Engineering Commons^™

2020 - The First Annual Fall Symposium Of Student Scholars

Symposium of Student Scholars Program Books

The full program book from the Fall 2020 Symposium of Student Scholars, held on December 3, 2020. Includes abstracts from the presentations and posters.

South Dakota State University : Research 2020, Division Of Research And Economic Development

Research: South Dakota State University

[Page] 2 New respirator design to capture, kill coronavirus
[Page] 3 SDSU scientists to examine how coronavirus infects cells
[Page] 4 State diagnostic lab fulfills need for human COVID-19 testing
[Page] 5 Isaacson to help develop tribal palliative care programs
[Page] 6 Sun Grant funding fuels bioprocessing research
[Page] 8 Prairie AquaTech exporting high-protein feed ingredient
[Page] 11 New connection makes building repair fast, cost-effective
[Page] 12 Record-setting wildfire season drastically increases emissions
[Page] 14 Engineering study examines sunflower stem growth
[Page] 15 State Poet Laureate unveils ‘South Dakota in Poems'
[Page] 16 Reineke receives NIH grant to help eradicate …

Santa Clara Magazine, Volume 61 Number 3, Fall 2020 [Print Issue V.61:2], Santa Clara University

Santa Clara Magazine

16 - THE GIFT Is sacrifice, given willingly and with love, what makes us human? Leslie Griffy.

20 - NOT A MOMENT, BUT A MOVEMENT From protests in Benson in 1969 to a multi-decade movement called Unity, students of color have consistently pushed SCU to progress. Matt Morgan.

28 - ON BEING BETTER Discover the ways we can better support each other, particularly as white people seek to become allies to people of color. Lauren Loftus.

32 - THE SACRIFICIAL TWEET Social media missteps are costly, perhaps now more than ever. Just what are we willing to give up to …

Interdisciplinary Education Outreach With Traffic Sensor Build Kits, Sarah V. Hernandez, Mariah B. Crews

Civil Engineering Teaching and Learning

The goal of this project was to attract K-12 students to transportation engineering careers through STEM outreach programs. To accomplish this goal, the object of the project was to design and implement maritime freight oriented educational outreach activities centered on traffic sensing technologies for middle, high school, and first-year college students. In MarTREC Project 5011 (Evaluating the Performance of Intermodal Connectors), the research team designed a low-cost, easily implementable LiDAR and Bluetooth sensor bundle that was capable of detecting, characterizing, and tracking freight trucks as they traveled to and from inland waterway port areas. The sensor provided data necessary to …

2020 - The Twenty-Fourth Annual Symposium Of Student Scholars

Symposium of Student Scholars Program Books

The full program book from the Twenty-fourth Annual Symposium of Student Scholars, held on April 16, 2020. Includes abstracts from the presentations and posters.

Medication Errors Within The Clinical Setting: A Quality Improvement Project, Gracie Smith, Mary Thornburg, Connor Noble, Breanna Markwell, Sarah Rigsby, Suzi White

2022 Celebration of Student Scholarship - Poster Presentations

During a clinical rotation at a large urban teaching hospital, the occurrence of medication errors noted resulted in negative impacts on patient wellness. Research studies indicate that the U.S. spends more than $40 billion each year as a result of medication errors. A large portion of these medication errors are preventable. A thorough literature review of 40 research studies was conducted to identify issues associated with medication errors. This quality improvement project aims to identify the prevalence of medication errors, their effect on patient wellness, its monetary effects in healthcare, and what preventative interventions can be implemented to prevent such …

Santa Clara Magazine, Volume 61 Number 2, Spring 2020 [Print Issue V.61:1], Santa Clara University

Santa Clara Magazine

14 - THE UPSTART How Michael Mondavi ’66 helped get Napa on the wine map. By Ron Hansen.

18 - OF WOMEN AND MEN Emeritus professors dish on their research into wine and women. By Tracy Seipel.

22 - A SIGN OF LIGHT A Jesuit priest finds meaning on death row. By George Williams, S.J.

