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- Water -- Pollution -- Health aspects (2)
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- International Space Station -- Equipment and supplies -- Evaluation (1)
- Life support systems (Space environment) -- Design and construction (1)
Articles 1 - 17 of 17
Full-Text Articles in Systems Engineering
Cytoskeletal Strains In Modeled Optohydrodynamically Stressed Healthy And Diseased Biological Cells, Sean S. Kohles, Yu Liang, Asit K. Saha
Cytoskeletal Strains In Modeled Optohydrodynamically Stressed Healthy And Diseased Biological Cells, Sean S. Kohles, Yu Liang, Asit K. Saha
Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations
Controlled external chemomechanical stimuli have been shown to influence cellular and tissue regeneration/degeneration, especially with regards to distinct disease sequelae or health maintenance. Recently, a unique three-dimensional stress state was mathematically derived to describe the experimental stresses applied to isolated living cells suspended in an optohydrodynamic trap (optical tweezers combined with microfluidics). These formulae were previously developed in two and three dimensions from the fundamental equations describing creeping flows past a suspended sphere. The objective of the current study is to determine the full-field cellular strain response due to the applied three-dimensional stress environment through a multiphysics computational simulation. In …
Leveraging Carbon Financing To Enable Accountable Water Treatment Programs, Evan A. Thomas
Leveraging Carbon Financing To Enable Accountable Water Treatment Programs, Evan A. Thomas
Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations
This article outlines the technical premise and policy considerations surrounding the first program to generate carbon finance for drinking water treatment.
Measuring Sustainability, Evan A. Thomas
Measuring Sustainability, Evan A. Thomas
Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations
The World Health Organization estimates that 884 million people do not have access to safe sources of drinking water. Meanwhile, about half of the world's population continues to use unsustainable, biomassbased energy sources for indoor fuel, leading to extensive deforestation, harmful indoor air emissions, and in many cases upper respiratory disease and high commodity costs for impoverished families. Exacerbating these problems are the international effects of climate change, expected to significantly impact developing countries by changing water and energy quality and availability. International development organizations work tirelessly to address these challenges. However, many efforts struggle with achieving long-term sustainability; many …
Bring Your Own Water Treatment System: United States Patent, Evan A. Thomas, Maximilian Gold
Bring Your Own Water Treatment System: United States Patent, Evan A. Thomas, Maximilian Gold
Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations
A method and apparatus for filtering a fluid is presented. In one embodiment, the apparatus converts contaminated water into water having a lower turbidity and bacterial contamination level than the contaminated water. The apparatus includes a settling unit for at least partially settling a portion of the water; a filter unit having a filtration media; wherein the filtration media comprises sand, anthracite coal, burnt rice husks, diatomaceous earth, gravel, pumice gravel, or combinations thereof; a sanitation unit; wherein the sanitation unit is an ultraviolet disinfection unit; a backwash unit; wherein the settling unit is in fluid communications with the filter …
Social Innovation Concepts At Nasa: Integrating International Development Challenges And Hands-On Prototyping With Spacecraft Design Training, Leonard Yowell, Evan A. Thomas
Social Innovation Concepts At Nasa: Integrating International Development Challenges And Hands-On Prototyping With Spacecraft Design Training, Leonard Yowell, Evan A. Thomas
Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations
The NASA Johnson Space Center Social Innovation program has been designed to encourage innovation within the NASA community that benefits both NASA's core mission as well as human needs domestically and internationally. By encouraging internal and external collaboration and providing resources including the new Johnson Space Center "Sandbox" design shop, new innovations are anticipated. Technologies developed for the human exploration of space share similar requirements with appropriate technology for the developing world. The technology goals of keeping people alive in a difficult environment involve addressing requirements for low maintenance and robustness and often include using renewable energy sources. Technologies developed …
Sustainable Oxygen: A Low Power Approach For Providing Emergency Medical Oxygen For Spacecraft And Hospitals In Developing Countries, Anndee L. Huff, Evan Rhead, Zdenek Zumr, Evan A. Thomas
Sustainable Oxygen: A Low Power Approach For Providing Emergency Medical Oxygen For Spacecraft And Hospitals In Developing Countries, Anndee L. Huff, Evan Rhead, Zdenek Zumr, Evan A. Thomas
Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations
