Digital Commons Network^™

Kytc’S Digital Project Delivery Phase 2 Summary, Catherine Keathley

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

Begun in 2020, the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet’s (KYTC) Digital Project Delivery (DPD) Initiative is working to expand the use of digitally formatted plan and project information throughout transportation asset life cycles. A primary goal of the initiative is to provide users with access to accurate data on design intent, as-built records, and maintenance operations in a connected data environment. This report reviews work completed during Phase 2 of the initiative. Thirteen pilot projects are ongoing or have been completed. In response to the initiative’s growth, the Division of Professional Services no longer issues formal requests for proposals to solicit pilot …

Parameter Dependent Chen-Fliess Series And Their Nonrecursive Interconnections, Natalie T. Pham

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

In control theory, a Chen-Fliess functional series is a weighted sum of iterated integrals constructed from a given set of input functions. Such series can be used to represent nonlinear input-output systems. In applications, they have been employed to characterize interconnected nonlinear systems, to solve system inversion and tracking problems, and to design predictive and adaptive controllers.

Distributed parameter systems exhibit spatial dependence along with temporal dependence. Such systems are typically represented in terms of partial differential equations. In control theory, there appears to be no existing method for representing the input-output map of a distributed system via a Chen-Fliess …

Leveraging Deep Learning Recurrence And Attention Mechanisms For Flood Forecasting And Assessment, Elnaz Heidari

All Dissertations

Predicting how much water will flow in rivers and streams is important for managing floods, water supply, and the environment. Traditionally, government agencies have used complex models, such as the National Water Model (NWM), which simulate how much water moves through landscapes using physical laws and real-world data. However, recent advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI) have enabled new ways to make these predictions. This research explored whether AI-based models could predict river discharge more accurately. These AI models learn patterns from past data instead of relying only on physical rules. To find out how well they work, the AI models …

Integrated Power, Energy, And Thermal Management For Autonomous Hybrid Off-Road Vehicles: Multi-Timescale Modeling, Predictive Control, And Resilient Thermal Design, Anirudh Sundar

All Dissertations

Electrification and autonomy are increasingly important for off-road vehicles operating in construction, agriculture, mining, defense, and other demanding environments. These platforms must deliver high tractive power under unstructured terrain, harsh ambient conditions, low-speed operation, and large auxiliary loads. While hybrid and electrified powertrains offer improved efficiency, mobility, and auxiliary power capability, they also introduce significant challenges in managing tightly coupled power, energy, and thermal subsystems. In particular, lithium-ion batteries, power electronics, electric machines, and internal combustion engine-generator systems operate across different temperature limits and timescales, requiring coordinated management to ensure efficiency, durability, and safe operation. This dissertation develops modeling, planning, …

Optimization Of A Cryogenic Electrical Characterization System And Its Application To Thermal Admittance Spectroscopy, Angel Efren Garcia

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Defect characterization in semiconductors relies on locating trap levels through the temperature dependence of carrier emission, which makes the accuracy of the device temperature a limiting factor in every extracted parameter. This work addresses the limitations in the cryogenic electrical characterization system at The University of Texas at El Paso, where Deep-Level Transient Spectroscopy (DLTS) had been established but produced activation energies that disagreed with literature values by as much as 0.33 eV. The discrepancy was traced not to the technique but to the transfer of heat to packaged devices in a probe station designed for on-die measurement. The cryogenic …

Spatial Structure And Energy Content Of Wakes Behind Single And Arrayed Undulated Cylinders, Taiga Naomi Drucker-Boisvert, OndˇRej FerˇCák, Jérémie Auzoux, Sarah E. Smith, Zein Sadek, Rowan Moore, Christain T. Murphy, Trevor Dunt, Jennifer A. Franck, Raul Bayoan Cal

Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Biologically inspired undulated cylinder geometries significantly influence wake structure and vortex-induced vibrations in turbulent flows, yet the underlying mechanisms are not fully understood. It is further unknown how these influences extend to multi-cylinder arrays, where interacting wakes accumulate and mix. This study examines the wake characteristics of an undulated cylinder and a smooth elliptic cylinder in single- and multi-cylinder array configurations, using particle image velocimetry and proper orthogonal decomposition (POD). Relative to the smooth elliptic cylinder, the undulated geometry induces pronounced spanwise-axial variability, characterized by enhanced near-wake mean momentum and weak far-wake signatures, consistent with reduced turbulent kinetic energy. While …

Time-Frequency Analysis Of Arterial Pulse Signals Of Cardiovascular Disease Patients Measured By A Microfluidic-Based Tactile Sensor, Md Mahfuzur Rahman

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation presents a single-degree-of-freedom (SDOF) based time–frequency analysis framework that can simultaneously extract a comprehensive set of cardiovascular autonomic indices from arterial pulse wave recordings obtained at rest and post-exercise, supporting non-invasive monitoring of autonomic recovery during cardiac rehabilitation. The framework rests on three technical contributions.

First, an SDOF analytical model of motion artefacts quantifies two physically distinct distortion mechanisms: additive baseline drift and Time-Varying System Parameter (TVSP) generated distortion of the Tissue-Contact-Sensor (TCS) stack. Baseline drift is slowly varying and removable by filtering; TVSP distortion rides on all harmonics of the true pulse signal and cannot be removed …

Deep Multimodal Sensor Fusion For Autonomous Driving: A Real-World Deployment On Little Blue, Raphael T. Pamie-George

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Accurate perception and control systems are essential for autonomous vehicles to safely interpret and navigate complex environments. Individual sensing modalities such as cameras, LiDAR, and inertial measurement units (IMUs) provide valuable environmental and vehicle state information; however, each sensor exhibits inherent limitations when used independently. Camera performance can degrade under varying lighting conditions, LiDAR measurements may be sparse or affected by environmental noise, and IMU measurements are susceptible to drift over time. Little Blue, a research autonomous vehicle platform from ODU (Old Dominion University), previously relied primarily on camera-based data for neural network training, limiting the system’s ability to exploit …

Validation Of A Portable Electrochemical Sensor For Real-Time Soil Nitrate Monitoring In Cotton Rhizosphere, Mohammad Solaiman, Elvis D. Sangmen, Ali Reza Galib, Tushar C. Sarker, Anil C. Somenahally, Shawana Tabassum

Electrical Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Soil nitrate (NO3) exhibits rapid spatial and temporal variability that conventional point-sampling methods cannot effectively capture, limiting timely nutrient management and plant stress detection. This study aimed to validate a low-cost, threedimensional- printed electrochemical NO3 sensor for continuous in-soil monitoring and to evaluate whether sensor-derived NO3 dynamics reflect plant physiological responses. For this purpose, cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) plants were grown in pots under greenhouse conditions. The sensor was evaluated in two sequential phases: an initial calibration phase to characterize sensor response across a broad NO3 concentration range, followed by a validation phase in the cotton plant rhizosphere. In the …

Macroscopic Classical And Quantum Models Of Inverse Compton Scattering, Emerson Penn Rogers

Physics Theses & Dissertations

Inverse Compton sources — in which a relativistic electron beam scatters a laser pulse to produce tunable, collimated, high-energy radiation—have emerged as among the most promising compact radiation sources, with applications ranging from nuclear photonics to medical and nanoscale imaging and metrology. The most viable current tabletop configuration couples laser-wakefield acceleration with inverse Compton scattering, producing GeV-scale electron beams over millimeter distances. As laser intensities increase and electron energies grow, the interaction enters the radiation reaction regime, where the energy radiated by the electron becomes a significant fraction of its kinetic energy. Predicting the scattered electron energy spectrum — the …

Laponite Nanosilicate As A Platform For Antigen–Adjuvant Co-Delivery In Vaccination, Haoyu Qi

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Nanosilicates are two-dimensional, charged nanomaterials with tunable surface chemistry that enable electrostatic interactions with proteins and nucleic acids. These properties make Laponite nanosilicate a promising platform for vaccine delivery, where coordinated antigen–adjuvant presentation and lymph node delivery are important for shaping immune responses. This thesis investigated nanosilicates as scaffolds for lysozyme-based antigen delivery and co-delivery with CpG.

