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Wright State University's Celebration Of Student Research, Scholarship & Creative Activities From Wednesday, April 1, 2026, Wright State University

Celebration of Undergraduate & Graduate Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activities Materials

The student abstract booklet is a compilation of abstracts from students' oral and poster presentations at Wright State University's Celebration of Student Research, Scholarship & Creative Activities on April 1, 2026.

Numerical Study Of Nutrient Mixing In Trabecular Bone In Microgravity, Disuse And Normogravity, Sagar Gharti

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Mechanical loading is known to regulate bone remodeling by driving interstitial fluid flow which stimulates cells and drives nutrient transport within the trabecular network. In microgravity, the absence of mechanical stimulation or loading suppresses convective flow processes, causing diffusion-driven nutrient mixing and renewal, and accelerated bone loss. This thesis investigates how oscillation frequency and trabecular bone density jointly control nutrient mixing and wall shear stress within trabecular cavities.

A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) framework is developed in STAR-CCM+ using a soft-cap oscillation model that mimics cyclic compression. Three idealized trabecular morphologies are simulated across different frequencies to represent microgravity or …

Insect Inspired Behavioral Strategies For Improving Multi-Agent System Resilience In The Presence Of Contagious Faults, James E. Hand

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

As Multi-Agent Systems (MASs) become increasingly involved in every aspect of everyday life the need to maintain reliability and resilience within these systems grows. However, in equal measure bad actors wishing to maliciously control or alter these systems are growing in both scale and capability. Thus, there is a present need for control schemes and agent behaviors that provide security against these threats while also avoiding large degradation in system performance as a tradeoff. Current research has covered a wide breadth of avenues and strategies that provide measurable resilience to faulted agents. However, these strategies often require group consensus, specialized …

Safety-Aware Trajectory Generation For Increased Autonomy In Advanced Air Mobility, Edison Alberto Martinez Samaniego

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) envisions highly automated aircraft that will enable short and medium range transportation. Unlike conventional aviation, these vehicles are expected to operate closer to populated areas and with increased levels of autonomy, making safe operation under abnormal or degraded conditions a critical requirement. Failures or performance degradation can reduce the maneuvering capability of an aircraft, causing trajectories planned under nominal conditions to become dynamically unfeasible.

This thesis presents a trajectory generation and replanning framework designed to maintain safe and feasible flight under reduced flight envelope conditions for a lift+cruise eVTOL aircraft. A unified control architecture based on …

Developing A Multi-Band Gnss Remote Sensing Station To Measure Precipitable Water Vapor For Flash Flood Nowcasting, Madison Gleydura

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Flash flood nowcasting in Central and Southern Appalachia is particularly challenging due to steep terrain, narrow valleys, highly localized rainfall patterns, and limited measurement coverage. Traditional remote sensing methods, such as Doppler radar and microwave radiometry, suffer from reduced resolution at long range and signal blockage by mountains. GNSS-meteorology offers an established alternative for measuring precipitable water vapor and is currently integrated into several numerical weather models. Recent research demonstrates that commercial-grade GNSS receivers can produce tropospheric products comparable to those from geodetic-grade equipment. The gaps in mountain coverage can be addressed by developing a low-cost, self-contained embedded system that …

Behavioral-Centric Team Evaluation Via Consistent Rewards, Clement Kudakwashe Nyanhongo

Dartmouth College Ph.D Dissertations

Across human domains ranging from sports to business and organizational settings, complex tasks are often solved by teams rather than individuals, leveraging benefits such as interaction, mutual support, complementary skills, cohesion, and task allocation. Evaluating team effectiveness, however, is inherently challenging due to the subjectivity of many existing techniques and the limitations of outcome-driven metrics that primarily focus on performance scores while overlooking the team processes that generated the scores. To address these challenges, this dissertation proposes a behavioral-centric, end-to-end framework for team evaluation grounded in reward functions that model sequential team behavior. Reward functions offer compact and interpretable representations …

High-Fidelity Swarthmore Septa Station Display, Aurélien Carretta , ‘26, Nicholas Fettig , ‘26

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

For this project, we propose a design and a prototype assembly for a high-fidelity SEPTA station display that shows real-time transit information, including train delays and future arrival times. This system would allow local commuters and Swarthmore College affiliates alike to remain updated on train arrival times at the Swarthmore College station, which currently does not have such a display deployed. We accomplished this design goal by assembling 16 LED panels together, powering them through a power supply unit, and sending information to them from a Raspberry Pi 5 microcontroller which connected to the SEPTA API to pull real-time information. …

