Engineering Commons^™

Single-Polarization And Single-Mode Hybrid Hollow-Core Anti-Resonant Fiber Design At 2 Μm, Herschel Herring, Mohammad Al Mahfuz, Md Selim Habib

Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Faculty Publications

In this paper, to the best of our knowledge, a new
type of hollow-core anti-resonant fiber (HC-ARF) design using
hybrid silica/high-index material (HIM) cladding is presented
for single-polarization, high-birefringence, and endlessly single-
mode operation at 2 μm wavelength. We show that the inclusion
of a HIM layer in the cladding allows strong suppression of
𝑥−polarization, while maintaining low propagation loss and
single-mode propagation for 𝑦−polarization. The optimized HC-
ARF design includes a combination of low propagation loss,
high-birefringence, and polarization-extinction ratio (PER) or
loss ratio of 0.02 dB/m, 1.2×10−4, and >550 respectively, while the
loss of the 𝑥−polarization is >20 …

Ultra-Sensitive Visible-Ir Range Fiber Based Plasmonic Sensor: A Finite-Element Analysis And Deep Learning Approach For Ri Prediction, Mohammad Al Mahfuz, Sumaiya Afroj, Afiquer Rahman, Md. Azad Hossain, Md. Anwar Hossain, Md Selim Habib

Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Faculty Publications

In this paper, a relatively simple and ultra-sensitive Photonic crystal fiber (PCF) based surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor is proposed for detecting different analyte refractive indices (RIs) ranging from 1.33 to 1.43 over a wide range of wavelength spectrum spanning 0.55 μm to 3.50 μm. The comprehensive finite-element simulations indicate that it is possible to achieve remarkable sensing performances such as wavelength sensitivity (WS) and figure of merit (FOM) as high as 123,000 nm/RIU and 683 RIU^-1, respectively, and extremely low value of wavelength resolution (WR) about 8.13×10⁻⁷ RIU. A novel artificial neural network (ANN) model is …

Passenger Insight On Sustainable Flight: Exploring The Relationships Between Attitudes And Risk Propensity On Willingness To Fly, Kayla Hylan, Carl A. Thomas Jr., Vivek Sharma, Brooke Wheeler

Aeronautics Student Publications

Passengers were generally accepting of sustainable aircraft, but compared to jet fuel, higher general risk propensity (GRiP) was more predictive of willingness to fly (WF) in sustainable aircraft. Sustainable attitudes strongly related to WF in sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) but had a weaker relationship on WF in electric and hydrogen aircraft, compared to jet fuel.

Stress And Exercise In Part 141 Flight Students, Reece Curcio, Thomas Vincent Hayes, Reon Porter, Brooke Wheeler

Aeronautics Student Publications

This study explores how stress levels relate to exercise habits among aviation students in a Part 141 collegiate flight program. There was no correlation between stress and exercise. This outcome was unexpected as the hypothesis was an inverse relationship between perceived stress and exercise.

Martian Atmospheric Rover Simulation (M.A.R.S.), Matt Berard, Shelby Beddard, Alexander Brunette, Emma Conti, Collin Duke, Delaney Novak, Keelin Weaver

Aerospace, Physics, and Space Science Student Publications

While rovers have been used by various agencies to explore Mars, their travel is limited by terrain obstacles, which may prevent mission completion. Creating a vehicle equipped with both driving and flight capabilities would allow greater range of motion on extraterrestrial planets. Integrating the technology for both transportation modes into one rover allows for efficiency and advancements in technological and planetary research.

Garbage Float, Gabor Papp, Max Woolverton, Scott Ulatowski, Daniel Ross, Nicholas Gayle, Bryan Merchan-Aragon, Noah Yco, Nicholas Fawcett, Jared Wright, Abdulaziz Salman G Alshahrani, Andrew Mcquire

Mechanical and Civil Engineering Student Publications

Trash pileup in our waters is an increasing problem. Removing floating plastics and debris from our ecosystem would reduce mortality rate of marine animals. Solutions for this already exist but most of them are proprietary and expensive. Therefore, an autonomous, publicly available and cheap alternative was developed to skim and clean the water surface from garbage.

