Engineering Commons^™

Technology Assessment For Cybersecurity Organizational Readiness: Case Of Airlines Sector And Electronic Payment, Sultan Ayed Alghamdi, Tugrul Daim, Saeed Mohammed Alzahrani

Engineering and Technology Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Payment processing systems have advanced significantly in the airline business. Because e-payments are easy, they have captured the attention of many companies in the aviation industry and are quickly becoming the dominant means of payment. However, as technology advances, fraud grows at a comparable rate. Over the years, there has been a surge in payment fraud incidents in the airline sector, reducing the platform's trustworthiness. Despite attempts to eliminate epayment fraud, decision-makers lack the technical expertise required to use the finest fraud detection and prevention assessments. This research recognizes the lack of an established decision model as a hurdle and …

Technological Cooperation Network In Biotechnology Analysis Of Patents With Brazil As The Priority Country, Cristiano Goncalves Pereira, Rodrigo Ribeiro Da Silva, Joao Ricardo Lavoie, Geciane Silveira Porto

Engineering and Technology Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Purpose – The establishment of partnerships between companies, government and universities aims to enhance innovation and the technological development of institutions. The biotechnology sector has grown in recent years mainly driven by its cooperative business model. Compared to other countries, this sector is slowly advancing in Brazil, with delays in science, technology and innovation, especially in the private sector. This paper aims to examine, through social network analysis, the collaborative networks between institutions that filed patents in biotechnology – medicinal preparations from plants – whose inventions had Brazil as the priority country. Design/methodology/approach – The study of technological cooperation using …

Direct Synthesis Of Graphene On Niobium And Niobium Nitride, Robin Ekeya, Otto Zietz

Undergraduate Research & Mentoring Program

Since its isolation by mechanical exfoliation in 2004, graphene has attracted enormous interest from the scientific community not the least because of its unique physical and electronic properties. Among these, graphene’s ballistic electron transport and proximity induced superconductivity make graphene-superconductor (GS) hybrid structures a scientifically promising area.

Effectiveness Of Indoor Plants For Passive Removal Of Indoor Ozone, Omed A. Abbass, David J. Sailor, Elliott T. Gall

Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Indoor vegetation is often proposed as a passive approach for improving indoor air quality. While studies of outdoor environments indicate that vegetation can be an important sink of outdoor ozone, there is scant data in the literature concerning the dynamics of ozone uptake by indoor plants. This study determined ozone deposition velocities (v_d) for five common indoor plants (Peace Lily, Ficus, Calathia, Dieffenbachia, Golden Pothos). The transient v_d was calculated, using measured leaf areas for each plant, for exposures mimicking three diurnal cycles where ozone concentrations in chamber tests were elevated for 8 h followed by …

The Aerodynamic Effects On Flight Patterns And The Evolutionary Changes In Pterosaurs, Johnathan D. Talik

Undergraduate Research & Mentoring Program

Early pterosaurs were the first vertebrates to achieve powered flight, and remained small-to-medium sized from the Triassic Period to the end of the Jurassic Period. During that interval, lasting from 210 million years ago to 66 million years ago, pterosaurs underwent a notable changes at the end of the Jurassic Period and through the Cretaceous Period. They were abruptly replaced by much larger forms, characterized by great size and peculiar head ornamentation, among other unique and notable morphological features. While many different explanations theorize why and how the features of the pterosaurs changed over the Cretaceous Period, the aerodynamic influences …

Stabilization Of Vegetable Oil-Based Quenchants To Thermal-Oxidative Degradation: Experimental Strategy And Effect Of Oxidation On Quenching Performance, Éder Cícero Adão Simêncio, Rosa Lúcia Simêncio Otero, Lauralice De Campos Franceschini Canale, George E. Totten

Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Although petroleum oils continue to be the dominant type of basestock for the formulation of vaporizable quenchants, there is increasing pressure to identify an alternative basestock to address the limitations to their continued use because they are not a renewable basestock and they possess generally poor toxicity and biodegradability properties. Currently the most often cited alternative basestocks are those based on seed oils since they are renewable and usually non-toxic but especially because they are typically readily biodegradable. However, they suffer a critically important deficiency in that they are also typically much less stable to thermal-oxidative degradation than petroleum oils. …

