Digital Commons Network^™

Radio Frequency Resonate And Fire (Rf-Raf) Neurons Supporting Device Classification, David L. Weathers, Michael A. Temple, Brett J. Borghetti

Faculty Publications

Radio Frequency Fingerprinting (RFF) enables passive physical-layer device authentication by exploiting unintentional hardware variations in wireless transmitters. Neuromorphic implementations are attractive, given their potential for low-latency, energy-efficient inference capability under Size, Weight, and Power (SWaP) constraints at the edge. A new RFF capability is demonstrated here using recently introduced Radio Frequency Resonate-and-Fire (RF-RAF) neurons and eight WirelessHART devices. Performance is evaluated for RF-RAF-generated fingerprints against the established Gabor Transform (GTX) baseline using three classifier architectures: Random Forest (RndF), Convolutional Neural Network (CNN), and a Time-Incremented Spiking Neural Network (TI-SNN). The results show that RF-RAF fingerprints achieve an average classification accuracy …

Analysis Of Rare Earth Element Enrichment In The Phosphoria Formation, Southwest Montana, Nicholas Risedorf

Honors Theses

The Phosphoria Formation is a world-class phosphate-producing paleobasin in the Rocky Mountains. It has produced over 230 Mt of commercial phosphate since the 1920s. Rare earth element (REE) mineralization in phosphorite was observed historically, but commercial recovery of REEs has not been reported. Increasing demand for domestic REE supply has made resource characterization a priority. This study investigates the distribution of REEs within the Phosphoria Formation across southwest Montana. Five sections of Retort Member from the Phosphoria were exposed to measure stratigraphy and collect samples for geochemical analysis. Historic mine sites and prospects were also visited to collect and analyze …

The Design And Optimization Of A Styrene Production Plant, Kaylee Hardenstein, Amanda Anderson

Honors Theses

This thesis presents the design and economic optimization of a Styrene Production Plant targeting a capacity of 100,000 tonnes/yr at a product purity of 99.8 wt%. The process relies on the dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene in a packed-bed reactor system. Downstream separation is achieved through a series of cooling, phase separation, and distillation operations to recover styrene while recycling unreacted ethylbenzene and recovering valuable byproducts.

A base case design was developed and evaluated using a process simulation software, Aspen Plus V14, and an economic analysis. Sensitivity analysis identified the styrene market price and ethylbenzene raw material cost as the dominant factors …

Manufacturing Processes Of A Wooden Tortilla Press: Idea To Production, Emma J. Palmer, Glenn Walker, Colleen Nolan, Olivia Marque, Benjamin Bird

Honors Theses

This thesis follows the Manufacturing Process of a Wooden Tortilla Press from idea to production following lean manufacturing processes and producing a valuable, and profitable product.

Design Optimization Of Active-Stabilizing Canards For High-Powered Rockets, Simon Babcock

Senior Honors Theses

Rocket canards are a common means of stabilizing a high-powered rocket in flight by producing aerodynamic forces to correct the rocket's trajectory. The size, shape, and position of the canards relative to the rocket body determine their control effectiveness and aerodynamic efficiency – two objectives of canard design with an inverse relationship to each other. By integrating automated iterative rocket trajectory simulation with adaptive surrogate modelling, this research optimized the canard planform geometry for a high-powered rocket to maximize the canards’ control effectiveness and aerodynamic efficiency through multi-variable, multi-objective design optimization. The canard design was first parameterized into four design …

Development Of A Putting Green Manufacturing Process, Jose Andres Cepeda Santiago

Honors Theses

Our Capstone project investigates the end-to-end design, development, and production of a 6‑foot long portable putting green marketed for individuals seeking a high quality, competitively priced golf product for home or office use. The capstone project examines the full lifecycle of product creation applying manufacturing principles learned through the center of manufacturing’s coursework. From the initial concept through engineering design, market research, prototyping, manufacturing optimization, and final production the project emphasizes cross‑functional collaboration across engineering, business, and accountancy majors. Methods used to gather data included marketing surveys, CAD drawings, time studies during production runs, value stream mapping, and controlled documentation …