Materials Testing Furnace 2026, Austin Gregson, Lucas Lafayette, Mekhi Hale

Mechanical Engineering Senior Theses

This thesis presents the design, analysis, manufacturing, and testing of a material testing furnace for its intended use at Santa Clara University. The goal of this project is to develop a cost-effective and adaptable furnace capable of providing a controlled hightemperature, inert environment for material characterization. The furnace incorporates welded aluminum chambers, stainless steel load-transfer rams, an argon-based atmospheric control system, and planned tungsten heating elements for reaching temperatures up to 2000 ◦C. Trade-off analyses were conducted on the ram cooling channel geometry as well as the choice of coolant through both plates and rams. Manufacturing efforts were focused on …

Bio-Payload Senior Design Report, Connor Bishop, Oliver Goodall, Marcus Kirk, Gabby Robles, Anish Shanmuganathan

Interdisciplinary Design Senior Theses

This project focuses on the design and development of an autonomous experimental platform capable of conducting cellular biology experiments in a well plate within a CubeSat environment. The system integrates microfluidics, robotics, and onboard sensors to remotely initiate experiments, monitor them, and collect data without human intervention. The objective is to create a platform for automated biological experimentation in microgravity, while reducing reliance on ground-based control and increasing mission efficiency and reproducibility. The team used Saccharomyces cerevisiae to assess the biocompatibility of the well plate and monitor changes in cell culture, including optical density and cell viability.

Pool Pump Controls For Load Shifting, Andrew Minocha, Angelo Piziali, Cade Benner, Brinley Chrzanowski

Mechanical Engineering Senior Theses

Residential swimming pool pumps represent the second largest source of energy consumption in California homes, and with approximately 1.3 million pools operating across the state, they collectively represent a significant opportunity for grid-level load flexibility. This project presents the design, construction, and commissioning of a proof-of-concept laboratory test rig developed to validate a load-shifting algorithm on a commercially available variable-speed pool pump. The system retrofits a donated Pentair Intelliflo3 VSF pump with an external Raspberry Pi 4 controller that commands pump speed through relay-based digital inputs and logs hydraulic and electrical performance data in real time. A simulated pool filtration …

Radiation Protection Factor Research: The Keystone For Conventional-Nuclear Integration (Cni), Andrew W. Decker

Faculty Publications

This article briefly describes Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) vehicle Radiation Protection Factor (RPF) research and explains its critical role in enabling future Operations in a Nuclear Environment (ONE) and Conventional-Nuclear Integration (CNI) on behalf of the US Department of War (DoW).1 As such, the background and practical utility of RPF values is discussed, as well as the justification for renewed Army and DoW investment into RPF research to enhance Joint military planning, survivability, and lethality on tomorrow’s nuclear battlefields. Advances in DTRA RPF research directly strengthen US strategic and extended deterrence efforts and support all Agencies and Departments responsible …

Downstream Effects Of Post Aerobic Digestion And Divalent Cation Treatment: Dewaterability, Phosphorus Mitigation, And Process Odors, Maya Marisol Quijano Garcia

Civil & Environmental Engineering Theses & Dissertations

This study evaluated post-aerobic digestion (PAD) with aeration, mixing, and divalent cation addition to improve phosphorus capture, dewaterability, and odor control in thermal hydrolysis process (THP)–treated anaerobic digestate at the Hampton Roads Sanitation District’s Atlantic Treatment Plant. A three-day PAD process was operated under constant air flow (5 LPM) and dissolved oxygen (DO)-setpoint (0.2 mg/L) aeration conditions with Ca(OH)₂ or Mg(OH)₂ dosing. Aeration and mixing alone increased polymer demand by 14–46 % relative to untreated influent, indicating enhanced extracellular polymeric substance release. Chemical conditioning partially mitigated this increase but did not restore polymer demand to baseline levels. Dewatered cake total …

Development Of A Benchmark Building Condition Index Utilizing Discrete Facility Subsets For Use In Risk Prioritization Analysis, Christopher A. May

