Engineering Commons^™

Product Realization Capstone: Element Proof Safety Steps For Willie Price Lab School, Catherine Thomas, Allan Heuerman, Jared Mumme

Honors Theses

The purpose of this document is to describe the process we took to complete our capstone which paired the Center for Manufacturing Excellence with the Willie Price Lab School. The goal of the capstone was to remake step stools for the students of Willie Price, as the last stools failed to withstand weather damage. However, with the COVID-19 pandemic, plans were hindered, shifting the goal from actually producing the steps to creating instructions so that a younger Center for Manufacturing class could complete the production at a later date. Standardized Work Instructions, a detailed production plan, and engineering drawings were ...

Irrigation Design In Montana: Accommodating Varying Water Accessibility Across The Continental Divide., John Garrett Lampson

Biological and Agricultural Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

The design work performed in this project was conducted over two summers (2018, 2019) of internship experience with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) across the state of Montana. The first summer’s design work was based out of Glendive, MT, in Dawson County, approximately 50 kilometers from the North Dakota border. The second summer was in Missoula, MT, in Missoula County, near the Idaho border. The two areas differ significantly in topography, weather, and water availability with the main separating geographic influence being the Rocky Mountains.

This paper focuses on the design process and requirements for two farms located ...

Fish Farming Aerator, Kylie Johnson, Therese Rosalez, Jordan Hendricker, Ryan Froidcoeur

Scholar Week 2016 - present

Designing, building and installing a functional and efficient aerator prototype suitable for small pond intensive aquaculture use in El Faro, Guatemala. The project’s purpose is to provide a solution for farming tilapia. A successful project outcome will help impoverished families to raise tilapia for food and income The team will install the aeration system on-site in El Faro, Guatemala.

Nucor Steel Storage Rack Design, Mac Hanson, Hannah Cataldo, Jason Ziganto, Robert Wozek

Scholar Week 2016 - present

The goal of this design project was to build effective steel storage racks for Nucor Steel Kankakee. The important criteria that the design team needed to meet was that the rack was adjustable, could fit all of the manufactured products that Nucor makes, and could fit various lengths of product. Nucor needs a new rack system because their current process makes the shipping process very inefficient.

The Caster Ladle Lancing System, Andrew Pearson, Alexander Frank, Zachariah Bishop

Scholar Week 2016 - present

The Shielded Movable Oxygen Lance Turret is a cart that is easily maneuverable, that allows an operator to safely lance in a steel casting situation with the protection of a shield and an apparatus to aim and burn away debris.The relatively small design and wheels allows the device to be stored and accessed when needed. This was constructed with industrial materials to withstand a harsh working environment of the caster area where molten steel can be between 2700°F and 3000°F. The Turret has a body made of galvanized iron, and shield infused with polycarbonate as it is ...

Automatic Tail-Cutter, Alika Kahaulelio, Thomas Alexander, Timothy J. Layne

Scholar Week 2016 - present

Essity commissioned Olivet Senior Design Team #9 with the creation of a device that will expedite the roll change time on Machine #515 while maintaining the safety standards that Essity has set forth. The current process is manual, with inefficiencies due to operators entering and leaving the machine area along with a slow manual cut time. Our goal is to optimize this process with the addition of a new process and/or devices. The solution provided to Essity was the addition of a lowering device and a cutting device which were to be used alongside an existing piece of equipment ...

Reconstitution Efficiency On Elution Process, Brandon Winter, Landon Beachy, Samantha Stejskal, Zachary Rice

Scholar Week 2016 - present

Our group is presenting on the Reconstitution Efficiency on Elution Process for MilliporeSigma. The process that we are working with is the mixing of BAAP (Bovine Albumin Acetone Powder) into reverse osmosis water. This process is the first step of many in the making of medical test kits, of which include HIV/AID, strep throat, and pregnancy tests. Our initial task was to reduce the mixing time by 50%, however after further exploration of the problem, a more stable and consistent process turned into our primary goal and a significant reduction in time became a secondary goal. Initially, we were ...

Bionic Hand Team, Christopher T. Rossiter, David J. Bogacz, Carly J. Ulrich

The Research and Scholarship Symposium

The project goal is to design a low cost prosthetic hand controlled by a PIC18F25K22 microcontroller that will allow the user to perform simple tasks that require a greater dexterity than what a mechanical prosthetic can deliver. The digits of the prosthetic will be contracted or relaxed using electromyographic signals measured by electrodes on a single muscle group. Grip settings, which define the open and closed position for each digit, are used for the control of the hand. This allows common actions, such as grabbing a door handle or pencil, to be accomplished with readings from one muscle group instead ...

John Houbolt: The Unsung Hero Of The Apollo Moon Landings, William F. Causey

Purdue University Press Book Previews

In May 1961, President Kennedy announced that the United States would attempt to land a man on the moon and return him safely to the earth before the end of that decade. Yet NASA did not have a specific plan for how to accomplish that goal. Over the next fourteen months, NASA vigorously debated several options. At first the consensus was to send one big rocket with several astronauts to the moon, land and explore, and then take off and return the astronauts to earth in the same vehicle. Another idea involved launching several smaller Saturn V rockets into the ...

