Digital Commons Network^™

Cross-Linking Peg Microgels With Mesoporous Organosilica Nanoparticles To Engineer Microporous Annealed Particle Scaffold Properties, Jonathan M. Zuidema, Alessandro Ajo, Marco Carofiglio, Luisa De Cola

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications

Microporous annealed particle (MAP) scaffolds composed of cross-linked microgels are emerging as important biomaterials due to their modular design, high porosity, and large surface area, which allow for highly tailored properties, cellular infiltration, nutrient and waste exchange, and improved drug release characteristics. To further expand on these technologies and enhance their modular design, thiolated mesoporous organosilica nanoparticles (ssMSN-SH), which degrade in response to glutathione, were first cross-linked inside of 4-arm poly(ethylene glycol) maleimide microgels. The microgel size, rheological properties, and payload release characteristics were determined. Hierarchical MAP scaffolds were then created by cross-linking 4-arm poly(ethylene glycol) maleimide microgels with ssMSN-SH. …

Ai For Life Sciences: From Geometric Protein Modeling To Multimodal Drug Design, Feng Jiang

Computer Science and Engineering Dissertations

Predicting biomolecular interactions, from immune recognition to drug–target binding, is a central problem in the life sciences and computational drug discovery. Deep learning has advanced this area, yet three challenges persist: the topology of large, highly imbalanced interaction networks; structural noise in computationally predicted protein models; and the integration of multimodal information such as functional text and taxonomic annotations. This dissertation develops a coherent set of models spanning immune complex prediction and small-molecule drug design: graph learning that addresses network topology and severe class imbalance; a noise-tolerant method that fuses predicted structures with evolutionary sequence features; and multimodal representation learning …

Soil Freezing Characteristic Surface For Partially Frozen Soils, Antai Dong, Xiong Zhang, Ming Xiao

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The soil freezing characteristic curve (SFCC), which relates unfrozen water content to temperature, is a fundamental constitutive relationship in frost heave simulations. However, the influence of soil suction, another critical state variable, is often neglected. This study highlights how the SFCC is significantly affected by suction conditions, with unfrozen water content varying markedly between saturated (suction = 0) and completely dried (suction = ∞) conditions at the same subfreezing temperature. Recognizing this limitation, the concept of the soil freezing characteristic surface (SFCS) is proposed to incorporate the impacts of both temperature and suction on unfrozen water content. After that a …

Managing And Accelerating The Circular Economy Transitions Within The Construction Value Chain Using Network Governance And Game Theory Systems Perspectives, Radwa Eissa, Islam H. El-Adaway

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The fragmented nature of the construction industry has hindered its transition toward circular economy (CE) practices. While game theory (GT) has been successfully applied to support the strategic decisions of CE transitions in other sectors, CE-GT models in the construction domain remain extremely limited. This paper addresses two research questions: (1) how are CE network governance activities currently modeled using GT across domains? (2) How can such models be transferred and adapted to solve strategic interactions within the construction value chain in a manner that enables CE practices to emerge as equilibrium outcomes? These questions are driven by the need …

Carbonated Blast-Furnace Slag As Supplementary Cementitious Material: Phase Transition And Effect On Cement Hydration, Gao Deng, Nannan Zhang, Wenyu Liao, Yongjia He, Linnu Lu, Lingyu Chi, Hongyan Ma

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Blast-furnace slag, which contains high levels of CaO (and MgO), holds potential as a feedstock for CO₂ capture and storage. This study investigates the phase transitions occurring during the wet carbonation of ground granulated blast-furnace slag (GGBFS), characterizes the physical and chemical properties of carbonated GGBFS (CS), evaluates its pozzolanic reactivity, and examines the microstructure and performance of cement pastes blended with GGBFS or CS. The findings reveal that aragonite and calcite, the primary carbonation products, precipitate on the surface of GGBFS, hindering its dissolution and thereby reducing both the pozzolanic reactivity and the early strength of cement pastes. …

Data For: Optimizing Finite Structures To Suppress The Photonic Density Of States, Prakash Mishra, Sukhad Dnyanesh Joshi, Quintin A. Hatzis, Aditya Bahulikar, M. Cenk Gursoy, Rodrick Kuate Defo

Electrical Engineering and Computer Science - All Scholarship

We propose a topology-optimization framework for optimizing finite structures of arbitrary shape by combining density-based methods with level-set approaches. We first optimize regular polygonal structures to suppress the photonic density of states and find that the best performing polygon is consistent with a tiling of space with hexagonal unit cells. We next show that introducing cavities into hexagonal structures further suppresses the photonic density of states, particularly when the cavity is also hexagonal. Such a result would find application in the design of fiber-optic cables. We then describe an approach for optimizing arbitrary x-simple or y-simple designs that can recover …