Development Of A Putting Green Manufacturing Process, Avalon R. Madden

Honors Theses

Our Capstone project investigates the end to end design, development, and production of a 6‑foot long portable putting green marketed for individuals seeking a high quality, competitively priced golf product for home or office use. The capstone project examines the full lifecycle of product creation applying manufacturing principles learned through the center of manufacturing’s coursework. From the initial concept through engineering design, market research, prototyping, manufacturing optimization, and final production the project emphasizes cross‑functional collaboration across engineering, business, and accountancy majors. Methods used to gather data included marketing surveys, CAD drawings, time studies during production runs, value stream mapping, and …

The Design And Manufacturing Process Of The Concealed Shelf, Emma R. Freeman

Honors Theses

The Haley Barbour Center for Manufacturing Excellence (CME) at the University of Mississippi challenges students to manufacture a product and put forth a balanced manufacturing line in a senior capstone project. The chosen product was a concealed shelf, or a shelf with a hidden compartment. The team aimed to design a product, formulate a project plan, analyze the market, conduct financial analysis, develop a prototype, establish a manufacturing process, and demonstrate that process in two production runs. The team used tools such as Computer Aided Design (CAD), market surveys, jig creation, and line balancing to accomplish these tasks. After two …

The Optimization Of A Robotic Welding Arm To Improve Efficiency, Margaret Close

Honors Theses

The main objective of this report is to optimize a robotic welding arm to improve a locker manufacturing process. The robotic welding arm, a Miller PerformArc, used by Lockers Manufacturing has been producing spatter. Spatter significantly reduces the quality of the product and increases the product’s manufacturing time. The goal of this project was to find the best solution to reduce spatter without weakening the welds and ensuring that efficiency will increase. The first step in this project was to test multiple weld testing variables such as voltage, current, welding angle, robot speed, and arc and crater ratios. For each …

Hyposense: Multimodal Physiologic And Voc Wearable For Early Hypoglycemia Detection, Nidhi R. Patel

Honors Theses

Hypoglycemia remains a significant safety concern for insulin-dependent individuals, especially when blood glucose declines rapidly during exercise, sleep, or periods of impaired hypoglycemia awareness. Current continuous glucose monitors and automated insulin delivery systems have helped to improve diabetes management, but these technologies primarily respond to glucose trends after they have already started and may not actually provide sufficient warning before symptoms occur. This thesis describes the development of HypoSense, a noninvasive wrist worn wearable concept that is designed to support earlier hypoglycemia risk detection through multimodal physiologic and volatile organic compound emission sensing. HypoSense combines volatile organic compounds/gas sensing with …

Design And Production Of A Carbon Fiber Longboard, Jacob T. Williams

Honors Theses

This thesis contains an overview of the design, prototyping, and manufacturing of a carbon fiber long board. The purpose of this capstone was to create a viable product for the real-world market and then determine how to manufacture it at scale with sustainable financial practices. In order to accomplish this task, engineering, accounting, and manufacturing challenges had to be overcome throughout all stages. The production process involved the carbon fiber layup, baking, water jet cutting, and assembly of the carbon fiber longboard. In order to optimize this process, continuous improvement and lean manufacturing problem solving techniques were applied. After a …

The Design And Manufacturing Process Of The Concealed Shelf, Mexrojiddinbek Sattorov

Honors Theses

This document contains information regarding the design and build process of the Concealed Shelf, which is a furniture product with hidden storage capability. First, the team members decided on the design of the product, followed by market analysis and manufacturing feasibility. Lean manufacturing principles were applied to improve the process efficiency and reduce waste.

Multiple prototypes were built with varying raw materials and locking mechanisms. Jigs and fixtures were handcrafted to ensure more consistent product quality. Two production runs were conducted to evaluate performance and identify areas for improvement.

