Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

The Mesozoic Vertebrate Paleontology Of Israel, Jonathan Maxwell

Scholars Symposium

The Mesozoic rock layers of Israel contain a number of interesting vertebrate fossils, most of which are late Cretaceous in age, though there are some occurrences of vertebrates from the Triassic as well. Unfortunately, the paleontology of Israel is not as well studied as other countries in the area. However, it has contributed some important information to our understanding of the area. The vertebrate fossils are of marine organisms found in a variety of limestones, mudstones and sandstones, indicating that the area was deposited underwater. This includes a large mosasaur, an elasmosaur, and a Triassic pelycosaur. These fossils combined with …

Gradel, Brennon Gee, Malachi Marshall, Nathan Barlow, James Osborne

The Research and Scholarship Symposium (2013-2019)

Grading homework is a major time-consuming process for professors. This is especially true of computer science professors who each teach multiple sections and classes. Our Senior design project, Gradel is a web application created to help professors with this task. It does this in two ways, firstly by allowing the professors to create customized assignments, problems, test cases and correct solutions. After a class is created our application compares the student's submission with the professor’s solution to automatically grade the submissions. This is also very helpful for students, by giving them instant feedback it allows them to make corrections or …

Lithostratigraphic Correlation Of Upper Paleozoic Sandstone Bodies In The Western United States With Special Emphasis On The Coconino Sandstone, John H. Whitmore

The Research and Scholarship Symposium (2013-2019)

The purpose of this project was to correlate Upper Paleozoic sandstone bodies of Pennsylvanian and Permian age across the western United States. The lateral extent of the Coconino Sandstone (Leonardian) was of particular interest; it is found in northern Arizona in places like Grand Canyon. Data was obtained from multiple sources including the AAPG’s COSUNA charts and data, the RMAG’s Geological Atlas of the Rocky Mountain Region and published papers from a variety of books and journals. About 60 generalized stratigraphic columns were collected, drawn and then correlated across the western United States. Some of the more well-known sandstones and …

A Description Of A Population Of Rugose Horn Corals In The Whitewater Formation (Richmondian, Ordovician) Camden, Oh, Campbell F. Bortel

The Research and Scholarship Symposium (2013-2019)

The Whitewater Formation, part of the upper Ordovician period, is predominately a fossiliferous wavy limestone unit interbedded with fossiliferous shales (State of Ohio, 2012). These shales contain a variety of marine invertebrates including various species of brachiopods, bryozoans, trilobites and an abundance of rugose horn corals. The purpose of this project was to collect and describe a population of rugose corals from several outcrops exposed in Camden, OH. These outcrops are exposed along OH-127 and OH-725 as road cuts. Over 500 corals were collected, sorted for complete specimens, and numerically categorized into a dataset. Each coral was linked to its …

Low Cost Vehicular Autonomy Using Radar And Gps, Nathan Jessurun, Ryan Gordon, Danielle Fredette

The Research and Scholarship Symposium (2013-2019)

This presentation describes a subset of the systems devised for this year's autonomous golf cart senior design project. Our goal is to explore the possibilities of low cost autonomy using only radar and GPS for environmental sensing and navigation. Although autonomous and semi-autonomous ground vehicles are a relatively new reality, prototypes have been a subject of engineering research for decades, often utilizing an array of sensors and sensor fusion techniques. State of the art autonomous ground vehicle prototypes typically use a combination of LIDAR and other distance sensors (such as radar or sonar) as well as cameras and GPS, sometimes …

Cognitive Understanding Of Reverse Engineering Assistant, Nathan Elliot Harris, Bertrand L. Lachance, Jeremy William Tiberg, Faith Trautmann

The Research and Scholarship Symposium (2013-2019)

The Cognitive Understanding of Reverse Engineering Assistant, or C.U.R.E. Assistant for short, is an independently developed program with the purpose of introducing students of the software reverse-engineering world to the art of disassembly. Reverse Engineering, or R.E. for short, is the process of deducing the source instructions or mechanisms of a device. This can be done to software to figure out how it works and how it can be exploited. While hackers employ this method for breaking into software systems, this is very useful for security researchers to determine security vulnerabilities in internet browsers, operating systems, apps, and more, so …