Ransomware As Organization: A Comparative Analysis Of Corporate And Criminal Structures In Conti, George Urling

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Cybercriminal groups continue to pose major threats to global cybersecurity. One of the most common types of cybercriminal groups are, “Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS)" groups, who create and sell ransomware. While research is conducted into the development of ransomware, there is limited reporting on the organizational structure and habits of RaaS groups. In 2022, prominent RaaS group Conti had their chat logs leaked, with the logs ranging from 2020 to 2022. This study seeks to provide a deeper understanding of RaaS group structures by utilizing the Conti leaked logs as a case study. The study, entitled “Ransomware as Organization: A Comparative Analysis …

Ai-Driven Network Orchestration: Adaptive Routing For Federated Learning Over Software-Defined Hybrid Wans, Osama Abu Hamdan

Computer Science and Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Modern wide-area networks increasingly adopt hybrid architectures that combine high-capacity wired backbones with flexible wireless links to extend connectivity to remote and underserved locations. However, the bandwidth variability inherent in wireless segments creates routing challenges that traditional protocols, designed for static link capacities, cannot adequately address. Simultaneously, Federated Learning (FL) has emerged as a privacy-preserving distributed machine learning paradigm in which geographically dispersed clients collaboratively train shared models without exchanging raw data. When deployed over wide-area networks, FL training is severely bottlenecked by communication overhead, particularly in cross-silo settings where model payloads reach hundreds of megabytes and synchronous aggregation protocols …

Geometric Effects Of Warfighters On Body Armor Fit And Protective Capabilities Against Shock Wave Energy, Melissa Lynn Sutter

Doctoral Dissertations

Body armor is a vital piece of protective equipment for warfighters to defend against threats, necessitating continued development to improve comfort, weight, and protection. However, female warfighters often wear unisex body armor, designed primarily for the male torso. Current research has evaluated the short- and long-term detriments of female warfighters wearing these armors, focusing on comfort and performance. However, these studies do not comprehensively consider how a non-form-fitting armor compromises warfighter safety from battlefield threats. This research examines the geometric effects of female warfighters on armor protection level when defending against shock threats by evaluating the energy distribution on a …

Assessing The Criticality Of Construction Trades: Skilled Labor Shortages And Their Cost And Schedule Impacts, Tamima Elbashbishy, Islam H. El-Adaway

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Skilled labor shortages are a pressing issue in the construction industry. Existing research has primarily focused on the effects of labor shortages at the project or industry level, but there is limited exploration of how these shortages vary across specific trades and their distinct impacts on project outcomes. Evidence indicates that labor shortages vary significantly among trades. This paper addresses this knowledge gap through quantitatively assessing the criticality of key construction trades based on the (1) extent of skilled labor shortages currently witnessed in each trade, (2) impact of these shortages on cost and schedule performance, and (3) degree of …

Biaxial Bending Response Of Prestressed Concrete Girders Subjected To Accidental Asymmetric Prestressing Strand Loss, Haitham Abdelmalek, Mohanad Abdulazeez, Ahmed Ibrahim, Mohamed Elgawady

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Bridge prestressed concrete girders are vulnerable to sudden rupture of prestressing strands caused by accidental collisions with over-height trucks. These incidents often result in the asymmetric loss of prestressing strands and concrete sections, generating a biaxial bending moment caused by the combined effects of lateral bending and existing service loads. The induced lateral bending moment reduces the flexural resistance of prestressed concrete (PC) girders. However, the current AASHTO LRFD (load and resistance factor design) provisions for flexural resistance in PC members do not explicitly address the complexities introduced by biaxial bending, leaving the extent of strength reduction uncertain. This paper …

Characterization Of Tomographic Piv System For Single-Phase Immersion Cooling Applications, Joel Joshua Oommen

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Theses

As the rapid expansion of Artificial Intelligence (AI) infrastructure and High-Performance Computing (HPC) pushes power requirements to new heights, traditional air-cooling methods have become inadequate for modern server demands. Consequently, single-phase immersion cooling (SPIC) has emerged as one of the effective and sustainable alternatives, utilizing dielectric fluids to remove heat through direct contact with electronic components. Despite numerous thermal and reliability studies, the complex three-dimensional movement of buoyant thermal plumes around intricate component shapes are not yet fully understood in confined spaces.

