Digital Commons Network^™

Review Of Development Stages In The Conceptual Design Of An Electro Hydrostatic Actuator For Robotics, Velibor Karanović, Mitar Jocanović, Vukica Jovanović

Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

The design of modern robotic devices faces numerous requirements and limitations which are related to optimization and robustness. Consequently, these stringent requirements have caused improvements in many engineering areas and lead to development of new optimization methods which better handle new complex products designed for application in industrial robots. One of the newly developed methods used in industrial robotics is the concept of a self-contained power device, an Electro-Hydrostatic Actuator (EHA). EHA devices were designed with a central idea, to avoid the possible drawbacks which were present in other types of actuators that are currently used in robotic systems. This …

Polymer–Based Resonant Waveguide Grating Structure And Its Applications, Antonio Jou Xie

Dissertations and Theses

Resonance waveguide grating structures have been a subject of interest for several decades. This optical technique offers unique advantages when compared with other optical components. This stems from their relatively simple structure comprised of layers, as well as their high reflection efficiency within a narrow spectral bandwidth. Typical resonance waveguide grating structures that exhibit these characteristics are cost effective and fabricated with fewer materials than conventional multilayer resonance structures. Essentially, only a grating, waveguide, and substrate layer are required for its operation. In addition, unique spectral characteristics can be obtained by varying the grating and layer structure. Among these characteristics …

Pre-Saccadic Modulation Of The Visually Evoked Potential, Leslie Guadron

Dissertations and Theses

Saccades are rapid eye movements that allow us to focus the fovea on different parts of our visual environment. Many psychophysical studies have shown that subjects can discriminate stimuli presented at the saccadic target better than at any other location before an eye movement is made. It is believed that covert attention allotted to the intended destination of a saccade, called pre-saccadic attention, accounts for the improved discrimination of stimuli. Covert top-down attention, which consists of orienting your attention, and not your gaze, to an object in your visual periphery, is known to facilitate behavioral performance in a manner similar …

Assembly And Mechanical Characterization Of Suspended Boron Nitride Nanotubes, Rachel Waxman

Theses and Dissertations

This study details the dielectrophoretic assembly and mechanical characterization of boron nitride nanotubes on silicon chips with gold electrodes. The chips were fabricated from 4in round silicon wafers with a 100nm-thick low stress silicon nitride insulating layer on the top and bottom. The electrodes were patterned using photo- and electron-beam lithography and dry etching, and the wafers were cut into 4 x 6mm chips. The boron nitride nanotubes studied were obtained from NIA and were synthesized via a unique pressurized vapor/condensor method, which produced long, small-diameter BNNTs without the use of a catalyst. These nanotubes were studied due to their …

Computational Study Of Protein-Protein Interactions In Misfolded States, Oscar Bastidas

Theses and Dissertations

Protein-protein interactions (PPI’s) play important roles in biological systems. In particular, intra-protein interactions help create and maintain correctly folded protein states and mutations that result in misfolded states may be associated with significant changes in PPI behavior. Six unrelated protein systems with known structure files, each consisting of a wild-type and mutant strain, were studied using the computational algorithm OpenContact©. OpenContact© is a simple tool that can be used to rapidly identify or map interactions “hot-spots” in a protein and was, consequently, used in this study as a starting point to examine the potential or possible role of PPI’s on …

Fabrication Of Micropatterns For The Spatial Control Of Cell Propagation And Differentiation, Mahmoud Moustafa

Theses and Dissertations

Challenges in the development of successful cell therapies involve engineering and control of cues to regulate the balance between differentiation and self-renewal. However, the complexity of architecture and function make this an intriguing problem in the context of forming functional connections. Here we present the design and fabrication of microstructured scaffolds that present a biomimetic framework along which neural cell lines can organize into oriented constructs. Specifically, we show microfabricated non-linear architectures that promote cellular fate related to propagation of human neuroblastoma cells and directed differentiation towards neurons. By mimicking biological networks that allow for spreading of the cells instead …

Spatial Moment Analysis Of Reactive And Radioactive Solute In River System With Layered Porous Bed, Shadab Anwar

