Engineering Commons^™

Ammonia Measurements And Emissions From A California Dairy Using Point And Remote Sensors, Kori D. Moore, E. Young, C. Gurell, Michael D. Wojcik, Randy S. Martin, G. E. Bingham, R. L. Pfeiffer, J. H. Prueger, J. L. Hatfield

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Ammonia (NH3) is an important trace gas species in the atmosphere that can have negative impacts on human, animal, and ecosystem health. Agriculture has been identified as the largest source of NH3, specifically livestock operations. NH3 emissions from a commercial dairy in California were investigated during June 2008. Cattle were held in open-lot pens, except for young calves in hutches with shelters. Solid manure was stored in the open-lot pens. Liquid manure from feed lanes was passed through a solids settling basin and stored in a holding pond. Passive sensors and open-path Fourier transform infrared spectrometers (OP-FTIR) were deployed around …

Efficiency Optimization Of A Sensorless V/F Control Method For Pmsm, Seyed Hesam Jafari, Keith Corzine, Jing Huang

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This paper presents a V/f control for permanent magnet synchronous machines which focuses on optimization by minimizing the d-axis current in order to reduce the motor losses and supplied input power. the proposed sensor less method only needs machine terminal signals and does not require any additional motor parameter measurements. Minimization of the d-axis current is accomplished through computed reactive power. © 2012 IEEE.

Altered Hemodynamics, Endothelial Function, And Protein Expression Occur With Aortic Coarctation And Persist After Repair, Arjun Menon, Thomas J. Eddinger, Hongfeng Wang, David C. Wendell, Jeffrey M. Toth, John F. Ladisa

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Coarctation of the aorta (CoA) is associated with substantial morbidity despite treatment. Mechanically induced structural and functional vascular changes are implicated; however, their relationship with smooth muscle (SM) phenotypic expression is not fully understood. Using a clinically representative rabbit model of CoA and correction, we quantified mechanical alterations from a 20-mmHg blood pressure (BP) gradient in the thoracic aorta and related the expression of key SM contractile and focal adhesion proteins with remodeling, relaxation, and stiffness. Systolic and mean BP were elevated for CoA rabbits compared with controls leading to remodeling, stiffening, an altered force response, and endothelial dysfunction both …

Learning Visual Features For The Avatar Captcha Recognition Challenge, Mohammed Korayem, Abdallah A. Mohamed, David Crandall, Roman Yampolskiy

Faculty Scholarship

Captchas are frequently used on the modern world wide web to differentiate human users from automated bots by giving tests that are easy for humans to answer but difficult or impossible for algorithms. As artificial intelligence algorithms have improved, new types of Captchas have had to be developed. Recent work has proposed a new system called Avatar Captcha, in which a user is asked to distinguish between facial images of real humans and those of avatars generated by computer graphics. This novel system has been proposed on the assumption that this Captcha is very difficult for computers to break. In …

Trans-Dimensional Geoacoustic Inversion Of Wind-Driven Ambient Noise, Jorge E. Quijano, Stan E. Dosso, Jan Dettmer, Lisa M. Zurk, Martin Siderius

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

This letter applies trans-dimensional Bayesian geoacoustic inversion to quantify the uncertainty due to model selection when inverting bottom-loss data derived from wind-driven ambient-noise measurements. A partition model is used to represent the seabed, in which the number of layers, their thicknesses, and acoustic parameters are unknowns to be determined from the data. Exploration of the parameter space is implemented using the Metropolis–Hastings algorithm with parallel tempering, whereas jumps between parameterizations are controlled by a reversible-jump Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm. Sediment uncertainty profiles from inversion of simulated and experimental data are presented.

A Simulation-Based Decision Support System To Model Complex Demand Driven Heathcare Facilities, Amr Arisha, Michael Thorwarth

Conference papers

Simulating healthcare processes is a sophisticated endeavor. Treatment processes and patient arrival patterns differ significantly in their statistical attributes and implicate a high degree of variability. In addition, there are several types of interconnected processes of medical staff involved that accompany a patient’s journey through the healthcare facility. Replicating this behavior with process flow models in a discrete event simulation model is highly complex and therefore difficult to create while maintaining a high degree of precision. A framework is thus introduced which delivers an algorithm that allows to implement Multiple Participant Pathway Modeling (MPPM) under the consideration of Flexible Resource …

Multi-Citeria Framework For An Emergency Department In An Irish Hospital, Waleed Abo Hamad, Amr Arisha

Conference papers

Health research is one of these priorities in every economy and through this research an emphasis will be put on translational research in the context of more sustainable and efficient healthcare system (translation of operations management practices to clinical applications). Healthcare systems in general and Emergency Departments in particular around the world are facing enormous challenges in meeting the increasingly conflicting objectives of providing wide accessibility and efficiency while delivering high quality and prompt services. The proposed framework integrates simulation modeling, balanced scorecard, and multi-criteria decision analysis aiming to provide a decision support system to emergency department managers. Simulation outputs …

Me-Em Enewsbrief, December 2012, Department Of Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics, Michigan Technological University

Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering eNewsBrief

No abstract provided.