This thesis provides a detailed characterization of Tomo-PIV and a component level experimental study of flow patterns in …

Scaling Llm Inference: From Novel Attention Mechanisms To Efficient Kv Cache Management, Weishu Deng

Computer Science and Engineering Dissertations

The rapid scaling of artificial intelligence workloads has shifted the dominant performance bottleneck of modern computing systems from compute to memory. Graph neural networks (GNNs) issue increasingly irregular memory accesses, while large language models (LLMs) issue increasingly large ones; in both cases, the relative scaling of memory bandwidth and capacity continues to lag behind the scaling of compute. Consequently, naively executing these workloads on commodity GPUs results in stalled streaming multiprocessors, exhausted high-bandwidth memory (HBM), and serving stacks that incur PCIe transfers on the critical path. This dissertation argues that the efficient scaling of attention-based AI workloads requires the joint …

Developing And Proposing A Passion Project Course With Institutional Backing, Ron Reaser

2026 Scholarly Teaching Conference: Poster Session Papers

Developing and proposing a new course based on your passion project is achievable and rewarding for faculty of any rank, including teaching-track faculty and adjuncts, but it may feel confusing or daunting to glean the course design principles and institutional knowledge necessary to succeed. This presentation recommends a successful and replicable approach based on proactive communication with stakeholders in your unit and across the broader university system. The approach is tailored to faculty members of West Virginia University, Potomac State College, and WVU Institute of Technology.

Proposed Design Approach Of Bolted Cruciform Stiffened End-Plate Connections And Bolted Circular Flange Plate Connections Under Combined Loading For Enhanced Economy And Performance, Cesar E. Aguirre

Civil Engineering Dissertations

This research will deliver a substantive contribution to the advancement of design practice for bolted circular flange connections and cruciform stiffened end-plate connections — critically evaluating existing approaches, identifying their limitations, and proposing evidence-based design frameworks that enhance structural performance, predictability, and safety across relevant engineering applications.In addition provide economical benefits.

Real-Time Multiregional Market-To-Market Congestion Management Through Exchange Of Relief Cost Curve, Haotian Chen, Yonghong Chen, Jose Daniel Lara, Jarrad Wright, Matthew Bossart, Sebastian De Jesus Machado, Rui Bo

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This paper introduces a novel method for multiregional market-to-market (M2M) coordinated congestion management. It identifies shortcomings in existing M2M approaches, where Regional Transmission Organizations (RTOs) exchange shadow prices and relief requests to optimize congestion relief allocations across interconnected regions. Two methods are proposed to enhance flow and price convergence. The first method proposes that both Regional Transmission Organizations (RTOs) use state-estimator flows directly to determine relief requirements, eliminating delays and potential oscillations caused by using market flows calculated from the prior period under existing M2M approach. The second method involves exchanging transmission relief cost curves, enabling each RTOs to integrate …

Insights Of Quantitative Imaging And Instantaneous Heat Transfer Coefficient Measurement In Spouted Bed Column, Hasan A. Abdulwahab, Abbas J. Sultan, Amer A. Abdulrahman, Haydar A.S. Aljaafari, Ali A. Yahya, Zahraa W. Hasan, Malik M. Mohammed, Laith S. Sabri, Bashar J. Kadhim, Jamal M. Ali, Muthanna H. Al-Dahhan

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

In this study, the heat transfer behavior of a conical spouted bed column was imaged for the first time across its entire cross-sectional area and at multiple axial heights. To achieve this, a custom-built quantitative imaging approach was developed. This method combined FluxTeq heat flux sensors with an Arduino-based data acquisition system. The experimental setup enabled instantaneous, spatially resolved measurements of surface temperature, heat flux, and local heat transfer coefficients (LHTC) under various operating conditions. Measurements at different radial locations, angles, and heights provided a comprehensive view of heat transfer behavior throughout the column. The obtained cross-sectional images show that …

Evaluation Of A Novel Re-Crosslinkable Preformed Particle Gel For Conformance Control In Ultra-High Temperature Reservoirs, Yanbo Liu, Tao Song, Caleb Kwasi Darko, Thomas P. Schuman, Mingzhen Wei, Baojun Bai

Chemistry Faculty Research & Creative Works

Preferential fluid flow remains a major challenge in subsurface energy production and gas storage operations, resulting in excessive water production in mature oil fields, reduced heat extraction in geothermal reservoirs, and low sweep and storage efficiency in CO₂-EOR projects. Polymer gels are widely used to mitigate high-permeability channels; however, conventional systems exhibit limited plugging efficiency and short lifetimes in ultra-high-temperature reservoirs due to poor thermal stability. This study presents a novel ultra-high-temperature-resistant preformed particle gel (UHT-PPG) developed for conformance control in reservoirs with temperatures of 150–275 °C and severe super-K or channeling problems. The material was evaluated in …