Analyzing Flight Delays: Legacy And Low-Cost Carriers In The U.S., Kwangyeol Yang, Dae Keun Jeon, Nawaf Nasser M. Alsubaie, Vivek Sharma, Brooke Wheeler

Aeronautics Student Publications

This study analyzed flight delays between legacy and low-cost carriers in the U.S. from 2013 to 2022. The study found a higher average percentage of flights delayed among low-cost carriers than legacy carriers and identified a significant difference in the percentage of total flights delayed by airline type.

Artificial Intelligence & Aviation: A Content Analysis, Victor E. Morales, Jonathan Escalera, Jose Sanchez, Brooke Wheeler, Vivek Sharma

Aeronautics Student Publications

The aviation industry has explored the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into its unique aspects. This study aimed to identify the trends in publications that discuss AI and aviation within 2013-2023. A content analysis is used to identify any regressions in the trends of publication counts discussing AI and aviation. The study collected publication data from the Advanced Technologies & Aerospace Database (ATAD) using specific search terms, “AI and aviation,” “artificial intelligence and aviation,” “AI and aircraft,” and “AI and aircraft safety,” to accurately obtain publications. The collected data is then categorized by publications per year and is represented in …

Change In Air Cargo Revenue Before Vs During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Ali Abushal, Timothy R. Buchal, Ethan Noto, Brooke Wheeler, Vivek Sharma

Aeronautics Student Publications

This study aimed to investigate the changes in revenue experienced by cargo airlines before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. To gather the necessary data, information was sourced from the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) databases and the websites of the specific airlines. The findings of this study revealed significant shifts in revenue for cargo airlines during the pandemic. Some airlines experienced an unexpected rise in revenue, challenging our previous understanding of the industry dynamics. These findings highlighted the importance of conducting a comprehensive analysis that includes a larger view of the aviation sector.

The COVID-19 pandemic had a profound impact …

Wildlife Strikes By Damage Category In The U.S. From 2013-2022, Malek Alharbi, Catherine Meechan, Brooke Wheeler, Vivek Sharma

Aeronautics Student Publications

The FAA provides the public with a database containing reports of wildlife strikes. We gathered data on the reported types of damage and concluded there was a difference in the annual strike rate by damage category with no damage as the most reported damage category.

Willingness To Pilot With Vertical Take-Off And Landing Aircraft , Geovany A. Rodriguez, Rayan Khayyat, Jenna M. Elwood, Vivek Sharma, Brooke Wheeler

Aeronautics Student Publications

Part 141 collegiate flight students’ willingness to pilot (WTP; Rice et al., 2020) was significantly different in airspace with, above, or without an operating vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft. The scenario without an active VTOL had significantly higher willingness to fly.

Academic Workload, Willingness To Pilot, And Perceived Stress, Derek M. Dolnik, Carlie Swords, Shahd Abualhamayl, Vivek Sharma, Brooke Wheeler

Aeronautics Student Publications

This study found no relationship between perceived stress and number of credits. However, willingness to pilot (WTP) for flight students in a Part 141 flight training program was significantly lower with three or more exams than with one or two exams.

Willingness To Fly Based On First Officer Experience, Madison Larkin, Christopher Hudak, Ashley Babiarz, Vivek Sharma, Brooke Wheeler

Aeronautics Student Publications

This study examined passengers’ willingness to fly with a first officer whose experience is 500, 1000, or 1500 total flight hours and concluded that there is no difference in passengers’ willingness to fly between first officer experience levels.

Measuring Willingness To Fly Onboard Aircraft Equipped With Two Pilots, A Single Pilot, And A Single Pilot With Artificial Intelligence, Dillon J. Hanrahan, Andrew C. Angelo, Jeremy S. Mcfarland, Vivek Sharma, Brooke Wheeler

Aeronautics Student Publications

There is no statistically significant difference between consumers’ willingness to fly on aircraft with two pilots and traditional automation, a single pilot with traditional automation, and a single pilot with artificial intelligence (AI).

Unruly Passenger Reports During And After The Mask Mandate, Jacob Coutant, Travis Richards, Nicholas Brunetti, Vivek Sharma, Brooke Wheeler

Aeronautics Student Publications

This study found a significant difference in weekly reported unruly passenger incidents per 10,000 operations during and after the federal COVID-19 mask mandate.

