Engineering Commons^™

Towards Algorithmic Justice: Human Centered Approaches To Artificial Intelligence Design To Support Fairness And Mitigate Bias In The Financial Services Sector, Jihyun Kim

CMC Senior Theses

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has positively transformed the Financial services sector but also introduced AI biases against protected groups, amplifying existing prejudices against marginalized communities. The financial decisions made by biased algorithms could cause life-changing ramifications in applications such as lending and credit scoring. Human Centered AI (HCAI) is an emerging concept where AI systems seek to augment, not replace human abilities while preserving human control to ensure transparency, equity and privacy. The evolving field of HCAI shares a common ground with and can be enhanced by the Human Centered Design principles in that they both put humans, the user, at …

Continuous Bioprocessing: Technology For Next-Generation Biopharmaceutical Manufacturing Development Of A Python-Coded Bench-Scale Raman-Based Continuous Bioprocess Platform, Christine Urrea

KGI Theses and Dissertations

Current industrial practices for producing biopharmaceuticals include fed-batch production with batch isolation and purification. Nonproductive hold-up steps and manual offline measurements are common in batch processing which increases processing time and contributes to a high cost of production. Current market trends and cost pressures in the biopharmaceutical industry are creating a push to innovate bioprocessing platforms. Continuous bioprocessing has been considered a solution to the current limitations of batch production of biopharmaceuticals. Continuous bioprocessing involves intensifying individual processing steps by eliminating hold-up steps through a continuous operation to increase productivity, which results in advantages such as lower capital and production …

The Development Of A Primer Payload With Microparticles For Uti Pathogen Identification Using Polythymidine- Modified Lamp Primers In Droplet Lamp, Jonas Otoo

KGI Theses and Dissertations

Nucleic acid amplification tests (NAATs) are among the diagnostic tests with the highest sensitivity and specificity. However, they are more complex to develop than other diagnostic tests such as biochemical tests and lateral flow immunoassay tests. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is the gold standard for NAATs. PCR requires thermal cycling to achieve clonal amplification of the target pathogen DNA for diagnosis. Thermal cycling poses a challenge in the development of PCR diagnostics for point-of-care (POC) settings. Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) offers an isothermal method for NAATs diagnostics. The advancement of the microfluidics field significantly enhances the development of LAMP diagnostics …

Using Computational Fluid Dynamics And Optical Sensor Technology To Scale Cell Culture Platforms, Mandar Makwana

KGI Theses and Dissertations

Different cell culture vessels ranging from micro scale to laboratory scale to commercial scale play critical role in upstream process development for biologics manufacturing. Based on the mode of operation, cell culture vessels have different hydrodynamic environments, making it challenging to scale. Integrated approaches using computational tools supported by experimental studies can overcome these challenges. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is one such tool that can simulate hydrodynamics within the cell culture vessels and can provide insights at macro and micro-scale. Accuracy of a CFD model significantly depends on the fluid model and assumptions. Traditionally, simple two-equation fluid models were developed …

The Sensitivity Of A Laplacian Family Of Ranking Methods, Claire S. Chang

HMC Senior Theses

Ranking from pairwise comparisons is a particularly rich subset of ranking problems. In this work, we focus on a family of ranking methods for pairwise comparisons which encompasses the well-known Massey, Colley, and Markov methods. We will accomplish two objectives to deepen our understanding of this family. First, we will consider its network diffusion interpretation. Second, we will analyze its sensitivity by studying the "maximal upset" where the direction of an arc between the highest and lowest ranked alternatives is flipped. Through these analyses, we will build intuition to answer the question "What are the characteristics of robust ranking methods?" …

Blockchain Games: What On And Off-Chain Factors Affect The Volatility, Returns, And Liquidity Of Gaming Crypto Tokens, Sumer Sareen

CMC Senior Theses

Blockchain games took the internet by storm as they offered a new way for users to play video games, own the assets in those games, and benefit monetarily from their efforts. Through Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) and cryptocurrencies, new, Web3 games ushered in a unique asset class for retail and institutional investors to diversify into and benefit from. This paper uses cross-sectional data from 30 blockchain gaming companies to identify on and off-chain factors that affect the company’s token volatility, returns, and liquidity. A multiple linear regression found the percentage of tokens dedicated to a company’s private sale and rewarding users, …