Atomized Oxidative Polymerization As A 3d Printing Platform For Binder-Free, Bulk Conductive Polymer Architectures, Tazdik Patwary Plateau, Hiep Pham, Jonghyun Park

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Translating the ultrahigh intrinsic conductivity of conjugated polymers into bulk 3D architectures remains a formidable challenge due to the fundamental dichotomy between rheological printability and electronic purity. Existing strategies necessitate a compromise: solution-processing requires insulating binders that degrade charge transport, while binder-free vapor-phase polymerization (VPP) is kinetically confined to surface-limited thin films by diffusion constraints. Here, we introduce atomized oxidative polymerization (AOP), a manufacturing paradigm that overcomes these kinetic barriers via active, layer-by-layer monomer atomization. This approach ensures stoichiometric reaction conditions throughout the printed volume, driving a structural transition toward highly conductive quinoid-dominant chains with enhanced π-π stacking. The resulting …

Anisotropic Second-Harmonic Ince-Gaussian Beam Generation Using Nbobr2 Holograms, Jayanta Deka, Xiaodong Yang, Jie Gao

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Ince-Gaussian (IG) modes are a complete and orthogonal set of solutions to the paraxial wave equation in elliptic coordinates representing a continuous transition between Hermite-Gaussian modes and Laguerre-Gaussian modes. Chip-scale platforms to generate IG beams have great significance for various applications, including optical trapping and micromanipulation of particles, optical communication, and quantum optics. On the other hand, materials with high optical anisotropy are crucial for building polarization-sensitive optical devices. In this context, niobium oxide dihalides are a new class of ferroelectric materials exhibiting strong, tailorable, and highly anisotropic second-harmonic generation responses. Here, we report the generation of highly anisotropic second-harmonic …

Performance Evaluation Of Thick Carbon Fiber-Reinforced Laminates Manufactured Using Six-Magnetron Microwave System, Nayan Pundhir, Sourav Bolar, Kumbla Chandrashekhara, Kristen Donnell, Jim Lua, Kalyan Shrestha, Rui Li

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Microwave curing is a fast, energy-efficient, and a viable alternative to conventional thermal curing processes. It has been widely adopted for processing carbon fiber-reinforced polymer composites because the high electrical conductivity of carbon fibers enables strong microwave coupling. In this study, IM7/Cycom 5320-1 unidirectional prepreg has been used to fabricate 64-layer laminated composites. Symmetric cross-ply ([0°/90°]16S) and a quasi-isotropic ([45°/90°/−45°/0°]8S) layup have been investigated. A custom-built six-magnetron microwave applicator and an autoclave were employed to manufacture the composite panels. Degree of cure of the manufactured laminates was evaluated via differential scanning calorimetry. Interfacial bonding and porosity of the microwave-cured laminates …

Dermatology Skin Lesion Image Analysis, Victoria Wegley, Joshua Hoog, Tristan Crawford, Keith Miller, William Fons, K. Pugh, J. Taylor, S. Swinfard, A. Fernandes, G. Patel, J. Hagerty, W. V. Stoecker, Ronald Joe Stanley

Research Data

Dermatology skin lesion image analysis research has been ongoing at Missouri S&T (previously UMR) since the 1980s. Our group has been successful in finding over 20 key dermoscopic structures in melanoma, melanoma mimics, and nonmelanoma skin cancers using iterative structure-based analysis. Structures are chosen to reduce system errors which are concentrated in a few classes: amelanotic/featureless, regressed, and small in situ melanomas, and the most difficult benign lesions to identify: Clark nevi, lentigines, and seborrheic keratoses [1]. Preliminary research detecting and using annotated lesion structures [2-7] and lesion artifacts [8,9] guided by clinical experience [10] with image processing and deep …

Virtualized And Distributed Neighborhood Data Centers, Benjamin T. Niccum

Computer Science and Engineering Theses

This thesis evaluates whether PCIe-fabric-based resource pooling can support a decentralized neighborhood micro-data-center model under real implementation constraints. The work combines architecture design, prototype deployment, performance benchmarking, and security assessment. Results show strong prototype-scale feasibility with low-latency and high-throughput behavior, while also identifying deployment-blocking security gaps and operational maturity requirements. The thesis contributes an evidence-traceable path from concept validation to deployment-grade roadmap planning.