Bs News March/April

Building Services News

No abstract provided.

Working Across Disciplines And Library Units To Develop A Suite Of Systematic Review Services For Researchers, Nedelina Tchangalova, Eileen G. Harrington, Stephanie Ritchie, Sarah Over, Jodi Coalter

Collaborative Librarianship

Since their inception in the health sciences field, systematic reviews have expanded into many other subject disciplines. To address this growing need, subject librarians at the University of Maryland Libraries collaborated on a pilot program in three phases to introduce researchers to the process of conducting systematic and scoping reviews. This article describes the development of various collaborative efforts leading to the implementation of a systematic review service based on participant feedback. Assessment and evaluation techniques are shared to encourage further refinement of the systematic review service.

Liability Of The Structural Engineer: Establishing, Quantifying, And Managing Risks, Justin Thomas Ittmann

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Liability is an important topic to all practicing professionals—including practicing engineers. However, the topic of liability does not receive the necessary attention required relative to other professions. Further, engineers that desire to learn more about liability in relation to their practice do not have many university options within an engineering curriculum or from outside materials available to a non-legally trained engineer. The goal of the study is to provide a comprehensive overview of liability directed towards an intelligent practicing engineer, while avoiding unnecessary over-simplification of the material. This study initially provides an in depth survey of the legal standard ...

Ideal Lacrosse Stick, Josh Beck, Tyler Skoloda, Noah Reed, Stanley Dembosky

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This project is focused on the design of a new and innovative lacrosse stick. Our main points of focus will be the strength and durability of the head. As well as solving some of the problems that exist in existing equipment. These problems were identified by interviewing experienced players at the college level. Benefits would include a stronger head that is easier to use for a player on the field to do things like pass, catch, shoot, and field ground balls in an optimal manner. Normally players will have to purchase new heads every season as a result of warping ...

Bioimpedance Sensor, Ryan Byo, Kevin Libertowski

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

A bioimpdance senor to measure the impedance of a human body. Completed as part of the engineering Senior Design Project

Tabletop Mechanical Tester, Jamie Dombroski, Andrew Shirk, Richard Leffler, Brian English

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The need for hands-on and face-to-face experiences in the engineering classroom is very great. The equations, principles, and concepts can all be learned, but without the visual and tactile application, these don’t always sink in or become concrete. A small-scale tensile test machine was designed, sourced, manufactured, and tested for the purpose of being applied in classroom settings to provide this experience to engineering students. Extensive research was performed concerning tensile machines on the market, the essential elements of which are the load cell, grips, crosshead, extensometer, motor, and frame. The raw materials for the frame were purchased and ...

Tabletop Mechanical Tester, Jamie Dombroski, Brian English, Richard Leffler, Andrew Shirk

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The need for hands-on and face-to-face experiences in the engineering classroom is very great. The equations, principles, and concepts can all be learned, but without the visual and tactile application, these don’t always sink in or become concrete. A small-scale tensile test machine was designed, sourced, manufactured, and tested for the purpose of being applied in classroom settings to provide this experience to engineering students. Extensive research was performed concerning tensile machines on the market, the essential elements of which are the load cell, grips, crosshead, extensometer, motor, and frame. The raw materials for the frame were purchased and ...

All-Wheel-Ukraine, Sofiya Rakovska, Hannah Mcculloch, Andrey Garasimchuk, Ahmad Alsaihati

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

We are working with a non-profit organization in Ukraine that provides wheelchairs/strollers to families of disables children who cannot afford them. Their current preferred solution is a baby stroller. The organization asked us to create a wheelchair that is cost efficient, light and collapsible to be used for children ages up to thirteen years old. We will be creating an alpha prototype wheelchair by modifying a basic wheelchair that we purchased. This modifications include adding a headrest that is adjustable and provides a sufficient support for children within the age group given to us and diverse levels of disabilities ...

Mini Baja Frame Analysis, Jacob Swanson

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The purpose of our senior design project is to optimize the Baja frame to reduce its weight and material cost while keeping the required rigidity. Through force analysis we will be able to determine if any rigidity is lost by removing a set of tubes (figure 1), along with the other forces seen by the frame. If it is found that the frame rigidity is still within the determined factor of safety, 2, then we will be able to reduce the frame weight and the number of tubes that make up the frame. Along with force analysis, we will use ...

Prosthetic Hand, Nicholas Damiani, Eric Rassavong, John Zolton

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Development of a prosthetic hand for an above-the-wrist amputee. The hand will provide flexion and extension of the wrist, fingers and thumb. The device will be customized for each individual by utilizing an medical imaging of the amputation side stump and the normal arm/wrist as the input. An integral hand/wrist and socket will be 3D printed, and actuators will be mounted to the prosthetic to provide motion. The wrist will be a mirror-image of the normal hand. Materials utilized will be selected based on the medical image intensity for different tissue types (cartilage, bone, skin, fat, etc.) and ...