26 - FIRE AND WINE As the climate changes, what’s next for wine remains murky. By Tracy Seipel.

Spring 2020, Joëlle Walls

The Investigator Research Magazine

Dear readers,

We are proud to present the spring issue of The Investigator, giving you an inside look into the varied research and scholarly activities taking place at Kennesaw State.

In a new interview, President Pamela Whitten discusses KSU's growing research reputation and lessons learned from her own experiences as a researcher and mentor. Similarly, our cover story follows three First-Year Scholars as they explore the possibilities of research in Martin Hudson's lab through a new Office of Undergraduate Research initiative.

This publication would not have been possible without the contributions of the editorial team, including undergraduates Kaelyn Ireland, Geena …

Identifying Easy Indicators Of Dementia, Swati Padhee, Tanvi Banerjee, Valerie L. Shalin, Krishnaprasad Thirunarayan

Symposium of Student Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activities Materials

Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is a degenerative chronic neurodegenerative disease that affects millions of people and whose care costs billions of dollars. There is growing evidence that variations in speech and language may be early indicators of dementia. One of the most initial symptoms of dementia is speech impairment, including difficulty in finding words and changes to the grammatical structure. These early indicators can be detected by having the patients perform a picture description task, such as the Cookie Theft task from the Boston Diagnostic Aphasia Examination. However, much of the state-of-the-art NLP for dementia has been limited due to the …

Measuring Nomophobia And Exploration Of Consequences And Comorbidities, Sarah Marie Fryman, William L. Romine

Symposium of Student Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activities Materials

Excessive use of smartphones has coined the term “Nomophobia”, or fear of not being able to use your smartphone. For many, these devices have become an extension of ourselves, which raises hesitation on whether or not society has become addicted to smartphones. Specific diagnostic criteria for smartphone addiction have yet to be settled, and even appropriate to use the word “addiction” when describing excessive usage of smartphones is controversial.

We therefore explore utilize current measures to explore the symptoms of nomophobia and their hierarchy, as well as comorbidities including social anxiety, self-esteem, distracted driving and sleep quality. A total of …

Craft Academy Solar Powered Racing (Caspr) Team, Andrew Dorn, Ally Hall, Bryce Watkins, Hayley Milner, Kaleb Trent, Owen Day, Sawyer Putnam, Joyce Stubbs, Steve Stubbs

2022 Celebration of Student Scholarship - Poster Presentations

The ultimate goal of the CASPR team is to build a solar powered car to race in the solar car for the Solar Car Challenge Classic Division, and race in a cross-county race or at the famous Texas Motor Speedway. The car must have taillights, blinkers, headlights, and extra suspension. For the fall semester of 2021, we researched different parts and other solar cars to see what would be the best fit most beneficial. We were able to find all the parts needed for the construction of the car. The Solar Car Challenge website provides some resources to make finding …

An Investigation Of Nasa Affordability Culture: Concepts And Methods, Christopher J. White, Cassandra Martin

Research Horizons Day Posters

No abstract provided.

Mechanized Percussion Well Drilling, Nathan A. Henry, Nate Harnish, Nathan D. King, Chris Martin, Tommy Denlinger, Darren J. Heisey, Griffin M. Means

2020 Collaboratory/Engineering Symposium

The Mechanized Percussion Well Drilling Project seeks to design a simple mechanized well drilling system to be used for drilling shallow water wells in Burkina Faso, Africa. These systems will be operated by local drilling teams, allowing them to earn an income for themselves and their families. Currently our end users, the Burkinabe Well Drilling Team, have trouble drilling through hard rock layers, and often must abandon holes due to inadequate equipment. The goal of this project is to enable the drillers to efficiently drill through these rock layers with a mechanized percussion rig and supporting drilling equipment.