Evaluation Of Nitrous Acid Sources And Sinks In Urban Outflow, Elliott T. Gall, Robert J. Griffin, Allison L. Steiner, Jack Dibb, Eric Scheuer, Longwen Gong, Andrew P. Rutter, Basak K. Cevik, Saewung Kim, Barry Lefer, James Flynn

Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Intensive air quality measurements made from June 22–25, 2011 in the outflow of the Dallas–Fort Worth (DFW) metropolitan area are used to evaluate nitrous acid (HONO) sources and sinks. A two-layer box model was developed to assess the ability of established and recently identified HONO sources and sinks to reproduce observations of HONO mixing ratios. A baseline model scenario includes sources and sinks established in the literature and is compared to scenarios including three recently identified sources: volatile organic compound-mediated conversion of nitric acid to HONO (S1), biotic emission from the ground (S2), and re-emission from a surface nitrite reservoir …

Detecting Rule Of Balance In Photography, Uyen T. Mai, Feng Liu

Student Research Symposium

Rule of Balance is one of the most important composition rules in photography, which can be used as a standard for photo quality assessment. The rule of balance states that images with evenly distributed visual elements are visually pleasing and thus are highly aesthetic. This work presents a method to automatically classify balanced and unbalanced images. Detecting the rule of balance requires a robust technique to locate and analyze important objects and visual elements, which involves understanding of the image content. Since semantic understanding is currently beyond the state of the art in computer vision, we employ the saliency maps …

Models Of Oil Wood Coating Materials Selection According To Technological, Operational, Ecological And Economic Criteria, Larysa Yaremchuk, Tetyana Olyanshyn, Volodymyr Maksymiv, Liliya Stepanivna Hogaboam

Engineering and Technology Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

This article presents the use of system analysis methodology and Graph Theory for validation of the relationships among descriptive factors, which impact the selection of oil materials for wood finishing. Matrix analysis was used to determine the results of the pair wise comparisons of factor weights and optimization of the factor values. Modelling theories have been developed, which allow for construction of models of primary impacts of the factors on oil materials selection in protective and decorative wood coatings creation.

Evaluation Of Phase Change Materials For Cooling In A Super-Insulated Passive House, Jeffrey Stephen Lauck

Dissertations and Theses

Due to factors such as rising energy costs, diminishing resources, and climate change, the demand for high performance buildings is on the rise. As a result, several new building standards have emerged including the Passive House Standard, a rigorous energy-use standard based on a super-insulated and very tightly sealed building envelope. The standard requires that that air infiltration is less than or equal to 0.6 air changes per hour at a 50 Pascal pressure difference, annual heating energy is less than or equal to 15kWh/m2, and total annual source energy is less than or equal to 120 kWh/m2. A common …

Modeling The Impact Of Simulated Educational Interventions On The Use And Abuse Of Pharmaceutical Opioids In The United States: A Report On Initial Efforts, Wayne Wakeland, Alexandra E. Nielsen, Teresa D. Schmidt, Dennis Mccarty, Lynn Webster, John Fitzgerald, J. David Haddox

Systems Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Three educational interventions were simulated in a system dynamics model of the medical use, trafficking, and nonmedical use of pharmaceutical opioids. The study relied on secondary data obtained in the literature for the period of 1995 to 2008 as well as expert panel recommendations regarding model parameters and structure. The behavior of the resulting systems-level model was tested for fit against reference behavior data. After the base model was tested, logic to represent three educational interventions was added and the impact of each intervention on simulated overdose deaths was evaluated over a 7-year evaluation period, 2008 to 2015. Principal findings …

Reward-Driven Training Of Random Boolean Network Reservoirs For Model-Free Environments, Padmashri Gargesa

Dissertations and Theses

Reservoir Computing (RC) is an emerging machine learning paradigm where a fixed kernel, built from a randomly connected "reservoir" with sufficiently rich dynamics, is capable of expanding the problem space in a non-linear fashion to a higher dimensional feature space. These features can then be interpreted by a linear readout layer that is trained by a gradient descent method. In comparison to traditional neural networks, only the output layer needs to be trained, which leads to a significant computational advantage. In addition, the short term memory of the reservoir dynamics has the ability to transform a complex temporal input state …

