Engineering Commons^™

A Highly Versatile Fungal Glucosyltransferase For Specific Production Of Quercetin-7-O-Β-D-Glucoside And Quercetin-3-O-Β-D-Glucoside In Different Hosts, Jie Ren, Wenzhu Tang, Caleb Don Barton, Owen M. Price, Mark Wayne Mortensen, Alexandra Phillips, Banner Wald, Simon Elgin Hulme, Logan Powell Stanley, Joan Hevel, Jixun Zhan

Biological Engineering Faculty Publications

Glycosylation is an effective way to improve the water solubility of natural products. In this work, a novel glycosyltransferase gene (BbGT) was discovered from Beauveria bassiana ATCC 7159 and heterologously expressed in Escherichia coli. The purified enzyme was functionally characterized through in vitro enzymatic reactions as a UDP-glucosyltransferase, converting quercetin to five monoglucosylated and one diglucosylated products. The optimal pH and temperature for BbGT are 35 ℃ and 8.0, respectively. The activity of BbGT was stimulated by Ca2+, Mg2+, and Mn2+, but inhibited by Zn2+. BbGT enzyme is flexible and can glycosylate a variety of substrates such as curcumin, …

Increasing Affordability, Energy Efficiency, And Ridership Of Transit Bus Systems Through Large-Scale Electrification, Ziqi Song

Funded Research Records

No abstract provided.

Uptpu: Improving Energy Efficiency Of A Tensor Processing Unit Through Underutilization Based Power-Gating, Pramesh Pandey, Noel Daniel Gundi, Koushik Chakraborty, Sanghamitra Roy

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

The AI boom is bringing a plethora of domain-specific architectures for Neural Network computations. Google's Tensor Processing Unit (TPU), a Deep Neural Network (DNN) accelerator, has replaced the CPUs/GPUs in its data centers, claiming more than 15 × rate of inference. However, the unprecedented growth in DNN workloads with the widespread use of AI services projects an increasing energy consumption of TPU based data centers. In this work, we parametrize the extreme hardware underutilization in TPU systolic array and propose UPTPU: an intelligent, dataflow adaptive power-gating paradigm to provide a staggering 3.5 ×-6.5× energy efficiency to TPU for different input …

Stochastic Lightning Damage Prediction Of Carbon/Epoxy Composites With Material Uncertainties, S.Z.H. Shah, Juhyeong Lee

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

This study presents a novel stochastic modeling framework predicting lightning thermal damage in carbon/epoxy composites. The stochastic lightning damage model (SLDM) was developed with random distributions of composite’s electrical conductivity and void. The Box-Muller transformation was applied to generate random in-plane and through-thickness electrical conductivities with Gaussian distributions. The SLDM suggested that the predicted lightning thermal damage to carbon/epoxy composites increased slightly with the use of stochastic electrical conductivity, but the presence of voids did not significantly affect the damage development. The predicted size and shape of lightning thermal damage agreed fairly well with experimental results. In addition, the proposed …

Collaborative Research: Audio For Inclusion: Uncovering The Narratives Of Minoritized Students To Provide Insight To Faculty On The Known Unknowns Of Inclusion, Cassandra Mccall

Funded Research Records

No abstract provided.

Thermal Barrier Coating For Carbon Fiber-Reinforced Composite Materials, Heejin Kim, Jungwon Kim, Juhyeong Lee, Min Wook Lee

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

Carbon fiber-reinforced plastic (CFRP) composites are widely employed in lightweight and high performance applications including supercars, aero-vehicles, and space components. However, although carbon fibers are thermally stable, the low thermal endurance of the matrix materials remains a critical problem in terms of the performance of the material. In this study, we proposed a new, Al₂O₃-based thermal barrier coating (TBC) for the CFRP composites. The TBC comprised α-phase Al₂O₃ particles with a mean diameter of 9.27 μm. The strong adhesion between the TBC and the CFRP substrate was evaluated using a three point bending …

Comparison Of Theoretical And Multi-Fidelity Optimum Aerostructural Solutions For Wing Design, Jeffrey D. Taylor, Douglas F. Hunsaker

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Student Publications and Presentations

As contemporary aerostructural research for aircraft design trends toward high-fidelity computational methods, aerostructural solutions based on theory are often neglected or forgotten. In fact, in many modern aerostructural wing optimization studies, the elliptic lift distribution is used as a benchmark in place of theoretical aerostructural solutions with more appropriate constraints. In this paper, we review several theoretical aerostructural solutions that could be used as benchmark cases for wing design studies, and we compare them to high-fidelity solutions with similar constraints. Solutions are presented for studies with 1) constraints related to the wing integrated bending moment, 2) constraints related to the …

