Digital Commons Network^™

Organizational Change, Ann K. Miller

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

No abstract provided.

Coherent Reflection Of Acoustic Plane Wave From Rough Interfaces In A Stratified Random Fluid Medium, Jin-Yuan Liu, Shiahn-Wern Shyue, Chen-Fen Huang

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

Coherent reflection of an acoustic plane wave from rough interfaces in a horizontally-stratified medium, within which the sound-speed distribution subject to a small and random perturbation, is considered in this paper. The general formulation based upon the theory for rough-interface scattering in a stratified medium, in conjunction with that for random medium is derived. The Green’s function for a random medium bounded by two surfaces, which serves as generic solution of the problem, is obtained. The formulation is then applied to a simplified seabed environment to study the effects of surface roughness and medium inhomogenieties on the coherent reflection. The …

Application Of Or To Management Practice: An Introduction, H K Lakshman Rao

IIMB Management Review

Customer dissatisfaction with products and services, long queues at hospitals and railway stations, stock out/excess stock situations, overflowing solid waste bins at street corners, delayed deliveries and time lag in new product development, steeply increasing project costs, high rates of wastage in the manufacturing process these are among the numerous instances indicating the lack of systems approach and inadequate appreciation of Operations Research (OR) methods in the Indian management and administrative network scenario.

Localized Corrosion Behaviour Of Molybdenum Bearing And Stabilized Stainless Steels In Saline Media, Hany Mohamed Sabry Ahmed

Archived Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Pilgrim's Progress: Operations Research In Queuing, G Raghuram

IIMB Management Review

Good management practice is synonymous with applying operations research (OR). Both imply a systematic approach beginning with clarity in problem definition, understanding the objectives and constraints, characterising the alternatives (these three steps constitute  model building), evaluating (analysing) them and finally selecting an alternative for implementation. In addition to this basic methodology, there is also an implication of a quantitative basis to the extent possible. It is this quantitative basis which lends to the common perception that good management practice is much larger than OR

An Atm System Model And Wireless Channel Simulation, Karen Dunne

Masters

Congestion in the low frequency regions of the electromagnetic spectrum and demand for support of high bandwidth applications has prompted widespread investigations into networking technologies and communications media. Traditional networking technologies such as Ethernet that are not capable of adequately supporting high bandwidth applications (e.g. videoconferencing) are being replaced by high speed, high bandwidth technologies such as Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM). In the communications media market, wireless systems are becoming ubiquitous due to their ease of installation and maintenance costs. In this research, the networking technology of interest is ATM. ATM used a cell switching architecture that allows seamless support …

Hybridization Of Dna By Sequential Immobilization Of Oligonucleotides At The Air-Water Interface, Murali Sastry, Vidya Ramakrishnan, Mrunalini Pattarkine, Anand Gole, K. N. Ganesh

Faculty Works

The hybridization of DNA by sequential electrostatic and hydrogen-bonding immobilization of single-stranded complementary oligonucleotides at the air-water interface with cationic Langmuir monolayers is demonstrated. The complexation of the single-stranded DNA molecules with octadecylamine (ODA) Langmuir monolayers was followed in time by monitoring the pressure-area isotherms. A large (and slow) expansion of the ODA monolayer was observed during each stage of complexation in the following sequence: primary single-stranded DNA followed by complementary single-stranded DNA followed by the intercalator, ethidium bromide. Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) films of the ODA-DNA complex were formed on different substrates and characterized using quartz-crystal microgravimetry (QCM), Fourier transform infrared …

Studies Of Adsorption And Oxidation Of Ethanol On Nm-Pt/Gc Electrode——I. Cyclic Voltammograms And In-Situ Ftir Spectroscopy In Alkaline Media, Guo-Lian Chen, Shi-Gang Sun, Sheng-Pei Chen, Zhi-You Zhou

Journal of Electrochemistry

The electro-oxidation of ethanol on nm-Pt/GC electrode in alkaline solutions containing 0.02 mol·L^-1 NaOH+0.1 mol·L^-1 CH₃CH₂OH was investigated by using cyclic voltammetry and in-situ FTIR spectroscopy. The experimental results demonstrated that the main product of ethanol oxidation is CH₃COO^-, only very small amount of CH ³CHO has been determined simultaneously. In contrast with the dual path reaction mechanism for the oxidation of ethanol in acid media, the oxidation of ethanol in alkaline media didn't pass through the dissociative adsorption, and no adsorbed species could be determined even using a …

The Development Of Carbon Monoxide Tolerant Catalysts For Proton-Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell, Zhong-Jun Hou, Hong-Mei Yu, Bao-Lian Yi, Ming Han

Journal of Electrochemistry

High over-potential of proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) anode caused by carbon monnoxide poisoning when reformate or methanol is used as fuel is main obstacle to the high performance of PEMFCs. Using carbon monoxide tolerant catalysts is the most hopeful way to solve the CO problem. The CO poisoning problem is reviewed briefly in this paper, and the development of CO tolerant catalysts is introduced in details, including electrocatalysts activity, preparation method and mechanism of tolerance to CO.Mo and W can improve catalysts' CO tolerance. Multi-component catalysts are expected to be more tolerant to CO.

