Digital Commons Network^™

Web-Based Tools For The Benefit Of Undergraduate Students In Control Systems, Raúl Ordóñez

Raúl Ordóñez

Co-PI, UD Learning Teaching Center, $7,500.

On Joint Track Initiation And Parameter Estimation Under Measurement Origin Uncertainty, Huimin Chen, X. Rong Li, Yaakov Bar-Shalom

Huimin Chen

No abstract provided.

Dangerous Aircraft, Raúl Ordóñez

Raúl Ordóñez

PI, University of Dayton Research Council, $7,900.

Effective Teaching And Active Learning Of Engineering Courses With Workbook Strategy, Yasar Demirel

YASAR DEMIREL

Often mismatches between learning and teaching styles arise because students are in majority visual and sensing learners, and most instructors are intuitive and reflective learners. Beside that, textbooks also have their own styles, and their contents, depth of coverage of materials, and organization may affect the teaching and learning environment. Instructor, as the primary selector of the textbook, has the responsibility in providing students with effective teaching strategy. Here, we present a new strategy called the ‘workbook strategy,” which integrates these four elements: (i) classroom analysis, (ii) use of workbook beside textbook, (iii) group work, and (iv) use of ‘blackboard’ …

Construction Of High- Density Bacterial Colony Arrays And Patterns By The Ink Jet Method, Tao Xu, Sevastioni Petridou, Eric Lee, Elisabeth Roth, Narendra Vyavahare, Jay Hickman, Thomas Boland

Thomas Boland

We have developed a method for fabricating bacterial colony arrays and complex patterns using commercially available ink-jet printers. Bacterial colony arrays with a density of 100 colonies/cm(2) were obtained by directly ejecting Escherichia coli (E. coli) onto agar-coated substrates at a rapid arraying speed of 880 spots per second. Adjusting the concentration of bacterial suspensions allowed single colonies of viable bacteria to be obtained. In addition, complex patterns of viable bacteria as well as bacteria density gradients were constructed using desktop printers controlled by a simple software program.

Tissue-Engineering Constructs, Using Photopolymerizable Hydrogels And Stereolithography.”, Busaina Dhariwala, Elaine Hunt, Thomas Boland

Thomas Boland

One of the most important aspects of tissue engineering is the design of the scaffold providing the mechanical strength and access to nutrients for the new tissue. For customized tissue engineering, it is essential to be able to fabricate three-dimensional scaffolds of various geometric shapes, in order to repair defects caused by accidents, surgery, or birth. Rapid prototyping or solid free-form fabrication (SFF) techniques hold great promise for designing three-dimensional customized scaffolds, yet traditional cell-seeding techniques may not provide enough cell mass for larger constructs. This article presents a novel attempt to fabricate three-dimensional scaffolds, using hydrogels combined with cell …

Three-Dimensional Simulations Of Self-Assembly Of Hut Shaped Si-Ge Quantum Dots, Ashwin Ramasubramaniam, V. B. Shenoy

Ashwin Ramasubramaniam

Teaching Coupled Transport And Rate Processes, Yasar Demirel

YASAR DEMIREL

Coupling refers to a flux occurring without its primary thermodynamic driving force; for example, mass flux without a concentration gradient called the thermal diffusion is a well-known coupled process. Coupling also refers to a flux occurring in a direction opposite to the direction imposed by its driving force; for example, a mass flux can occur from a low to a high concentration region and is called the active transport or uphill transport, such as potassium and sodium pumps coupled to chemical energy released by the hydrolysis of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) in biological systems.

Numerical Investigation Of Saturated Source Area Behavior At The Small Catchment Scale, Fred L. Ogden

Fred L. Ogden

The objective of this research is to explore the relationship between small catchment properties and the temporal growth and decay of saturated source areas (SSA). A simple physics-based hydrologic model, which we call the Sandbox model, is developed for this purpose. A thorough sensitivity analysis is undertaken to evaluate model response to variations in model parameters. Sandbox model output is compared to that from the semi-distributed conceptual model, TOPMODEL, a model with a wide spread acceptance. Plotting the temporal evolution of the extent of saturated source area versus catchment average soil water content dur- ing a number of wetting and …

Teaching Engineering Courses With Workbooks, Yasar Demirel

YASAR DEMIREL

Society expects that a modern college education will turn out students who are analytical, intellectually curious, culturally aware, employable, and capable of leadership. Some important skills needed for all degree programs are problem solving, communication (written and oral), team or group work, learning, and information processing and technology. Instructors feel rewarded and satisfied when they sense that they have made a difference in the life of a student.