The preparation method reduced the apparent size of the NS–Lys–CpG complex at pH 10, although neutralization to pH 7 promoted larger aggregate formation. In vivo IVIS imaging after footpad injection showed persistent Cy7-associated fluorescence at the injection site for up to three weeks …

Structure Meets Context: A Simulation Study Of Centralized And Decentralized Decision-Making In Complex Environments, Murat Balci

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The question of when to centralize or decentralize decision-making authority is a foundational problem in organizational theory and management science. Yet existing research often favors decentralized structures, frequently treating them as universally superior, and provides limited guidance on when centralization may be more effective. Leaning toward decentralization without thoroughly exploring options leaves organizational designers without clear direction under varying environmental conditions. This study addresses that gap by developing and applying a simulation-based framework to evaluate the context-dependent effectiveness of centralized and decentralized decision-making structures.

Drawing on contingency theory and decision science, the study conceptualizes environmental complexity along two dimensions: dynamism …

Computational And Ai Tools For Understanding Telomere-Associated Cancer Mechanisms, Eleni Adam

Computer Science Theses & Dissertations

Telomeres are the protective caps of the human chromosomes and are critical for genome stability. Dysfunctional telomeres caused by their erosion with age and cell proliferation as well as by defects in their maintenance is a major early event leading to genome changes and cancer. Subtelomeres possess the critical role of regulating adjacent telomeres. Due to their complex repeat structure and high variance from one person to another, these areas have not been analyzed in detail. We present a set of computational and machine learning tools to aid in the understanding of subtelomere structure and its rearrangements in cancer.

Initially, …

Residual Stress Informed Reconstruction And Failure Analysis Of Manufacturing Induced Composite Meso-Structure, Mohammad Nazmus Saquib

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Theses & Dissertations

A physics informed, AI-augmented framework is developed to enable digital twins of molded composite materials by linking manufacturing induced residual stresses to a local meso-structure. By reconstructing and explicitly modeling these architectures, the framework reveals how processing driven meso-structural variability governs stiffness, damage evolution, and failure. The work focuses on two technologically important systems: prepreg platelet molded composites (PPMC), characterized by inherently stochastic platelet architectures, and 2/2 twill glass fiber/PA6 organosheets, whose periodic but locally variable weave geometry influences mechanical response. For PPMC, the Residual Stress Informed Microstructure Reconstruction (ResIMiR) framework is introduced, combining thermoelastic strain fields with deep learning …

Multi-Dimensional Framework For Industry 5.0: Integrating Human-Centric, Sustainability, And Operational Resilience, Tamer Adel Mohamed, Mohamed Boumalkha, Ahmed S.I. Amar

Mechanical Engineering

Industry 5.0 reframes digital transformation as a socio-technical endeavor in which automation serves human capabilities, environmental limits, and operational continuity. Yet, much of the current discourse remains either conceptual—lacking implementable metrics—or technologycentric— treating humans and sustainability as constraints instead of design objectives. This paper develops a multi-dimensional implementation framework that operationalizes the three pillars of Industry 5.0: human-centricity, sustainability, and operational resilience. We synthesize recent advances in collaborative robotics and safety-aware human–robot collaboration, digital twins (including human and supply-chain twins), and AI-driven decision support—augmented by emerging 6G ultra-reliable low-latency networking capabilities such as reconfigurable intelligent surfaces, terahertz communications, multi-access edge …