Using Ct Scans To Describe An Allosaurus Skull (Dinosauria: Theropoda), Jordan C. Oldham

The Research and Scholarship Symposium (2013-2019)

In 2001, an Allosaurus skull (CMP 279) was discovered in the Skull Creek Basin in Moffat County, Colorado. The skull is one of the most complete for the species and even contains the hyoid bones, which are usually not present. The skull is now permanently mounted, for display purposes, thus making the study of the individual bones difficult for producing a paleo-anatomical description. Computed Tomography (CT) scans of CMP 279 were created in 2017 and then made available for this study in 2019. CT scans are being used to investigate internal anatomy of skulls such as the endocranial cavity, sinuses, …

Paradigms And Paleoartists: How Our Perception Of Dinosaurs Forms, Jordan C. Oldham

The Research and Scholarship Symposium (2013-2019)

Thomas Kuhn in his famous work The Structure of Scientific Revolutions put forth his idea about how science changes. Kuhn thought that science changed by scientific revolutions brought on by an anomaly. After the anomaly, a crisis point would ensue as more scientists would research the anomaly. While in the process of research they would abandon the old paradigm in favor of one that would explain the anomaly. Not all anomalies create a crisis, but can rather result in a paradigm shift. These shifts occur within the old paradigm, and do not led to the formation of a new paradigm. …

The Use Of Drones For Creating 3d Models Of Waterfalls And Bedrock Features, With Particular Attention To Process And Teaching Applications, Campbell F. Bortel

The Research and Scholarship Symposium (2013-2019)

This study explored the use of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) to model and 3D print waterfalls and bedrock features for use as classroom teaching aids and for possible use in hydrology experiments involving flumes. To achieve the goals of this study, two waterfalls and one bedrock feature were photographed and 3D printed. The waterfalls were Ludlow Falls in Miami County, OH, and Cedar Cliff Falls in Greene County, OH. The bedrock feature was Lizard Head Rock near Sedona, AZ. The UAS platform that was flown was the DJI Mavic Pro quadcopter. A camera mounted on the copter had both videography …

Malware For Macintosh, Nathan C. Shinabarger, Josiah E. Bills, Richard W. Lively, Noah S. Shinabarger

The Research and Scholarship Symposium (2013-2019)

Technology is a cornerstone of modern society. Unfortunately, it seems that every new piece of technology is accompanied by five computer-security breaches elsewhere. Most people associate hacks with Windows computers. This is a problem because Apple computers, and other non-Windows systems, are also extremely vulnerable to attacks and risk being compromised. Dolos is a piece of malware we developed intended to exploit the macOS Sierra operating system. It provides a framework for running exploits and comes built in with certain control and data exfiltration capabilities. Dolos also helps destroy the misconception of "the impenetrable Macintosh computer" by showing that Apple …

On Passing The Buck, Adam J. Hammett, Anna Joy Yang

The Research and Scholarship Symposium (2013-2019)

Imagine there are n>1 people seated around a table, and person S starts with a fair coin they will flip to decide whom to hand the coin next -- if "heads" they pass right, and if "tails" they pass left. This process continues until all people at the table have "touched" the coin. Curiously, it turns out that all people seated at the table other than S have the same probability 1/(n-1) of being last to touch the coin. In fact, Lovasz and Winkler ("A note on the last new vertex visited by a random walk," J. Graph Theory, …

Grain Size Analysis Of Massie’S Creek Near Flax Pond And Community Park, Andrew R. Rivera

The Research and Scholarship Symposium (2013-2019)

The goal of this research is to better understand the stream bed conditions at the confluence of North Fork and South Fork Massie’s Creek next to Community Park in downtown Cedarville, OH. Stream depth as well as sediment type where determined as a result of field work done for this project. The depth data was then used to create a contour map of the pool behind the low-head dam that defines the lower boundary of the confluence area. Sediment distribution is represented on this map based on laboratory particle size analysis and gross piratical size analysis done in the field. …