An oxygen concentrator targeting an 80% reduction in power demand over commercial systems is being developed using a pressure swing adsorption process. This system is targeted for a service interval five times longer than commercial systems, and is tolerant to high humidity environments- the leading cause of device failure in developing countries. This system could provide emergency medical oxygen in a spacecraft without increasing oxygen concentration in the vehicle. Flight surgeons seek this capability, but presently, there is no system that meets power, size, and delivery rate requirements. This type of system is also well suited for medical oxygen in …
Proving Sustainability: The International Development Monitoring Initiative, Evan A. Thomas, Zdenek Zumr
Proving Sustainability: The International Development Monitoring Initiative, Evan A. Thomas, Zdenek Zumr
Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations
Nearly a billion people in the world lack access to safe drinking water, two billion have inadequate sanitation facilities, three billion use biomass for their daily energy needs and nearly half the world's population live in rural isolation, lacking access to the most basic human services. Combined, these limitations are a leading cause of the perpetuating cycle of poverty and political insecurity. Meanwhile, the majority of international development agencies are responsible for self-reporting project outcomes. At best, expert spot-checks are conducted in the field occasionally. These results tend to show individual project success, while meta- surveys indicate on-going challenges in …
Presentation: Proving Sustainability: The International Development Monitoring Initiative, Evan A. Thomas
Presentation: Proving Sustainability: The International Development Monitoring Initiative, Evan A. Thomas
Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations
Presentation detailing the activities and products of the Sustainable Water, Energy and Environmental Technologies Laboratory at Portland State University (SWEETLab). The lab also works to develop standards to help evaluate and compare projects and outcomes around the world. Water treatment and sanitation practices, as well as newly designed cookstoves, are highlighted.
Developing Sustainable Life Support System Concepts, Evan A. Thomas
Developing Sustainable Life Support System Concepts, Evan A. Thomas
Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations
Sustainable spacecraft life support concepts may allow the development of more reliable technologies for long-duration space missions. Currently, life support technologies at different levels of development are not well evaluated against each other, and evaluation methods do not account for long-term reliability and sustainability of the hardware. This paper presents point-of-departure Sustainable System Mass (SSM) evaluation criteria for life support systems that may allow more robust technology development, testing, and comparison. An example sustainable water recovery system concept is presented.
Second-Generation International Space Station Total Organic Carbon Analyzer Verification Testing And On-Orbit Performance Results, Nicole L. Bentley, Evan A. Thomas, Michael Van Wie, Chad Morrison
Second-Generation International Space Station Total Organic Carbon Analyzer Verification Testing And On-Orbit Performance Results, Nicole L. Bentley, Evan A. Thomas, Michael Van Wie, Chad Morrison
Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations
The International Space Station (ISS) total organic carbon analyzer (TOCA) is designed to autonomously assess recovered water quality by providing an indication of total organic carbon (TOC). The current TOCA has been on the ISS since November 2008. Functional checkout and operations revealed complex operating considerations. Specifically, failure of the hydrogen (H2) catalyst resulted in development of an innovative oxidation analysis method. This method reduces activation time and limits the H2 produced during analysis, while retaining the ability to indicate TOC concentrations within 25% accuracy. Subsequent testing and comparison to archived samples returned from the station and tested on the …
Development Of A Contingency Capillary Wastewater Management Device, Evan A. Thomas
Development Of A Contingency Capillary Wastewater Management Device, Evan A. Thomas
Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations
The personal body-attached liquid liquidator (PBALL) is conceived as a passive, capillary-driven, contingency wastewater disposal device. In this contingency scenario, the airflow system on the NASA crew exploration vehicle is assumed to have failed, leaving only passive hardware and vacuum vent to dispose of wastewater. To meet these needs, the PBALL was conceived to rely on capillary action and urine wetting conditions from 0° < θadv ∼ 90°, be adaptable for both male and female use, collect and retain up to 1 L of urine, minimize splash-back, and allow continuous draining of the wastewater to vacuum while minimizing cabin air loss. A subscale PBALL test article, which was tested on NASA's reduced-gravity aircraft in April 2010, successfully demonstrated key components of this design.