De-Embedding In High Speed Design, Don Degroot, David Dunham

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Lagrangian Relaxation For Large-Scale Multi-Agent Planning, Geoffrey J. Gordon, Pradeep Varakantham, William Yeoh, Hoong Chuin Lau, Ajay S. Aravamudhan, Shih-Fen Cheng

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Multi-agent planning is a well-studied problem with various applications including disaster rescue, urban transportation and logistics, both for autonomous agents and for decision support to humans. Due to computational constraints, existing research typically focuses on one of two scenarios: unstructured domains with many agents where we are content with heuristic solutions, or domains with small numbers of agents or special structure where we can provide provably near-optimal solutions. By contrast, in this paper, we focus on providing provably near-optimal solutions for domains with large numbers of agents, by exploiting a common domain-general property: if individual agents each have limited influence …

Explosively Formed Projectile Soft-Recovery Force Analysis, Laurin Bookout, Phillip R. Mulligan, Jason Baird

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The design of a soft-recovery system is critical to a researcher's ability to analyze hypervelocity projectiles. The researcher may decide to use one method over another based on several criteria, including whether or not non-deformed projectile measurements are required. This report analyzes the forces two different soft-recovery methods impart on the projectiles collected. Method 1 utilized three polyethylene water barrels placed “end-to-end” horizontally, providing 2.6 meters (9 feet) of water to stop the projectile. Method 2 is a modification of the soft-recovery method utilized in “Soft-Recovery of Explosively Formed Penetrators” by Lambert and Pope. This method utilizes a series of …

Video Compressive Sensing With 3-D Wavelet And 3-D Noiselet, Dao Lam, Donald C. Wunsch

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

A new compressive video sampling method is investigated. as opposed to other video sampling methods for which processing is conducted on a single-frame basis, this method is applied on multiple frames of the video stream. by exploiting the extension of Wavelet to 3-D with the support of Noiselet 3-D and combining it with fast reconstruction algorithms, this framework produces successful results quickly while maintaining the quality of the video stream. Despite its simplicity, this new approach outperforms other sophisticated methods. © 2012 IEEE.

On Linear Precoding Of Non-Regenerative Mimo Relays For Qam Inputs, Xiao Liang, Zhi Ding, Chengshan Xiao

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Recent works have established that MIMO systems optimized for Gaussian source signals may suffer unexpected performance loss when practical inputs are in fact discrete QAM sources. There is a practical need in the optimization of MIMO related systems of various networking scenarios to specifically target source signals of finite QAM alphabet. in this work, we investigate the precoding optimization of wireless two-hop non-regenerative three-node MIMO relay networks driven by finite-alphabet inputs. Exploiting a known optimal structure for the precoder at relay and a special convexity property, we propose an iterative two-step numerical optimization algorithm. This algorithm is a general solution, …

Single-Carrier Frequency-Domain Turbo Equalization Without Cyclic Prefix Or Zero Padding For Underwater Acoustic Communications, Longbao Wang, Jun Tao, Yahong Rosa Zheng

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

A frequency-domain turbo equalization (FDTE) scheme without cyclic prefix (CP) or zero padding is proposed for single-carrier, multiple-input-multiple- output underwater acoustic communication. in the first iteration of the FDTE, the received continuous data stream is divided into consecutive blocks and a combined inter-block-interference (IBI) cancellation and overlapped windowing scheme is used to diagonalize each data block for low-complexity detection in the frequency domain. Since the second iteration, IBI cancellation and CP reconstruction are applied on each block to enable effective symbol detection. This work extends the authors previous work on frequency-domain hard-decision equalization to soft-decision turbo equalization so that it …

Fast Variable Selection For Memetracker Phrases Time Series Prediction, Yoan Miche, Tatiana Chistiakova, Anton Akusok, Amaury Lendasse, Rui Nian, Alberto Guilléhn

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This Paper Proposes a Methodology using a Fast Variable Selection as a Modified Version of the Forward-Backward Algorithm. This Methodology is Adapted to the Specificities of the Data Used: Very Small Number of Samples and High Number of Variables. Such Data is Generated using Underlying Dependencies and Seasonality Assumptions, from Meme Phrases Volume Data. by the Use of a Resampling Technique Along with the Proposed Variable Selection Scheme, Significant Results Are Obtained, and the Test Normalized Mean Square Error Performances Are Improved. the Results Indicate that with the Assumptions Made on the Data Structure, Variable Selection is Desirable. Also, the …

