Other Engineering Commons^™

An Adaptive Photovoltaic Topology To Overcome Shading Effect In Pv Systems, Mohamed Amer Chaaban, Lana El Chaar, Mahmoud Alahmad

Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: Faculty Publications

Shading in photovoltaic systems can cause many undesired effects.When shading occurs, the power generated from the PV system is much less than nominal power, increasing the electrical mismatching losses between PV system components. Active research to address this power loss focuses on static and adaptive systems.This paper addresses an adaptive system solution and proposes a new method to adaptively overcome losses due to shading during low radiation conditions. In addition, a statistical analysis for choosing the most feasible and efficient configuration for the system size is presented. The proposed system has been validated under shade conditions in a simulation and …

Building Envelope And Interior Grading Systems And Methods, Fadi Mohammad Alsaleem

Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: Faculty Publications

A difference module determines differences between an out door ambient temperature and an indoor temperature, deter mines a first average of the differences, and determines a second average of the differences. A storing module stores a first data point, the first data point including the first average and a first total run time of a heating, ventilation, and/or air conditioning (HVAC) system, and stores a second data point, the second data point including the second average and a second total run time of the HVAC system. A fitting module fits a line to the first and second data points. An …

Designing The Identities Of Engineers, Mike Murphy, Shannon Chance, Eddie Conlon

Books/Book chapters

Book Chapter forthcoming in Engineering Education and Practice in Context, Vol. 2 to be published by Springer in 2015.

A Critical Realist Approach To Engineering Ethics, Eddie Conlon

Conference papers

This paper is focused on the teaching of engineering ethics (EE). Through a focus on safety and the lens of what sociologists call the agency/ structure relationship it examimes various approaches to this teaching. Drawing on Critical Realism it argues there are deficiencies in both the dominant approach and a number of proposed alternatives as they suffer from various forms of conflationism . By drawing on Critical Realism (CR) a more robust agenda for teaching engineering ethics can be developed. It is argued that CR offers a basis for understanding the range of factors which lead to accidents and disasters. …

Dit-Topcon Internship Experience, Audrey Martin, Abigail Iversen

Articles

The Technological University Dublin (DIT: http://www.dit.ie/) is one of the largest Higher Education Institutes in Ireland, with 20,000 students registered and over 2000 members of staff. It has been providing technological higher education for over one hundred and twenty years encompassing the full spectrum of Third Level programmes. During that time the Institute's alumni have played important roles in technical and scientific innovation, economic and social development and culture and education both in Ireland and internationally.

The CEO of Topcon Positioning Systems Inc., Ray O’Connor is a DIT School of Surveying alumnus and in October 2013 Ray visited his …

An Architectural Perspective On Structured Sacred Space—Recent Evidence From Iron Age Ireland, Frank Prendergast

Book/Book Chapter

N/A

A Review Of Approaches For Sensing, Understanding, And Improving Occupancy-Related Energy-Use Behaviors In Commercial Buildings, Hamed Nabizadeh Rafsanjani, Changbum R. Ahn, Mahmoud Alahmad

Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: Faculty Publications

Buildings currently account for 30–40 percent of total global energy consumption. In particular, commercial buildings are responsible for about 12 percent of global energy use and 21 percent of the United States’ energy use, and the energy demand of this sector continues to grow faster than other sectors. This increasing rate therefore raises a critical concern about improving the energy performance of commercial buildings. Recently, researchers have investigated ways in which understanding and improving occupants’ energy-consuming behaviors could function as a cost-effective approach to decreasing commercial buildings’ energy demands. The objective of this paper is to present a detailed, up-to-date …

Use Of Fiber-Reinforced Cements In Masonry Construction And Structural Rehabilitation, Ece Erdogmus

Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: Faculty Publications

The use of fiber reinforcement in traditional concrete mixes has been extensively studied and has been slowly finding its regular use in practice. In contrast, opportunities for the use of fibers in masonry applications and structural rehabilitation projects (masonry and concrete structures) have not been as deeply investigated, where the base matrix may be a weaker cementitious mixture. This paper will summarize the findings of the author’s research over the past 10 years in these particular applications of fiber reinforced cements (FRC). For masonry, considering both mortar and mortar-unit bond characteristics, a 0.5% volume fraction of micro fibers in type …