The Case For Thoroughly Testing Complex System Dynamic Models

Wayne W. Wakeland

In order to determine whether model testing is as useful as suggested by modeling experts, the full battery of model tests recommended by Forrester, Senge, Sterman, and others was applied retrospectively to a complex previously-published system dynamics model. The time required to carry out each type of test was captured, and the benefits that resulted from applying each test was determined subjectively. The resulting benefit to cost ratios are reported. These ratios suggest that rather than focusing primarily on sensitivity testing, modelers should consider other types of model tests such as extreme condition tests and family member tests. The study …

The Case For Thoroughly Testing Complex System Dynamic Models, Wayne Wakeland, Megan Hoarfrost

Systems Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

In order to determine whether model testing is as useful as suggested by modeling experts, the full battery of model tests recommended by Forrester, Senge, Sterman, and others was applied retrospectively to a complex previously-published system dynamics model. The time required to carry out each type of test was captured, and the benefits that resulted from applying each test was determined subjectively. The resulting benefit to cost ratios are reported. These ratios suggest that rather than focusing primarily on sensitivity testing, modelers should consider other types of model tests such as extreme condition tests and family member tests. The study …

On The Intrinsic Evolution Of Material Inhomogeneities, Marek Elźanowski, Marcelo Epstein

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Publications and Presentations

The evolution of a distribution of material inhomogeneities (defects, dislo-cations, etc.) is investigated. Adopting our recently developed model of the anelastic evolution law of a defective solid crystal body and using the classical methods of the theory of hyperbolic waves we analyze such phenomena as the long-term relaxation of defects and the dislocation pile-up.

Non-Linear Behavior Of Unbraced Two-Bay Reinforced Concrete Frames, Mehdi Shadyab

Dissertations and Theses

In this investigation, the primary objective was to study the nonlinear behavior of unbraced two-bay concrete frames and to determine the extent to which ultimate load theory or limit design can be applied to these structures. The frame behavior was investigated analytically by two methods. In the first method the frame stability equation was derived assuming that members of the frame possess an elasto-plastic moment-curvature relationship. This stability analysis was also carried out by another model consisting of a column attached to a linear spring and carrying the total frame load. The second method was through a computer program which …

Assessment Of Feasibility Of Proposed Bolted Connections For Tubular Structures, John Henry Tausch

Dissertations and Theses

The search for new and additional sources of energy -- from sun, wind, waves, and ocean currents -- is necessitating the development of structures in the open environment of the oceans as well as on land. The advantages of round or tubular members for use in such structures are shown; and to avoid the uncertainties of welded joints, two bolted connections are proposed and their feasibility explored.

An Experimental Investigation Of Unbraced Reinforced Concrete Frames, Nourollah Samiee Nejad

Dissertations and Theses

The main objective of this investigation is to study experimentally the behavior of rectangular reinforced concrete frames subject to a combination of low column loads, beam loads, and lateral load. The analytical tool used in this investigation is a computer program which is a generalized computational method for non linear force deformation relationship and secondary forces due to displacement of the joints during loading.

In the experimental portion of this investigation, two rectangular frames, one design by the Ultimate Strength Design method and the other by a Limit Design method were prepared and tested to failure with short time loading. …

Studies Of Bistable Fluid Devices For Particle Flow Control, Gerald H. Hogland

Dissertations and Theses

This study was directed toward the development of a bistable wall attachment Flip-Flop device which was capable of directionally controlling particle flow. The particles were transported by a fluid stream which under the influence of wall attachment. The dominant criteria in the development of the device was the achievement of the highest recovery of particles at the active output, without destroying the wall attachment of the fluid stream The experiment was conducted in several distinct stages; each of which was concerned with at least one aspect of wa1l attachment or particle flow. Results derived from one test were used to …

Comparative Study Of Lightweight And Normal Weight Concrete In Flexure, Mohammad Zareh

Dissertations and Theses

This investigation represents a comparative study of the flexural behavior of lightweight and normal weight concrete. Both theoretical and experimental moment-curvature characteristics of the tested specimens were used to study the flexural behavior.

A generalized computer program to determine the moment-curvature relationships of a singly reinforced rectangular concrete beam was developed.

For this limited study it was observed that lightweight concrete beams when compared to normal concrete beams achieve comparable moment capacity (about 92% of normal weight concrete) but exhibit higher deflections (about 40% more than normal weight concrete).