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Mass exchange between river stream and riverbed is critical towards remediation of contaminated river system. Spatial moment analysis of reactive and radioactive solute in river channel with underlying porous bed is applied to understand the qualitative description of solute plume in riverbed and river stream. Semi-analytical solutions for zeroth-, first- and second-order spatial moment of reactive and radioactive solute are derived in Laplace domain. The spatial moments of concentration are numerically inverted. Parabolic velocity in river channel and exponentially decaying velocity in porous bed are linked using a slip velocity at the interface. The model is verified against the semi-analytical …

Jump And Pull-In Dynamics Of An Electrically Actuated Bistable Mems Device, Laura Ruzziconi, Stefano Lenci, Mohammad I. Younis

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Scholarship

This study analyzes a theoretical bistable MEMS device, which exhibits a considerable versatility of behavior. After exploring the coexistence of attractors, we focus on each rest position, and investigate the final outcome, when the electrodynamic voltage is suddenly applied. Our aim is to describe the parameter range where each attractor may practically be observed under realistic conditions, when an electric load is suddenly applied. Since disturbances are inevitably encountered in experiments and practice, a dynamical integrity analysis is performed in order to take them into account. We build the integrity charts, which examine the practical vulnerability of each attractor. A …

The Influence Of Mesa Activities On Underrepresented Students Nsf Dr K-12 Proposal 1020019, C. Hailey, Chandra Austin Stallworth, Cameron Denson, Daniel L. Householder

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement (MESA) outreach programs are partnerships between K-12 schools and higher education in nine states. MESA efforts introduce integrated experiences in science, mathematics and engineering to K-12 students from groups that are traditionally underrepresented in the STEM disciplines. This exploratory study examined the influence of selected MESA activities on students' self-efficacy, their perceptions of engineering, and their interest in engineering and other STEM fields. Field trips, guest lecturers, design competitions, hands-on activities and student career and academic advisement were of specific interest in this survey. The project also investigated the relationship between student engagement in MESA and …

Design And Implementation Of Home Use Portable Smart Electronics, Liqiang Du

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

The widespread of low cost embedded electronics makes it easier to implement the smart devices that can understand either the environment or the user behaviors. The main object of this project is to design and implement home use portable smart electronics, including the portable monitoring device for home and office security and the portable 3D mouse for convenient use. Both devices in this project use the MPU6050 which contains a 3 axis accelerometer and a 3 axis gyroscope to sense the inertial motion of the door or the human hands movement.

For the portable monitoring device for home and office …

Integration Of Instrumentation And Processing Software Of A Laser Speckle Contrast Imaging System, Jacob James Carrick

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Laser speckle contrast imaging (LSCI) has the potential to be a powerful tool in medicine, but more research in the field is required so it can be used properly. To help in the progression of Michigan Tech's research in the field, a graphical user interface (GUI) was designed in Matlab to control the instrumentation of the experiments as well as process the raw speckle images into contrast images while they are being acquired. The design of the system was successful and is currently being used by Michigan Tech's Biomedical Engineering department. This thesis describes the development of the LSCI GUI …

Purification And Effectiveness Of Vaccines And Antiviral Compounds, Maria F. Gencoglu

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Viral infections account for over 13 million deaths per year. Antiviral drugs and vaccines are the most effective method to treat viral diseases. Antiviral compounds have revolutionized the treatment of AIDS, and reduced the mortality rate. However, this disease still causes a large number of deaths in developing countries that lack these types of drugs. Vaccination is the most effective method to treat viral disease; vaccines prevent around 2.5 million deaths per year. Vaccines are not able to offer full coverage due to high operational costs in the manufacturing processes. Although vaccines have saved millions of lives, conventional vaccines often …

Enzyme Optimization For Lignocellulose Hydrolysis Using Mechanistic Modeling, Adam S. Marlowe

