Digital Commons Network^™

Recovery And Evaluation Of A Germanium Infrared Camera, Michael Paszek

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Short-wave infrared imagers made of germanium are a promising way to extend silicon-compatible imaging beyond the visible spectrum. They also use mature CMOS fabrication and readout electronics. This thesis details the recovery, initialization, and evaluation of a germanium focal plane array (FPA) infrared camera system using both a sealed TriWave camera and a modular prototype platform. Functionality was restored to this legacy hardware, and repeatable testing workflows were established for evaluating packaged infrared imagers under controlled indoor and outdoor conditions. The prototype used a custom software interface named Merlott for evaluation, and it followed a standard sequence that included checking …

An Alternative To Armageddon: O.P. Weyland And The Development Of Tactical Air Power, Paul Wells

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Theorists and advocates of air power argued that aircraft, not ground forces, would become the dominant platform for victory in war. They promoted the concept of strategic bombing, using aircraft to bypass ground forces and directly attack a nation's industrial capacity to wage war, hoping to ensure quick victory and avoid a repeat of the prolonged slaughter in the trenches of WWI. In 1947, led by advocates of strategic bombing, the United States Air Force (USAF) became an independent and equal branch of the U.S. military. The USAF developed the Strategic Air Command (SAC) to meet the requirements of the …

Detecting Sophisticated Cyberattacks On Public Water Infrastructure, Ayrton Purdy

Graduate Theses and Dissertations (2019 - present)

In recent years there has been an increasing number of cyberattacks on public water generation and distribution systems. Advanced persistent attackers could usurp sensors and control systems to contaminate public drinking water. In order to conceal their malicious activity, they can manipulate sensor data flows to give the appearance of normal activity. The compromised sensors would report normal chemical levels even though unsafe water is entering the distribution system. In response, this research proposes a multi-sensor, cross-comparison approach to anomaly detection. The proposed approach is designed to detect sophisticated cyberattacks which are not easily detectable using traditional cyber tools. The …

An Experimental Study On Turbine-Based Energy Harvesters For Thermal Underwater Gliders, Stephen Edward Coster

Theses and Dissertations

Buoyancy-driven underwater gliders have been optimized for long-duration missions primarily for continual monitoring of the ocean’s water column. However, longer missions and higher-powered sensors have increased the energy requirements of gliders. While current solutions aim to increase battery capacity, the development of energy-harvesting systems (EHMs) could greatly improve mission capabilities in both ability and duration. This thesis discusses the experimental testing of an underwater glider with an EHM as detailed in the theoretical study, “Development of a Turbine-Based Ocean Thermal Energy Harvesting Mechanism Applied to the Underwater Glider” by Hongbo Hou, PhD. The rear-mounted turbine captures energy using the kinetic …

Rdm Interval Arithmetic Based Weapon System Evaluation, Konul Imran Jabbarova Phd

Chemical Technology, Control and Management

For solving this issue, the paper considers a hierarchical multi-criteria decision-making problem, where the choice of a company that corresponds best to the criteria is required. Data used in this problem are presented in the form of intervals, which makes it possible to cope with uncertainty in the problem solution. Several companies working in missile production industry are chosen as alternatives for analysis. Evaluation of the selected alternatives is made based on five criteria clusters. More than twenty criteria are taken into account during evaluation.

Solving this problem is achieved with the help of the technique based on computation of …

Modeling And Simulation Of Target Characteristic Architecture Of Target Missile Based On Dodaf, Tuo Zhao, Yuqiao Liu, Yuan Ma, Yun Cheng, Shen Li

Journal of System Simulation

Abstract: In view of the problems of incomplete elements and missing architecture in the research of target characteristics of target missiles, this paper introduced the panoramic view, operational view, and capability view models in the DoDAF from the perspective of system engineering. According to the view development sequence of "panoramic description, operational decomposition, and capability matching", a target characteristic architecture of the target missile was constructed, which included target elements such as maneuvering characteristics and infrared radiation characteristics. The mapping relationship among "operational layer, capability layer, and target characteristic layer" of the target missile was obtained, and the architecture was …

Security Risks Of Ai-Generated Code In Software Development, Maame Agyekum

Cybersecurity Undergraduate Research Showcase

Artificial Intelligence(AI) has recently forced change globally, public Institutions and as well as national security. Advancement in machine learning, mixed datasets have enabled significantly powerful systems while being capable of operating at a large scale. As innovation and technological advancement increases at rapid pace, issues like a regulation gap where scientific development far exceeds the government’s ability to regulate and establish an effective oversight. As a result, Artificial Intelligence has been controlled by private companies, leading to an industry where speed and profit often outweigh safety and ethical responsibility.