One of …

Landmine Neutralization: Air Excavator, Nuttapat Kueakomoldej, Hunter D. Casey, Andrew F. Kurian, Evan Poust

2020 Collaboratory/Engineering Symposium

The Landmine Neutralization team’s goal is to help neutralize dangerous ordnance in wartorn areas around the world. To accomplish this, the project team is working with our client, the HALO Trust. They are the world’s largest demining non-governmental organization. The HALO Trust works in many countries to remove the debris of war, including improvised explosive devices, landmines, and unexploded ordnance. We are helping our client achieve their goals through designing, prototyping, and testing of an earth and debris excavator that uses air to excavate areas. This project will help HALO’s deminers clear debris and dust from war-torn areas to help …

Fluency Assistance Device, Michael D. Jenkins, Larry A. Vega, Corey Bean, Jacob R. Cornwell, Lydia Reber, Arrington Register

2020 Collaboratory/Engineering Symposium

Currently about 1% of the world population (~70 million people) have a stutter considered a fluency disorder. Some fluency assistance devices are available for this population, but most are highly expensive or unreliable. Fluency Assistance Device (FAD) seeks to assist a niche community of these individuals for whom therapy has been unsuccessful but are currently depending on a device originally known as the Edinburgh Masker. FAD aims to redesign the masker to be more comfortable for the end user. FAD is developing versions 1.1 and 2.0 of the improved masker. Version 1.1 will update the original masker circuitry with surface …

Solar Pv - Equipping The Future, Christopher E. Benner, Collin T. Binford, Joshua J. Kripas, Trey B. Witmer, Jonas E. Kolb, Noah A. Rood

2020 Collaboratory/Engineering Symposium

The Solar PV team has installed several solar power systems for various partners in the developing world. Most recently, the team installed a solar-powered well pump at the Living Love Ministries Children’s Home in Ol Kalou, Kenya. As is true for all the previous installations, the team gained a wealth of valuable knowledge and experience on the trip to Kenya. A problem the team faces is that a lot of that experience gained leaves when seniors graduate. With the goal of passing on our knowledge and experience to future generations of the Solar PV team, we have been constructing a …

Gravity Fed Water System, Ella Sobek, Sarah A. Aldrich, Jordan E. Higley, Joseph Grant

2020 Collaboratory/Engineering Symposium

The Gravity Fed Water Project aims to provide direct access to safe and clean water to about 150 people in Sipacapa, Guatemala by using gravity to transport water from groundwater seeps down a mountain to the community. The project partners with the Mennonite Central Committee. Concrete intake structures will be built for various groundwater seeps, then water from those will be combined into one large concrete intake structure. The water will then be piped down to a concrete water tank which will help to store enough water for a day's use for the village. There will then be piping going …

Small-Scale Hydroelectric Power For Remote Communities, Robert Kameron Dickey, Edward J. Yesilonis, Cameron K. Kanter, Andrew S. Reedy, Caleb P. Southwick

2020 Collaboratory/Engineering Symposium

The Pico-Hydro Energy Project (PHEP) focuses on providing affordable electric power for off-grid communities in developing countries. The work that PHEP is doing involves the design, optimization, and experimental testing of small hydroelectric generators provided by our project partner Engineering Ministries International.

Nicaragua Block Press, John P. Mcgarry, Kathryn J. Rose, Derek A. Thrush, Jordan P. Criddle, Samuel Rivera, Robert Donley, Claudia Tolley

2020 Collaboratory/Engineering Symposium

Friends In Action International (FIA), our project partner, is assisting the Rama people of Nicaragua in relocating from an overpopulated island to the mainland. Our team has developed a manual press for the Rama people to produce compressed earth blocks from local materials for construction of their homes. After testing an initial prototype of the press in Nicaragua it was determined that the press needed more durability. After testing two presses with welded chambers manufactured by E&E Metal Fab Inc., further modifications were required such as welding chamber skirts, adding a lid handle, and applying rust prevention coating. Once both …

Energy Monitoring And Management System, Nathan C. Feldgus, Zachary D. Schmidt, Bennett A. Andrews, Zach L. Gillen, Zachery D. Holsinger, Benjamin Weaver, David Williams

2020 Collaboratory/Engineering Symposium

The Energy Monitoring and Management System facilitates access to electric power in regions with limited energy by increasing energy conservation and education. The solution consists of a meter which allocates a configurable daily energy limit per facility, and a display that provides practical information to the user including reporting how much energy they have used and how much they have left before their power is automatically cut off until the next day.