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

A novel mechanistic model for the saccharification of cellulose and hemicellulose is utilized to predict the products of hydrolysis over a range of enzyme loadings and times. The mechanistic model considers the morphology of the substrate and the kinetics of enzymes to optimize enzyme concentrations for the enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose and hemicellulose simultaneously. Substrates are modeled based on their fraction of accessible sites, glucan content, xylan content, and degree of polymerizations. This enzyme optimization model takes into account the kinetics of six core enzymes for lignocellulose hydrolysis: endoglucanase I (EG1), cellobiohydrolase I (CBH1), cellobiohydrolase II (CBH2), and endo-xylanase (EX) …

Characterizing And Improving Production Of Fermentable Sugars And Co-Products From A Forest Product Industry Wastewater Stream, Jifei Liu

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Hardboard processing wastewater was evaluated as a feedstock in a bio refinery co-located with the hardboard facility for the production of fuel grade ethanol. A thorough characterization was conducted on the wastewater and the composition changes of which during the process in the bio refinery were tracked. It was determined that the wastewater had a low solid content (1.4%), and hemicellulose was the main component in the solid, accounting for up to 70%. Acid pretreatment alone can hydrolyze the majority of the hemicellulose as well as oligomers, and over 50% of the monomer sugars generated were xylose. The percentage of …

New Microfluidic System To Increase Robustness Of Electrode Performance And Develop Point-Of-Care Hematocrit Device, Hwi Yong Lee

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

The present dissertation aimed to develop a new microfluidic system for a point-of-care hematocrit device. Stabilization of microfluidic systems via surfactant additives and integration of semipermeable SnakeSkin® membranes was investigated. Both methods stabilized the microfluidic systems by controlling electrolysis bubbles. Surfactant additives, Triton X-100 and SDS stabilized promoted faster bubble detachment at electrode surfaces by lowering surface tension and decreased gas bubble formation by increasing gas solubility. The SnakeSkin® membranes blocked bubbles from entering the microchannel and thus less disturbance to the electric field by bubbles occurred in the microchannel. Platinum electrode performance was improved by carbonizing electrode surface using …

2013-2014 Che Newsletter, Department Of Chemical Engineering, Michigan Technological University

Department of Chemical Engineering Newsletters

Table of Contents

• Department
• Research
• Student News
• Faculty News
• Alumni & Friends

Friction Coefficients For Dried Distillers Grains On Eight Structural Surfaces, G. C. Nyendu, S. Pflum, P. Schumacher, C. J. Bern, T. J. Brumm

Biological Engineering Faculty Publications

Static and dynamic coefficients of friction on structural surfaces play important roles in the power requirements and material selection for equipment used in handling and storing agricultural commodities. However, friction data on dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS) is limited. Further, lack of a standardized method for determining friction coefficient on grain handling materials presents a challenge. This article describes studies carried out to determine the static coefficient of friction (•_s) and dynamic coefficient of friction (•_d) for corn DDGS at 10%, 8.2%, and 6.5% moisture content (all moistures are % wet basis) on eight structural surfaces: High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE), …

Rfid And Communication Technologies For An Intelligent Bus Monitoring And Management System, Mahammad Abdul Hannan, Aishah Mustapha, Abdulla Al Mamun, Aini Hussain, Hassan Basri

Turkish Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences

This paper highlights the implementation of an intelligent bus monitoring system based on current challenges and problems. In this system, radio frequency identification and integrated sensing technologies, such as a global positioning system, general packet radio service, and geographic information system, are used to monitor the movement of a bus. A new theoretical framework and ruled-based decision algorithms are developed for the system. An experimental setup is developed for the prototype implementation. The results show that the choice of integrated technologies used in the system is suitable to monitor and manage a vehicle transportation system.

Spatiotemporal Realization Of An Artificial Retina Model And Performance Evaluation Through Isi- And Spike Count-Based Image Reconstruction Methods, İrfan Karagöz, Mustafa Özden

Turkish Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences

Development of an artificial retina model that can mimic the biologic retina is a highly challenging task and this task is an important step in the development of a visual prosthesis. The receptive field structure of the retina layer is usually modeled as a 2D difference of Gaussian (DOG) filter profile. In the present study, as a different approach, a retina model including a 3D 2-stage DOG filter (3D-ADOG) that has an adaptively changing bandwidth with respect to the local image statistic is developed. Using this modeling, the adaptive image processing of the retina can be realized. The contribution of …