Constitutive Behaviour, Failure Mechanisms, And Life Cycle Assessment Of Internally Cured Fiber-Reinforced High-Strength Concrete, Kastro Kiran V, Dhanya Sathyan, Sanjay Kumar Shukla

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

High-strength concrete (HSC) with low water-to-cement ratios undergoes self-desiccation, resulting in incomplete hydration, capillary porosity, and autogenous shrinkage that can compromise long-term performance. Polyethylene glycol (PEG) functions as an internal curing agent by releasing stored water as internal relative humidity decreases, thereby sustaining hydration within the cement matrix. However, the combined influence of PEG grade, dosage, and fibre type on the constitutive response, fracture behaviour, and environmental performance of M65 HSC remains insufficiently understood. This study investigated twelve concrete mixes incorporating three curing regimes viz. Conventional curing, spray curing, and PEG-based internal curing (IC) using PEG 4000 (1.5%) and PEG …

A Causal Inference Protocol For Root-Cause Diagnosis In Non-Stationary Industrial Time Series, Cansu Yalim

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Industrial fault diagnosis increasingly relies on data-driven methods, yet most approaches assume process stationarity and treat association-based rankings as sufficient evidence for root-cause identification. Neither assumption holds when operating phases and fault progression create distinct behavioral regimes with shifting relationships among variables, and neither answers which feasible corrective action would alter a fault trajectory. The absence of a procedure addressing non-stationarity, causal identifiability, and decision-relevant effect estimation constitutes the gap this dissertation targets. In this context, a regime is a time period in which the process operates under a relatively consistent setting, so the relationships among variables are approximately stable …

Prevention Vs Detection: A Discrete-Event Simulation Assessment Of Inspection Staffing, Pick-To-Light, And Ai-Based Inspection In Aerospace Wire Harness Kitting, Jorge Mares

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Aerospace wire harness manufacturing operates under conditions that standard industrial engineering methods were not designed to address. Volumes are low, configurations change between orders, assembly is performed manually by certified labor that cannot be expanded quickly, and IPC/WHMA-A-620 Class 3 acceptance requires that every unit be verified rather than sampled. Kit assembly concentrates the resulting risk, because each item retrieved from the rack is an independent selection decision, and the attributes distinguishing a correct item from an incorrect one are frequently not visible to the operator. Errors introduced there are discovered downstream, after substantial certified labor has been invested. A …

Unsupervised Learning For Minimum Error Adaptive Sampling Of Atmospheric Vertical Temperature Profiles, Alejandro Medina

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) collect atmospheric data on fixed schedules, and endurance limits make blind searching costly. This thesis develops an unsupervised representation that summarizes a multi-decade radiosonde archive into a compact library of atmospheric states, giving a UAS an expectation of the column before it flies. The method standardizes both axes of a profile against the sounding's own surface conditions, which makes the representation independent of season and of station elevation. Applied to 27,270 soundings from Norman, Oklahoma, over the lowest 1.5 km of the atmosphere, 12 representative profiles reconstruct the record to within 1.0 °C of mean absolute …

From Screening To Risk: Assessment Of Potentially Toxic Elements In Children's Toys Along The El Paso, Tx, U.S.A.-Ciudad Juarez, Chih, Mex Border Region, Jesus Rodriguez-Loya

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Children are uniquely vulnerable to potentially toxic elements (PTEs), absorbing them more readily than adults and encountering them through the hand-to-mouth behaviors of early childhood. Exposure carries element-specific consequences: lead (Pb) impairs cognitive development with no established safe threshold; cadmium (Cd) damages the kidneys and reduces bone mineralization; arsenic (As) is a recognized carcinogen and developmental neurotoxicant; hexavalent chromium (Cr) is carcinogenic and induces allergic dermatitis; nickel (Ni) is the leading cause of allergic contact dermatitis in children; and excess zinc (Zn) disrupts copper absorption and causes gastrointestinal distress. Toys are a distinctive source of such exposure, yet none had …