Lightning Arc Channel Effects On Surface Damage Development On A Prseus Composite Panel: An Experimental Study, Dounia Boushab, Pedram Gharghabi, Juhyeong Lee, Thomas E. Lacy Jr., Charles U. Pittman Jr., Michael S. Mazzola, Alexander Velicki

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

Composite aircraft structures are vulnerable to lightning strike damage due to their relatively low electrical and thermal conductivities. A preceding work has investigated the lightning damage resistance of a carbon-epoxy Pultruded Rod Stitched Efficient Unitized Structure (PRSEUS) panel. The damage includes intense local damage (i.e., matrix decomposition/sublimation, fiber rupture, delamination) accompanied by widespread surface damage (i.e., distributed fiber rupture and tow splitting) further from the lightning attachment point. This study focuses on investigating the cause of the widespread surface damage. Two possible driving mechanisms are explored: i) magnetically-induced currents and ii) lightning arc-root/channel expansion. …

Residential Water Meters As Edge Computing Nodes: Disaggregating End Uses And Creating Actionable Information At The Edge, Nour A. Attallah, Jeffery S. Horsburgh, Arle S. Beckwith Jr., Robb J. Tracey

Publications

We present a new, open source, computationally capable datalogger for collecting and analyzing high temporal resolution residential water use data. Using this device, execution of water end use disaggregation algorithms or other data analytics can be performed directly on existing, analog residential water meters without disrupting their operation, effectively transforming existing water meters into smart, edge computing devices. Computation of water use summaries and classified water end use events directly on the meter minimizes data transmission requirements, reduces requirements for centralized data storage and processing, and reduces latency between data collection and generation of decision-relevant information. The datalogger couples an …

From Attitude To Satisfaction: Introducing The Travel Mode Choice Cycle, Jonas De Vos, Patrick A. Singleton, Tommy Gärling

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Many studies analysing the relationship between attitudes and travel behaviour have found that travel attitudes have an important impact on travel mode choice. More recently, studies focusing on how people experience travel have shown that travel satisfaction is influenced by the chosen travel mode. The desire and intention of using a travel mode – which can be considered as important predictors of mode choice – have, however, received limited attention. Furthermore, existing studies mostly have a narrow scope and lack integration of the above constructs. In this paper, we introduce the travel mode choice cycle (TMCC), a comprehensive model aiming …

Hydrolearn: Improving Students’ Conceptual Understanding And Technical Skills In A Civil Engineering Senior Design Course, Melissa Ann Gallagher, Jenny Byrd, Emad Habib, David G. Tarboton, Clinton S. Wilson

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Engineering graduates need a deep understanding of key concepts in addition to technical skills to be successful in the workforce. However, traditional methods of instruction (e.g., lecture) do not foster deep conceptual understanding and make it challenging for students to learn the technical skills, (e.g., professional modeling software), that they need to know. This study builds on prior work to assess engineering students’ conceptual and procedural knowledge. The results provide an insight into how the use of authentic online learning modules influence engineering students’ conceptual knowledge and procedural skills. We designed online active learning modules to support and deepen undergraduate …

An Open Source Cyberinfrastructure For Collecting, Processing, Storing And Accessing High Temporal Resolution Residential Water Use Data, Camilo J. Bastidas Pacheco, Joseph C. Brewer, Jeffery S. Horsburgh, Juan Caraballo

Publications

Collecting and managing high temporal resolution residential water use data is challenging due to cost and technical requirements associated with the volume and velocity of data collected. We developed an open-source, modular, generalized architecture called Cyberinfrastructure for Intelligent Water Supply (CIWS) to automate the process from data collection to analysis and presentation of high temporal residential water use data. A prototype implementation was built using existing open-source technologies, including smart meters, databases, and services. Two case studies were selected to test functionalities of CIWS, including push and pull data models within single family and multi-unit residential contexts, respectively. CIWS was …

Practicing Self-Regulation Of Cognition And Motivation During Problem Solving In Engineering And Mathematics, Oenardi Lawanto

Funded Research Records

No abstract provided.

An Open Web-Based Module Developed To Advance Data-Driven Hydrologic Process Learning, Belize A. Lane, Irene Garousi-Nejad, Melissa A. Gallagher, David G. Tarboton, Emad Habib

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

The era of ‘big data’ promises to provide new hydrologic insights, and open web-based platforms are being developed and adopted by the hydrologic science community to harness these datasets and data services. This shift accompanies advances in hydrology education and the growth of web-based hydrology learning modules, but their capacity to utilize emerging open platforms and data services to enhance student learning through data-driven activities remains largely untapped. Given that generic equations may not easily translate into local or regional solutions, teaching students to explore how well models or equations work in particular settings or to answer specific problems using …

Reu Site: Stem For Plant Health, David W. Britt

Funded Research Records

No abstract provided.

