Engineering Commons^™

Modeling In The Physiology Classroom, Sowmya Anjur

Faculty Publications & Research

Physiology and Disease is a Biology elective at IMSA that has been developed to be mostly student-centered. Some examples of student projects include modeling heart structure to reflect function and creating LED arduino monitors to measure heart rate. Students also measure their lung capacity and blood pressure to demonstrate correlation of these values with heart rate, and trace the correlation back to neuronal controls. Projects such as these integrate other disciplines such as engineering and conform to NGSS Science and Engineering standards and NGSS Cross cutting Concepts standards. Students take responsibility for their own learning and articulate better on tests.

Classification Of Intensity-Modulated Proton Therapy Plans, Louise Gabrielle Lima '19, Alice Liu '19

Student Publications & Research

Proton Radiotherapy

Proton radiotherapy is a form of radiation treatment that uses energized protons to break DNA, leading to cell death and killing cancers.

Biomedical Engineering - An Art Or A Science?, Sowmya Anjur

Faculty Publications & Research

Students discussed recent advances in technology and classified them as belonging to science or engineering. Students were introduced to the human heart and its mechanics, after which they brainstormed in groups to build their own life-sized heart models, choosing from the materials provided and demonstrated their working models to each other. Students were encouraged to create "diseases" in their heart models and explain how they would correlate this to "real'life" experiences. Students were also introduced to my newest project, arduino heart rate monitors and asked to suggest creative projects that they could work on in the near future.

Investigation Of The Skin Effect In Alternating Currents, Matthew Liang

The International Student Science Fair 2018

My research is on the investigation of the skin effect in alternating currents. The skin effect is when an alternating current tends to flow on the surface of the conductor, such that the current density is highest near the surface, and decreases with greater depths in the conductor. This is due to the alternating current inducing changing magnetic fields, which in turn induces currents that oppose the original flow of current, resisting the current flowing through the centre the most. This reduces the effective cross-sectional area of the conductor and increases the resistance, causing increased power losses. This effect becomes …

Smart Vertical Farm System (Svfs), Sarasit Sirawattanakul

The International Student Science Fair 2018

The unremitting trends of increasing population, urbanization, diminishing water supply, and continuing climate change have contributed to declining stocks of arable land per person. Land available for farming is shrinking, and the demand for food is growing. All of these lead to food insecurity. For the first version of Smart Vertical Farm System is designed to increase food productions by an automatic system. It built with shelves which support soil and hydroponic system, stacked vertically. The system first shovels the soil in the tray and sews the seeds. There is also additional watering system. The hydroponic parts are on the …

Energy Conversion System For Travelers (Ecost), Thipok Bovornratanaraks

The International Student Science Fair 2018

We have innovated “The Energy Conversion System for Travelers” or the ECoST. With the fact that most travelers have wheeled cabin-bags, whilst walking, the wheels will rotate so why don’t we harvest electricity from this kinetic energy? We thus install our innovation, the ECoST, to the bag to generate electricity from the spinning wheels. The electricity is then kept in the storage unit and ready to charge your empty battery devices in an emergency case via a USB port. To make life easy, our ECoST was designed to replicate the power bank charging method; therefore, we can charge …

Solar-Powered Bushfire Detection Mechanism, Aryaman Sud

The International Student Science Fair 2018

This project designed a prototype preventative measure for heat-induced disasters like bushfires and general home fires. The motivation for this project was the loss of life and property due to wildfire in rural Australia. The micro-controller will send an alert message and sound an alarm when the temperature value exceeds or equals the set temperature of . It is programmed using the programming language embedded ‘C’. Comprising of a solar panel, siren, temperature sensor and a Bluetooth module, this eco-friendly device can provide digitalised warnings to homes and farms where protection matters most.

Simplistic programming using the KEIL IDE software …

Using Eeg-Validated Music Emotion Recognition Techniques To Classify Multi-Genre Popular Music For Therapeutic Purposes, Dejoy Shastikk Kumaran

The International Student Science Fair 2018

Music is observed to possess significant beneficial effects to human mental health, especially for patients undergoing therapy and older adults. Prior research focusing on machine recognition of the emotion music induces by classifying low-level music features has utilized subjective annotation to label data for classification. We validate this approach by using an electroencephalography-based approach to cross-check the predictions of music emotion made with the predictions from low-level music feature data as well as collected subjective annotation data. Collecting 8-channel EEG data from 10 participants listening to segments of 40 songs from 5 different genres, we obtain a subject-independent classification accuracy …