Green Pathways For Phytic Acid Extraction From Agriculture Residue For Flame-Retardant Applications, Laura Fronchetti Guidugli

Theses and Dissertations

The increasing generation of agricultural residues and the growing demand for sustainable chemicals and materials have intensified the interest in valorization of biomass-derived resources within a circular economy setting. Wheat bran, a major by-product of the cereal processing industry, accounting for approximately 14-30% of the wheat grain, represents an abundant and underutilized feedstock rich in phytic acid (PA, IP6), a phosphorus-containing biomolecule with applications in the food preservation, antioxidant, and flame-retardant sectors. However, conventional phytic acid recovery methods rely heavily on acid-assisted extraction processes that generate significant waste streams and environmental burdens. Therefore, the objective of this dissertation was to …

Morphological Determinants Of Multiple Courtyard Configurations In Contemporary Urban Housing: A Quantitative Analysis Of Plot Area And Frontage Width, Maha Khalaf Hammad, Hasan Abdulrazzaq Hasan

AUIQ Technical Engineering Science

In modern cities with small plots and narrow frontages, courtyard-based housing has come back as a flexible way to use space. This study seeks to quantitatively examine the impact of residential plot area and frontage width on the diversity and functional distribution of courtyards in modern urban housing. A quantitative morphological approach was used by looking at the shapes of 121 modern residential plans that included internal courtyards. Using AutoCAD, we got spatial data, and then we used Microsoft Excel to look at the relationships between plot morphology, courtyard number, area, and functional role. The results show that the courtyard …

Emergent De Sitter Expansion And Closed Topology From The Cosmic Fabric Model As An Open Thermodynamic System: Resolving The Negative Bulk Modulus Paradox, T G. Tenev, C B. Ward, T F. Tenev, M F. Horstemeyer

Faculty Publications and Presentations

The Cosmic Fabric Model establishes a continuum-mechanics isomorphism to General Relativity by representing physical space as an elastic three-dimensional hyperplate embedded in a four-dimensional spatial bulk. Reproducing vacuum kinematics requires a vanishing P-wave modulus, which in turn implies a negative bulk modulus—an apparent thermodynamic instability in a closed system. This paradox is resolved by recasting the framework as an open system: the instability is not pathological but instead drives cosmic expansion. In this interpretation, the observable universe is a lower-energy solid formed through continuous solidification from a higher-dimensional precursor fluid. Using multiplicative kinematics from finite-growth mechanics, the model shows that …

Spatial Analysis Of The Environmental And Climatic Explanatory Relationship Of Photovoltaic Potential For Sustainable Shrimp Farming, Dyah Lestari Widaningrum, Roikhanatun Nafi'ah, Religiana Hendarti, Alexandra Catherine Djunaedi, Evaristus Didik Madyatmadja

Journal of Environmental Science and Sustainable Development

Sustainable shrimp aquaculture requires reliable and affordable energy, particularly for coastal pond aeration. However, identifying suitable locations for photovoltaic (PV) deployment remains challenging because ground-based solar-resource measurement is expensive, spatially limited, and difficult to maintain across large coastal regions. This study develops a village-level spatial framework to evaluate PV potential for shrimp aquaculture using open geospatial datasets. The analysis covered villages across Central Java, Special Region of Yogyakarta, and East Java. PV power potential (PVout), Global Horizontal Irradiation (GHI), and Direct Normal Irradiation (DNI) were obtained from the Global Solar Atlas; land surface temperature (LST) and precipitation were derived from …

Modeling Of Air-Water Filled Rubber Dam Under Hydrostatic Conditions, Qusay Khaleel, Thair Khayyun, Khudhayer Abdullah