Advancing Internet Viewpoint Diversity: A Novel Algorithm And A Corpus Creation Tool, Jeffrey Harwell

CGU Theses & Dissertations

A fundamental requirement for Western democracy is an informed and engaged electorate with access to a wide range of viewpoints. However, concerns have arisen regarding how information technology affects the diversity of viewpoints available. In response to an increasingly polarized society and worries surrounding filter bubbles and algorithmic bias, this research presents a novel tool for constructing internet-based topical corpora and an algorithm tailored for viewpoint detection and the curation of diverse search results.Following a comprehensive exploration of viewpoint diversity through the lenses of mass media, social psychology, and information retrieval, this dissertation presents an approach to operationalize viewpoint diversity …

Stem Education And Retention For Black Women Using High-Impact Practices: Historically Black Colleges And Universities Vs. Predominantly White Liberal Arts Colleges, Annette Njei

CMC Senior Theses

Black women are significantly underrepresented within the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). To address this, the Association of American Colleges & Universities crafted ten high-impact practices to increase student engagement and promote retention. This research paper examines how three specific high-impact practices (learning communities, mentoring, and undergraduate research experience) are utilized in STEM education.This research paper explores and compares the best high impact approaches that successfully teach and retain Black women within the various fields of STEM within the differing academic environments of historically Black colleges & universities ( HBCUs) and predominantly white liberal art colleges (PWLACs). …

The Development Of A Novel Blood-Brain Barrier, Organ-On-A-Chip System And The Identification Of Erythrocytes As A Key Contributor To Age-Associated Neurological Decline, Payam Amiri

KGI Theses and Dissertations

Advancements in modern medicine have greatly extended human life expectancy. However, with the onset of age-associated conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease, autoimmune disorders, and certain cancers, healthy aging is becoming an increasingly pressing issue. Blood exchanges between young and old partners demonstrate old blood can cause detrimental effect to the young animal, notably on the brain tissue. However, the complexity of blood makes it difficult to identify what role the individual factors play in the aggregate observed effect. This dissertation seeks to explore the potential effects of erythrocytes on the brain as we age. Erythrocyte morphology and rigidity changes as …

Primer Payload System For Higher-Order Multiplex Lamp: Design And Development Of Unit Processes, Tochukwu Dubem Anyaduba

KGI Theses and Dissertations

Design and Development of Platforms for the Application of Loop-mediated Isothermal Nucleic Acid Amplification, LAMP, in the Diagnosis of Polymicrobial Diseases

Tochukwu Dubem Anyaduba, Travis Schlappi (PI)

For the past two decades, several isothermal nucleic acid amplification technologies have emerged. These are mostly in response to the need for robust molecular diagnostic tools amenable to point-of-care and limited-resource settings. Of these, loop-mediated isothermal amplification, LAMP, stands out as a highly specific and rapid alternative to the polymerase chain reaction, PCR. One of LAMP's significant characteristics involves using four essential and two loop (rate increasing) primers to recognize six to eight …

Modeling Residence Time Distribution Of Chromatographic Perfusion Resin For Large Biopharmaceutical Molecules: A Computational Fluid Dynamic Study, Kevin Vehar

KGI Theses and Dissertations

The need for production processes of large biotherapeutic particles, such as virus-based particles and extracellular vesicles, has risen due to increased demand in the development of vaccinations, gene therapies, and cancer treatments. Liquid chromatography plays a significant role in the purification process and is routinely used with therapeutic protein production. However, performance with larger macromolecules is often inconsistent, and parameter estimation for process development can be extremely time- and resource-intensive. This thesis aimed to utilize advances in computational fluid dynamic (CFD) modeling to generate a first-principle model of the chromatographic process while minimizing model parameter estimation's physical resource demand. Specifically, …

Modeling, Designing And Applying Machine Learning Algorithms For Driver Drowsiness Detection, Mohsen Babaeian