A Hydrologic And Hydraulic Analysis Of Massie’S Creek Gorge, Greene County, Oh, Using Hec-Ras, Joshua W. Perez

The Research and Scholarship Symposium (2013-2019)

Massie’s Creek is a small tributary of the Little Miami River, located in southwest Ohio near the village of Cedarville. For approximately 1.5 miles (2.4 km) it flows westward through the Indian Mound Reserve Park, an area which occasionally undergoes flooding. In the first ½ mile (0.8 km) of the park, the stream is confined by a deep gorge, 40 feet (12 m) or more tall, and quickly flattens to a meandering stream through the rest of the park. The present study describes the application of HEC-RAS with the integration of ArcGIS for steady flow analyses and flood inundation mapping, …

Understanding Feathered Dinosaurs, Michael D. Sprague

The Research and Scholarship Symposium (2013-2019)

Young-earth creationists hold to separate creations of birds and land animals due to a literal interpretation of Genesis 1:20-25, which describes their creations on different days. As such, they oppose the conventional model of theropod-to-bird evolution. For many years, there were few Mesozoic birds known, namely Hesperornis and Icthyornis. Specimens such as Archaeopteryx, found in 1861, seemed to strengthen the argument for the proposed transition. However, even after John Ostrom reinvigorated the idea of dinosaur-to-bird evolution in 1960 with the discovery of Deinonychus, evidence of this transition was still sparse. In the 1990’s, exquisitely-preserved dinosaur fossils began to pour out …

Does Logic Help Us Beat Monty Hall?, Adam J. Hammett, Nathan A. Harold, Tucker R. Rhodes

The Research and Scholarship Symposium (2013-2019)

The classical Monty Hall problem entails that a hypothetical game show contestant be presented three doors and told that behind one door is a car and behind the other two are far less appealing prizes, like goats. The contestant then picks a door, and the host (Monty) is to open a different door which contains one of the bad prizes. At this point in the game, the contestant is given the option of keeping the door she chose or changing her selection to the remaining door (since one has already been opened by Monty), after which Monty opens the chosen …

Petrographic Analysis Of The Oriskany Sandstone (Lower Devonian) From The Ellisburg Storage Pool, Potter County, Northcentral Pennsylvania, Emily R. Jackson

The Research and Scholarship Symposium (2013-2019)

Three Lower Devonian Oriskany Sandstone cores, EW-216 (core 1), EW-415 (core 2), and EW-706 (core 3), were obtained from Dominion Transmission’s Ellisburg Storage Pool, located in Potter County, northcentral PA. The goal of the project was to create a petrographic analysis and description of the cores, with special attention given to any deformational features associated with stress/strain indicators. Extended Range Helium Porosimeter measurements, XRD analysis, and thin section production were completed by Calgary Rock and Materials. The cores were then analyzed using a petrographic microscope; a complete description from the analysis was written for each core. Photographs were taken of …

A Correlation And Stratigraphy Of Detailed Measured Core Sections Of The Waynesville And Liberty Formations (Katian; Richmondian) - Transecting Warren, Clinton, And Fayette Counties Of Ohio, Mark P. Guilliams

The Research and Scholarship Symposium (2013-2019)

The stratigraphy of the Cincinnatian is difficult to understand and interpret which has resulted in various models for deposition ranging from a layer cake model with continuous beds to completely discontinuous beds. The interest of this study is the Liberty and Waynesville Formations (previously part of the Bull Fork Formation); these are Late Ordovician (Katian; Richmondian) units of predominantly limestone and shale. This project assesses the continuity of fine scale beds within these formations across a small area (approx. the size of Ohio’s Clinton County) by correlating measured sections from drill cores. The project involved the study of five rock …

Cedarlogic 2.0 Update, Colin Broberg, Julian Pernia, Tyler Drake, James Von Eiff

The Research and Scholarship Symposium (2013-2019)

CedarLogic is the Cedarville University’s student-developed, digital logic simulator. Engineering and Computer Science students use this software for several of their classes. Our primary goal for this update is adding black boxes, buses, and cross-platform compatibility. Our additional improvements in user-friendliness and functionality will give students an improved CedarLogic experience.

