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The University of Akron

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

2023

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Full-Text Articles in Engineering

Architectural Paint Tank Cleaning, Callie Ruppen Jan 2023

Architectural Paint Tank Cleaning, Callie Ruppen

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Architectural paint is highly susceptible to bacterial contamination, so material preservative ingredients are added during production to prevent bacterial contamination which can lead to wet-state spoilage of paint. In recent years however, paint formulations have reduced or eliminated volatile organic compounds (VOC) and regulations on the use of material preservative ingredients have been increased, reducing the use of traditional material preservatives. As a result, the coating industry must focus on improving microbial control through manufacturing hygiene programs including process tank cleaning and sanitization. While requirements for tank cleaning are clearly outlined in standard operating procedures (SOPs) and internal standards, there …


Powering Electric Vehicles: Are We Ready?, Christian Yoder Jan 2023

Powering Electric Vehicles: Are We Ready?, Christian Yoder

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This project will investigate typical power grids and the impacts that electric vehicles have on them. Electric vehicles are rapidly growing in popularity and much of the world is promising to make the switch from combustion engines to EVs. Electric vehicles demand a large amount of electricity. With fast charging becoming available, it is worth asking if the current electrical infrastructure can handle the increase in demand. After talking to a source at FirstEnergy, it seems large electric companies are well aware of areas in need of adjustment and are moving accordingly.


Media Streaming In A High-Rate Delay Tolerant Network, Kyle Vernyi Jan 2023

Media Streaming In A High-Rate Delay Tolerant Network, Kyle Vernyi

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Audio and video streaming across delay tolerant networks are relatively new phenomena. During the Apollo 11 mission, video and audio were streamed directly back to Earth using fully analog radios. This streaming capability atrophied over time. The gradual conversion to digital electronics contributed greatly to this. Additionally, 21st century space systems face the new requirement of interconnectedness. Delay Tolerant Networking (DTN) attempts to solve this requirement by uniting traditional point to point links into a robust and dynamic network. However, DTN implementations present bottlenecks due to low performance. High-Rate Delay Tolerant Networking (HDTN) is a performance-optimized DTN implementation. This work …


Dome Tester, Clark Bates, Nikolas M. Kulin Jan 2023

Dome Tester, Clark Bates, Nikolas M. Kulin

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

We are reconfiguring and modifying the previously built dome tester to be more user friendly and mechanically applicable. This has a long-term goal of being a usable teaching tool for manufacturing education within the college of engineering and polymer sciences. The dome tester pushes a metal dome into a clamped sheet of metal to test its forming limits and where necking occurs. We have implemented a better method of viewing the sheet sample as it is being deformed, and improved measuring methods for the distance a sample is deformed. By introducing these changes in conjunction with improved documentation of the …


Smart Power Outlet, Kyrolos Melek, Joseph M. Garro, Ethan G. Frese, Madison Britton Jan 2023

Smart Power Outlet, Kyrolos Melek, Joseph M. Garro, Ethan G. Frese, Madison Britton

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

With an ever-increasing demand on the electrical grid and an increase in electrical consumer goods per household, effective power management and monitoring for home users is a must. The objective of this project is to create a consumer outlet and companion phone application. The power outlet will measure power draw on each socket and report these measurements via an embedded system, wirelessly, to the application. The application will then allow for setting custom power draws at which an individual socket will switch off if exceeded and will display how much a given outlet or individual socket is costing per unit …


Running Shoe Pedometer, Benjamin Kasper Jan 2023

Running Shoe Pedometer, Benjamin Kasper

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Running shoe pedometer aims to solve the issue of worn out running shoes. It can be difficult to know just how many miles you have run in your shoes and when a new pair is needed. Running in old shoes and worn out shoes is heavily linked to injury. My proposed project is a device that is powered by the compressive forces on the shoes soles that counts the number of steps the wearer takes using a microcontroller. Then, when the shoe reaches milestone that indicate it has been used 75% 90% and 100% of its expected life, it will …