A Model For Sustainable Humanitarian Engineering Projects, Evan A. Thomas, Bernard Amadei, Robyn Sandekian
A Model For Sustainable Humanitarian Engineering Projects, Evan A. Thomas, Bernard Amadei, Robyn Sandekian
Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations
The engineering profession should embrace a new mission statement?to contribute to the building of a more sustainable, stable, and equitable world. Recently, engineering students and professionals in the United States have shown strong interest in directly addressing the needs of developing communities worldwide. That interest has taken the form of short-and medium-term international trips through Engineers Without Borders?USA and similar organizations. There are also several instances where this kind of outreach work has been integrated into engineering education at various US institutions such as the University of Colorado at Boulder. This paper addresses the challenges and opportunities associated with balancing …
Optical Acquisition And Polar Decomposition Of The Full-Field Deformation Gradient Tensor Within A Fracture Callus, Wangdo Kim, Sean S. Kohles
Optical Acquisition And Polar Decomposition Of The Full-Field Deformation Gradient Tensor Within A Fracture Callus, Wangdo Kim, Sean S. Kohles
Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations
Tracking tissue deformation is often hampered by material inhomogeneity, so local measurements tend to be insufficient thus lending to the necessity of full-field optical measurements. This study presents a novel approach to factoring heterogeneous deformation of soft and hard tissues in a fracture callus by introducing an anisotropic metric derived from the deformation gradient tensor (F). The deformation gradient tensor contains all the information available in a Green-Lagrange strain tensor, plus the rigid-body rotational components. A recent study [Bottlang et al., J. Biomech. 41(3), 2008] produced full-field strains within ovine fracture calluses acquired through the application of electronic speckle pattern …
Developing Sustainable Spacecraft Water Management Systems, Evan A. Thomas, David M. Klaus
Developing Sustainable Spacecraft Water Management Systems, Evan A. Thomas, David M. Klaus
Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations
It is well recognized that water handling systems used in a spacecraft are prone to failure caused by biofouling and mineral scaling, which can clog mechanical systems and degrade the performance of capillary-based technologies. Long duration spaceflight applications, such as extended stays at a Lunar Outpost or during a Mars transit mission, will increasingly benefit from hardware that is generally more robust and operationally sustainable overtime. This paper presents potential design and testing considerations for improving the reliability of water handling technologies for exploration spacecraft. Our application of interest is to devise a spacecraft wastewater management system wherein fouling can …
Development And Implementation Of The Bring Your Own Water Treatment System In Dense, Rural, And Mountainous Rwandan Communities, Maximilian Gold, Evan A. Thomas, Richard L. Byyny, Jean Pierre Habanabakize
Development And Implementation Of The Bring Your Own Water Treatment System In Dense, Rural, And Mountainous Rwandan Communities, Maximilian Gold, Evan A. Thomas, Richard L. Byyny, Jean Pierre Habanabakize
Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations
Over a billion people in the world lack access to safe drinking water1. While numerous technological, medical, and educational solutions have been implemented for the benefit of disadvantaged communities, there is no 'magic bullet'. Instead, development agencies must partner directly with these communities to address their public health needs through appropriate technology solutions, backed up by education and assessment. The "Bring Your Own Water (BYOW) Treatment System" developed by the Engineers Without Borders-USA chapters at the University of Colorado at Boulder Chapter (EWB-CU) and the Johnson Space Center (EWB-JSC) is uniquely designed to address the water treatment requirements of two …
Engineering Education Through Service-Learning In Developing Communities: Two Case Studies, Evan A. Thomas, Andrew Azman
Engineering Education Through Service-Learning In Developing Communities: Two Case Studies, Evan A. Thomas, Andrew Azman
Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations
This paper provides case studies of two service learning projects that University of Colorado at Boulder (CU-Boulder) students are integrating into their academic experience. The projects focus on developing communities and are managed under the auspices of Engineers Without Borders-USA (EWB-USA), a group founded by Dr. Bernard Amadei, Professor of Civil Engineering at CU-Boulder. These projects expand students? understanding of the social value of their chosen profession, and expose them to a type of engineering significantly different than what is presented in most of their classes. Specifically, focusing on developing communities provides students with the opportunity to design solutions to …
Prediction Of Growth Factor Effects On Engineered Cartilage Composition Using Deterministic And Stochastic Modeling, Sean S. Kohles, Asit K. Saha, J. (Jagannath) Mazumdar
Prediction Of Growth Factor Effects On Engineered Cartilage Composition Using Deterministic And Stochastic Modeling, Sean S. Kohles, Asit K. Saha, J. (Jagannath) Mazumdar
Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations
In the design of engineered tissues, guided balance of biomaterial degeneration with tissue synthesis offers refined control of construct development. The objective of this study was to develop a mathematical model that describes the steady state metabolism of extracellular matrix molecules (ECM: glycosaminoglycan and collagen) in an engineered cartilage construct taking into account localized environmental changes that may arise because of the application of growth factors. The variable effects of growth factors were incorporated in the form of random noise rather than the difference in rates of synthesis and catabolism. Thus, the frequency of ECM accumulation for each matrix molecule …