A Description Of A New Allosaurus (Dinosauria: Theropoda) Skull With Comparison To Additional Specimens, Michael D. Sprague

The Research and Scholarship Symposium (2013-2019)

Allosaurus was a genus of large theropod dinosaur from the Late Jurassic Period (Kimmeridgian to early Tithonian). The history of the taxonomic classification of Allosaurus species is muddled at best, and the number of recognized species varies significantly between researchers. Most Allosaurs from the Morrison Formation are typically lumped into a single species, Allosaurus fragilis. Given the amount of variation seen in Allosaurs through the Morrison, the genus may more diverse than generally recognized. A nearly complete Allosaurus skull (CM 279) located in the Creation Museum in Petersberg, KY is described, with comparison of its skull morphology to two other …

Genuine Or Reproduction: A Comparision Of 3d Imaging Techniques, Erica A. Loughner, Jordan C. Oldham

The Research and Scholarship Symposium (2013-2019)

Advancements in technology associated with 3D imaging for both print and digital applications are transforming many aspects of geology. Museums, researchers, and educators are now using 3D models to depict and reproduce fossils, minerals, and crystals for study, thereby reducing the risk of damage to valuable original specimens. This project examined which of the two processes available to Cedarville University geology program produces the best quality digital image and, subsequently, the best 3D printed object of a macroscopic-sized specimen. The first method utilizes the camera on a smartphone to take overlapping photos of the entire specimen (fossil or mineral) – …

The Bible Story Producer App, Michael D. Baxter, Noah W. Bragg, Grant W. Dennison, Robert J. Jacubec, Andrew D. Lockridge, Abigail M. Riffle

The Research and Scholarship Symposium (2013-2019)

The Bible Story Producer team at Cedarville University has been spending the past year on the Bible Story Producer app for Android. This app is a tool whose purpose is to facilitate the translation of Bible stories by bilingual laypersons in places where the Bible is unavailable in the vernacular. The aim of the app is to facilitate the oral translation of Bible stories transmitted as templates consisting of voice narration in a Language of Wider Communication (LWC). The narration is accompanied by a series of high-quality illustrations animated by the Ken Burns (pan and zoom) effect. An instance of …

Cusigns: A Dynamic Solution For Digital Signage, Jonathan Easterday, Wesley Kelly, Todd Landis, Nicole D. Perez

The Research and Scholarship Symposium (2013-2019)

Cedarville University has computer monitors located throughout campus in order to show advertisements and important information to students, faculty, and staff. The slides shown on these displays are scheduled using Concerto: web-based software which manages digital signage. Though the Concerto software is currently used to manage digital signage, Cedarville University’s IT department desires features which Concerto does not provide, including the ability to play videos, a better slide randomization algorithm, emergency broadcasting features, and an intuitive user interface. We have created a new solution for digital signage called CUSigns with the goal of providing the existing functionality of Concerto while …

Models Of Nation-Building Via Systems Of Differential Equations, Carissa F. Slone, Darryl K. Ahner, Mark E. Oxley, William P. Baker

The Research and Scholarship Symposium (2013-2019)

Nation-building modeling is an important field of research given the increasing number of candidate nations and the limited resources available. A modeling methodology and a system of differential equations model are presented to investigate the dynamics of nation-building. The methodology is based upon parameter identification techniques applied to a system of differential equations, to evaluate nation-building operations. Data from Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and Afghanistan are used to demonstrate the validity of different models as well as the comparison of models.