Wireless Kick Pedal, Jacob Wise, Ryan Kinyo, Bradley Toth, Ian Zanath Jan 2023

Wireless Kick Pedal, Jacob Wise, Ryan Kinyo, Bradley Toth, Ian Zanath

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The goal of the project is to build a wireless kick pedal that allows accessibility to drummers that have leg or foot disabilities and add versatility to multi-instrumentalists looking to add percussion while playing another instrument. The proposed pedal is designed in two main parts, a wearable band that tracks the player’s movement, and a hammer mechanism that receives actuation commands from the wearable band to move the hammer and deliver a drumbeat. The band is designed to be worn on several parts of the body, including the ankle, knee, thigh, or even the arm depending on the user’s situation. …


Defining The Proper Operating Time For The Septa Extractor, Abigail Jones Jan 2023

Defining The Proper Operating Time For The Septa Extractor, Abigail Jones

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Anionic polymerizations are a common type of reaction used to produce synthetic rubber. During these reactions, it is necessary to charge initiators, modifiers, and other substances, through pressurized containers that are sealed with rubber septa. These septa prevent oxygen and moisture from entering the pressurized container, and the reactor, though they need to be cleaned before use to remove other impurities. Currently a glass Soxhlet Extractor is used to remove such impurities, and though effective, it has a limited capacity, so it has to run frequently. This limitation led to the commissioning of the Septa Extractor, which is an automated …


Amphisbaenian Head Movement And Burrowing Forces In Damp Granular Media, Jacob Newell Jan 2023

Amphisbaenian Head Movement And Burrowing Forces In Damp Granular Media, Jacob Newell

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Damp granular media is a difficult environment to study because it is both practically complex and it lacks equations which fully describe its behavior. In this study, an oscillatory lateral head movement and its effects while penetrating damp granular media were tested using a robophysical model. This experimental research was inspired by the burrowing behavior of the clade Amphisbaenia, a group of usually limbless squamates that employ a variety of different burrowing behaviors, but it can apply to a wide range of burrowers. This research could help with both human burrowing technologies and the further investigation of animal behaviors.


The Impact Distracted Driving Has On Fatal Crashes, Adam Pohrte Jan 2023

The Impact Distracted Driving Has On Fatal Crashes, Adam Pohrte

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Distracted driving has been a major problem in the United States and around the globe for quite some time. It is one of the leading causes of fatal car crashes, and its impact on road safety has been the subject of much research and debate. The purpose of this paper is to focus on the driver who was distracted that ended up causing the crash. To obtain precise data and results, all the information about these crashes is from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS). FARS is a nationwide census maintained by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) that …


Hendrickson Lift Kit, Matthew Rozmajzl Jan 2023

Hendrickson Lift Kit, Matthew Rozmajzl

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This research project will be completed with Hendrickson Trailer as the sponsor. The goal of the project is to create a lift kit for a newer suspension system. The lift kit must provide enough lift force to lift an axle off the road and suspend it off the road while in transit. There are similar systems offered for different products at Hendrickson, but the configuration of this system is such that new brackets must be designed. The benefit of such a system is a reduction in wear on the lifted tires, and thus an increase in the life of the …


Design Of Force Indicator For Ballistic Armor Trauma Pad, William Keenan, Anthony Cinalli, Patrick Kennedy Jan 2023

Design Of Force Indicator For Ballistic Armor Trauma Pad, William Keenan, Anthony Cinalli, Patrick Kennedy

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The purpose of the Force Indicator for Ballistic Armor Vests is to obtain an approximate value for the impact a bullet delivers through a trauma pad after the Kevlar layer stops the initial bullet. This approximation will be applied in the field to assist in medical treatment of gunshot wounds. The indicator is made from a pressure-sensitive film located behind the Kevlar layer and trauma pad, and it can be easily removed in the field for examination. The impact vest and force indicator are self-contained for ease of implementation. The device will be tested with 9mm, .22 Long Rifle, and …


