Saeede Ghorbanpour

Doctoral Dissertations

In this thesis, the mechanical behavior of the additively manufactured (AM) IN718 nickel-based superalloy and their correlations with the evolution of microstructure are studied comprehensively. The effects of manufacturing parameters, build orientations, and post processing procedures, i.e. standard heat treatment and hot isostatic pressing (HIP), on various mechanical properties including monotonic compression and tension strength, low cyclic fatigue performance, high cyclic fatigue behaviour, and fatigue crack growth behavior are investigated. Due to the high temperature applications of the IN718 alloy, elevated temperature properties are examined as well. Electron Backscattered Diffraction (EBSD) technique is employed to measure the initial and deformed …

Engineering Thermostable Regulators For Inducible Gene Expression In Thermophiles, Connor M. Joyce

Honors Theses and Capstones

Thermophilic bacteria have attracted research interest due to their ability to grow at high temperatures ranging from 45 °C to 75 °C with some extreme thermophiles able to survive nearly boiling temperatures. They are valuable sources of thermostable biocatalysts and many have great potential as industrial hosts for biofuel production because fermentation at high temperatures has advantages such as reduced processing costs and lower risk of contamination compared with mesophilic bacteria. For example, some Geobacillus species has been shown to have high solvent tolerance, making them good candidates as host for alcohol production. To develop them as industrial hosts, large …

Injectable Gelatin-Silk Fibroin Composite Hydrogels For In Situ Cell Encapsulation, Ryann D. Boudreau

Honors Theses and Capstones

Hydrogels are widely used tools for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. Characterized as biofunctional, water-based polymer matrices with tunable mechanical properties, hydrogels have promising but limited applications in biomedical engineering, due to poor and static matrix strength. Here we plan to rectify this issue by introducing a new hydrogel made from a composite of gelatin and silk fibroin crosslinked by microbial transglutaminase (mTG) instantly and beta sheet formation gradually, respectively. This interpenetrating network (IPN) shows enhanced mechanical stiffness and strength compared to gelatin hydrogels, and is capable of encapsulating human cells with high viability demonstrated by the encapsulation of human …

Development And Implementation Of A Pressure-Temperature Control System For The Physical Vapor Deposition Of Copper And Niobium From A Molybdenum Filament In The Development Of Superconducting 3d Printed Rf Cavity Particle Accelerators, Chandler J. Fleuette

Honors Theses and Capstones

This report covers the development of the pressure-temperature control system used in the production of small superconducting RF cavities for particle accelerators. To test the validity of the created program, a model for the process was created and tested. The model was used to fine tune the control system before integrating it into the lab. The end goal of the control system is to measure the pressure inside of a deposition vacuum chamber, convert that pressure to a temperature, and use that temperature in tandem with a PID controller to control the current passing though a molybdenum filament which is …

Hybrid Rocket Engine Ignition And Control, Benjamin Letourneau, Trevor Blampied, Megan Johnson, Thomas Pham

Honors Theses and Capstones

Control of a hybrid rocket engine is dependent upon a robust system capable of executing commands at precise times. In order to accomplish this, hardware systems must be in place to control the flow of a pressurized gas and provide feedback to launch site personnel. Through the use of solenoid valves and wireless transceivers, control over the thrust of a rocket can be accomplished. In order to understand this information and provide a user-friendly interface to complete this, a launch control module is used. Through the combined capabilities of the two system it becomes possible to test and launch a …

Landing Throttleable Hybrid Rockets With Hierarchical Reinforcement Learning In A Simulated Environment, Francesco Alessandro Stefano Mikulis-Borsoi

Honors Theses and Capstones

In this paper, I develop a hierarchical Markov Decision Process (MDP) structure for completing the task of vertical rocket landing. I start by covering the background of this problem, and formally defining its constraints. In order to reduce mistakes while formulating different MDPs, I define and develop the criteria for a standardized MDP definition format. I then decompose the problem into several sub-problems of vertical landing, namely velocity control and vertical stability control. By exploiting MDP coupling and symmetrical properties, I am able to significantly reduce the size of the state space compared to a unified MDP formulation. This paper …

Pfas Removals And Increases In The Effluent Of Thirteen New Hampshire Wastewater Treatment Facilities Due To The Effects Of Biological Treatment Processes, Zachary P. Harvell