CGU Theses & Dissertations

Driver drowsiness has been a significant hazard resulting in various traffic accidents. Therefore, monitoring this condition is crucial not only in alerting drivers, but also in avoiding fatal accidents. Many research studies propose new systems to reduce the number of drowsiness-related injuries and fatalities. The ultimate goal for a drowsiness detection system is to detect the drowsiness on time and minimize the system or environment errors to avoid false readings, such as studying physiological signal processing patterns. These potentially life-saving systems must operate in a timely manner with the highest precision. Researchers proposed various methods based on driving pattern changes, …

High Order Explicit Semi-Lagrangian Method For The Solution Of Lagrangian Transport And Stochastic Differential Equations, Hareshram Natarajan

CGU Theses & Dissertations

A semi-Lagrangian method is developed for the solution of Lagrangian transport equations and stochastic differential equations that is consistent with Discontinuous Spectral Element Method (DSEM) approximations of Eulerian conservation laws. The method extends the favorable properties of DSEM that include its high-order accuracy, its local and boundary fitted properties and its high performance on parallel platforms for the concurrent semi-Lagrangian and Eulerian solution of a class of time-dependent problems that can be described by coupled Eulerian-Lagrangian formulations. Such formulations include the probabilistic models used for the simulation of chemically reacting turbulent flows or particle-laden flows. Motivated by the high-fidelity simulation …

Optimizing Router Performance, Bradley Newton, Radon Rosborough, Miles President, Hakan Alpan

CMC Senior Theses

To support its development of networking hardware and software, Juniper Networks conducts research into enhancements to the protocols used on the Internet, in coordination with standards bodies such as the Internet Engineering Task Force. We helped Juniper Networks with two specific research objectives. The first was to design and implement an improved algorithm by which Internet hosts can establish the appropriate packet size to maximize bandwidth while avoiding packet fragmentation. We produced a working implementation of the improved algorithm in the Linux kernel. The second objective was to measure the effect of different Internet Protocol extension headers (specifically, Routing Header …

The Triumvirate Woman: Reconceptualizing Academic Career Messages For African American Women In Engineering, Latrice Diane Bonner

CGU Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to understand the importance of access, equity, inclusion, and diversity in engineering by intentionally focusing on academic career messages for African American women who are tenured and tenure-track in engineering through the lens of Critical Race Theory, Black feminist thought, and intersectionality. This study illuminates within-group differences at the intersection of race, gender, field, and rank, while incorporating a conceptual framework that examines both the macro and micro perception of higher education. There was also a need to transform simultaneous forms of oppression into sources of empowerment. Therefore, this study utilized empirical research to …

Gravity-Drawing Flexible Silicone Filaments As Fiber Optics And Model Foldamers, Katherine Snell

CMC Senior Theses

Here, we present a method of gravity-drawing polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) silicone fibers with application as fiber optics and as model foldamers. Beginning as a viscous liquid, PDMS is cured using heat until its measured viscosity reaches 4000 mPa•s. The semi-cured elastomer is then extruded through a tube furnace to produce thin (diameters on the order of hundred micrometers) filaments with scalable lengths. PDMS is biocompatible, gas-permeable, flexible, and hydrophobic. Additionally, the PDMS surface hydrophobicity can be modified via UV exposure, O2 plasma, and corona discharge. We demonstrate the patternibility (i.e patterns of hydrophobicity) of PDMS fibers, adding complexity to potential foldamer …

Novel Low Shear 3d Bioreactor For The Scaled Production Of High Purity Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells, Andrew Burns

KGI Theses and Dissertations

Human mesenchymal stem cells are an ideal candidate for stem cell therapies. They have been researched since the 1960’s and can differentiate into many desired functional cell types without undergoing teratogenesis. However, higher yields are needed for a marketable, successful stem cell therapy. To accomplish this, cells will have to be cultured to expand them to therapeutically relevant dosages for multiple patients. Bioreactor production is an ideal method to solve this problem.