Electrochemical Polymerization Of Biphenyl And P-Terphenyl In Organic Solvent, Sheng-Yun Cui

Journal of Electrochemistry

The electro-oxidation of ethanol on nm-Pt/GC electrode in alkaline solutions containing 0.02 mol·L^-1 NaOH+0.1 mol·L^-1 CH₃CH₂OH was investigated by using cyclic voltammetry and in-situ FTIR spectroscopy. The experimental results demonstrated that the main product of ethanol oxidation is CH₃COO^-, only very small amount of CH ³CHO has been determined simultaneously. In contrast with the dual path reaction mechanism for the oxidation of ethanol in acid media, the oxidation of ethanol in alkaline media didn't pass through the dissociative adsorption, and no adsorbed species could be determined even using a …

A Technique For Analyzing Radiation From Conformal Antennas Mounted On Arbitrarily-Shaped Conducting Bodies, Dean Arakaki, Douglas H. Werner, Raj Mittra

Electrical Engineering

This paper presents an efficient method to solve the problem of radiation from conformal aperture and microstrip antennas mounted on arbitrarily-shaped conducting bodies. The method, based on the surface equivalence and reciprocity principles, uses a combination of the Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) and Method of Moments (MoM) techniques to substantially improve the computational efficiency of the radiation pattern calculation. When the geometry and location of the radiating element are modified, only a small portion of the overall analysis requires re-simulation. This leads to a significant improvement in computational efficiency over presently used techniques, and can substantially improve design efficiency …

27th Conference On Senior Engineering Design Projects, College Of Engineering And Applied Sciences

Senior Engineering Design Conference

The 27th Conference on Senior Engineering Design Projects was held on November 28, 2000 at the College of Engineering and applied Sciences on the Parkview Campus of Western Michigan University. The college sponsors the conference to showcase the work of its graduating seniors, who are required to complete a capstone project that puts into practice what they have learned. Many of the projects are sponsored by business and industry.

Developing An Implementation Plan For The Idaho Msri Partnership Workshop Summary - Final Report, Florida Solar Energy Center, Jennifer Szaro

FSEC Energy Research Center®

Workshop conducted to develop an implementation plan for the Idaho Million Solar Roofs Initiative.

Developing An Implementation Plan For The Montana Msri Coalition Workshop Summary - Final Report, Florida Solar Energy Center, Jennifer Szaro

FSEC Energy Research Center®

Workshop was conducted to develop an implementation plan for the Montana Million Solar Roofs Initiative.

Plastic Solder Paste Stencil For Surface Mount Technology, Christopher K. Wong, Daniel Waldorf

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

Solder paste masks or stencils are an integral part of the manufacturing process for surface mount PCBs. This study examines the feasibility of a process for rapid creation of a solder paste stencil using thermoplastic material. CNC laser cutting of the stencil geometry is replacing traditional use of chemical etching on metal sheets to produce stencils. Laser cutting has been used to improve process speed, accuracy, and cost. This research attempts to continue to simplify and reduce costs in the stencil making process by proposing as the stencil material a common thermoplastic that can be cut easily and quickly using …

Global Projects Prepare Wpi Students For The 21st Century, William W. Durgin, Donald N. Zwiep

Office of the Provost Scholarship

The WPI project based curriculum, which emphasizes discovery based learning are an alternative to the traditional information transfer process, has proved successful in delivering global engineering education. More than 25% of the learning process of the students is integrated into two formal projects, the Major Qualifying Project (MQP) which is designed as a capstone for professional technical competence and the Interactive Qualifying Project (IQP) which relates science and technology to societal concerns and student needs. Both the MQP and IQP may be completed on- or off-campus. Currently, over 50% of the graduating class will have completed one of the projects …

Santa Clara Magazine, Volume 42 Number 2, Fall 2000, Santa Clara University

Santa Clara Magazine

10 - I WANT MY IPO! By Susan Vogel. With so much venture capital available out there, why do women have to sprint to catch up with men in the race for funding?