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Within the healthcare facilities management arena, key performance-based condition indices such as a calculated Building Condition Index (BCI) are currently utilized as a governing indicator of facility health and performance. However, BCI alone does not adequately support enterprise-level risk prioritization and fails to provide a validated facility-to-facility risk prioritization model. Assets within the same enterprise receiving similar sustainment funding experience different rates of degradation depending on asset type and construction age thus impairing the BCI rating scale. Statistical analysis of facility metrics indicates a strong correlation between facility degradation drivers and prediction of a subset-based benchmark BCI. The research validates …

Extending The Job Demands-Resource Model In Classified Work Environments: A Longitudinal Analysis Of Job Demands, Resources, Job Satisfaction, And Retention Among Engineers, Gregory Gooden

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The Job Demands–Resources (JD-R) model is a widely used framework for understanding how work conditions influence employee attitudes and retention-related outcomes. However, empirical evidence testing JD-R dynamics in classified technical work environments remains limited, particularly using longitudinal designs that account for structural constraints, nonrandom participation, and outcome-specific measurement challenges. Classified work is characterized by persistent demands, restricted flexibility, and security-driven limitations on available resources, raising questions about whether and how JD-R processes generalize to this context.

This study examines whether job demands and job resources predict subsequent job satisfaction and retention intent in a classified technical workforce using multi-wave longitudinal …

Bioengineering The Future Of The Human Species: H+’S Ideological Iterations Of Trans-/Posthumanity As Exemplified By Futurist Literary Texts = (Bio)Technological Solutions For (And/Or) Reification Of Systemic Inequities?, Marjorie E. Bomhower

English Theses & Dissertations

While humanity has, throughout our species’ history, endeavored to dream and create astonishing, and ever-evolving, (bio)technologies with the utopian ideals of bettering our day-to day lives and achieving greater longevity, our endeavors have (thus far) not only produced remarkable, beneficial advances in longevity and quality of life, but have also yielded devastating and dire outcomes; often at the cost and victimization of marginalized communities. This dissertation focuses on select (bio)technologies – particularly, those promoted by H+ (the most current and popular technoutopianist non-profit, “educational,” organization) – with an investigation of current and nascent (bio)technological evolutions, futurist literary texts, and critical/digital …

An Integrated Bayesian Network-Based Zero Trust Model To Quantify Cyber Risk In Small-Medium Businesses, Ahmed Abdelmagid

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Small-medium businesses (SMBs) play a pivotal role in the worldwide economy as they constitute the most considerable portion of businesses in developed countries like the UK and the US. As such, SMBs are likely targets of cybercrimes by malicious agents because of their vulnerable IT systems. The digital infrastructure of SMBs is more likely to be hit by cyberattacks than large businesses due to many factors that facilitate hackers’ missions. These factors include a limited financial budget devoted to cybersecurity, a lack of knowledge, an underrating of how dangerous cyber threats are, and a shortage of IT expertise. The enormous …

Fabrication Of Flexible Laser-Induced Graphene-Based Non-Enzymatic Glucose Sensor For Diabetes Management, Reagan Aviha

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

This research focuses on developing a flexible non-enzymatic glucose sensor to address the issues of cost, stability, and limited sensitivity associated with enzymatic glucose sensors. Regular monitoring of glucose levels is required to manage the global health challenge of diabetes. The sensor is built on a cost-effective, durable, flexible, conductive, and high-surface-area substrate acting as a scaffold for modification with easily tunable and electroactive species to enhance glucose detection. The electroactive materials used are zinc oxide (ZnO), palladium (Pd) and platinum (Pt). Laser-induced graphene (LIG) is created by laser engraving. ZnO, Pd and Pt are electrochemically deposited and optimized based …

Mechanisms Of Synergy Between Nanosecond Pulsed Electric Field (Nspef) And Cold Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Discharge (Cap) In Pancreatic Cancer: The Role Of Ros-Mediated Oxidative Stress And Apoptosis, Zobia Minhas

Theses and Dissertations in Biomedical Sciences

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma is a highly lethal malignancy characterized by poor prognosis and resistance to conventional therapies. Novel treatment strategies are needed to overcome this resistance. Non-thermal physical modalities, including nanosecond pulsed electric field (nsPEF) and cold atmospheric pressure plasma discharge (CAP), have emerged as potential anticancer approaches; however, the mechanisms underlying their combined effects remain unclear.

