Digital Commons Network^™

Evaluation Of Design Tools For Rapid Prototyping Of Parallel Signal Processing Algorithms, James C. Savage

Theses and Dissertations

Digital signal processing (DSP) has become a popular method for handling not only signal processing, but communications, and control system applications. A DSP application of interest to the Air Force is high speed avionics processing. The real time computing requirements of avionics processing exceed the capabilities of current single chip DSP processors, and parallelization of multiple DSP processors is a solution to handle such requirements. Designing and implementing a parallel DSP algorithm has been a lengthy process often requiring different design tools and extensive programming experience. Through the use of integrated software development tools, rapid prototyping becomes possible by simulating …

Preparing The Leaders For Mechatronics Education, Sema E. Alptekin

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

Mechatronics is the synergetic combination of precision mechanical engineering, electronic control and systems thinking in the design of products and processes. There is a need to develop interdisciplinary programs in Mechatronics that better prepare our graduates to design, build, and operate the products and systems of today and tomorrow. To address this need, National Science Foundation funded a project entitled "Preparing the Leaders for Mechatronics Education" undertaken by Cal Poly in 1995 - 1996. In this paper, the activities that took place during this two-year program is outlined. Several courses and course modules have already been developed and implemented by …

Row Crop Drip Irrigation On Bell Peppers Study, Charles M. Burt, Stuart Styles

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

Underwood Ranches, located near Oxnard, installed a buried drip system on 50 acres of peppers in 1993. The amount of the CEC loan was $50,000.

The buried drip system provided sufficient advantages in water management, energy savings, and yield increases to convince the farm to expand its drip acreage to 140 acres in June 1995, and 320 acres in Sept. 1996. The farmer was an ideal cooperator.

The primary lessons learned on this project were:

• A grower needs approximately two years of experience and technical assistance in order to feel comfortable with a buried drip system. Even after that time, …

Permeability Of Microporous Carbon Preforms, S. K. Datta, N. Simhai, Surendra N. Tewari, Jorge E. Gatica, M. Singh

Chemical & Biomedical Engineering Faculty Publications

The permeability of microporous amorphous carbon preforms with varying pore size and pore distributions has been experimentally examined. The porous structures have been characterized by mercury porosimetry and by quantitative metallography of pressure-infiltration-cast metal matrix composites based on the carbon preforms. The permeability shows a linear correlation with the fraction porosity and the square of the pore diameter.

Generalized Beam Matrices. Iii. Application To Diffraction Analysis, Lee W. Casperson, Anthony A. Tovar

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

In analogy with Huygen’s wavelets a new method based on Gaussian beamlets is used to develop a conventional diffraction integral formalism for paraxial optical systems representable by complex 2×2 ABCD Gaussian beam matrices. This method, along with a new phase parameter transformation, is then used to produce a new diffraction integral for studying the propagation of light beams with arbitrary spatial profiles through much more general misaligned complex optical systems representable by 3×3 ABCDGH beam matrices.

Row Crop Drip Irrigation On Peppers Study, Charles M. Burt, Stuart Styles

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

High Rise Farms, located just north of Morgan Hill installed a new buried row crop drip irrigation system in 1993. The amount of the CEC loan was $42,700.

The installation of the drip irrigation system on the Peppers did provide significant improvements in the amount of water use, energy required and yield increases especially in the first year of operation (1993) and the third year of operation (1995). The second year of the project (1994) did not have yield increases. The primary lessons learned from this project included:

• The yield differential between drip and the furrow irrigation methods was attributed …

Multimedia Applications Require Adaptive Cpu Scheduling, Veronica Baiceanu, Crispin Cowan, Dylan Mcnamee, Calton Pu, Jonathan Walpole

Computer Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

CPU scheduling and admission testing for multimedia applications have been extensively studied, and various solutions have been proposed using assorted simplifying assumptions. However, we believe that the complexity and dynamic behavior of multimedia applications and systems make static solutions hard to apply in real-world situations. We are analyzing the difficulties that arise when applying the rate-monotonic (RM) scheduling algorithm and the corresponding admission tests for CPU management, in the context of real multimedia applications running on real systems. RM requires statically predictable, periodic workloads, and while multimedia applications appear to be periodic, in practice they exhibit numerous variabilities in workload. …