The final design includes economic considerations, manufacturing layout, and continuous improvement …

Energy Materials Health Monitoring With Interpretable Machine Learning, Osumanu Musah Mohammed

Honors Theses

Reliability and the lifecycle of energy materials have become key concerns for sustainable, decarbonized power systems [1]. More recent reports on photovoltaic (PV) device technologies, fuel cells, hydrogen storage, and novel composite materials have indicated that material deterioration is a constraint on large-scale exploitation and cost-effectiveness, rather than on energy conversion efficiency [2], [3]. The energy infrastructure of tomorrow needs to be smart and efficient; however, more to the point, it needs to be self-aware, self-diagnostic, and able to overcome any form of degradation before breaking down [4]. The US dilemma is also directly related to federal concerns. That is …

Recovering Sn From Ultrafine Tails At Mina San Rafael, Peru, Angelica Plenge

Honors Theses

San Rafael is currently the only mine producing tin (Sn) in Peru, operating two concentrators. In the first, called the San Rafael plant, tin concentrate is produced through gravity separation circuits consisting of jigs, spirals, and Mozley tables, followed by reverse flotation, where sulfides are floated while cassiterite (78.77% theoretical tin content) is depressed. Material containing tin values is then directed to a desliming circuit, where the pulp density is adjusted prior to sulfide reverse flotation. The tailings from this stage are subsequently processed through another flotation circuit but, in this case, the Sn is floated. Cycloning is applied throughout …

Integrating Remote Sensing Soil Water Balance And Time-Lapse Microgravity To Quantify A Groundwater Budget For The Greenfields Bench Aquifer, Montana, Tyler Storey

Honors Theses

The Greenfields Bench is an irrigation-sustained, shallow, unconfined gravel aquifer in Teton County, Montana, where irrigation modernization and canal operations affect groundwater recharge, storage, and discharge to drains and streams. This study integrates a 30 m remote sensing soil water balance in Google Earth Engine using OpenET evapotranspiration and gridded climate inputs (2020 to 2024) with a two-epoch time-lapse microgravity survey (July and November 2025), groundwater-level measurements, Greenfields Irrigation District operational records, and U.S. Geological Survey streamflow observations to quantify irrigation water partitioning and develop a groundwater budget. Microgravity paired with water level change yields provisional, high-uncertainty, effective specific yield …

Hydrogen Engine For A Continuous Biochar Reactor, Andrew Woods

Honors Theses

A biochar reactor produces biochar, syngas, and bio-oil, which can be utilized for many useful products that are used in environmental remediation and power generation. The hydrogen that is captured from the syngas during the thermochemical gasification process opens the door to a unique opportunity to provide green energy from a biomass feedstock. The research aims to incorporate a single-cylinder, 10-hp engine that has been converted from gasoline to hydrogen fuel into a continuous biochar production reactor. This will play the role of power generation in a larger system that intends to mobilize biochar production. This study focuses on the …

Optimization And Safety Protocols For An Acetone Production Plant, Holley J. Garrison

Honors Theses

The proposed acetone production plant, scheduled for start-up in 2028, is capable of producing 3,750 kg/h of 99.9 wt% acetone. Using an endothermic catalytic dehydrogenation reaction, a feed of isopropyl alcohol (IPA) is reacted to produce 30,000 metric tons per year (MT/y) of acetone. Initial design and economic analysis of this process found that this plant will not be economically viable due to its Net Present Value (NPV) of -$132M. Optimization efforts prioritized reductions in raw materials and improved product recovery. Several optimizations were performed to reduce the feed rate, including switching to the low temperature catalyst, shortening the reactor …

Spad Camera Image Analysis, Pratheen Reddy Pininti

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2020 - Present

I present a thorough noise characterization of the Canon MS-500, a Single-Photon Avalanche Diode (SPAD) camera system, tested under both lit and dark conditions. The camera outputs 10-bit digital number (DN) values produced by an internal processing pipeline whose design is not publicly documented. All analyses in this thesis therefore describe the camera’s DN output — the signal that any downstream detection, tracking, or classification system will actually receive — rather than the photon-counting statistics of the underlying SPAD array. All computations were performed on the native 10-bit data. Where a measured quantity has a known photon-counting analog, the relationship …