This study evaluated whether nsPEF enhances CAP-induced cytotoxicity and investigated the associated molecular mechanisms using the murine Pan02 pancreatic cancer cell line. Cell viability was assessed by WST-1 metabolic activity assays and electric cell–substrate impedance sensing (ECIS). Intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) were …

Cure Sound Project: Study In Silence?, Quezia Abrao, Deeya Bhadresa, Elisa Castro, Fiona Coulbourne, Carlos Flores, Lizzeth Holguin, Lazarus Maldonado, Jeremy Mares, Andrew Martini, Nicole Matthews, Katherine Montero, Mariana Reyes, Jacob Rodriguez, Julieta Ruiz, Eliana Sanchez, Gabriela Varela

Posters - 2026

Difference in sound levels in study areas across campus can affect students’ ability to work and learn efficiently 1.

According to the WHO, safe sound levels are measured to be around 70dB 2. Some study areas on campus experience sound levels exceeding the safe threshold. Unsafe sound levels are considered to be at or above 85dB 3. These unsafe and excessive noise levels negatively affect a student’s ability to concentrate and work efficiently which correlates to a decrease in class performance, attention deficits, and stress 4.

This study aims to get a base-line measurement of dB levels in common study …

Comparative Numerical Analysis Of Lead-Free Perovskite Solar Cells Using Scaps-1d, Md Shazarul Islam, Md Abdul Kuddus Sheikh, Hasina Huq

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

A comprehensive numerical study of lead-free perovskite solar cells was conducted using the SCAPS-1D simulation framework with the device architecture ITO/SnO2/Perovskites/NiOx/Au. The work investigates the replacement of the central Pb cation with Sn, Ge, and Bi, followed by absorber-layer thickness optimization to enhance device performance. The impact of systematic Pb substitution on key photovoltaic parameters was first evaluated. Among the candidates, FASnI3-based devices exhibited the most promising performance, achieving a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 26.48%, with a short-circuit current density (Jsc) of 19.31 mAcm-2, an open -circuit voltage (Voc) of 1.57 V, and a fill factor (FF) of 87.29%. …

Active Listening And Reassurance In Text-Based Virtual Health Coaches, Ghulam Hussain

Dissertations

Conversational agents (CAs) have strong potential to support health and physical wellbeing through text-based coaching, but they remain limited in their ability to demonstrate supportive social behaviours that are important in human coaching interactions. In particular, relatively little is known about how Active Listening and Reassurance are perceived, modelled, and evaluated in text-based virtual healthcare coaching, or how such behaviours should be adapted to individual users.

This dissertation investigates how supportive interaction behaviours can enhance text based virtual health coaching, with an initial focus on Active Listening and Reassurance and a later theoretical emphasis on Active Listening. Across five unique …

Workforce Resilience In Public Transportation Agencies, Kristal D. Metro

Civil Engineering ETDs

A strong, resilient public workforce is necessary to keep the United States’ infrastructure system running smoothly. Across the public sector, hiring is lagging behind increasing retirement rates, leaving public agencies facing the loss of institutional knowledge at unprecedented levels. Combined with above-average retirement rates, low unemployment rates, and below-average salaries, workforce shortages are expected to become critical, putting the resilience of the public transportation workforce, and by extension, the United States public infrastructure and services at risk. The purpose of this research is to determine the best practices for recruiting and retaining employees at public transportation agencies, thereby positively influencing …

From Our Stories, To Our Streets (Osos), Jennifer Lopez

Student Publications

Youth traffic safety persists as a critical planning challenge and public health concern in New Mexico, where pedestrian fatality rates consistently rank among the highest in the United States (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, NTSA, Governors Highway Safety Association, GHSA, 2023; Baca, 2025). Students (children), due to their daily interactions with roadways, whether when they walk, bike, ride transit, or drive/get driven to and from school, are among the most vulnerable groups within the transportation system (Ferenchak, N. Wesley, M., 2017. For many students in Albuquerque, the commute to or from school is one of the most dangerous parts of …

2026 (Spring) Ensi Informer Magazine, Morehead State University. Engineering Sciences Department

ENSI Informer Magazine Archive

The ENSI Informer Magazine published in the spring of 2026.