Applications Of Wavelets And Neural Networks For Classification Of Power System Dynamics Events, Samir Avdakovic, Amir Nuhanovic, Mirza Kusljugic, Elvisa Becirovic

Turkish Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences

This paper investigates the possibility of classifying power system dynamics events using discrete wavelet transform (DWT) and a neural network (NN) by analyzing one variable at a single network bus. Following a disturbance in the power system, it will propagate through the system in the form of low-frequency electromechanical oscillations (LFEOs) in a frequency range of up to 5 Hz. DWT allows the identification of components of the LFEO, their frequencies, and magnitudes. After determining the energy components' share of the analyzed signal using DWT and Parseval's theorem, the input data for the classification process using a NN are obtained. …

Comparison Of Ais And Fuzzy C-Means Clustering Methods On The Classification Of Breast Cancer And Diabetes Datasets, Seral Özşen, Rahi̇me Ceylan

Turkish Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences

Data reduction is an indispensable part of pattern classification processes in many cases. If the number of samples is excessive, sample reduction or data reduction algorithms can be used for an effective processing time and reliable successive results. Many methods have been used for data reduction. Fuzzy c-means is one of these methods and it is widely used in such applications as clustering algorithms. In this study, we applied a different clustering algorithm, an artificial immune system (AIS), for the data reduction process. We realized the performance evaluation experiments on the standard Chainlink and Iris datasets, while the main application …

Cyber-Physical Security Strategies, Sarah Davis

LSU Master's Theses

Cyber-physical security describes the protection of systems with close relationships between computational functions and physical ones and addresses the issue of vulnerability to attack through both cyber and physical avenues. This describes systems in a wide variety of functions, many crucial to the function of modern society, making their security of paramount importance. The development of secure system design and attack detection strategies for each potential avenue of attack is needed to combat malicious attacks. This thesis will provide an overview of the approaches to securing different aspect of cyber-physical systems. The cyber element can be designed to better prevent …

Analysis Of A Ventilation Network In A Multiple Fans Limestone Mine, Ali Haghighat

Masters Theses

"As mining progresses the total resistance of an excavation is increased, the mine characteristic curve becomes steeper, and the operating point moves up the fan curve, reducing the total air quantity and increasing the system pressure. For multi-level ventilation networks with a number of fans the process can be tedious, and on a count of numerous dependent factors the optimal combination of fans is very hard to be achieved. The design of a ventilation network in conjunction with multi surface fans and booster fans entails a complex procedure.

The objective of this study is to provide a plan to improve …

Nanofiltration Membranes From Oriented Mesoporous Silica Thin Films, Mary K. Wooten

Theses and Dissertations--Chemical and Materials Engineering

The synthesis of mesoporous silica thin films using surfactant templating typically leads to an inaccessible pore orientation, making these films not suitable for membrane applications. Recent advances in thin film synthesis provide for the alignment of hexagonal pores in a direction orthogonal to the surface when templated on chemically neutral surfaces. In this work, orthogonal thin film silica membranes are synthesized on alumina supports using block copolymer poly(ethylene glycol)-block-poly(propylene glycol)-block-poly(ethylene glycol) (P123) as the template. The orthogonal pore structure is achieved by sandwiching membranes between two chemically neutral surfaces, resulting in 90 nm thick films. Solvent flux of ethanol through …

The Development And Biocompatibility Of Low Temperature Co-Fired Ceramic (Ltcc) For Microfluidic And Biosensor Applications, Jin Luo

Theses and Dissertations--Chemical and Materials Engineering

Low temperature co-fired ceramic (LTCC) electronic packaging materials are applied for their electrical and mechanical properties, high reliability, chemical stability and ease of fabrication. Three dimensional features can also be prepared allowing integration of microfluidic channels and cavities inside LTCC modules. Mechanical, optical, electrical, microfluidic functions have been realized in single LTCC modules. For these reasons LTCC is attractive for biomedical microfluidics and Lab-on-a-Chip systems. However, commercial LTCC systems, optimized for microelectrics applications, have unknown cytocompatibility, and are not compatible with common surface functionalization chemistries.