Utilizing Computer-Aided Molecular Design With Azido-Ester Plasticizers, Justin Ebert Jan 2023

Utilizing Computer-Aided Molecular Design With Azido-Ester Plasticizers, Justin Ebert

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The goal of this project was to utilize Computer-Aided Molecular Design (CAMD) using the Signature molecular descriptor to inversely design optimized azido-ester plasticizers. Azido-ester plasticizers are used to modify the mechanical properties of propellant and explosive formulations. With the assistance of quantitative structure-property relationships, QSPRs, and two types of constraint equations, these new, novel plasticizers have the potential to possess optimal physical and chemical properties. Properties investigated in this work were decomposition temperature, heat of formation, glass transition temperature, and molecular weight. These properties were chosen for their importance when formulating propellants or explosives. After the filters were applied to …


A Study On Crash Reduction Of A Signalized Intersection Converted To A Multi-Lane Roundabout, Ian Fuller Jan 2023

A Study On Crash Reduction Of A Signalized Intersection Converted To A Multi-Lane Roundabout, Ian Fuller

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

An analysis of traffic patterns and design issues with East Main Street in Kent, Ohio. Including potential improvements.


Level And Temperature Controlled Vessel, Cameron Macesich Jan 2023

Level And Temperature Controlled Vessel, Cameron Macesich

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Using two Arduino microcontrollers, level and temperature Proportional-Integral control systems for a continuously stirred tank reactor were designed and configured. Open-loop step tests were performed and fitted with First Order Plus Time Delay responses so that controller tuning parameters could be analytically derived. The effectiveness of the designed systems was evaluated by monitoring the response of closed-loop setpoint changes.


Anti-Freeze Double Network Hydrogels, William Gross Jan 2023

Anti-Freeze Double Network Hydrogels, William Gross

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Three polyethylene glycol (PEG) based crosslinkers with repeat unit nominal weights of 62.1, 200, and 400 g/mol in agar/PAM double network (DN) hydrogels were used to study the effect of different crosslinkers on thermal and mechanical properties. Using the one-pot synthesis method, hydrogels with the PEG crosslinkers or methylene-bis-acrylamide (MBAA) were made via sol-gel transition for formation of agar network, and photopolymerization of the PAM network using Irgacure 2959 as photo initiator. Tensile and compression tests were performed on as prepared, swollen, and swollen & cooled specimens of each hydrogel. Freezing time and thermal imaging were performed in -20 °C …


Teflon Replacement In Pans, Teodora Neamtu Jan 2023

Teflon Replacement In Pans, Teodora Neamtu

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The purpose of the project is to determine an optimal prepping method of common cooking oils for pans that will be as effective as Teflon non-stick pans. The reason for this is to replace Teflon coating in pans, which can be very toxic for humans and the environment. Teflon has been a common coating for non-stick surfaces that is useful when cooking things such as eggs. To determine an optimal cooking method, three different oils were used: olive oil, vegetable oil, and shortening. The oils were tested on an aluminum pan by cooking egg whites at various temperatures, cooking times, …


Defense Of A Small Network, Isabella Adkins Jan 2023

Defense Of A Small Network, Isabella Adkins

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

A sample network will be virtually created consisting of three routers, one switch, and three hosts. The network will be secured using various methods such as enabling passwords and encryption. After the network has been properly secured, various attacks will be attempted with the goal of breaking into the network. These attacks include reconnaissance (gathering information), penetrating the network using the tool Metasploit, and attempting to get a credential phishing email to end users. If successful in the attacks, the network will be revisited and analyzed for any weaknesses or oversights.