A Comparison Of Combined Overlap Block Fuzzy Cognitive Maps (Cobfcm) And Combined Overlap Block Neutrosophic Cognitive Map (Cobncm) In Finding The Hidden Patterns And Indeterminacies In Psychological Causal Models: Case Study Of Adhd, Hojjatollah Farahani, Florentin Smarandache, Lihshing Leigh Wang

Branch Mathematics and Statistics Faculty and Staff Publications

In spite of researchers’ concerns to find causalities, reviewing the literature of psychological studies one may argue that the classical statistical methods applied in order to find causalities are unable to find uncertainty and indeterminacies of the relationships between concepts.

In this paper, we introduce two methods to find effective solutions by identifying “hidden” patterns in the patients’ cognitive maps. Combined Overlap Block Fuzzy Cognitive Map (COBFCM) and Combined Overlap Block Neutrosophic Map (COBNCM) are effective when the number of concepts can be grouped and are large in numbers. In the first section, we introduce COBFCM, COBNCM, their applications, and …

Engineering Faculty Perspectives On The Nature Of Quality Teaching, Jacqueline C. Mcneil, Matthew W. Ohland

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

There is wide agreement that teaching quality matters in higher education, but faculty have varied ideas about the definition of quality. Faculty definitions of quality teaching were coded using an existing framework. The most common definition of teaching quality (held by 49% of participants) is associated with elitism and restricted access—the best way to improve education is to admit better students. These faculty focus on education as “knowledge transfer” and “learning content.” Another 38% of faculty had a transformational perspective, more focused on process than content, valuing “empowering students,” “developing students,” and “creating an environment for learning.” These faculty refer …

Parametric Study Of Self-Centering Concentrically-Braced Frames In Response To Earthquakes, Nicholas F. Roth

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This research project consisted of the use of computer aided numerical software to test the response of an earthquake resistance system within various buildings when exposed to various design-level earthquakes. This research project is an extension of an existing NSF research project. The relevant questions and investigations of this and the greater project surround the performance of an earthquake resistance system with the intentions of better understanding its abilities and limitations. This project has been aided by Dr. David Roke, the faculty sponsor, in order to perform the research and collect, organize, and analyze the data. This research was performed …

Chemical Storage Of Wind Energy By Renewable Methanol Production: Feasibility Analysis Using A Multi-Criteria Decision Matrix, Michael J. Matzen, Mahdi H. Alhajji, Yaşar Demirel

Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering: Faculty Publications

This study is for the technoeconomic analysis of an integral facility consisting of wind energy-based electrolytic hydrogen production, bioethanol-based carbon dioxide capture and compression, and direct methanol synthesis. ASPEN Plus was used to simulate the facility producing 97.01 mt (metric tons) methanol/day using 138.37 mt CO₂/day and 18.56 mt H₂/day. A discounted cash flow diagram for the integral facility is used for the economic analysis at various hydrogen production costs and methanol selling prices. The feasibility analysis is based on a multi-criteria decision matrix consisting of economic and sustainability indicators comparing renewable and non-renewable methanol productions. …

The Simulation & Evaluation Of Surge Hazard Using A Response Surface Method In The New York Bight, Michael H. Bredesen

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Atmospheric features, such as tropical cyclones, act as a driving mechanism for many of the major hazards affecting coastal areas around the world. Accurate and efficient quantification of tropical cyclone surge hazard is essential to the development of resilient coastal communities, particularly given continued sea level trend concerns. Recent major tropical cyclones that have impacted the northeastern portion of the United States have resulted in devastating flooding in New York City, the most densely populated city in the US. As a part of national effort to re-evaluate coastal inundation hazards, the Federal Emergency Management Agency used the Joint Probability Method …

Cruise Ship Preliminary Design: The Influence Of Design Features On Profitability, Justin Epstein