Artificial Intelligence In Human Spaceflight Safety-Critical Systems: A Requirements Framework For Ai-Enabled Computer-Based Control Systems, Liz Bosch

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Currently, there is no governing standard that addresses the safe integration of AI into computer-based control systems (CBCS) in human spaceflight. The computer-based control expectations of those safety-critical systems on the International Space Station (ISS) are captured in SSP 50038, Computer-Based Control System Safety Requirements, with one caveat: the standard was not designed with AI applications in mind. SSP 50038 does not cover the probabilistic behavior, opacity, and training-data dependency of modern AI/ML systems. The objectives of this work is to develop an AI taxonomy relevant to safety characteristics (determinism, transparency, data dependency, failure predictability), systematically map AI characteristics against …

A Comparative Study On Performance Of Iot-Driven Ml-Enabled Forecasting Models For Efficient Air Quality Monitoring, Bara Ksiksi

Theses

Air pollution is one of the most critical environmental challenges affecting public health globally, responsible for approximately 4.2 million premature deaths annually according to the World Health Organisation. This thesis presents a comparative study of IoT-driven machine learning forecasting models for air quality monitoring in Abu Dhabi, UAE, introducing a zonal approach combined with satellite-based spatial validation. The primary objective is to evaluate forecasting performance across three distinct activity zones using ground station data from the Environment Agency Abu Dhabi (EAD), and to incorporate a spatial validation component using satellite imagery to assess the consistency of ground-based predictions at a …

Traditional And Machine-Learning Equalization Techniques For Bandwidth-Limited Short-Reach Optical Communication Channels, Abdullah Khawatmi

Theses

This thesis investigates equalization techniques for bandwidth-limited short-reach optical communication systems, with a focus on Visible Light Communication (VLC) and Step-Index Plastic Optical Fiber (SI-POF) links. Commercial light-emitting diodes and photodiode receivers impose severe bandwidth constraints, inter-symbol interference, and noise sensitivity, which fundamentally limit achievable data rates. The work addresses these impairments through systematic evaluation of traditional digital signal processing–based equalizers and modern machine-learning-based post-equalization methods. The primary aim of this thesis is to enhance the achievable data rate and reliability of commercial short-reach optical links while maintaining practical computational complexity. Specifically, the objectives are to (i) design and experimentally …

Analysis Of A Coaxial Transmission Line Filled With An Orthorhombic Dielectric-Magnetic Medium, Fathima Manikunnath Abdul Akbar

Theses

Coaxial transmission lines are fundamental means for Transverse Electromagnetic (TEM) wave propagation in RF, microwave and high-speed electronic systems. The study of transmission lines is often familiar when they are filled with isotropic materials; however modern engineered direction dependent materials reshape field distributions. In this thesis, we consider a coaxial transmission line of an inner radius and outer radius b filled with an orthorhombic dielectric-magnetic material, which is described by two anisotropy parameters αx and αy. The potential and field distributions are studied in relation to the ratio b/a as well as the anisotropy parameters αx and αy. Due to …

Breath-Based Detection Of Liver Cancer Biomarkers Using An Swcnt-Fet Nano-Biosensor: Quantumatk, Mohamed Mohieb Rashdan

Theses

Early detection of liver cancer remains limited by the slow pace and invasiveness of current testing methods. This study proposes a single-walled carbon nanotube field-effect transistor (SWCNT-FET) designed to detect hexanal—a volatile organic compound (VOC) elevated in liver cancer—directly from exhaled breath. The device is modeled in QuantumATK using a semi-empirical Extended Hückel Hamiltonian within the non-equilibrium Green's function (NEGF) framework, emphasizing realistic contact physics by employing metallic SWCNT electrodes instead of conventional metal films. Zigzag channels with (11,0) and (12,0) chiralities are examined to analyze how geometry and contact matching influence charge transport. Simulations include current–voltage (I–V) characteristics and …

Efficient Energy Management In Networked Microgrids Using Multi-Agent Deep Reinforcement Learning In The Presence Of Uncertainties, Ayodele Benjamin Chukwuyem

Dissertations

Microgrid technology is essential in facilitating the transition to smart energy grids in developed countries and mitigating energy poverty in developing countries, particularly in areas where grid extensions are not feasible. Recently, the concept of networked microgrids (NMGs) has garnered tremendous attention due to the plausibility of interactions among interconnected microgrids leading to power networks that are more resilient, reliable, and stable. However, because each microgrid has diverse distributed generation resources (renewables and controllable generators) and each microgrid operator (MO) has different objectives, coordinated energy management is required to satisfy local and system-wide goals under conditions with significant uncertainty. Existing …