The Relationship Between Static Water Levels, Bedrock Topography, And Glacial Drift Thickness For The Cedarville, Greene County, Ohio Area, Joel G. Twinem

The Research and Scholarship Symposium (2013-2019)

Cedarville, Ohio, is an area covered in glacial deposits from the Pleistocene age. During this time, the Silurian dolomitic bedrock was exposed and worn down. Glacial till composed of sand and gravel was deposited atop the dolomite in wake of the glaciers retreat. The combination of vuggy bedrock and permeability of the overlying sediments cause the area to be very conducive to aquifer storage and movement. This study attempts to determine the relationship between bedrock topography, till thickness, and static water level, as well as the implications for future drilling. 26 static water levels were measured in the field using …

Characterization Of Massive Vs. Laminated Texture Of The Coconino Sandstone (Permian), Arizona From The Study Of Thin Sections, Sarah C. Rouse

The Research and Scholarship Symposium (2013-2019)

This project seeks to contribute to the work of Dr. John Whitmore and Sarah Maithel on the Coconino Sandstone (Permian) of Arizona. More than one hundred thin sections are available for study from this sandstone. Each thin section was examined both macroscopically and microscopically to determine if the sample is "laminated" or "massive." The purpose of this project is to define what "laminae" are and then develop reliable quantitative criteria that can differentiate between the laminated and massive samples. These criteria might then be applied to distinguish patterns that occur across the deposit, which in turn may provide insight into …

2017 Symposium Overview, Cedarville University

The Research and Scholarship Symposium (2013-2019)

Click the "Download" button in the top right corner to view the abstract booklet.

Understanding Feathered Dinosaurs, Michael D. Sprague

The Research and Scholarship Symposium (2013-2019)

Young-earth creationists hold to separate creations of birds and land animals due to a literal interpretation of Genesis 1:20-25, which describes their creations on different days. As such, they oppose the conventional model of theropod-to-bird evolution. For many years, there were few Mesozoic birds known, namely Hesperornis and Icthyornis. Specimens such as Archaeopteryx, found in 1861, seemed to strengthen the argument for the proposed transition. However, even after John Ostrom reinvigorated the idea of dinosaur-to-bird evolution in 1960 with the discovery of Deinonychus, evidence of this transition was still sparse. In the 1990’s, exquisitely-preserved dinosaur fossils began …

What Can You Do With A Math Degree Anyway?, Steven Thorsen

Mathematics Colloquium

This talk presents what can be done with a degree in mathematics in these exciting times. Often, those finishing a four-year degree have little idea what to expect in a career outside of teaching. This presentation will outline the possibilities and the speaker will discuss from experience potential careers, the market place, how to start, and some surprising examples of what mathematicians do. Tips for job seekers are included and a lively Q&A will follow.

On A Multiple-Choice Guessing Game, Ryan Cushman, Adam J. Hammett

The Research and Scholarship Symposium (2013-2019)

We consider the following game (a generalization of a binary version explored by Hammett and Oman): the first player (“Ann”) chooses a (uniformly) random integer from the first n positive integers, which is not revealed to the second player (“Gus”). Then, Gus presents Ann with a k-option multiple choice question concerning the number she chose, to which Ann truthfully replies. After a predetermined number m of these questions have been asked, Gus attempts to guess the number chosen by Ann. Gus wins if he guesses Ann’s number. Our goal is to determine every m-question algorithm which maximizes the probability of …

Growth Of Synthetic Silver Wires From Natural Acanthite, Calvin J. Anderson

The Research and Scholarship Symposium (2013-2019)

Wire silver is an unusual crystal habit of native silver which is intimately associated with acanthite (Ag2S). These delicate wires have been collected for several centuries, but much remains unknown regarding their growth mechanism and crystal structure. This study has successfully produced synthetic silver wires from natural acanthite in order to investigate the nature of their crystallinity.

Chunks of crude acanthite crystals from the Hongda mine, Shanxi Province, China, were trimmed into roughly 1 cm chunks for growth experiments. Preexisting silver wires, which appeared to be natural, were avoided.

Several techniques were explored with varying degrees of success. Attempts using …