Development Of Site Characterization Simulator Specifications, Jeffrey L. Heiderscheidt

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to develop a tool for evaluating data quality when characterizing a potentially contaminated groundwater aquifer, and to provide a basis for developing a simulator to allow environmental managers and engineers to practice and learn about the site characterization process. Specifically, this study characterized the uncertainty, estimation block size, and cost for the various methods of determining the value of each geological, hydrological, and contaminant parameter necessary to characterize a site. Research entailed identifying site characterization objectives and identifying parameters necessary to obtain those objectives. Methods of estimating each parameter were identified, then research was …

Pulsed Transient Tissue Conductivity Measurement, Robert B. Szlavik, Hubert De Bruin

Biomedical Engineering

The authors present an alternative technique for obtaining tissue conductivity as a function of frequency. Pulsed transient tissue impedance measurement differs significantly from other commonly used swept frequency techniques in that the conductivity of a tissue sample can be obtained from a voltage transient response to a current pulse. By obtaining the conductivity across a band of frequencies from a transient measurement, the necessity for direct conductivity measurements at each frequency point is eliminated. Calibration and verification of the technique was carried out by measuring the impedance magnitude and phase of simple RC circuit combinations. The authors present conductivity measurements …

Removal Of Volatile Organic Compounds From Contaminated Groundwater By Pervaporation, Sukla Chandra

Theses

Effective removal of non-aqueous phase liquid pools in groundwater and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from contaminated soils can be achieved by surfactant flushing. This surfactant-rich ground water contains VOCs like trichloroethylene (TCE), dichloroethylene (DCE), etc. Membrane pervaporation technique is employed here to remove TCE from these micellar systems where a very high percentage of the VOC is trapped inside the micellar core. The micellar solution flows through the bore of microporous hydrophobic hollow fibers wherein the micelles break down and release the surfactants and the TCE. The TCE is then removed through the pores and a nonporous thin silicone skin …

Development Of A Gel Content Analysis Protocol For Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene, Max Harold Jeanty

Theses

A modified procedure based upon ASTM (D 2765 - 90) to determine the gel content of crosslinked polyethylene plastics was developed. The new procedure was applied to ram extruded Ultra High Molecular Weight (UHMWPE) implant components processed under different manufacturing conditions. This new evaluation tool provides consistent results with greater accuracy and consistency compared to the American Society for the Testing of Materials (ASTM) method. Using the same tool, several relationships between the UHMWPE processing conditions and gel content were established. The amount of gel content is related to the crosslinked material. It has been shown that the more crosslinking …

Study Of Stress In Microelectronic Materials By Photoelasticity, Hancheng Liang

Dissertations

The study of stress is playing an important role in microelectronic technology. In comparison with other techniques, the photoelasticity technique has the advantages of having high spatial resolution and high sensitivity. It can be used in qualitative observation in real-time and quantitative determination of stress distribution in the microelectronic materials and devices.

This dissertation presents a systematic study of photoelastic stress analysis in microelectronic materials and devices, ranged from theoretical study to practical system setup, from measurement methods to their applications. At first, based on the detailed survey on the piezo-optic properties of the crystals used in microelectronics, we apply …

Acuta Enews October 1996, Vol. 25, No. 10

ACUTA Newsletters

In This Issue

President's Message

FlexSourcing

Desk Top Video

Overheard on the Listserve

From ACUTA Headquarters

Santa Clara Magazine, Volume 38 Number 4, Fall 1996, Santa Clara University

Santa Clara Magazine

4 - ENTER THE CLASS OF 2000 They're committed, they're ambitious, they're adventurous-and they're here! By Christine Courard '97 Photographs by Charles Barry

10 - A COMMUNITY OF SCHOLARS FOR THE COMMON GOOD Unique gifts of students, facu lty, staff, and alumni advance University efforts to integrate learning and living. By Paul Locatelli, S.J, '60

13 - HEADY DAYS, MYLANTA NIGHTS Riding the roller coaster of high tech investing. Coming out on top. By Therese Poletti '81

18 - THE TAO OF PERSONAL LEADERSHIP New book by English Department chair describes how ancient Chinese philosophy can help leaders bring a …

Bulletin - Fall, 1996, Civil Aviation Medical Association

Browse all Civil Aviation Medical Association Newsletters

A twelve page newsletter of the Civil Aviation Medical Association. The newsletter provided news about civil aviation medicine and information related to the organization.