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This thesis provides a means to estimate the physical and performance characteristics of a preliminary cruise ship design. The techniques utilized to estimate these characteristics are showcased in the user-friendly interface known as the Cruise Ship Analysis Tool (CSAT). Using the CSAT, the implications that design feature decisions in the preliminary design stage have on a cruise ship’s profitability is analyzed. Then, the most profitable design feature assemblage among a finite number of varying design feature combinations is estimated and compared among cruise ship designs with different passenger carrying capacities. Profitability is analyzed using the measure of merit (MOM) known …

Computational Fluid Dynamics Analysis Of An Ideal Anguilliform Swimming Motion, Charles Rogers

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

There is an ongoing interest in analyzing the flow characteristics of swimming fish. Biology has resulted in some very efficient motions and formulating these motions is of interest to engineers. One such theory was written by Dr. William Vorus and Dr. Brandon Taravella involving ideal efficiency. It is therefore interesting to test the calculations to see if it is possible to design a motion that can create thrust without necessarily creating vorticity. The computational fluid dynamics software of ANSYS Fluent was used to calculate the resulting flow field of the eel motion to compare with the theoretical values.

Multifunctional Glazing System: Solution For Modern Smart Glazing, Aritra Ghosh, Brian Norton, Aidan Duffy

Conference papers

Multifunctional glazing combines various glazing ,that have potential to control solar heat gain by changing the window transmittance and low heat loss. In autonomous multifunctional glazing it s function will be powered by PV layer attached to the glazing. This glazing obviates the necessity for shading devices to control the glare. Glare control for such a small scale south facing vertical surface multifunctional glazing is discussed.

Temperature Controlled Packaging Container For Biologics And Pharmaceuticals, Melinda Phan, Yufay Chow-Yee, Abraham Ho

Mechanical Engineering

Clinical Supplies Management, Inc. (CSM) provides clinical trial services to biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies by shipping pharmaceuticals to clinics and other patients. In winter 2014, CSM presented a temperature control packaging project to the Cal Poly Senior Project class. As a result, three Cal Poly Mechanical Engineering Students were tasked to design, manufacture, and qualify a shipping container that would maintain ten 10 mL vials between 2-8°C for 96 hours. The final product would have to cost less to ship than the Credo Cube, CSM’s current temperature control packaging product. After considerable research and analysis on possible temperature control technologies, …

Impact Profile: Tech 120-Nathan Mentzer, Jason A. Ware

IMPACT Profile Directory

This profile highlights the course redesign and transformation of a foundational first-year course in Purdue University’s College of Technology. The faculty involved in this redesign were focused primarily on accomplishing two things with the course transformation. First, faculty recognized that the initial course objectives focused on students learning general skills that are taught throughout the University – career awareness and study skills. The goal with the course redesign was for students to learn skills that are unique to the fields of study within the College and for students to experience a student-centered pragmatic approach to teaching and learning. Second, faculty …

Analysing The Impact Of Digital Photography Projects On Student Engagement And Performance In A Higher Education Engineering Discipline, Michael Gleeson

Conference papers

Developing and implementing engaging activities aligned with the learning outcomes of a module within a higher education programme is essential to successful teaching practice in the 21^st century. Substantial research evidence indicates that student engagement plays a pivotal role in the academic performance and success of the student. The aim of this research is to compare student performance after adopting an alternative pedagogic approach utilising digital photography as a tool to engage the student in an engineering discipline. The activity was designed to promote student engagement by integrating digital photography, replicating authentic construction professional practice and focusing on images …

Optimised Integration Of Grid-Connected Renewable Energy Technologies For Domestic Application In Ireland, Zhe Li

Doctoral

The utilisation of renewable energy resources for electricity and thermal generation is extremely important in Ireland due to the lack of indigenous fossil fuel resources and the high dependence on imported fossil fuels. The release of environmentally-damaging greenhouse gases in the combustion of fossil fuels in electricity and thermal generation is also a major issue. In Ireland, the domestic dwelling is recognised as one of the biggest energy consumers. The use of renewable energy technologies to provide electricity, heating and hotwater can effectively offset the usage of fossil fuels. The aim of this research study was to develop a novel …