Cross-Seeding Of Protegin-1 And Amyloid Beta To Inhibit Amyloid Beta Aggregation, Sarah Robinson Jan 2023

Cross-Seeding Of Protegin-1 And Amyloid Beta To Inhibit Amyloid Beta Aggregation, Sarah Robinson

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Amyloid beta (Aβ) is considered a major component in the progression of degenerative disease like Alzheimer’s disease. In an attempt to cure Alzheimer’s before it has presented, this project proposes a study on the effects of protegrin-1 (PG-1) on the aggregation of Aβ. By cross-seeding to form a PG-1- Aβ heterocomplex, it is believed that aggregation of Aβ on the human brain can be inhibited, thus helping to stop the neurodegeneration caused by Alzheimer’s disease. To complete this project, an initial literature review of previous work done by the graduate student leading the project will be completed. After this, experiments …


Neonatal Intraocular Injection And Delivery System, Nina Treacher, Cory Ramsey, Marie Kosco, Jackson Carrell Jan 2023

Neonatal Intraocular Injection And Delivery System, Nina Treacher, Cory Ramsey, Marie Kosco, Jackson Carrell

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The proposed project is a way to deliver liquid medicine into the neonatal eye to prevent retinal detachment with lower risk for bacterial infection and drug misplacement. Currently, ophthalmologists use diabetic needles to introduce medication to the neonate eye. They estimate the injection location with hand-held calipers. This may allow the medicine to be misplaced from poor needle placement and introduce preventable error. The goal is to improve the delivery system ophthalmologists currently use by investigating ways to alter or enhance commonly used injection systems to make the procedure safer and more effective.


Frostflex, Isaac Edmondson, Caleb Edmondson, Joey Esker, Nadine Salem Jan 2023

Frostflex, Isaac Edmondson, Caleb Edmondson, Joey Esker, Nadine Salem

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Research has shown that the majority of heat lost during physical exercise leaves the body through the hands, feet, and the face. Our design project seeks to develop cooling glove technology to increase the rate at which heat leaves the body during recovery from physical exertion. The goal of this project was to investigate different ways in which heat absorption through various mediums can be manipulated and scaled into an adaptable, flexible design in which athletes of all levels, from recreational to professional, can improve their physical performance with the use of our gloves. Deliverables include a functional prototype, product …


Analysis Of Plastic Pyrolysis Oil Separation Using Chemcad, Brian Berish, Juliana Mcgaffic Jan 2023

Analysis Of Plastic Pyrolysis Oil Separation Using Chemcad, Brian Berish, Juliana Mcgaffic

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Excessive plastic waste is a massive global issue. Plastic pyrolysis is a process of melting plastic in the absence of oxygen to create an wax-oil type substance called pyrolysis oil. This project will use a ChemCAD simulation to perform a distillation of a predetermined plastic pyrolysis oil into usable products. Heat integration will be used to construct a heat exchanger network and estimate utility usage. Sizing and costing of all equipment will be calculated and an overall cost analysis of the completed simulation will be performed to determine the economic viability of plant construction. Market research for potential products will …


Whiteboard Drawing Device, Stefan Ilic, Andrew Adams, Vaughn Richards, James Medved Jan 2023

Whiteboard Drawing Device, Stefan Ilic, Andrew Adams, Vaughn Richards, James Medved

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Whiteboards have become a staple in many classrooms, especially in the context of STEM courses. However, when it comes to teaching complex topics, it can be difficult or impractical to provide accurate drawings and visualizations by hand, and in extreme cases may lead to misinterpretation of a particular topic. To fix this issue, the Whiteboard Drawing Device allows users to draw preset shapes to a whiteboard automatically, both quickly and accurately. Using either a smartphone application or a set of onboard controls, the device allows users to automatically draw straight lines, rectangles, triangles, sinusoidal waves, and circles on the whiteboard. …


Small Business Office Network, Michael Gerome Jan 2023

Small Business Office Network, Michael Gerome

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This project will emulate a small office network environment. The project will demonstrate the process of building and configuring the network to meet the requirements laid out in the project plan. This network includes four subnets with Windows 10 end devices and a Kali Linux device, it also includes five Cisco layer 2 switches and three Cisco routers. There are also three subnets connecting the routers to each other to enable routing between the subnets. After the network environment is set up, various penetration tests are performed from the Kali Linux device to gather information. The Nmap reconnaissance tool is …