A Survey Of Education In Civil Engineering, Tyler Fuller

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This paper provides an overview of the current education requirements in the field of civil engineering. This is achieved through means of an anonymous survey sent to civil engineering academics and data gathered from the published curricula of ten existing civil engineering programs. These ten programs were selected by means of a random number generator from the list of institutions the survey was sent to. Such an overview is important for gauging the effectiveness of civil engineering education for current and future students.

Prosthetic Foot/Ankle Inversion & Eversion Enhancement, Jason Wiebrecht, Maddison Grimes

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Modify a prosthetic foot/ankle, that currently has power at the ankle joint, for dorsiflexion/flexion so that it supplies power across a simulated subtalar joint, making the joint capable of inversion/eversion.

Vortex Fluidic Mediated Synthesis Of Polysulfone, Aghil Igder, Scott Pye, Ahmed Hussein Mohammed Al-Antaki, Alireza Keshavarz, Colin L. Raston, Ata Nosrati

ECU Publications Post 2013

Polysulfone (PSF) was prepared under high shear in a vortex fluidic device (VFD) operating in confined mode, and its properties compared with that prepared using batch processing. This involved reacting the pre-prepared disodium salt of bisphenol A (BPA) with a 4,4′-dihalodiphenylsulfone under anhydrous conditions. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) established that in the thin film microfluidic platform, the PSF particles are sheet-like, for short reaction times, and fibrous for long reaction times, in contrast to spherical like particles for the polymer prepared using the conventional batch synthesis. The operating parameters of the VFD (rotational speed of the glass tube ...

Bs News January/February

Building Services News

No abstract provided.

A-Step 2030 – New Research Project Presents A Picture Of The Skills Needed For Engineers To Solve The Sustainable Development Goals (Sdgs)., Una Beagon

Articles

Communication and Technical Skills will still be the most important attributes required of engineers in the future, according to a new study by the A-STEP 2030 Erasmus+ funded project. The project which is led by ENSTA Bretagne, France and has academic partners in TU Dublin, Metropolia University of Applied Sciences in Finland and Aalborg University in Denmark aims to develop innovative teaching approaches for engineering students which will attract a more diverse student body to the engineering profession.

Career Prospects And Resources Of Domestic Engineering Doctoral Students, Laura A. Gelles

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Career prospects are a motivating factor for entry and retention of doctoral students, especially in the discipline of engineering. While doctoral student training provides them with highly specialized skills to be an independent researcher, they may not have the requisite skills or guidance to secure the job position of their choice. Therefore, it is important to provide doctoral students with opportunities, training, and information (i.e., resources) about different types of careers to not only ensure they are productive contributors of teaching and research, but also equip them for future career prospects. Research techniques based upon in-depth narrative interviews and ...

Expression Systems For Synthetic Spider Silk Protein Production, Michaela R. Hugie

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Spider silk is a biodegradable and biocompatible natural material that is stronger than steel and more elastic than nylon. These properties make spider silk a desirable material for many commercial products, ranging from textiles to biomedical materials. Due to spiders’ cannibalistic and territorial nature it is impossible to farm them to produce spider silk at a high enough yield to meet product demands. Therefore, a bioengineered synthetic process is necessary to produce spider silk. Synthetic spider silk has been produced in bacteria, goats, yeast, plants, mammalian cells and silkworms, but none of these processes provided a commercially viable yield or ...

Technical Report: Solving Global Problems [Composition], Lara V. Kattekola

Open Educational Resources

This assignment was developed as part of a 2018-19 Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) -sponsored Learning Matters Global Learning Mini-grant awarded to support the ENG 259 Technical Writing course. This course is required for engineering students as the second course in their composition sequence to be taken in lieu of ENG 102. The aim of the mini-grant was to integrate LaGuardia’s Global Learning Core Competency into the ENG 259 course via the development of a high stakes global learning assignment. The assignment was developed during the Fall 2018 CTL Learning Matters Mini-Grant seminar meetings led by Drs. Karen ...

Bs News November/December

Building Services News

No abstract provided.

Human Rights, Environmental Justice, Social Justice, Faith Values And Ethics: Building Stronger Partnerships For The Common Good By Understanding The Differences, Theresa Harris, Leanne M. Jablonski, Sarah Fortner, Malcolm Daniels

Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

Partnerships between human rights practitioners, local communities, scientists, engineers, and health professionals have shown potential to address deeply rooted, systemic human rights concerns. These collaborations are essential for achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and for engaging the perspectives and expertise of all constituents. However, even when the individuals in these partnerships or the organizations they represent have common goals, their motivations, analyses, and solutions often come from different perspectives. Members of good will can inadvertently alienate one another when attempting to work together. The fields of human rights, social justice, environmental justice, and ethics have each developed their ...

Textual Comparison Of Role Model And Mentor Profiles Developed To Increase Participation Of Underrepresented Minorities In Stem, Kyle F. Trenshaw, Elif Miskioglu, Philip Asare, Nir Aish

Faculty Conference Papers and Presentations

No abstract provided.