The current version of the system has successfully been installed in multiple facilities in Burkina Faso and Zimbabwe, however software errors are preventing the system from meeting client …

Village Water Ozonation System, John M. Khamis, Benjamin K. Burlew, Timothy J. Malanga

2020 Collaboratory/Engineering Symposium

Safe drinking water is something that all humans need. People around the globe face issues like limited access to water, water scarcity, and contamination of their water supply. Alleviating global water-related illnesses and deaths remains a prevailing challenge to overcome. With this in mind, the Village Water Ozonation System (VWOS) team works with communities to increase their access to safe drinking water. In the past few years, VWOS has had the privilege of walking alongside our partner communities in Mexico, Pakistan, and Nicaragua to develop sustainable drinking water solutions. Through collaborations with several Christian organizations such as Forward Edge International …

Remote Hand Pump Monitoring In Africa, Cory D. Brubaker, Amada H. Issis, Evan Freed, Daniel J. Labrie, Josiah J. Mccarthy

2020 Collaboratory/Engineering Symposium

Millions of communities in developing countries rely on hand pumps installed by various non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Studies have shown that these pumps are often broken with significant delays before maintenance people arrive. During the last few years, the Intelligent Water Project (IWP), in cooperation with World Vision and AlignedWorks has successfully produced sensor units, installed on each water pump to provide state of operation information, which proves the feasibility of remote monitoring through a real-time web-based database. Currently, we are working to demonstrate reliability, improve accuracy, and prepare for production on a larger scale to expand the impact to more …

A Sustainable Mobility Solution For Persons Living With Disability In Burkina Faso, Helen R. Wiley, Brit Haseltine, Cory Hurst, Alexander D. Mantsevich, Katie Bunch, Faith N. Kerlen, Joey Sinsel, Matt Higgs, Rachel Delate

2020 Collaboratory/Engineering Symposium

The Sustainable Mobility project of the Collaboratory empowers people living with a disability in rural West Africa to more fully participate in family and community life and makes possible the pursuit of educational and work opportunities. Our 3-wheeled off-road wheelchair has transformed the lives of dozens of clients through partnerships with the Center for the Advancement of the Handicapped in Mahadaga, Burkina Faso and the Center of Hope in Fada, Burkina Faso.

Now, to reach more people in new locations and with more partners, Sustainable Mobility is working to reduce manufacturing time and cost, author image-driven fabrication guides to enable …

3d Mapping With An Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, Johnny Greaser, Micah D. Lehman, Geoffrey D. Mcclary, Kyle E. Miller

2020 Collaboratory/Engineering Symposium

Missionary aviation pilots often have to land their planes on remote airstrips that might be unsafe due to runway obstructions such as encroaching vegetation or large objects that were unknowingly placed on the runway. The Falcon Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) team is partnering with ITEC to develop an imaging system using a UAV to scan these airstrips to detect these obstructions. ITEC was founded by Steve Saint, the son of martyred missionary Nate Saint, to develop technologies to aid missionaries in their work. This video highlights the work of the Falcon UAV team and the basic terms and definitions for …

Sustainable Agriculture: Aquaponic Solutions, Landon R. Hacker, Jared Fonda, Noah T. Shreiner, Brandon M. Bickom, Micah Hess

2020 Collaboratory/Engineering Symposium

The Sustainable Agriculture team is using a soil-free, closed-loop, agricultural technique called aquaponics to help lift communities out of malnutrition and poverty. Aquaponics techniques decrease the use of natural resources associated with growing crops. The Sustainable Agriculture team is partnering with Sheltering Wings, a non-profit based in Missouri who ministers with an orphanage and women's shelter in Yako, Burkina Faso and Transworld Radio, a Christian radio broadcasting station located in Benin. The team currently has a best practice prototype in operation. The system will be optimized to fit client needs. In order to meet those needs, the team has been …