The Pebble In The Shoe, Marcos Fernandez Tous

The Cicadian

This piece offers an introspective reflection by an educator at the University of North Dakota, blending phenomenological perspectives on the nature of education with the embodied experience of participating in a sweat lodge. Framed by a meandering walk across campus, the narrative interweaves several thematic threads: the tension between clarification and explanation, the values that should guide technology education, and the role of nature with its inherent, chaotic vitality. Although the text adopts a stream‑of‑consciousness approach, it does so without leaning on the established stylistic traditions of Proust, Joyce, or Faulkner. The work is also poetic in tone, suggesting that …

Behavioral And Biomechanical Analysis Of Hand Movement Stability In Virtual Reality, M. J. M. Sunny, Dr. Aryabrata Basu

Research and Creative Works Expo

This research investigates fine motor control in virtual reality (VR) using a buzz-wire style precision task. Participants guide a loop along a wire while motion telemetry captures hand stability and movement patterns. Results show that individuals with combined VR, gaming, and athletic experience demonstrate smoother trajectories and reduced jitter, highlighting how prior expertise influences performance in immersive motor tasks.

Integrating Advanced Geochemical Workflows With Modern Statistical Tools To Improve The Decision-Making Process At Ccr Sites, A Case Study, Glenna Thomas

World of Coal Ash Proceedings

While statistical assessment provides the foundation for CCR compliance reporting, incorporating a holistic geochemical framework transforms statistics from a compliance requirement into a powerful predictive tool. Strategic geochemical insight established the basis of understanding needed to support successful statistical approaches and to ensure that statistical outcomes reflect actual groundwater behavior. Whether it is trend analysis, delineating source mechanism, or updating geochemical conceptual site models (GCMs), geochemical context provides the technical foundations for statistical outputs and methods. A continuously refined GCSM enhances the ability to anticipate how groundwater chemistry should evolve, improving interpretation and predictive capability. This allows practitioners to understand …

Before The Limit Hits: Lessons From A Proactive Construction Air Monitoring Program, Brian Egan, Nicholas Golden, Wendy Depp

World of Coal Ash Proceedings

This presentation describes a comprehensive air monitoring program designed to protect workers and nearby neighborhoods during ash pond closure work. The program uses three main components: project (or boundary) monitoring at the site perimeter to track dust near the project boundaries, work area monitoring placed near active construction zones, and personal sampling on individual workers at regular intervals. Together, these approaches provide data on both community impacts and worker exposures, helping the team respond quickly when levels approach action limits. The Teams actions prior to exceedance of regulatory limits has helped prevent exposures. The talk will explain how monitors are …

Monitored Natural Attenuation Evaluation And Additional Characterization Of A Ccr Unit Lithium Groundwater Plume, Matt Barickman, Adam Piestrzeniewicz Pg

World of Coal Ash Proceedings

Monitored Natural Attenuation (MNA) refers to the reliance on natural attenuation processes (within the context of a carefully controlled and monitored site cleanup approach) to meet groundwater protection standards (GPS) for a CCR unit within a reasonable time frame (USEPA, 1999). MNA is being evaluated as an adaptive management strategy for a CCR unit groundwater plume with statistically significant lithium concentrations above GPS, though with little risk of offsite migration. A previous MNA evaluation was performed for the lithium plume following the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) “tiered lines of evidence approach” (USEPA, 2015), which determined that there were …

Establishing Groundwater Monitoring Systems Under The Legacy Rule: A Systematic Approach For Utilities, Chris Hoglund

World of Coal Ash Proceedings

The USEPA’s Legacy CCR Rule introduces new requirements for establishing groundwater monitoring systems at Legacy Surface Impoundments (LSIs) and Coal Combustion Residual Management Units (CCRMUs). These requirements present unique challenges for electric utilities, particularly at inactive or historically operated facilities where subsurface data are limited and CCR units may have nontraditional configurations such as linear roadways, elongated embankments, or distributed disposal areas. Utilities must also determine how best to apply single-unit or multi-unit monitoring approaches, integrate newly regulated units into existing monitoring networks, and align monitoring system design with planned closure strategies. This presentation outlines a systematic, defensible framework to …