Willingness To Fly On Supersonic & Non-Supersonic Aircraft, Jacob Filer, Nicholas Paul Digrazia, Jae Won Yoon, Vivek Sharma, Brooke Wheeler

Aeronautics Student Publications

A survey conducted on Amazon MTurk found that there is no statistically significant difference between the willingness to fly on a supersonic or non-supersonic aircraft.

Pla-S-Tech: Pla Sustainable Technology, Sean Sapper, Ryan Decarlo, Elle Whitney, Samantha Dombrowski, Dalton Prokop, Dominic Zaio, Tyler Stokes, David Deese, Blake Hengel, Yi Guo

Mechanical and Civil Engineering Student Publications

To recycle waste material produced by fused deposition modeling (FDM) 3D printers, a recycler was designed and manufactured to convert plastic scraps into usable filament. The device does so by breaking down plastic material to a uniform size with the shredder, melting and compressing these pieces into a cylindrical strand with the extruder, and wrapping this strand around a filament spool with the spooler. As the device is mostly made from commercially-available components, it is easily maintainable and user-serviceable, while also costing less than similar devices on the market.

The Relationship Between Pilot Experience And Aviation Safety Attitudes, Isabella Piasecki, Steven Le Gall, Brooke Wheeler

Aeronautics Student Publications

Using survey methodologies, 149 people were asked about their safety attitudes, which showed a weak, statistically significant, positive relationship between flight hours and safety attitude score (r = .31).

Annual Rate Of Laser Strike Reports By Airport Category In Florida, Ziyad Alkhaldi, Abdulaziz Zabidi, Rayan Bagies, Brooke Wheeler

Aeronautics Student Publications

This study examined laser strike reports per operation based on the airports' categories in Florida from 2010-2019. The results showed that there is a difference in the annual rate of laser strike reports by airport category in Florida, with class B as the highest average and class D as the lowest average.

Design And Simulation Of Intelligent Control Algorithms For Bimanual Robot-Assisted Retinal Surgery Training System, Ali Ebrahimi

Link Foundation Modeling, Simulation and Training Fellowship Reports

Vitreoretinal surgery is among the most delicate surgical tasks in which physiological hand tremor may severely diminish surgeon performance and put the eye at high risk of injury. Unerring targeting accuracy is required to perform precise operations on micro-scale tissues of the eye. The objective of this project is to develop robotic platforms and intelligent control algorithms to provide a safe bilateral steady-hand eye manipulation for surgeons, which can potentially lead to autonomous surgical procedures. This will in tum enhance patient safety and surgical outcome which can be very beneficial to both patients and surgeons.

Legacy Airlines’ Monthly Percentage Delays: Before And During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Orlando Y. Gonzalez Fuentes, Chinkyung Lee, Hyungyeong Lee, Brooke Wheeler

Aeronautics Student Publications

The COVID-19 pandemic negatively affected and caused considerable changes in the aviation industry. This study determined the difference in the monthly percentage of flight delays before and during the pandemic, including United, Delta, and American Airlines. The results showed the percentage of average flight delays was higher for the pre-pandemic period.

U.S. Wildlife Strikes By Engine Type, Hasan Arif, John Gaynor, Shane Slettom Jr., Brooke Wheeler

Aeronautics Student Publications

This study analyzed the relationship between wildlife strikes and engine type using data from the FAA (2022) Wildlife Strike Database from 2010-2019 in the United States. Turbofan aircraft had the most wildlife strikes. There was a significant difference in mean annual wildlife strikes between turbofan and all other engine types.

General Aviation Fatal And Non-Fatal Accidents By Season, Abdulrahman Alzahrani, Hassaan Bedeiry, Brooke Wheeler

Aeronautics Student Publications

This study examined the difference in fatal and non-fatal GA accident rates in the United States among the seasons. Accident data was from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB, 2022) database from 2010 to 2019. Seasonality and fatality have a significant effect on the number of GA accidents.