The aim of this thesis is to test and validate a novel bioreactor for the cultivation of human mesenchymal stem cells. In this work, we investigate a novel …

Analysis And Optimization Of Chassis Movements In Transportation Networks With Centralized Chassis Processing Facilities, Timothy Martin Vanderbeek

CGU Theses & Dissertations

This work studies the concept of “Centralized Processing of Chassis,” and its potential impact on port drayage efficiency. The concept revolves around an off-dock terminal (or several off-dock terminals), referred to as Chassis Processing Facilities (CPFs). A CPF is located close to the port, where trucks will go to exchange chassis, thereby reducing traffic at the marine terminals and resulting in reduced travel times and reduced congestion. This work is divided into two major studies: one at the strategic planning level, and one at the operational level for individual trucking companies.

In the first study, an analytical framework for modeling …

Prediction Of The Outcome In Cardiac Arrest Patients Undergoing Hypothermia Using Eeg Wavelet Entropy, Hana Moshirvaziri

CGU Theses & Dissertations

Cardiac arrest (CA) is the leading cause of death in the United States. Induction of hypothermia has been found to improve the functional recovery of CA patients after resuscitation. However, there is no clear guideline for the clinicians yet to determine the prognosis of the CA when patients are treated with hypothermia. The present work aimed at the development of a prognostic marker for the CA patients undergoing hypothermia. A quantitative measure of the complexity of Electroencephalogram (EEG) signals, called wavelet sub-band entropy, was employed to predict the patients’ outcomes. We hypothesized that the EEG signals of the patients who …

Risk Assessment For Marine Construction Projects, Abdulrahman Mohammed Alansari

CGU Theses & Dissertations

Marine-construction projects are becoming increasingly important for the development of the maritime industry. However, such increases are hampered by various risks that can significantly impact growth. Natural forces, political events, administrative and operational mistakes, equipment failures, external attacks such as arson, and economic events are some of the major risks faced by firms in this industry. Researchers have paid little attention on marine- construction risk assessment, despite the importance of such research.

This study sought to develop a generic risk-levels predictor framework, using the integrated definition function model (IDEF0) and the case-based reasoning approach (CBR), to predict levels of risk …

Gait And Postural Analysis In Healthy Young Adults And People With Parkinson's Disease, Aisha Joy Chen

CGU Theses & Dissertations

Postural analysis is the study of how the position of the body in any mode interacts with internal and external forces. This type of analysis is typically used to assess potential abnormalities in the balance control system and to understand how the balance control system changes with time. However, compared to other medical fields of study, postural analysis is relatively new [1]. In fact, although widely used in clinical and research studies, postural assessment methods are scientifically inaccurate, and some data collection methods are relatively expensive. A better understanding of the human balance control system could lead to more accurate …

Model Predictive Energy Management For Building Microgrids With Iot-Based Controllable Loads, Duc Hoai Tran

CGU Theses & Dissertations

This thesis develops an economic scheduling framework for a building microgrid with internet of things (IoT) based flexible loads to synchronize the buildings’ controllable components, with occupant behavior and environmental conditions. We employ model predictive control (MPC) methods to minimize building operating costs, while maximizing the utilization of the on-site resources. The main research thrusts are: 1) Developing the building microgrid model; 2) Defining different building operation strategies; 3) Minimizing the building’s daily operating costs. Simulation results show that the proposed approach provides superior energy cost savings and peak load reduction in comparison with other operation controls, such as All …

Oscillatory Flow Driven By Cavity, Jeremy Ralph Bonifacio

CGU Theses & Dissertations

Flows past a cavity are known to exhibit an oscillatory behavior with an amplitude and frequency dependent on the incoming flow properties and the geometry of the cavity. Experiments and numerical analyses have been performed to determine the effects of a flow passing through an axisymmetric cavity and discharging into a transverse freestream. The study focuses on the mechanisms involved in the generation of pulsatile flow and its influences on a jet in crossflow. Flow characteristics through the cavity and the jet in crossflow interaction were analyzed using the computational fluid dynamics software Siemens Star-CCM+. The experimental analysis utilized a …