The first goal of this work is to develop biocompatible LTCC materials for biomedical applications. …

Nanometer-Scale Membrane Electrode Systems For Active Protein Separation, Enzyme Immobilization And Cellular Electroporation, Zhiqiang Chen

Theses and Dissertations--Chemical and Materials Engineering

Automated and continuous processes are the future trends in downstream protein purification. A functionalized nanometer-scale membrane electrode system, mimicking the function of cell wall transporters, can selectively capture genetically modified proteins and subsequently pump them through the system under programmed voltage pulses. Numerical study of the two-step pulse pumping cycles coupled with experimental His-GFP releasing study reveals the optimal 14s/1s pumping/repel pulse pumping condition at 10 mM bulk imidazole concentration in the permeate side. A separation factor for GFP: BSA of 9.7 was achieved with observed GFP electrophoretic mobility of 3.1×10^-6 cm² s^-1 V^-1 at 10 …

Cnt Membrane Platforms For Transdermal Drug Delivery And Aptamer Modulated Transport, Tao Chen

Theses and Dissertations--Chemical and Materials Engineering

CNT membrane platforms are biomimetic polymeric membranes imbedded with carbon nanotubes which show fast fluid flow, electric conductivity, and the ability to be grafted with chemistry. A novel micro-dialysis probe nicotine concentration sampling technique was proposed and proved in vitro, which could greatly improve the efficiency and accuracy of future animal transdermal studies. To enhance the scope of transdermal drug delivery which was limited to passive diffusion of small, potent lipophilic drugs, a wire mesh lateral electroporation design was also proposed which could periodically disrupt the skin barrier and enhance drug flux.

It was shown that AMP binding aptamer …

Magnesium-Titanium Alloys For Biomedical Applications, Ilona Hoffmann

Theses and Dissertations--Chemical and Materials Engineering

Magnesium has been identified as a promising biodegradable implant material because it does not cause systemic toxicity and can reduce stress shielding. However, it corrodes too quickly in the body. Titanium, which is already used ubiquitously for implants, was chosen as the alloying element because of its proven biocompatibility and corrosion resistance in physiological environments. Thus, alloying magnesium with titanium is expected to improve the corrosion resistance of magnesium.

Mg-Ti alloys with a titanium content ranging from 5 to 35 at.-% were successfully synthesized by mechanical alloying. Spark plasma sintering was identified as a processing route to consolidate the alloy …

Iron And Iron Oxide Functionalized Membranes With Applications To Selected Chloro-Organic And Metal Removal From Water, Minghui Gui

Theses and Dissertations--Chemical and Materials Engineering

The development of functionalized membranes with tunable pores and catalytic properties provides us an opportunity to manipulate the membrane pore structure, selectivity and reactivity. By introducing the functional groups into membrane pores, dissolved metal ions and reactive particles can be effectively immobilized within the polymer matrix for toxic chloro-organic and heavy metal remediation in water.

A polyelectrolyte functionalized membrane platform with tunable pore size and ion exchange capacity has been developed for iron/iron oxide nano-catalyst synthesis and chlorinated organic compound (trichloroethylene, TCE and polychlorinated biphenyls, PCBs) degradation. Highly robust polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) microfiltration membranes are used as the support with …

Layer-By-Layer Assemblies For Membrane-Based Enzymatic Catalysis, Andrew R. Tomaino

Theses and Dissertations--Chemical and Materials Engineering

While considerable progress has been made towards understanding the effect that membrane-based layer-by-layer (LbL) immobilizations have on the activity and stability of enzymatic catalysis, detailed work is required in order to fundamentally quantify and optimize the functionalization and operating conditions that define these properties. This work aims to probe deeper into the nature of transport mechanisms by use of pressure-induced, flow-driven enzymatic catalysis of LbL-functionalized hydrophilized poly(vinyldiene) (PVDF)-poly(acrylic acid) (PAA)-poly(allylamine hydrochloride) (PAH)-glucose oxidase (GOx) membranes. These membranes were coupled in a sealed series following cellulose acetate (CA) membranes for the elimination of product accumulation within the feed-side solution during operation. …