Linear Mimo Precoding In Multi-Antenna Wiretap Channels For Finite-Alphabet Data, Yongpeng Wu, Chengshan Xiao, Zhi Ding, Xiqi Gao, Shi Jin

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

In this paper, we investigate the secrecy rate of finite alphabet communications over multiple-input, multiple-output, multiple-antenna eavesdropper (MIMOME) systems. Traditional precoder designs at the transmitter for achieving secrecy capacity (maximum secrecy rate) for MIMOME systems are developed according to the assumption of Gaussian input signals. Such designs may risk substantial secrecy rate loss when Gaussian inputs are replaced by practical finite alphabet inputs. to address this issue, we propose a linear precoding design to directly maximize the secrecy rate for MIMOME systems under the constraint of finite alphabet input. Exploiting convex optimization and matrix calculus, we present necessary conditions required …

Loss Enhanced Transmission And Collimation In Anisotropic Epsilon-Near-Zero Metamaterials, L. Sun, S. Feng, Xiaodong Yang

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

We verify the extraordinary transmission enhancement and collimation induced by the material loss in anisotropic epsilon-near-zero metamaterials, and reveal the physical mechanism of this exotic electromagnetic phenomenon via the iso-frequency contour analysis. In addition, we demonstrate the possibility in realization of such loss enhanced transmission of Gaussian beam in realistic silver-germanium multilayered structures by applying full-wave numerical simulations.

Knowledge-Driven Autonomous Commodity Trading Advisor, Yee Pin Lim, Shih-Fen Cheng

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

The myth that financial trading is an art has been mostly destroyed in the recent decade due to the proliferation of algorithmic trading. In equity markets, algorithmic trading has already bypass human traders in terms of traded volume. This trend seems to be irreversible, and other asset classes are also quickly becoming dominated by the machine traders. However, for asset that requires deeper understanding of physicality, like the trading of commodities, human traders still have significant edge over machines. The primary advantage of human traders in such market is the qualitative expert knowledge that requires traders to consider not just …

A Mechanism For Organizing Last-Mile Service Using Non-Dedicated Fleet, Shih-Fen Cheng, Duc Thien Nguyen, Hoong Chuin Lau

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Unprecedented pace of urbanization and rising income levels have fueled the growth of car ownership in almost all newly formed megacities. Such growth has congested the limited road space and significantly affected the quality of life in these megacities. Convincing residents to give up their cars and use public transport is the most effective way in reducing congestion; however, even with sufficient public transport capacity, the lack of last-mile (from the transport hub to the destination) travel services is the major deterrent for the adoption of public transport. Due to the dynamic nature of such travel demands, fixed-size fleets will …

Lagrangian Relaxation For Large-Scale Multi-Agent Planning, Geoff Gordon, Pradeep Varakantham, William Yeoh, Hoong Chuin Lau, Shih-Fen Cheng

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Multi-agent planning is a well-studied problem with various applications including disaster rescue, urban transportation and logistics, both for autonomous agents and for decision support to humans. Due to computational constraints, existing research typically focuses on one of two scenarios: unstructured domains with many agents where we are content with heuristic solutions, or domains with small numbers of agents or special structure where we can provide provably near-optimal solutions. By contrast, in this paper, we focus on providing provably near-optimal solutions for domains with large numbers of agents, by exploiting a common domain-general property: if individual agents each have limited influence …

Cable Median Barrier Failure Analysis And Remediation, Cody S. Stolle

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

On divided roadways, cross-median fatalities are disproportionately overrepresented in fatal and serious injury crashes. Many state DOTs sought to mitigate cross-median crash risk by installing cable median barriers. Despite increased crash rates, studies evaluating crash rates before and after cable median barriers were installed indicated excellent improvement in overall safety.

Although cable median barriers are intended to prevent serious cross-median crashes, cable barriers can also contribute to serious injury and fatality crashes which would not have otherwise occurred, including penetration and rollover crashes. In order to reduce the frequency of undesirable penetration and rollover crashes occurring with cable median barriers …

Mobile First Web And Content Strategy, Stefanie Havelka, David Stevens

Publications and Research

The paradigm shift from the traditional desktop to the mobile web experience is fast approaching, and providing relevant date, location and time-sensitive content to users via mobile devices becomes an essential piece of the overall web strategy. This presentation demonstrates the concepts, techniques and technologies used to develop both the overall mobile content strategy and user experience, as well as the aggregation and delivery of content to both the desktop and mobile form factors from a single content source.