Feco2o4 As An Anode Material For Lithium Ion Batteries, Chelsea Wong

The International Student Science Fair 2018

Lithium ion batteries (LIBs) are commonly found in many portable electronic appliances due to their ability to be rechargeable. Currently, commercial anodes in Li-ion batteries (graphite) have a theoretical capacity of around 372 mAh/g, while FeCo2O4 that will be investigated as the anode material has a theoretical capacity of 901.985mAh/g, more than double of the current commercial anode’s capacity. Earlier work done by Sharma et al also showed that FeCo2O4 has a very promising initial capacity of 827mAh/g. As such, the engineering goal is to produce a battery that will have a higher capacity than the current commercial Li-ion batteries …

Synthesis Of Double Network Hydrogels Which Can Be Shaped Freely, Natsuki Morimoto, Norie Kato

The International Student Science Fair 2018

Double network (DN) hydrogels have specific characters such as flexibility and high mechanical strength. They are expected to use biomaterials such as artificial cartilages and meniscuses. The purpose of this study is to synthesize DN gels which can be shaped freely. DN gels were synthesized by polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) as a mold, 2-acrylamide-2-methylpropane sulfonic acid (AMPS) as a first monomer, N,N’-methylene-bis-acrylamide (MBAA) as a crosslinker, 2-oxoglutalic acid (OGA) as an initiator and acrylamide (AAm) as a second monomer. First, PVA (polymerization degree; 2000) was dissolved in the water and prepared to 15 % of aqueous solution. It was poured in …

An Entirely New Molecular Glue For Mof Using Unusual Structural Transformation Of A Coordination Polymer, Sukwoo Jung, Hangyeol Kim, Junseok Ahn

The International Student Science Fair 2018

In this research, an entirely new molecular glue is reported. This ‘coordination polymer glue’ is synthesized from zinc metal and BDC-NPE(2,5-bis{4-[1-(4-nitrophenyl)ethylamino]butoxy}terephthalic acid). Molecular glue transforms from 1D coordination polymer to a 3D cross-linked framework, resulting in a phase change of solution to solid. The carboxylate group of this glue makes the preformed MOF bind to its framework. Therefore, when the solution of molecular glue is mixed with preformed MOF powder and heated, homogeneous and thin MOF film – MOF/ZnNPE film – is fabricated. The film is irrelevant to the kind of its substrate, and its thermal stability was enhanced in …

Solar-Powered Bushfire Detection Mechanism, Aryaman Sud

The International Student Science Fair 2018

This project designed a prototype preventative measure for heat-induced disasters like bushfires and general home fires. The motivation for this project was the loss of life and property due to wildfire in rural Australia. The micro-controller will send an alert message and sound an alarm when the temperature value exceeds or equals the set temperature of . It is programmed using the programming language embedded ‘C’. Comprising of a solar panel, siren, temperature sensor and a Bluetooth module, this eco-friendly device can provide digitalised warnings to homes and farms where protection matters most.

Simplistic programming using the KEIL IDE software …

The Relationship Between Electrical Conductivity And Magnetically Damped Motion, Kalem Akhtar

The International Student Science Fair 2018

Varying electrical conductivities of different, non-magnetic metals appears to affect the magnitude of magnetically damped motion. To determine the relationship between magnetic damping and conductivity an experiment was designed using different length tubes of aluminium, copper and brass. The tubes had the same diameter and similar wall thickness. A short, cylindrical neodymium magnet was dropped through the tubes of and the time for the magnet to traverse the tube was recorded using a smartphone camera. These times allowed for the terminal velocity to be calculated for each metal length and the average terminal velocity for each metal was determined. This …

A Swing Generator Using Water Power Produced By The Wind, Ruka Ozaki

The International Student Science Fair 2018

I focus on various kinds of natural energy sources, especially wind. Wind power generation is the most-used method of electricity generation using wind power. Wind power generation has many merits; it achieves high efficiency of electric power generation, it can generate electricity even during the night, it doesn’t make any hazardous materials. However, there are not only merits but also demerits. It can cause bird strike, environment disruption from noise and low-frequency wave. And besides, we must comply building laws when we build wind power generators. Thus I built ‘a swing generator using water power produced by the wind power’, …