Evaluating Flexibility Metrics On Simple Temporal Networks With Reinforcement Learning, Hamzah I. Khan

HMC Senior Theses

Simple Temporal Networks (STNs) were introduced by Tsamardinos (2002) as a means of describing graphically the temporal constraints for scheduling problems. Since then, many variations on the concept have been used to develop and analyze algorithms for multi-agent robotic scheduling problems. Many of these algorithms for STNs utilize a flexibility metric, which measures the slack remaining in an STN under execution. Various metrics have been proposed by Hunsberger (2002); Wilson et al. (2014); Lloyd et al. (2018). This thesis explores how adequately these metrics convey the desired information by using them to build a reward function in a reinforcement learning …

The Need For Enhanced Physical Infrastructure In The United States, Tanvi Gandham

CMC Senior Theses

An examination of necessary infrastructure improvements in the United States.

Developing A Recurrent Neural Network With High Accuracy For Binary Sentiment Analysis, Kevin Cunanan

CMC Senior Theses

Sentiment analysis has taken on various machine learning approaches in order to optimize accuracy, precision, and recall. However, Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) Recurrent Neural Networks (RNNs) account for the context of a sentence by using previous predictions as additional input for future sentence predictions. Our approach focused on developing an LSTM RNN that could perform binary sentiment analysis for positively and negatively labeled sentences. In collaboration with Mariam Salloum, I developed a collection of programs to classify individual sentences as either positive or negative. This paper additionally looks into machine learning, neural networks, data preprocessing, implementation, and resulting comparisons.

Can A Comprehensive Transition Plan To Barefoot Running Be The Solution To The Injury Epidemic In American Endurance Runners?, Michael A. Scarlett

CMC Senior Theses

Fossils belonging to the genus Homo, dating as far back as two million years ago, exhibit uniquely efficient features suggesting that early humans had evolved to become exceptional endurance runners. Although they did not have the cushion or stability-control features provided in our modern day running shoes, our early human ancestors experienced far less of the running-related injuries we experience today. The injury rate has been estimated as high as 90% annually for Americans training for a marathon and as high as 79% annually for all American endurance runners. There is an injury epidemic in conventionally shod populations that …

Stormwater Capture In The Built Watershed: Fostering Public Awareness Of Water Conservation Through A Parcel-Level Approach To Stormwater Management, Benjamin Rigby

Pitzer Senior Theses

As California contends with climate change and more extreme cycles of drought and deluge, water management agencies and conservation groups are looking towards solutions to the decreasing reliability of imported water supplies. Stormwater has historically been perceived as a threat to development but when captured properly, it presents a resource that can augment local water supplies. Solutions to water supply issues in California have traditionally employed technical and centrally controlled methods for importing water, but there is a growing understanding that parcel-level capture through vegetated swales presents an opportunity for reducing the impact that development has on California’s hydrology. Vegetated …

Fog Computing With Go: A Comparative Study, Ellis H. Butterfield

CMC Senior Theses

The Internet of Things is a recent computing paradigm, de- fined by networks of highly connected things – sensors, actuators and smart objects – communicating across networks of homes, buildings, vehicles, and even people. The Internet of Things brings with it a host of new problems, from managing security on constrained devices to processing never before seen amounts of data. While cloud computing might be able to keep up with current data processing and computational demands, it is unclear whether it can be extended to the requirements brought forth by Internet of Things.

Fog computing provides an architectural solution to …

A Clean Electricity Future: Assessing The Role Of Wide-Area Power System Operations In Supporting Weather-Driven Renewable Energy In The U.S., Paul D. Picciano

Pomona Senior Theses

Over the coming decades, renewable energy sources, namely wind and solar, will need to play a larger role in our nation’s energy mix as we seek to lower greenhouse emissions and respond to renewable energy policies and the EPA’s Clean Power Plan. This thesis assesses the role of wider-area power system operations in the U.S. as a powerful solution in supporting the integration of these weather-driven, variable energy resources that pose substantial challenges to grid reliability. The expansion and integration of organized electricity markets and transmission networks over wider geographic areas can (1) help reduce net-variability in wind and solar …