Threat-Analysis Oriented Digital Twinning Of Ml-Powered Future Autonomous Weapon Systems, Thomas Neubert

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Warfare is undergoing a rapid transformation with the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) into autonomous weapon systems (AWS) for perception, decision support, and control. As these systems become more software-defined, their cyber attack surface expands across sensing, communications, autonomy logic, and human-machine interfaces. As human oversight diminishes, ensuring the cybersecurity, resilience, and reliability of these systems becomes critical to mission success. This thesis investigates how a digital twin-driven threat modeling framework that integrates system-centric analysis with adversary-informed methodologies can support structured cybersecurity vulnerability evaluation and defensive strategy development associated with ML-powered AWS. First, the study analyzes …

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

Theses

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

Efficient Fpga Implementation Of A 1 Million-Point Fft, Jwaher Abdulqader Al Tamimi

Theses

The one-million-point Fast Fourier Transform is implemented using a radix-2 single-path delay feedback pipeline architecture. To minimize the computational overhead, twiddle factors were pre-computed and stored in memory. The design uses a fixed-point representation with two integer bits and seven fractional bits, achieving a measured signal-to-noise ratio of 37.98. Given the substantial memory requirements, a memory partitioning approach was used. It mapped the delay buffers in each stage lookup table memory, block random-access memory, or ultra random-access memory, based on word width and memory depth.

The implementation operates successfully at 100 megahertz on a mid-scale field-programmable gate array. Post-implementation reported …

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

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

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

Sweep Angle Effects Of Flow Over A Seal Whisker-Inspired Undulated Cylinder, Trevor Dunt, Christin T. Murphy, Ondrej Fercak, Raúl Bayoán Cal, Jennifer A. Franck

Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Flow over a seal whisker-inspired undulated cylinder at swept back angles is computationally investigated, comparing the vortex shedding, forces, and wake characteristics to those of an equivalent smooth geometry. Numerous prior studies have demonstrated that undulated cylinders can reduce mean drag and unsteady lift oscillations; however, none have isolated the effects of the sweep angle resulting from whisker positioning in flow. Inspired by the active control seals exert over their whiskers while navigating and sensing in unsteady aquatic environments, this study investigates how such orientation influences the hydrodynamic performance of the geometry. Simulations are performed of flow across a rigid, …

Sentisec: Combining Keyword Heuristics And Sentiment Modeling For Ai-Powered Threat Detection, Ridho Surya Kusuma, Erum Ashraf, Selvakumar Manickam, Shankar Karuppayah

Turkish Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences

This work presents SENTISEC, a hybrid LLM-based threat detection framework designed to classify security logs by integrating keyword heuristics, domain-adapted sentiment scoring, and Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG). The system achieves an overall accuracy of 93.67%, with 91.46% macro recall, 89.07% macro F1, and 95.15% threat recall, while maintaining a low false-positive rate of 1.68%. Its methodology incorporates strict keyword and IOC matching, a domain-tuned DistilBERT sentiment module, hybrid BM25–MiniLM retrieval enhanced with BGE reranking, adaptive quantile-based threshold calibration, and SHAP-based explainability. Comparative evaluations against keyword-only, sentiment-only, classical machine-learning models, and DistilBERT-only baselines show that SENTISEC consistently improves both true-positive and true-negative …

Mitigating Uas Airspace Risks Through Policy Innovation, Christopher Daniel Sidor

Student Research Symposium (SRS)

Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (UAS), commonly known as drones, have become an everyday part of our lives. Once a technology reserved for the defense industry, UAS are now widely available and affordable in the commercial market. These systems have been used for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) missions, route mapping, and kinetic deployment of munitions. In modern warfare, drones have been at the forefront, leveraging new tactics, techniques, and procedures to enhance lethality and destruction. The integration of fiber-optic (FO) connected drones, first-person view (FPV) technology, and 3D printed munition-dropping devices in particular demonstrates a dire need for legislative intervention. These …

The Role Of Optical And Synthetic Aperture Radar Satellites In Military Intelligence, Khalifa Alnaqbi

Student Research Symposium (SRS)

The objective of this paper is to demonstrate that while optical and Synthetic Aperture Radar satellites are the two most powerful remote sensing tools in military intelligence, neither is sufficient on its own. This research aims to articulate their distinct operational roles and argue that their synergistic integration, together with other intelligence assets such as unmanned aerial vehicles, signals intelligence, and human intelligence, is essential for achieving comprehensive situational awareness in modern warfare. To establish this, the paper will first analyze the role of optical satellites in target identification and Synthetic Aperture Radar satellites in persistent detection and monitoring, detailing …

Co-Electrospinning Polyacrylonitrile (Pan) / Polymer Of Intrinsic Microporosity-1 (Pim-1) For Electrochemical-Based Sensor For Pyridine Detection And Absorption, Samar A. Salim

Nanotechnology Research Centre

The electrospinning of the polymer of intrinsic microporosity-1 (PIM-1) poses challenges due to its limited solubility and tendency to form bead-like structures at high concentrations. This work details the synthesis and analysis of electrospun composite fibers made from polyacrylonitrile (PAN) and PIM-1 for electrochemical applications. The data analysis confirmed the successful incorporation of PIM-1 into the PAN matrix. The fiber characteristics were significantly influenced by PIM-1 loading (1–10%), resulting in fiber diameters ranging from 0.8 to 1.7 μm. A 10% concentration of PIM-1 results in the formation of macropores with diameters ranging from 0.5 to 1.7 μm. Optical analysis using …

Simulating Cyber-Resilience: The Strategic Role Of The Locked Shields Exercise In Enhancing International Cyber Preparedness, Christopher A. Ramezan, Ludwig Christian Schaupp, Elizabeth A. Vitullo, William J. Walker

Journal of Cybersecurity Education, Research and Practice

As cyberthreats to critical infrastructure remain prevalent, national response mechanisms must evolve beyond the technical domain to incorporate legal, communicative, strategic, and cross-sector coordination. This work explores Locked Shields, an annual exercise conducted by NATO's Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence, as a pedagogical and conceptual framework for simulating whole-of-government responses to cyber incidents. Unlike traditional cyber exercises, Locked Shields engages legal advisors, media strategists, and civil-military roles in realistic, scenario-driven simulations that portray the political and operational conditions of a real international-scale cyber crisis. We detail the exercise architecture, contrast with other cyber exercises, and assess its pedagogical and …

Intelligent Air Combat Decision-Making Method Based On Bigru And Priority Dynamic Sampling, Zhengkun Ding, Jiaqi Liu, Junzheng Xu, Yuezhu Xu, Xingmei Wang

Journal of System Simulation

Abstract: Current multi-agent reinforcement learning algorithms suffer from low efficiency in utilizing experience data and difficulties in setting appropriate learning rates. To address these issues, this paper proposed a BiGRU multi-agent PPO with priority sampling and dynamic learning rate. The algorithm incorporated a BiGRU network to enhance the policy network's ability to model temporal information. A priority partial sampling mechanism was introduced to improve the utilization efficiency of high-value experience data. Additionally, an improved Adam optimizer with dynamic learning rate adjustment was employed to address the challenge of learning rate configuration. Simulation experiment results demonstrate that the algorithm significantly …

Project Risk Management In Ai-Enabled Systems: Managing Ethical, Privacy, And Governance Risks, Onome Cynthia Anakanire

Harrisburg University Dissertations and Theses

This research examined how Artificial intelligence (AI) has been embedded in project-based work, particularly in finance and software industries, where it enables efficiency and assists in complex decision-making. However, these innovations introduce significant ethical, privacy, and governance risks that traditional project risk management frameworks fail to adequately address. This study investigated how project managers can systematically integrate the management of these emerging risks into AI-enabled projects. Using a qualitative research design, the study drew on semi-structured interviews with project managers, compliance officers, and AI developers in finance, software and related sectors. Supplementary data included internal project documentation and risk registers. …