Predicting Vehicle Dynamics For Roadside Safety Using Multibody Systems Simulations, Brett D. Schlueter

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Accurate means for predicting vehicle dynamics is required in the design and testing of roadside safety hardware. Past research has used finite element (FE) modeling to this end, but multibody systems (MBS) modeling may provide a more efficient way to solve these problems. MBS modeling using Adams/Car was investigated by first compiling an introduction to the program, then performing basic vehicle dynamics simulations using a supplied model. Next, a model of a 2270 kg pickup was created and validated against physical test data involving impact with a speed bump. Finally, pickup trajectories in 4H:1V and 6H:1V V-ditches were predicted for …

Modular Joystick Design For Virtual Reality Surgical Skills Training, Michael Head

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

A modular control interface and simulated virtual reality environment was designed and created in order to determine how the kinematic architecture of a control interface affects minimally invasive surgery. A user is able to selectively determine how many, the type, and location of degrees of freedom they require for the specific surgical simulation through the use of modular joints and constraint components. Furthermore, passive locking was designed and implemented through the use of inflated latex tubing around rotational degree of freedom joints. It is believed these features will have the ability to effectively simulate a variety of surgical simulations and …

A New Approach To Safety Assessment At Gated Highway-Rail Grade Crossings, Zheng Luo

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

A significant number of pedestrians and bicyclists (i.e., non-motorists) use the roadway system in the U.S. Research pertaining to the safety of them, especially their safety at highway-rail grade crossings (HRGCs), has drawn much attention in the past decade, and remains an important issue of safety research. Yet, the majority of existing research has examined non-motorist safety at intersections or motorist safety at HRGCs separately. Such research has related primarily to exploring relationships between safety countermeasures (e.g., engineering devices, education, enforcement, etc.) and crash frequency/severity, using different quantitative analysis approaches. A primary limitation of these studies is that few have …

Addressing The Need To Reform Construction Public Procurement In Ireland Through The Implementation Of Building Information Modelling, Barry Mcauley, Alan Hore, Roger West, Dermot Kehily

Conference papers

The Irish AEC Sector is facing one of its most uncertain and challenging periods and will see major cuts in all areas of the economy in 2012. Despite this the Irish Government has announced a number of large capital expenditure investments which have resultantly become a lifeline to a struggling construction industry. In order to compete within the public works sector AEC businesses must operate within the Governments Capital Works Management Framework. The objectives of the framework include achieving cost certainty, value for money and more effective delivery and appropriate risk sharing. The framework remains an area of contention and …

Compression Transmission Collar For Fastening, David Lecronier, Patrick Atkinson

Mechanical Engineering Patents

A compression transmission collar apparatus for implantation into a bone with a hole having a hole wall comprising an intramedullary nail defining a bore and a threaded fastener and a compression transmission collar including an exterior face and a top edge and a bottom edge and a first end interstcting the top edge at an acute angle and the bottom edge at an obtuse angle and a second end intersecting the top edge at an obtuse angle and the bottom edge at an acute angle and the first end partially overlapping and opposing the second end to define a slit …

Compression Transmission Collar For Fastening, Patrick Atkinson

Mechanical Engineering Patents

A compression transmission collar apparatus (20) for implantation into a bone (22) with a hole (28) having a hole wall (32) comprising an intramedullary nail (34) defining a bore (40) and a threaded fastener (42) and a compression transmission collar (58) including an exterior face (64) and a top edge (60) and a bottom edge (62) and a first end (70) intersecting the top edge (60) at an acute angle (α₁) and …

Catalytic Studies Of Sodium Hydroxide And Carbon Monoxide Reaction, Sushant Kumar, Vadym Drozd, Surendra K. Saxena

Center for Study of Matter at Extreme Conditions

We have studied the effect of ball milling on alumina mixed nickel, magnetite and Raney nickel on the reaction: 2NaOH(s) + CO (g) = Na2CO3 (s) + H2 (g) and determined the optimum particle size for the catalysts. The best performance was shown by a 2 h ball milled Raney nickel with average crystallite size of 209 Å. This reaction serves the dual purpose of carbon sequestration and yielding hydrogen gas.

Collaborative Research: North East Cyberinfrastructure Consortium, Michael Eckardt

University of Maine Office of Research Administration: Grant Reports

EPS-0918284, University of Vermont & State Agricultural College, J. L. Van Houten, linked to EPS-0918033 (University of New Hampshire), EPS-0918078 (University of Delaware), EPS-0918018 (University of Maine), EPS-0918061 (University of Rhode Island)
Collaborative Research: North East Cyberinfrastructure Consortium

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).

The North East Cyberinfrastructure Consortium (NECC) unites Maine (ME), New Hampshire (NH), Vermont (VT), Rhode Island (RI), and Delaware (DE) to support cyber-enabled research that requires analyses of large datasets. The project is organized around sharing resources, expertise and facilities in order to make cyber-enabled collaborative …