Risk Evaluation Of Linear Coal Combustion Residual Management Unit (Ccrmu) Fills, Qian Zhang, Andrew Bittner, John Kondziolka, Masoud Arshadi

World of Coal Ash Proceedings

In 2024, the US Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) established new regulations for coal combustion residual management units (CCRMUs), defined as coal combustion residual (CCR) deposits placed on power plant properties outside of landfills or surface impoundments. US EPA supported the rulemaking with modeling-based risk analyses and established regulatory requirements based on fill size. Linear CCRMU, such as backfill along pipelines or haul roads, have individual segments that may be composed of a small amount of mass below the threshold for regulation, but the cumulative mass over the full linear feature extent may exceed regulatory thresholds. This study applies US …

Application Of Mine Tailings Flow Failure Assessment On Ccr, Zachary Fallert

World of Coal Ash Proceedings

A new geotechnical stability analysis method has been implemented for a CCR surface impoundment to aid in design for temporary cut slopes and final closure grades. Conditions have come to light after significant tailings dam failures occurred across the globe, specifically those exhibiting flow failures (i.e. failures in which tailings behave a liquid and flow out of the facility). These failures have come under intense scrutiny as the failures pose significant risk to public safety and the environment and have been observed in CCR. Additionally, static liquefaction has arisen as another potential but less well understood causative mechanism. As the …

Lessons Learned: Commissioning An Fgd Wastewater Treatment System, Bella Triolet, Mckale Grant, Louis Manigault

World of Coal Ash Proceedings

Stantec recently supported commissioning a flue gas desulfurization (FGD) Wastewater Treatment System in accordance with the 2020 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Effluent Limitations Guidelines (ELG) Rule, which requires that coal fired power plants meet their more stringent requirements by December 31, 2025. With the addition of the 2024 EPA ELG Rule, coal fired power plants will now be expected to move to zero liquid discharge (ZLD) systems or permanently cease coal combustion by 2034. Due to this change, it is likely that coal fired power plants will be looking to design and install ZLD systems within the next decade. While …

Trimble County Pond Closures, Steven Turner, Shanti Montgomery

World of Coal Ash Proceedings

The Trimble County Closure Project is a 5-year project to close the 40-acre (161,900 square meters) Gypsum Storage Pond (GSP) through closure-by-removal and the 100-acre (404,700 square meters) Bottom Ash Pond (BAP) through closure-in-place in accordance with coal combustion residual (CCR) Rule. The excavated gypsum from the GSP was “Beneficially Reused” to fill the BAP to the prescribed grade for drainage through a monitored outfall to the adjacent creek. The daily plant produced CCRs of fly ash, bottom ash, and gypsum were also used for four years to supplement the filling of the BAP as well as several onsite soil/rock …

Collins Aerospace Automated Pressure Switch Tester, Joseph C. La Barbera, Kevin Cordero, Brenda Sanchez, Molly Bramm

Honors Capstones

For aerospace companies like Collins, pressure switches are crucial for safety, precise control, and reliability. As such, thorough testing of these switches is an essential step in Collins’ manufacturing workflow. However, current testing regimes suffer from several critical drawbacks. Firstly, they require constant manual supervision, costing precious time and manpower. Existing systems are also only able to test one single switch at a time, which creates backlog and delays. Lastly, current testing equipment has poor integration with the Collins digital ecosystem, hindering the utility of these devices. To solve these design challenges, a new system is required that is self-operable, …

Lunar Regolith Sintered Brick Apparatus, Andrew Fasano, Noah Parayil, Darius Felix Karra

Senior Design Project For Engineers

This project describes the preliminary design and analysis of the Semi-Autonomous Lunar Regolith Sintered Brick Apparatus that will assist in developing permanent infrastructure on the Moon. An issue with permanent lunar operations is the transportation of materials to the Moon. To address this, the designed device uses lunar regolith as the source material for producing bricks. This design considers the constraints set for operation with the Griffin lunar lander: maximum payload mass of 200 kg, power consumption below 5 kW, and limited payload dimensions. The design uses a combination of a laser sintering motion system, a regolith layering subsystem, a …