A Longitudinal Study Of Performance And Workload In Military Flight Training, Kristen Fitzgerald Biondich

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this quantitative longitudinal research study of aircrew undergoing transition training was to examine the relationships between progressive syllabus events and aircrew performance, and progressive syllabus events and workload. In military aviation, the transition from one platform to another can present significant challenges to aircrew, especially regarding task saturation and performance. Previous research has suggested methods for improving the practice of flight training but has not investigated the emerging OA-1K mission and platform. The OA-1K is a modified Air Tractor AT-802U, a rugged, single-engine turboprop aircraft that is intended for use flying light attack and reconnaissance missions. This …

Ransomware As Organization: A Comparative Analysis Of Corporate And Criminal Structures In Conti, George Urling

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Cybercriminal groups continue to pose major threats to global cybersecurity. One of the most common types of cybercriminal groups are, “Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS)" groups, who create and sell ransomware. While research is conducted into the development of ransomware, there is limited reporting on the organizational structure and habits of RaaS groups. In 2022, prominent RaaS group Conti had their chat logs leaked, with the logs ranging from 2020 to 2022. This study seeks to provide a deeper understanding of RaaS group structures by utilizing the Conti leaked logs as a case study. The study, entitled “Ransomware as Organization: A Comparative Analysis …

Rope Cutting Task Module, Rebecca Usher

Engineering Theses

This project focuses on the design and evaluation of a rope-cutting module for use with robotic platforms developed by New England Robotics Validation and Experimentation Center (NERVE) and the University of Massachusetts Lowell. The system is designed to cut nylon rope using a specialized robotic cutting arm that can be attached to the robot.

The system consists of a module task box that has two pegs that hold two arms to each one. One arm where the spring- mechanism inside of the task module and the second arm the one on top of the box hold the string in place …

Rf-Attennet: A Hybrid Attention-Enhanced Network For Mixed Signal Classification In Uav Swarm Detection, Prajoy Podder, Mohammad Atikur Rahman, Maciej Zawodniok, Sanjay Madria

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The continuous increase of UAVs, particularly in swarms, creates significant challenges for security and airspace regulation. Traditional RF fingerprinting methods struggle to detect and classify UAV swarms due to overlapping signals and interference. This study introduces RF-AttenNet, a hybrid deep learning model designed to classify mixed UAV signals by analyzing composite RF spectrograms. RF-AttenNet uses dual attention mechanisms, channel and spatial attention to focus on critical spectral features, enabling the model to effectively separate and identify overlapping UAV signals. We have developed custom composite UAV datasets that simulate real-world swarm interference, incorporating both single and mixed UAV classes. RF-AttenNet achieves …

Extending Low-Frequency Traveling-Wave Propagation In A Water-Filled Cylindrical Waveguide Using Active Impedance Control, William Slater

Open Access Dissertations

This dissertation investigates extending the frequency range over which a one-dimensional, plane traveling wave can be generated in a water-filled, steel-walled waveguide under ocean temperature and hydrostatic pressure conditions. The wave guide considered is a thick-walled, steel cylinder filled with a water/glycol mixture with a transducer at each end and a hydrophone array along the length. One transducer excites a plane wave while the other cancels reflections, resulting in a traveling wave in the waveguide. The current (open-loop) measurement system is advertised to generate traveling waves for low frequencies where only 3.4% of a wavelength can be measured (kL …

Development Of An Active Heave Compensation System On A Cost Effective Microcontroller For A Fiber Optic Tether Management System, Frances Truong

Open Access Master's Theses

Fiber optic tether systems are used for real-time data transmission to remotely operated vehicles (ROV) due to their ease of deployment and light weight, but are prone to damage from tension loads. An active heave compensation system applied to a fiber optic tether system can address these challenges by actively managing the tether payout to reduce peak loads. Tether management systems with active heave compensation have been in use for larger systems such as work class vehicles and offshore oil rigs, but few are developed for small maritime systems. This work focuses on the development and incorporation of an active …