Extracting User Intent In Mixed Initiative Teleoperator Control, Andrew H. Fagg, Michael Rosenstein, Robert Platt Jr., Roderic Grupen

Roderic Grupen

User fatigue is common with robot teleoperation interfaces. Mixed initiative control approaches attempt to reduce this fatigue by allowing control responsibility to be shared between the user and an intelligent control system. A critical challenge is how the user can communicate her intentions to the control system in an intuitive manner as possible. In the context of control of a humanoid robot, we propose an interface that uses the movement currently commanded by the user to assess the intended outcome. Specifically, given the observation of the motion of the teleoperated robot for a given period of time, we would like …

Nonequilibrium Thermodynamics In Engineering And Science, Yasar Demirel, S.I. Sandler

YASAR DEMIREL

The field of nonequilibrium thermodynamics has been a popular one outside the United States, especially in Europe, and scientists there from various disciplines have published extensively on the use of nonequilibrium thermodynamics in a large variety of biological, chemical, and mechanical engineering applications. In contrast, the number of publications from North America has been relatively modest. Here, we review the field of nonequilibrium thermodynamics to assess its utility and impact in engineering and science. We find that developments in the fields thermodynamic optimality of processes, dissipative structures, coupled transport and rate processes, and biological systems suggest that in some circumstances …

Environmentally-Friendly Physico-Chemical Rapid Ultrasonic Recycling Of Fumed Silica-Filled Poly(Dimethyl Siloxane) Vulcanizate, Sang Eun Shim, Victor V. Yashin, Avraam I. Isayev

Avraam I Isayev

Fumed silica-filled PDMS, where quite a strong interaction exists between the filler and matrix via hydrogen bonding, was recycled by means of an extruder with high power ultrasound attachment. It was found that the reinforcing filler plays an important role in the devulcanization process. Compared to the precipitated silica-filled PDMS, higher power is consumed during the devulcanization process of fumed silica-filled PDMS due to a strong interaction between the fumed silica particles and PDMS chains. The decrease in crosslink density after the devulcanization process shows that the process is quite dependent on the concentration of fumed silica. Throughout a simulation …

Workbook Strategy In Engineering Education, Yasar Demirel

YASAR DEMIREL

Mismatches between the learning and teaching styles are common because students are in majority visual and sensing learners, yet most instructors are intuitive and reflective learners. Beside that, textbooks also have their own styles, and their contents, depth of coverage of materials, and organization may affect the teaching and learning. For reducing the mismatches, and achieving effective teaching and active learning, we present ‘workbook strategy,” which integrates the following four elements: (i) classroom analysis, (ii) use of workbook beside textbook, (iii) group work, and (iv) use of ‘blackboard’ as information technology. The workbook strategy provides all the essential verbal and …

Exergy Use In Bioenergetics, Yasar Demirel

YASAR DEMIREL

The energy management in a living cell is studied.

Exergy-Based Performance Analysis Of Packed-Bed Solar Air Heaters, Yasar Demirel, H.H. Ozturk

YASAR DEMIREL

This paper presents an experimental investigation of the thermal performance of a solar air heater having its flow channel packed with Raschig rings. The packing improves the heat transfer from the plate to the air flow underneath. The dimensions of the heater are 0.9m wide and 1.9m long. The aluminium-based absorber plate was coated with ordinary black paint. The characteristic diameter of the Raschig rings, made of black polyvinyl chloride (PVC) tube, is 50mm and the depth of the packed-bed in flow channel is 60 mm. Energy and exergy analyses were applied for evaluating the efficiency of the packed-bed solar …

Science And Engineering Of Nanoparticle-Polymer Composites: Insights From Computer Simulation, Francis W. Starr, Sharon C. Glotzer

Francis Starr

No abstract provided.

Development Of Software For Seismic & Vibration Analysis, Raman K. Attri

Raman K. Attri

Earthquake risk management is an issue of international priority since many countries in the world are affected adversely by sudden earthquake. Frequent earthquakes are being encountered in many parts of the world every year. Recently India had some earthquake in latur, chamoli, Utrakanshi, Bhuj regions. The occurrence of earthquake has been on increase due to geographical changes taking place under the earth crust all over world. The heavy and unpredictable loss of life and destruction of resources have forced the seismologist and instrumentation engineers to develop sophisticated earth quake monitoring instruments with quick data analysis software. The latest development in …

Putting Participation In Context: An Evaluation Of Urban Sanitation In Brazil, Earthea Nance

Earthea Nance, PhD (Stanford University, 2004)

No abstract provided.

Burning Sewage Sludge From A Municipal Waste Water Treatment Plant – The Migreation Of Metals, Witold Zukowski, Jerzy Baron, Sylwia Chrupek, Malgorzata Pilawska

Witold Zukowski

The migration of selected heavy metals has been analysed when sewage sludge from a municipal waste water treatment plant was burned in a bubbling fluidised bed. It has been shown that manganese, lead, arsenic, mercury and cadmium, as opposed to chromium, nickel and copper, leave the reactor mainly via the gas phase. To reduce the emissions of heavy metals to the atmosphere associated with the thermal utilization of sewage sludge requires more effective flue gases cleaning than is possible with filters.

Utilisation Of Waste Fuels In A Fluidised Bed, Jerzy Baron, Malgorzata Pilawska, Malgorzata Olek, Witold Zukowski

Witold Zukowski

A 100 kW atmospheric, bubbling fluidised bed reactor was used to study the combustion of wood waste, sewage sludge and a mixture of sewage sludge and meat-and-bone meal. Steady operation of the combustor was possible, even if the fuel was abruptly changed. With sewage sludge, the flue gas concentrations of SO2 and NOx were relatively high, as the sludge fuel contained much higher concentrations of combined S and N than e.g. wood waste. Co-combustion of sewage sludge and meat-and-bone meal presented no problems and the composition of the flue gases was similar to obtained the combustion of sewage sludge from …