A Fluid Flow Analysis Of Aluminum 356.0 In The Vacuum Assisted Countergravity Method, John Launstein

Graduate Research Papers

The purpose of this study is to determine the fluid flow pattern obtained through the use of the countergravitaional process. The physical fluid flow model assists design engineers in their casting design of parts utilizing the LS-Vac technology thereby reducing tooling costs and time losses.

Detecting Stress And Fatigue Cracks, Christian J. Huber, R. Zoughi

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Discoveries in using open ended rectangular waveguides for microwave surface crack detection and sizing have generated interest. The foundation, potential, advantages and disadvantages of this methodology, developed at the Applied Microwave Nondestructive Testing Laboratory in the Electrical Engineering Department at Colorado State University, are discussed. Microwave techniques in general and this particular approach offer certain unique advantages that can advance the state of the art of fatigue/surface crack detection. The basic features and capabilities of this technique have been theoretically and experimentally investigated these past few years. However, more developmental work is needed to bring this technique from the laboratory …

Generation Of Synthetic-Focus Images From Pulse-Echo Ultrasound Using Difference Equations, Daryl G. Beetner, R. Martin Arthur

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

To produce a complete-dataset, pulse-echo image requires a knowledge of the time of flight (TOF) from each source to each sensor in the transducer array for each site to be imaged. Increasing the speed of TOF calculation is important in adaptive-focus schemes. The authors determined TOF more rapidly than via direct calculation by representing TOF surfaces by two-dimensional (2-D), positive-integer-degree polynomials implemented in their forward-difference form. Errors which accumulate due to the use of a difference equation depend on the degree of the polynomial and on the size of the image. The number of bits needed to address echo samples …

Resource/Dataflow Graph Operating System Development, Sriram J. Coimbatore

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Implementation of a new dataflow schedule model is the objective of this thesis. The dataflow model algorithm called the resource/dataflow graph model is implemented on a peer-to-peer communication network comprising of six personal computers. This dataflow model is implemented making use of an earlier dataflow model called ATAMM (Algorithm to Architecture Mapping Model) developed by ODU and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Development issues include modification of the RDFG testbed operating system and a scheme to transfer data buffers using the ethernet channel from one processor to another processor. This, in turn, equips each sub-module of an application with …

Integrating Multidisciplinary Design In An Undergraduate Curriculum, Russell M. Cummings, H. Jo Anne Freeman

Aerospace Engineering

Multidisciplinary design and analysis has become the normal mode of operation within most aerospace companies, but the impact of these changes have largely not been reflected at many universities. In an effort to determine if the emergence of multidisciplinary design concepts should influence engineering curricula, NASA has asked several universities (Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, Clemson, BYU, and Cal Poly) to investigate the practicality of introducing the concepts within their undergraduate curricula. A multidisciplinary team of faculty, students, and industry partners evaluated the aeronautical engineering curriculum at Cal Poly. A variety of ways were found to introduce multidisciplinary themes into the …

Acuta Enews September 1996, Vol. 25, No. 9

ACUTA Newsletters

In This Issue

From the President

New Legislation

User Group Reports

Changes Come to Campus Directories

From ACUTA Headquarters

Measurement Of Pressure And Assessment Of Cavitation For A 22.5-Khz Intra-Arterial Angioplasty Device, I. R. S. Makin, E. Carr Everbach

Engineering Faculty Works

This study was performed to understand better the mechanisms of action of an (22.5 kHz) ultrasonic wire catheter device used to remove atheromatous plaque in diseased blood vessels (ultrasonic angioplasty). During a clinical procedure, the wire acts as an acoustic waveguide to transfer acoustic energy from a generator outside the body to the ball tip of the wire, which is inserted in the blood vessel. The acoustic field radiated by the vibrating ball tip (1.5- to 3.0-mm diameter), was mapped in a relatively large (600 L) water tank and compared to the field from a well-characterized simple source. A dipolelike …

Electromagnetic Scattering From Semi-Infinite Planar Arrays, Peter J. Collins

Theses and Dissertations

A hybrid method of moments (MM) based numerical model for the electromagnetic scattering from large finite by infinite planar slot arrays is developed. The method incorporates the novel concept of a physical basis function (PBF) to dramatically reduce the number of required unknowns. The model can represent a finite number of slot columns with slots oriented along the infinite axis, surrounded by an arbitrary number of coplanar dielectric slabs. Each slot column can be loaded with a complex impedance, allowing one to tailor the edge currents to provide a desired echo width pattern. The surface equivalence theorem is used to …