Engineering and Technology Journal

Inflatable dams, also called rubber dams, are flexible cylindrical inflatable and deflatable structures attached to a rigid base; these dams are basically cylindrical tubes made of rubberized material and inflated by air, water, or a combination of the two. In this paper, the air/water inflatable dam was studied and analyzed numerically using ANSYS software. The 3-parameter Mooney-Rivlin Model was used to model the rubber material of the dam. At first, a physical model from literature was used to calibrate the results of the ANSYS software, and then a new model was analyzed with different dimensions and conditions. Thirty-six simulations were …

Comparison Between Theoretical And Experimental Behavior Of Shallow Foundation In Cohesive Soil, Baraa Al-Dawoodi, Mohaned Waheed, Falah Rahil

Engineering and Technology Journal

This paper discusses a finite element analysis of shallow footing subjected to axial loading rested on different types of cohesive soil by using a computer program called PLAXIS-3D (V.20) software. The behavior of cohesive soil is simulated using several constitutive models (Mohr-Coulomb model, Hardening soil model, and Hardening soil with small strain stiffness model in order to find the best match between theoretical and experimental results).Two cases are considered square and rectangle. Moreover, some parameters that affect the load settlement relation curve; such as internal friction angle and soil modulus elasticity were investigated. It was found that the simulation by …

Assessing The Effect Of Eating As A Distraction Factor While Driving On Drivers' Performance, Zinah Saihood, Ahmed Abdul Jabbar, Rasha Al-Rubaee

Engineering and Technology Journal

The increase in the number of traffic accidents, deaths, and injuries is a major concern for traffic and safety professionals. Distraction from the road is common, but increases safety concerns. Drivers engage in many behaviors that are a distraction from the task of driving, and these sources may be inside or outside the vehicle. The driver may not have a clear idea of the negative impact of such activities on achieving safe driving. The paper focused on one type of distraction that occurs inside the car, the factor of eating while driving in order to address the question of whether …

Effect Of Inclination Of Rectangular Reinforced Concrete Short Columns On The Confinement, Eyad Sayhood, Bassman Muhammed, Ahmed Hatem

Engineering and Technology Journal

The main objective of this paper is to study the confinement of the rectangular reinforced concrete short inclined columns. This paper was based on theoretical analysis using the MATLAB program according to Universal Codes, and variables that were carefully selected to be the most influential factor. The angle of the inclination (α) was taken as a major variable in the paper, in addition other variables which in turn affect directly on the behavior of inclined columns such as the percentage of reinforcing steel in the concrete section of the column (ρ), the compressive strength of the concrete (fʹc), yield strength …

Effect Of Dynamic Earth Vibration On The Behavior Of Laterally Loaded Single Pile Embedded Within Unsaturated Soil, Maha Abood, Mahmood Mahmood, Nahla Salim

Engineering and Technology Journal

Most of the studies of laterally loaded piles focused on the behavior for piles subjected to static or cyclic lateral loading embedded within dry or saturated soils, few studies investigate the behavior of piles embedded within partially saturated soils and subjected to dynamic loads. In this research, an experimental study presents an aluminum pile model embedded within dry, fully saturated and partially saturated soils, subjected to dynamic load with the El Centro 1940 NS acceleration data (0.05g, 0.15g, and 0.32g) accelerations. Three different lowering levels of the water table for fully saturated soils model is achieved to get partially saturated …

Numerical And Experimental Study Of Hybrid Composite Body Armor, Iftikhar Saleem, Mayyadah Abed, Payman Ahmed

Engineering and Technology Journal

Kevlar is widely used in ballistic applications to protect against hand pistols, due to its high strength, lightweight, and high impact resistance. Compared to other fabrics, Kevlar is considered a typical material due to its strength properties for bullet-proof vests. This project aims to develop a hybrid composite and investigate its behavior under ballistic impact both experimentally and theoretically. Ceramic/woven fabric reinforced epoxy/polycarbonate multilayered armors were developed. The initial layer of defense against the bullet is silicon carbide (SiC). The intermediate composite is made up of aramid fabric (Kevlar) reinforced epoxy (KEV/EPX). The rear layer was made of polycarbonate (PC). …