The Rise In Height And Curb Weight Of The Top-Selling Vehicles In The United States From 1991 - 2025: Implications For Engineering Design And Vulnerable Road Users, Samuel L. Steinman-Friedman

Civil Engineering Theses

Road fatalities are higher in the United States than in other high-income regions. In 2024, 39,254 people died on roads in the United States compared to 19,940 in the European Union. These two regions have comparable exposure metrics, such as population size, roadway network length, and fatalities per mile traveled. Light trucks dominate the U.S. market, whereas hatchbacks are prevalent in Europe. The trendline of the average height and curb weight of the top-selling vehicles in the United States has increased by 0.24 inches and 23.52 pounds per year since 1991. The average 2025 top-selling U.S. passenger vehicle is 7.5 …

Integrated Thermal, Energy, And Structural Performance Assessment Of A Novel In-Service Shallow Geothermal Bridge Deicing System, Alireza Fakhrabadi

Civil Engineering Dissertations

Understanding the performance of bridge deck deicing systems under winter weather conditions is important for improving transportation safety and reducing long-term deterioration of bridge infrastructure. Bridge decks are more vulnerable to icing than ground-supported pavements because they are exposed to ambient air, wind, and radiation from multiple directions, while they do not receive thermal support from the underlying soil. Conventional deicing methods, especially chloride-based salts, can reduce ice formation in the short term, but repeated application may accelerate reinforcement corrosion, concrete damage, and environmental concerns. Therefore, shallow geothermal energy has been considered as a sustainable alternative for bridge deck deicing …

Comparative Evaluation Of Gating Systems In Femnal Castings, K. Balasubramanian, Laura Bartlett, M. Xu

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

To understand the efficiency of gating systems, four systems, namely AFS styled pressurized system, AFS styled non-pressurized system, naturally pressurized system with a side riser and a naturally pressurized system with a top riser, were studied. The naturally pressurized systems were provided with overflows which collected the incoming metal swirl while the pressurized and non-pressurized systems had runner wells. Parameters like velocity of metal flow, air entrapment, microporosity and Niyama criterion were considered, and a design was developed with a common pouring basin using solidification software. Two molds were 3D printed using carbonitride sand, and steel of composition Fe-29Mn-8.2Al-0.91C-0.88Si-0.49Mo was …

Triangulating Primary Sources, Professional Judgement, And Llm-Generated Summaries: Educating Nurses In An Ai-First World, Sarah Oerther, Daniel B. Oerther

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

No abstract provided.

Multi-User Collaboration In Augmented Reality For Beyond-Visual-Line-Of-Sight Bridge Inspection, Joel Murithi Runji, Genda Chen

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Bridge inspection traditionally relies on scaffolds, snooper trucks, and aerial robots for hard-to-reach areas beyond the visual line of sight of inspectors. This study automates the collaborative inspection workflow for multiple users when inspecting hard-to-reach bridge sections by interfacing low-cost multimodal sensors mounted on a magnetically wheeled climbing robot with augmented reality devices in a cyber-physical system. Non-destructive and visual sensors provide near real-time information of automated steel thickness measurements and visual observations of corrosive regions, respectively. The visual sensors also support robot teleoperation. The cyber-physical system is evaluated for its user-friendliness and performance. The system performance is quantified by …

Managing Green And Sustainable Construction Projects: A Computational Analysis Of Associated Risks And Challenges For Improved Performance, Bahaa Chammout, Islam H. El-Adaway

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Green and sustainable building practices have emerged as effective strategies to address the environmental challenges posed by the construction industry. This includes unsustainable resource utilization, excessive waste production, greenhouse gas emissions, and high energy consumption. However, the integration of green and sustainable initiatives in construction introduces distinct risks and challenges that affect project management and may lead to claims and disputes. To this end, and while previous research examined dispute causation across various aspects of the construction industry, there is limited investigation of the unique and complex nature of risks and challenges - and consequently conflicts, claims, and disputes - …

Evaluation Of Two-Group Iate Coupling With Pbe For Beyond Bubbly Flows In A Large Diameter Pipe, Sungje Hong, Joshua P. Schlegel, Subash L. Sharma

Nuclear Engineering and Radiation Science Faculty Research & Creative Works

This study evaluates the two-group interfacial area transport equation (2G IATE) coupled with the S-Gamma (Sγ) population balance equation (PBE) model for beyond bubbly flow regimes in a vertical large-diameter pipe. The 2G IATE framework incorporates intergroup mass transfer mechanisms and is implemented within the Sγ model, which assumes a log-normal bubble size distribution. The numerical approach is validated against experimental data from Schlegel et al. (2012), with a focus on the void fraction and interfacial area concentration (IAC) distributions. The results show that 2G IATE improves the predictions of the void fraction and IAC, although its accuracy varies with …