Side Cutting Biopsy Needle For Endoscopes, Cade Smarr, Ella B. Brinkman, Christine Skakun, Vincent Grosso Jan 2023

Side Cutting Biopsy Needle For Endoscopes, Cade Smarr, Ella B. Brinkman, Christine Skakun, Vincent Grosso

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Develop a side cutting biopsy needle that fits through the working channel of the endoscope similar to stereotactic needle with syringe suction to overcome the small biopsy samples due to instrument size limitations. The problem users are facing is that the biopsy samples through the endoscope are small secondary to instrument size limitations. The idea for this problem is to develop a side cutting biopsy needle that fits through the working channel of the endoscope similar to stereotactic needle, syringe suction.


Mouthpiece For Patients With Neuromuscular Disorders, Rebekah Starkey, Carissa Thompson, Michael Dickens, Andrew Pero Jan 2023

Mouthpiece For Patients With Neuromuscular Disorders, Rebekah Starkey, Carissa Thompson, Michael Dickens, Andrew Pero

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Neuromuscular Disorders (NMDs) impact people throughout the world. An early hallmark of these disorders includes some degree of facial muscle weakness. Respiratory testing is important to evaluate the progression of these patients’ NMDs. However, these tests require that the patient purses their lips around a mouthpiece to create a tight seal. This is a difficult task for one with facial muscle degeneration. This often leads to results that fail to reflect the patient’s true respiratory ability and prevents their physician from providing the appropriate degree of care. The objective of this project was to develop a face mask or mouthpiece …


Quadcopter Airfoil Analyses, Isabella Allen, Nicholas Tolson, Trevor Mccaffrey Jan 2023

Quadcopter Airfoil Analyses, Isabella Allen, Nicholas Tolson, Trevor Mccaffrey

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This project focuses on the aerodynamic analysis of airfoils for quadcopter applications, aiming to optimize the performance of quadcopters through the selection and analysis of various 3D printed airfoil profiles. Quadcopters are unmanned aerial vehicles with four rotors arranged in a symmetric configuration. Each diagonal pair rotates in the same direction, allowing the offset to ensure the quadcopter remains level. The airfoil selection is crucial as it impacts aerodynamic performance, stability, and efficiency. The parameter of interest in these airfoils is maximum thrust and settling thrust produced, along with material wear of the propellers themselves. The testing of thrust production …


Nidec Automated Winder, Michael Pugh, Ben A. Swartz, Andrew Leonard, Garrett Dostal Jan 2023

Nidec Automated Winder, Michael Pugh, Ben A. Swartz, Andrew Leonard, Garrett Dostal

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Nidec Drive Systems is a leading electric motor manufacturing company with several facilities in the US and around the world. However, as of recent, Nidec has started to see some signs of old and outdated production machines affecting their production numbers even though the demand for electric is ever increasing. In an attempt to repair some of these issues, Nidec reached out to the University of Akron to look for senior design groups to help design and standardize better production machines. We were tasked with redesigning a new winder, which is a machine that winds the copper coils to the …


Implementing Systems Engineering Practices To The Zips Aero Design Team, Kaitlyn Bebb, Ariel Bryan Jan 2023

Implementing Systems Engineering Practices To The Zips Aero Design Team, Kaitlyn Bebb, Ariel Bryan

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The Zips Aero Design Team is a college sponsored design team that competes each year through the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Design Build Fly (DBF) competition. The rules generally consist of 3 differing flight missions and a ground mission, with overarching requirements such as size, takeoff distance, and battery limitations. A complex set of rules such as these is meant to be difficult for even the best of teams to master, especially without proper organization and project management. This senior design report outlines the benefits of implementing systems engineering to the Zips Aero Design Team, through multiple …


Small Voip-Supported Network, Drina Hobson Jan 2023

Small Voip-Supported Network, Drina Hobson

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Create a small VoIP network using SIP using physical Cisco equipment. Implement advanced VoIP features such as multicast paging, voice message system & message waiting indicator, and music-on-hold.