Smart Vertical Farm System (Svfs), Sarasit Sirawattanakul

The International Student Science Fair 2018

The unremitting trends of increasing population, urbanization, diminishing water supply, and continuing climate change have contributed to declining stocks of arable land per person. Land available for farming is shrinking, and the demand for food is growing. All of these lead to food insecurity. For the first version of Smart Vertical Farm System is designed to increase food productions by an automatic system. It built with shelves which support soil and hydroponic system, stacked vertically. The system first shovels the soil in the tray and sews the seeds. There is also additional watering system. The hydroponic parts are on the …

Feco2o4 As An Anode Material For Lithium Ion Batteries, Chelsea Wong

The International Student Science Fair 2018

Lithium ion batteries (LIBs) are commonly found in many portable electronic appliances due to their ability to be rechargeable. Currently, commercial anodes in Li-ion batteries (graphite) have a theoretical capacity of around 372 mAh/g, while FeCo2O4 that will be investigated as the anode material has a theoretical capacity of 901.985mAh/g, more than double of the current commercial anode’s capacity. Earlier work done by Sharma et al also showed that FeCo2O4 has a very promising initial capacity of 827mAh/g. As such, the engineering goal is to produce a battery that will have a higher capacity than the current commercial Li-ion batteries …

Glucosamine From Hydrolysis Of 3d Printing Chitosan For Osteoarthritis Treatment, Ruj Dansriboon, Laphon Premcharoen

The International Student Science Fair 2018

This project aims to introduce a new way for osteoarthritis treatment which is expected to increase in the future. Glucosamine is the main subject for a treatment, which can be derived by hydrolyzing chitosan. This project also includes extraction of chitosan from shrimp waste to make a worthy use of food waste from industry. In this project, 3D printer is applied to print chitosan gel since 3D printing is adjustable to form various shapes of the gel.

The research process begins with the extraction of chitosan from shrimp shells. For the next step, the percent of deacetylation of chitosan was …

An Entirely New Molecular Glue For Mof Using Unusual Structural Transformation Of A Coordination Polymer, Sukwoo Jung, Hangyeol Kim, Junseok Ahn

The International Student Science Fair 2018

In this research, an entirely new molecular glue is reported. This ‘coordination polymer glue’ is synthesized from zinc metal and BDC-NPE(2,5-bis{4-[1-(4-nitrophenyl)ethylamino]butoxy}terephthalic acid). Molecular glue transforms from 1D coordination polymer to a 3D cross-linked framework, resulting in a phase change of solution to solid. The carboxylate group of this glue makes the preformed MOF bind to its framework. Therefore, when the solution of molecular glue is mixed with preformed MOF powder and heated, homogeneous and thin MOF film – MOF/ZnNPE film – is fabricated. The film is irrelevant to the kind of its substrate, and its thermal stability was enhanced in …

Investigation Of The Skin Effect In Alternating Currents, Matthew Liang

The International Student Science Fair 2018

My research is on the investigation of the skin effect in alternating currents. My project is broken down into 4 sub-aims. The first aim would be, to be able to mathematically model the distribution of current in the radius of the wire, which consists of the applications of the Maxwell equation and solving zeroth order differential Bessel equations of the first kind. The next aim would be to computationally plot out the desired current readings as the depth of the wire increases from the surface, using the Matlab software. The third aim that I have would be conducting an experiment, …

Energy Conversion System For Travelers (Ecost), Thipok Bovornratanaraks

The International Student Science Fair 2018

We have innovated “The Energy Conversion System for Travelers” or the ECoST. With the fact that most travelers have wheeled cabin-bags, whilst walking, the wheels will rotate so why don’t we harvest electricity from this kinetic energy? We thus install our innovation, the ECoST, to the bag to generate electricity from the spinning wheels. The electricity is then kept in the storage unit and ready to charge your empty battery devices in an emergency case via a USB port. To make life easy, our ECoST was designed to replicate the power bank charging method; therefore, we can charge …

Using Eeg-Validated Music Emotion Recognition Techniques To Classify Multi-Genre Popular Music For Therapeutic Purposes, Dejoy Shastikk Kumaran

The International Student Science Fair 2018

Music is observed to possess significant beneficial effects to human mental health, especially for patients undergoing therapy and older adults. Prior research focusing on machine recognition of the emotion music induces by classifying low-level music features has utilized subjective annotation to label data for classification. We validate this approach by using an electroencephalography-based approach to cross-check the predictions of music emotion made with the predictions from low-level music feature data as well as collected subjective annotation data. Collecting 8-channel EEG data from 10 participants listening to segments of 40 songs from 5 different genres, we obtain a subject-independent classification accuracy …