Force Characterization And Manufacturing Of A Dynamic Unilateral Clubfoot Brace, Rebekah L. Forshey, William L. Feczko, Liam P. Lilienthal, Aaron Bashore, Brittney D. Fouse, Michelle Lo, Benjamin J. Mellott, Sam J. Rasinske, Leigha R. Southall, Jordan M. Witt

2020 Collaboratory/Engineering Symposium

Clubfoot is a musculoskeletal birth defect that is characterized by an inward twisting of an infant’s feet. The current method for correction involves several casts and a bilateral boots-and-bar maintenance brace. This method of maintenance requires 5 years of bracing and has issues with compliance, comfort, and social stigma. CURE International in Kijabe, Kenya is currently using the boots-and-bar brace but is interested in implementing a design that reduces these concerns. Mr. Jerald Cunningham, CPO, designed and is utilizing a unilateral clubfoot maintenance brace, the Cunningham Brace, which he expects will reduce treatment time to 2-3 years, lessen the social …

Designing A Locally Manufacturable Wheelchair For Nepal, Harrison J. Crosley, Alexander M. Vollert, Cade K. Bender, Dylan J. Derstine, Peter C. Hopkins

2020 Collaboratory/Engineering Symposium

Persons with disabilities in developing countries often lack the basic equipment needed to assist them in their daily lives. International Nepal Fellowship (INF) is a Christian medical organization located in Nepal that provides medical care and assistance to people with disabilities and other conditions. Currently, INF imports expensive wheelchairs that undergo a prolonged border process before being received by INF. INF has reached out to the Collaboratory to design a wheelchair that can withstand the challenges of Nepal’s terrain and can be manufactured from local materials. The Nepal Wheelchair team accepted this challenge and set out to design a wheelchair …

Quantifying Hiv-1 Viral Load With Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy, Nathan Z. Chan, Alicia A. Decker, Brant L. Meier, Morris K. Taylor, Nathan E. Cordell, Benjarong T. Curtz, Jeffrey Gao, Joshua Keong, Al W. Mokris, Jessica E. Paulus, Castine L. Donoff

2020 Collaboratory/Engineering Symposium

The DVD team is working to develop a cost-effective technique for measuring HIV load in resource-restricted regions. Our client is Dr Phil Thuma and the Macha Research Centre in Zambia. Our design utilizes a fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) approach, including a protein-engineered probe, custom optics, a field programmable gate array (FPGA), and a graphical display to assess viral load in a patient blood sample. In this talk we will present on the design and testing of our optical FCS system, the method of processing and analyzing the signal, and creation of the user interface display. Our team is currently finalizing …

Covenant Christian Academy - Civil Design, Justin M. Blest, Christian A. Cornelius, Corey B. Englehart

2020 Collaboratory/Engineering Symposium

The Covenant Christian Academy Civil Design team has partnered with Covenant Christian Academy (CCA) in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania to improve the utilization and safety of the facilities at the rear of the main building. The team worked with David Sonju, Headmaster at CCA and client representative for the school, to achieve two major goals for this project. The first goal was to redesign the rear parking lot to create a grass recreation area while integrating the remaining paved area into an improved student drop-off/turn-around. The design considered stormwater run-off and drainage, including conversion of impervious area to pervious area. The second …

Hybrid Thermal Lance, Josiah Stitt, Lucas Honebrink, Frank G. Honey, Emily L. Keane, Josh Card

2020 Collaboratory/Engineering Symposium

The Hybrid Thermal Lance (HTL) is a device used to burn through landmines to destroy them safely. Designed for the team’s client, The HALO Trust, the HTL has proven to work well in destroying explosives, which has been demonstrated by field trials conducted in a number of countries including but not limited to Afghanistan and the Republic of Georgia. The HTL works by igniting acrylic burn tubes, which act as a fuel source and also focus the flame on a specific location on an explosive device. The system is controlled via a user-friendly, rugged control box that can run the …