14 - ON THE THRESHOLD OF A NEW ERA By George F. Giacomini, Jr. A long-time SCU professor offers his opinion of the most pivotal moments in the University's 150-year history, from wars to the admission of women.

18 - OF HEADHUNTERS AND SOLDIERS By Renato Rosaldo. Living with a headhunting Filipino tribe taught this author to be open to the possibility that other cultures have valid, …

The Faa: A Tombstone Agency? Putting The Nickname To The Test, Rebecca K. Lutte, Brent D. Bowen

Aviation Institute Faculty Publications

The purpose of this research was to investigate Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) activity before and after six catastrophic airline accidents to examine the alleged reactive policysetting reputation of the FAA. Actions reviewed were regulatory, inspection, and enforcement activities. The study revealed that change in agency activity does occur following an accident. The location of the event appears to influence the direction of change. When accidents occurred within the United States, FAA activity increased following the accident. The opposite occurred for airline accidents outside the U.S. The increase in FAA activity following U.S. based events, supports the reactive, 􀀀tombstone agency􀀀 reputation …

Modeling Pichia Pastoris Growth On Methanol And Optimizing The Production Of A Recombinant Protein, The Heavy-Chain Fragment C Of Botulinum Neurotoxin, Serotype A, Wenhui Zhang, Mark A. Bevins, Bradley A. Plantz, Leonard A. Smith, Michael M. Meagher

Papers in Biotechnology

An unstructured growth model for the recombinant methylotrophic yeast P. pastoris Mut+ expressing the heavy-chain fragment C of botulinum neurotoxin serotype A [BoNT/A(Hc)], was successfully established in quasi-steady state fed-batch fermentations with varying cell densities. The model describes the relationships between specific growth rate and methanol concentration, and the relationships between specific methanol and ammonium consump-tion rates and specific growth rate under methanol-limited growth conditions. The maximum specific growth rate (μ) determined from the model was 0.08 h−1 at a methanol concentration of 3.65 g/L, while the actual maximum μ was 0.0709 h−1. The maximum specific methanol consumption rate was …

Dc Power Bus Design With Fdtd Modeling Including A Dispersive Media, Xiaoning Ye, Jun Fan, Marina Koledintseva, James L. Drewniak

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

DC power-bus modeling in high-speed digital design using the FDTD method is reported here. The dispersive medium is approximated by a Debye model to account for the loss. A wide band frequency response (100 MHz-5 GHz) is obtained through a single FDTD simulation. Favorable agreement is achieved between the modeled and measured results for a typical DC power-bus structure with multiple SMT decoupling capacitors mounted on the board. The FDTD tool is then applied to investigate the effects of local decoupling on a DC power-bus. The modeled results agree with the results from another modeling tool, the CEMPIE (a circuit …

Lip Feature Extraction Towards An Automatic Speechreading System, Xiaozheng Zhang, Russell M. Mersereau

Electrical Engineering

The use of color information can significantly improve efficiency and robustness of lip feature extraction capability over purely grayscale-based methods. Edge information provides another useful tool in characterizing lip boundaries. In this paper we present a method of integrating both types of information to address the problem of lip feature extraction for the purpose of speechreading. We first examine various color models and view hue as an effective descriptor to characterize the lips due to its invariance to luminance and human skin color, and its discriminative properties. We use prominent red hue as an indicator to locate the position of …

Dielectric Tensor For Interfaces And Individual Layers In Magnetic Multilayer Structures, Xiang Gao, Michael J. Devries, Daniel W. Thompson, John A. Woollam

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering: Faculty Publications

The magneto-optical Kerr response of metallic magnetic multilayers has been studied by determining the dielectric tensors (dielectric functions) for individual layers, including the magnetic and nonmagnetic interfacial layers. The diagonal components of these tensors were determined using in situ ellipsometric analysis, where the ellipsometric data were taken in real time during multilayer deposition. The off-diagonal components were determined by regression fitting magneto-optic polar Kerr rotation and ellipticity data to models supported by electromagnetic theory. The Voigt parameters (ratio between off-diagonal and diagonal components of dielectric tensors) were determined from these model fits. Higher magnitudes for the Voigt parameters were found …

Using Expert Systems For Simulation Modeling Of Patient Scheduling, Charles R. Standridge, Duane Steward

Peer Reviewed Articles

Modeling the scheduling of patient appointments is an important issue in simulating a health care delivery facility. A simulation model must include the control logic of appointment scheduling software and the explicit and implicit decision rules used by the human scheduler in selecting an appointment time. Expert systems provide one way of modeling such control logic and decision rules. We describe a structure for an expert system that models patient appointment scheduling and the integration of such an expert system within a simulation model. An example expert system for a small animal veterinary clinic is presented.