Low-Fidelity Method For Rapid Aerostructural Optimisation And Design-Space Exploration Of Planar Wings, Jeffrey D. Taylor, Doug F. Hunsaker

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Student Publications and Presentations

During early phases of wing design, analytic and low-fidelity methods are often used to identify promising design concepts. In many cases, solutions obtained using these methods provide intuition about the design space that is not easily obtained using higher-fidelity methods. This is especially true for aerostructural design. However, many analytic and low-fidelity aerostructural solutions are limited in application to wings with specific planforms and weight distributions. Here, a numerical method for minimising induced drag with structural constraints is presented that uses approximations that apply to unswept planar wings with arbitrary planforms and weight distributions. The method is applied to the …

Managing Lake Urmia, Iran For Diverse Restoration Objectives: Moving Beyond A Uniform Target Lake Level, Somayeh Sima, David E. Rosenberg, Wayne A. Wurtsbaugh, Sarah E. Null, Karin M. Kettenring

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

There is widespread interest in restoring drying saline lakes. At Iran’s hypersaline Lake Urmia, managers have sought a uniform target lake level of 1274.1 m above sea level to lower salinity below 263 g L−1 and recover Artemia to sufficient densities to support flamingos. We suggest that addressing a broader range of objectives will allow more flexibility for managing the lake. We define eight restoration objectives to lower salinity, sustain Artemia and flamingo populations, separate islands from each other and the mainland, reduce lakebed dust, maintain commercially valuable ions, and improve recreational access from resort beaches. We use 40 years …

Engineering Students’ Perceptions Of Mathematical Modeling In A Learning Module Centered On A Hydrologic Design Case Study, Madeline F. Merck, Melissa A. Gallagher, Emad Habib, David G. Tarboton

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Engineering students need to spend time engaging in mathematical modeling tasks to reinforce their learning of mathematics through its application to authentic problems and real world design situations. Technological tools and resources can support this kind of learning engagement. We produced an online module that develops students‚Äô mathematical modeling skills while developing knowledge of the fundamentals of rainfall-runoff processes and engineering design. This study examined how 251 students at two United States universities perceived mathematical modeling as implemented through the online module over a 5-year period. We found, subject to the limitation that these are perceptions from not all students, …

Collaborative Research: 3d Ambient Noise Tomography (3d Ant) For Natural Hazards Engineering, Brady Cox

Funded Research Records

No abstract provided.

Career: Support Our Troops: Re-Storying Student Veteran And Service Member Deficit In Engineering Through Professional Formation And Community Advocacy, Angela L. Minichiello

Funded Research Records

No abstract provided.

Aircraft Input Files For Pylot And Machupx, Jaden Thurgood

Browse all Datasets

This data was used in an attempt at system identification for rudderless aircraft using simulation.

Deciphering And Engineering An Unprecedented Fungal Biosynthetic Pathway For Expanded Chemical Diversity In Flavonoids, Jixun Zhan

Funded Research Records

No abstract provided.

3d-Printed Wings With Morphing Trailing-Edge Technology, Benjamin C. Moulton, Douglas F. Hunsaker

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Student Publications and Presentations

In recent years, various groups have attempted to improve aircraft efficiency using wings with morphing trailing-edge technology. Most of these solutions are difficult to manufacture or have limited morphing capability. The present paper outlines a research effort to develop an easy to manufacture, fully 3D-printed morphing wing. This approach is advantageous due to the low cost, minimal man-hours required for manufacturing, and speed at which design iterations can be explored. Several prototypes were designed and tested and lessons learned from these iterations have been documented. Additionally, printer settings have been tested and catalogued to assist others attempting to reproduce these …

Practical Implementation Of A General Numerical Lifting-Line Method, Cory D. Goates, Douglas F. Hunsaker

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Student Publications and Presentations

A general numerical lifting-line method provides corrections to overcome the singularities inherent in the lifting-line downwash integrals in certain cases. These singularities have previously limited the scope of lifting-line theory to straight wings not in sideslip; in all other cases, more traditional numerical approaches to solving Prandtl's hypothesis fail to grid converge. However, this general numerical lifting-line method grid converges even for swept wings and wings in sideslip. In the current work, we apply the general numerical lifting-line method to any number of wings with arbitrary geometry. We also provide a dimensional derivation of the basic general numerical lifting-line equations …