Modern (Networked) Warfare: Its Concepts, Evolution, And Issues, Ramesh Subramanian

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

The on-going Russo-Ukraine war (February 2012-present), the recent India-Pakistan war (May 7-10, 2025), and the Israel-US attacks on Iran (June 13, 2025) have become interesting for a variety of reasons, and garnered a lot of attention in international defense publications and weapons manufacturers. To many defense analysts and defense industry professionals, these wars have become real-life testing platforms to examine and evaluate various present-day war technologies. They have opened up discussion on the future of war, the increasing use of inter-connected networks in warfare, and the increasing use of remote-operated drones in conducting surveillance and in offensive actions against …

Beyond The Honeypot: Increasing Adversarial Cognitive Load Through Interactionless Cyber Deception, Marcus Rozier, Connor Dedic, Ted Mcdaniel, Hadley Westover

Space Dynamics Laboratory Publications

Traditional cyber deception mechanisms, such as honeypots and honey-tokens, typically rely on adversary interaction to trigger alerts and provide defensive value. This paper introduces the concept of interactionless deception—a defensive paradigm focused on the strategic manipulation of the environment to disrupt the cyber kill chain without requiring direct engagement. By utilizing a greedy top-k selection method to analyze MITRE ATT&CK® data across 178 Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) groups, this research identifies seven high-frequency sub-techniques that represent common attacker behavior. To counter these, the authors developed a series of proof-of-concept tools, including deceptive web proxies, simulated command-and-control (C2) beacons, and …

Biosecure-Llm Framework: Protecting Llms From Cyberbiosecurity Threats And The Case For Independent Ai Safety Governance, Xavier-Lewis Palmer, Lucas Potter, Srdjan Lesaja, Sotirios Karathanasis, Mohammad Ghasemigol

Computer Science Faculty Publications

Large Language Models (LLMs) are becoming critical infrastructure in scientific, healthcare, and governmental contexts. As frontier AI laboratories increasingly partner with government agencies, a fundamental question arises: Who should control the safety and policy-enforcement layers that constrain model behavior? Current safety mechanisms (LLM guardrails) are typically designed for generic "harmlessness" and operate by detecting semantic patterns and refusing requests. However, they are inadequate governance instruments because they cannot implement auditable, domain-specific controls tied to external regulatory policy objects (e.g., control lists or rules governing personally identifying information). Even a perfectly aligned model is not able to express institution-specific policy without …

Construction Of A Unified Knowledge Graph For Cyber Threat Intelligence, Moaz Usama Hassan Mr, Khaled , Nagaty, Noura Elmaghawry

Computer Networks

The rapid expansion and variety of cyber-threat information put enormous pressure on security operations centers (SOCs) that must convert unstructured data into understandable signals and make decisions upon it. This paper develops a Cyber-Threat-Intelligence (CTI) framework that integrates vulnerability information, product inventories, and weakness taxonomies into a domain-specific knowledge graph via automatic fusing. The proposed solution covers 284,296 CVEs, 101,644 CPE identifiers, and 965 CWE weaknesses, generating more than 800,000 typed edges linking threats, assets, tactics, and mitigations in an integrated CTI Knowledge graph. The graph was cross validated against four external standard datasets achieves full coverage of ATT&CK CAPEC, …

Optimizing Military Fighter Jet Selection: A Decision Analysis Approach For Nuclear-Capable Aircraft, Eni Kelechi Ofong

Theses and Dissertations

This research investigates the strategic decision-making process involved in selecting a nuclear-capable fighter aircraft for NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) nations in Europe. In adaptation to the continuously changing technology landscape and the necessity for enhanced deterrence capabilities, this study evaluates three potential aircraft: the legacy Panavia Tornado (PA-200), the widely deployed F-16 Fighting Falcon (F-16), and the advanced F-35 Lightning II (F-35). Each platform presents distinct advantages and limitations regarding operational performance, mission adaptability, cost-effectiveness, and long-term sustainability. To systematically assess these alternatives, the study employs various decision analysis frameworks, including Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA), single dimensional value function …