Honors Theses and Capstones

PROPOSAL/ABSTRACT:

Perfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, are an emerging contaminant of concern in environmental engineering. This group of chemicals has been used by manufacturers since the 1940s due to their desirable waterproofing qualities. They also have a high chemical stability at high temperatures, which makes treatment difficult. A large variety of manufactured items contain PFAS, such as fabrics and apparel, non-stick items, and food wrappers. Recently, these compounds have come under question due to studies supporting harmful health effects, such as low birthweight, cancer, thyroid hormone disruption, and a weakened immune system. Due to their chemical structure, PFAS compounds are difficult …

Disrupting Complex Systems With Emerging Technologies: A Study On United States Airport Operations, Emily J. Grone

Honors Theses and Capstones

The number of United States domestic commercial flight passengers are growing every year, which means the number of people checking-in, dropping off their bags, and going through TSA within airports is equally growing. With the increasing number of passengers and aging airports, there are several areas of pain points within airports where passengers hit a bottleneck due to the current systems that airports have in place. There are three main areas that we are going to reference. First the check-in process, where customers have to get their tickets, input identification information, and check-in for their flight. Second, baggage-drop off, where …

Evaluation Of Cracking Indices For Asphalt Mixtures Using Scb Tests At Different Temperatures And Loading Rates, Katie E. Haslett

Honors Theses and Capstones

In recent years, there has been a shift towards implementing performance based pavement specifications (PBPS) to increase reliability of asphalt concrete mixture specifications and enhance service lives of roadways. Several of the performance indices used in PBPS are based on the asphalt mixture fracture tests. There is an increasing need for a better understanding the effects of temperature and loading rate interdependency for fracture properties of asphalt mixtures. The goal of this study is to build upon previous work conducted during a Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURF) project entitled, “Exploration of Temperature and Loading Rate Interdependency for Fracture Properties of …

Electrochemical And Spectroscopic Study Of Peptide-Template Melanins, Daniel Courter, Olivia Rossi, Zhen Tian

Honors Theses and Capstones

Melanins are organic polymers made up of 5,6-dihydroxyindole carboxylic acid (DHICA) and 5,6-dihydroxyindole (DHI). Biochemical systems synthesize melanins through a complex reaction pathway. Previous research exhibited that naturally-occurring melanins (NatMel) and their synthetic analogues (SynMel) can potentially serve as electrode materials for aqueous charge storage devices. Small surface area creates technical challenges for these melanins as charge storage materials. This research herein demonstrates that the structure of melanins can affect the charge storage capacities of monovalent Na⁺cations and divalent Mg²⁺ cations. 2-D sheet-like peptide melanins (PepMel) were synthesized into tripeptides consisting of aspartic acid (D), phenylalanine (F), …

Eeg And Emg Sensorimotor Measurements To Assess Proprioception Following Acl Reconstruction, Teagan Frances Northrup

Honors Theses and Capstones

The Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) is the primary source of rotational stability in the knee by preventing the tibia from sliding in front of the femur. When the ACL is torn, it typically must be repaired through reconstructive surgery which results in proprioceptive deficiencies in the knee. Proprioception plays an important role in understanding where one’s knee is in space, sensing movement and reacting accordingly. This study examines an alternative method of measuring proprioceptive responses to a stimulus (motion) by using electromyogram (EMG) and electroencephalogram (EEG) signals to observe muscle and brain activity. Two participants (one with an ACL reconstruction …

The Effects Of Carboxylic Acids In Aluminum Anodizing, Abby E. Koczera

Honors Theses and Capstones

Hard-anodized alumina coatings were formed in sulfuric acid at low temperature and high current density in the presence of carboxylic acid additives. Citric acid, trimesic acid, mellitic acid and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) were utilized in varying concentrations. The additives were chosen for their capacity to form complexes with tri-valent aluminum and hence impart chemical stability to the coatings. The coatings were sealed in boiling water, and corrosion resistance was observed in a high pH solution of potassium hydroxide. The coatings were examined using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to assess coating thickness and pore dimensions. Thicker coatings were produced when the …

A Practical Approach To Constant Head Drip Chlorination Using An Outlet Controlled System, Joanna Marie Lewis

Honors Theses and Capstones

No abstract provided.