Characterization Of The Common Research Model Wing For Low-Fidelity Aerostructural Analysis, Jeffrey D. Taylor, Douglas F. Hunsaker

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Student Publications and Presentations

A characterization of the Common Research Model (CRM) wing for low-fidelity aerostructural optimization is presented. The geometric and structural properties are based on the CAD geometries and finite-element models for the CRM wing and the undeflected Common Research Model Wing (uCRM). Three approximations are presented for the elastic axis from previously-published studies on wing boxes similar to the uCRM, and approximations of the flexural and torsional rigidity are presented from a previously-published study using the uCRM wing. The characterization presented in this paper is intended to be used within low-fidelity aerostructural analysis tools to facilitate rapid design optimization and exploratory …

Sensitivity And Estimation Of Flying-Wing Aerodynamic, Propulsion, And Inertial Parameters Using Simulation, Jaden Thurgood, Douglas F. Hunsaker

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Student Publications and Presentations

This paper explores the difficulties of aircraft system identification, specifically parameter estimation, for a rudderless aircraft. A white box method is used in conjunction with a nonlinear six degree-of-freedom aerodynamic model for the equations of motion in order to estimate 33 parameters that govern the aerodynamic, inertial, and propulsion forces within the mathematical model. The analysis is conducted in the time-domain of system identification. Additionally, all the parameters are estimated using a single flight rather than a series of shorter flights dedicated to estimating specific sets of parameters as is typically done. A final flight plan is developed with a …

Comparison Of Theoretical And High-Fidelity Aerostructural Solutions, Jeffrey D. Taylor, Douglas F. Hunsaker

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Student Publications and Presentations

As contemporary aerostructural research in aircraft design trends toward high-fidelity computational methods, aerostructural solutions based on theory are often neglected or forgotten. In fact, in many modern aerostructural wing optimization studies, the elliptic lift distribution is used as a benchmark in place of theoretical aerostructural solutions with more appropriate constraints. In this paper, we review several theoretical aerostructural solutions that could be used as benchmark cases for wing design studies, and we compare them to high-fidelity solutions with similar constraints. Solutions are presented for studies with 1) constraints related to the wing integrated bending moment, 2) constraints related to the …

Open Source Software Problems In Heat Transfer To Explore Assumptions And Models, Benjamin Pepper, Amir Behbahanian, Nick Roberts

Course Materials

Energy2D software can be downloaded here: http://energy.concord.org/energy2d/

After opening the application, choose File -> Open and select one of the .e2d files available for download here under additional files. Click the Run button to get started.

The main download has a document that provides a detailed description of the adaptation of a freely available software program, Energy2D, for problems focused on the exploration and limitations of assumptions made in models commonly used in an undergraduate heat transfer course. The motivation for creating homework problems that use Energy2D is to explore the accuracy and limitations of the models used in heat …

Computational Modeling For Decision-Making Under Climate Change Uncertainty: Reservoir Simulation Game, Julianne Quinn

All ECSTATIC Materials

Almost every decision you make is under uncertainty. Will I need a rain jacket in the afternoon? Will they say yes if I ask them out? Is 1 hour enough time to finish this assignment? Oftentimes, we can use computational modeling to simulate different scenarios of what might happen in the future to inform what decisions are best on average, or what decisions minimize the worst case outcome. For example, you could decide what player to draft for your Fantasy Football team by simulating player performance. In this activity, we will simulate how much water to release from a dam …

Toward Open And Reproducible Environmental Modeling By Integrating Online Data Repositories, Computational Environments, And Model Application Programming Interfaces, Young-Don Choi, Jonathan L. Goodall, Jeffrey M. Sadler, Anthony M. Castronova, Andrew Bennett, Zhiyu Li, Bart Nijssen, Shaowen Wang, Martyn P. Clark, Daniel P. Ames, Jeffery S. Horsburgh, Hong Yi, Christina Bandaragoda, Martin Seul, Richard Hooper, David G. Tarboton

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Cyberinfrastructure needs to be advanced to enable open and reproducible environmental modeling research. Recent efforts toward this goal have focused on advancing online repositories for data and model sharing, online computational environments along with containerization technology and notebooks for capturing reproducible computational studies, and Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) for simulation models to foster intuitive programmatic control. The objective of this research is to show how these efforts can be integrated to support reproducible environmental modeling. We present first the high-level concept and general approach for integrating these three components. We then present one possible implementation that integrates HydroShare (an online …