The Effect Of Anisotrophy On The Potential Distribution In Biological Tissues And Its Impact On Nerve Excitation Simulations, Robert B. Szlavik, Hubert De Bruin

Biomedical Engineering

Presents a finite difference solution of the potential distribution associated with electrical current stimulation in an anisotropic in-homogeneous tissue environment and compare it to the isotropic case. The results demonstrate that there can be significant errors associated with the assumption of isotropic tissue properties in calculating the potential distribution along an axon in nerve excitation simulations. These errors can have a significant impact on predicted nerve fiber recruitment patterns when evaluating the efficacy of specific surface or intramuscular stimulus electrode configurations. The results of this study also suggest when a more comprehensive tissue model should be implemented in an electrode …

Computing Optimal Pumping Strategies For Groundwater Contaminant Plume Remediation, Richard C. Peralta, Alaa H. Aly

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Simulation/Optimization (S/0) models can greatly simplify the process of designing remediation systems for contaminated groundwater. We describe some technical aspects of using S/0 models and possible S/0 model formulations for groundwater remediation design. We: discuss some S/0 model optimization algorithms; illustrate simple optimization problem solution; describe two real-world S/0 model applications; and demonstrate S/0 model application under uncertainty.

Turbulent Mixing And Chemical Reaction In Baffled Stirred Tank Reactors : A Comparison Between Experiments And A Novel Micromixing-Based Computational Fluid Dynamics Model, Otute Akiti

Dissertations

The optimization of reaction processes to maximize the yield of a desired product while minimizing the formation of undesired by-products is one of the most important steps in process development for drug manufacturing or fine chemical production. In many situations the kinetics of product formation can be quite complex and involve a number of intermediate steps as well as parallel and serial reactions. This renders the systems sensitive to the operating conditions. Often, upon scale-up, a decrease in the yield of the desired product is experienced, while more undesired by-products are produced. A large number of interrelated variables influence the …

Feasibility Study To Extract Iron And Chromium From Chromium Contaminated Soils, Wiwat Kamolpornwijit

Dissertations

Chromium contaminated soils, besides being recognized for toxic and hazardous hexavalent chromium, contain high iron concentrations. At some sites, concentrations of iron oxide are higher than 30%. Both iron and chromium in soils have recyclable value provided they can be either concentrated in the oxide form or separated as metal. The concentrated oxide can be used as a substitute for the iron ore. The extracted metal can also be recycled in the steel industry. The objective of this study is to study the feasibility of extracting iron and chromium from soils.

Chromium contaminated soils, can be classified into two groups, …

Phase Tunability In A Conductor Backed Coplanar Waveguide Patch Antenna, Idan Mandelbaum

Theses

Traditionally beam steering in phase array antenna systems is achieved using tunable phase shifters or switched feed networks. Here, a tunable patch antenna element is suggested as a novel alternative to a combination of a radiating element and a phase shifter. A conductor backed coplanar waveguide patch antenna is chosen due to its suitability to mounted external tuning elements, using varactor diodes. Limited types of lumped tuning circuits, using varactor diodes, have been tested, though a lumped as well as distributed tuning is feasible in the chosen antenna configuration. Approximate analytical models for coplanar waveguide patch antennas with finite ground …

Nanoporous Sio2/Vycor Membranes For Air Separation, Mihir Tungare

Theses

Porous Vycor tubes with 40Å initial pore diameter were modified using low pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD) of silicon dioxide N0₂). Diethylsilane (DES) in conjunction with nitrous oxide (N₂O) was used as a precursor to synthesize these SiO₂ films. The aim of this study was to obtain a considerable selectivity between species of comparable size and hence N₂O was used. The use of N₂O was believed to make the process self-limiting. DES was allowed to flow through the tube and N₂O on the outside in the chamber at 550°C …

Nanofiltration-Based Diafiltration Process For Solvent Exchange In Pharmaceutical Manufacturing, Jignesh P. Sheth

Theses

Commercially available solvent stable polymeric nanofiltration membranes were used to study the nanofiltration and diafiltration operations in the context of the pharmaceutical industry. Experimental results are presented for a two-step operation involving the preconcentration of a feed solution via nanofiltration followed by the replacement of the first stage solvent with a second solvent via diafiltration in two stages. Membranes MPF-50 and MPF-60, having molecular weight cut-offs of 700 and 400 respectively, were used in the present study. A solution of erythromycin (MW 734) in ethyl acetate was preconcentrated via nanofiltration followed by replacement of ethyl acetate with methanol via batch …