A Study On Electrochemical Oxidation Of Reduced Nicotinamide Coenzyme Nadh In Organic Media, Fangzu Yang, Huihuang Wu, Shukai Xu, Shaomin Zhou

Journal of Electrochemistry

The behaviour of electrochemical oxidation of the reduced nicotinamide coenzyme NADH on glassy carbon was studied and some kinetic parameters were measured by means of voltammometry in the N-dimethylformamide (DMF) and 1,4-dioxane media respectively. The eletrochemical oxidation of NADH shows completely irriversable both in the two solvents,and the diagnostic experiments support that the process involves a fast chemical step.The oxidation rate and the diffusion coefficient of NADH in DMP are smaller than those in 1,4-dioxane, but the response current is more stable in DMF. The experimental results are discussed by solvent effects.

Design And Implementation Of A Model For Authoring And Presenting Interactive Multimedia Documents, Vibha Mukul Nayyar

Dissertations and Theses

Multimedia technology enables direct manipulation of multiple media such as text, image, audio, and video, all integrated into one entity - the multimedia document. Interactive multimedia documents integrate text, images and continuous media such as audio and video, treat them as objects to be presented for a certain duration, and allow users to interact with the presentation. Authoring and presenting interactive multimedia documents imposes new requirements on document representation. We designed the interactive timeline model (ITM) for authoring and presenting interactive multimedia documents. We implemented the model and created a playback tool using the scripting language Tcl.

ITM uses an …

Measured Field Performance And Energy Savings Of Occupancy Sensors: Three Case Studies, Florida Solar Energy Center, David Floyd

FSEC Energy Research Center®

Occupancy sensors have the potential to significantly reduce energy use by switching off electrical loads when a normally occupied area is vacated. While occupancy sensors can be used to control a variety of load types, their most popular use has been to control lighting in commercial buildings. Manufacturers claim savings of 15% to 85%, although there is little published research to support the magnitude or timing of reductions. Energy savings and performance are directly related to the total wattage of the load being controlled, effectiveness of the previous control method, occupancy patterns within the space and proper sensor commissioning. In …

The Development And Evaluation Of The Knife Finite Element, Brett W. Clark

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis presents the development and evaluation of the knife finite element which is a degenerate case of a hexahedral element. The knife connectivity is an artifact of automatic all-hexahedral mesh generators. Currently, knives are propagated to the surface of the mesh for removal. However since this disturbs the surface mesh, other alternatives are needed. This thesis investigates the option of leaving the knife connectivity in the mesh and treating it as a valid finite element. The shape functions and stiffness matrix for the knife element are derived and evaluated using theoretical and practical evaluations. It is concluded that the …

A Multi-Institutional Cooperative Approach To Power Engineering Education, Anil Pahwa, Kraig J. Olejniczak, S. D. Sughoff, Shelli K. Starrett, Mariesa Crow

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This paper describes the multi-institutional cooperative effort between the University of Missouri--Rolla, Kansas State University, and the University of Arkansas to develop two new courses in flexible power system control.

Sulfur Tolerant Bimetallic Zeolitic Reforming Catalysts, Gustavo F. Larsen

Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering: Patents

New compositions of matter comprise a metal from the group consisting of platinum, rhodium and palladium, a metal from the first row of Group VIII of the Periodic Table and a nonacidic L-zeolite. A preferred composition is Pt--Ni/KL-zeolite. Such catalysts are prepared by coimpregnation of the zeolite with the metals. Methods of using the catalysts in reforming, aromatization or dehydrogenation are provided.

Acuta Enews July 1996, Vol. 25, No. 7

ACUTA Newsletters

In This Issue

New Board of Directors Prepares for 1996-97

ACUTA Announces Quarterly Journal

President's Message

Do You Tax Student Long Distance Bills?

DC at a Glance

University of Washington Fills Service Niche with T1 Channel Banks

How to Subscribe to ACUTA Listserves

Everyone Wants Voice Mail

Campus New Briefs

Welcome New Members

Industry Insights