A Combined Electrochemical-Biological System For The Production Of Liquid Fuel From Co2, Elizabeth Hann

Link Foundation Energy Fellowship Reports

Biological photosynthesis is the origin of our liquid transportation fuels, from petroleum to corn ethanol. Biological photosynthesis has an efficiency of approximately 1% for the conversion of photons from sunlight to biomass1. Increasing the energy efficiency of biomass production (solar-to-biomass conversion) would allow for biomass, and biofuels, to be produced using less resources. Artificial photosynthesis seeks to overcome the limitations of biological photosynthesis, including low efficiency of solar energy capture and poor carbon dioxide reduction, and could provide an alternative route for biomass production. A two-step electrochemical process converts CO2 to acetate. Acetate is a soluble, two-carbon substrate that can …

Evaluating Mixed Reality Training For Calibrating Operators’ Mental Models Of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems, Ganesh Pai Mangalore

Link Foundation Modeling, Simulation and Training Fellowship Reports

Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) offer safety benefits by handling active driving tasks. However, due to limited operational design domain, these systems may require driver intervention, making drivers’ mental models about system limitations and capabilities an important factor when operating them. Literature suggests most drivers are uninformed or unaware of their systems (McDonald et al, 2018), lacking complete or accurate mental models. Mental models (MM) are described as reflections of operators’ knowledge of system’s purpose and various functioning states (Seppelt & Victor, 2020). Incomplete MM of systems’ limitations may also adversely affect drivers’ hazard avoidance behavior.

Using Advanced Driving Simulation And Vibrotactile Cues To Train Drivers To Interact With Next-Generation Autonomous Vehicles, Gaojian Huang

Link Foundation Modeling, Simulation and Training Fellowship Reports

There are six levels of vehicle automation, from Level 0 – no automation to Level 5, fully autonomous [1]. According to several projections, the majority of vehicles on the road will be at intermediate levels for the next several years, meaning that vehicle-to-human takeover will be required in cases where the systems can no longer function due to design limitations, such as under poor weather conditions or in a construction zone [2], [3]. As shown in Fig. 1, the takeover process consists of signal response and post-takeover phases, which involves multiple steps, including perceiving the takeover requests (TOR), moving hands …

Faa Reported Wildlife Strikes By Time Of Day At New York Airports, Nnaemeka Azuike, Kymon Naar, Brooke Wheeler

Aeronautics Student Publications

Wildlife strikes can have damaging effects on aircraft and can lead to serious accidents. Understanding when wildlife strikes occur would help the aviation industry be more cautious of the risk. After reviewing the reports of the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Wildlife Database over a 10 years period, it was determined that there is no significant difference with time of day for wildlife strikes.

Quantifying Charge Transport In Chemically Doped Semiconducting Polymers, Shawn Gregory

Link Foundation Energy Fellowship Reports

This report is for the Link Foundation, which generously provided me a graduate research fellowship. In this report, I outline a segment of the organic electronics and organic thermoelectrics fields, then detail the contributions I have made, and finally conclude with a perspective on these fields. Subsequently, in accordance with the fellowship reporting requirements, I list all articles that I have published or will publish whose funding originated (in part) from the Link Foundation. Lastly, I share some personal notes on how this fellowship impacted my PhD experience and career.

Willingness To Pilot In Different Aircraft Sanitization Scenarios, Nicholas Valluzzi, Jesse Shacknai, Brooke Wheeler, Tianhua Li

Aeronautics Student Publications

A stratified sample of Part 141 ground school classes participated in a questionnaire which determined their willingness to pilot among four different aircraft sanitization scenarios. The sanitization scenarios with more precautions resulted in an increased willingness to pilot.

Human-Automation Interaction Testbed For Evaluating User Control Methods And Training, Sarah M. O'Meara

Link Foundation Modeling, Simulation and Training Fellowship Reports

In a complex work environment, an operational challenge may be controlling the multitude of independent objects that are required for a manual task and/or object manipulation, such as experienced by astronauts, surgeons, underwater operations, manufacturing etc. One possible option is the enhancement of the person’s capabilities through a robotic supernumerary limb (Figure 1). The idea has already been implemented in a limited application, where the United States Army Research Laboratory developed a passive limb to aid soldiers in weapon carrying and stabilization[1]. Researchers are also creating supernumerary robots. Parietti, et al. [2] designed the Supernumerary Robotics Limbs to address aircraft …