Digital Commons Network^™

Mno2 Nanoscale Interface Modification, Alexander C. Skoppe

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Interface modification of carbon fibers has been shown to improve the mechanical performance of composites. In addition, interface modification of carbon fiber composites can impart multifunctionality into the resulting composite. This work will explore ZnO and MnO2 as interface modifications for use on carbon fibers. When exposed to high temperatures, carbon fibers undergo fiber degradation, leading to the need for low-temperature hydrothermal processes. This work will develop and characterize a nanoscale ZnO and MnO2 interface modification for use on carbon fibers. These nanomodifications will be developed with low-temperature processes, minimizing the fiber degradation that the fibers undergo. Fourier transform infrared …

Graduate School Blog - July 2025 Volume 1, Cynthia Haynes

UofM Grad School Blog

The July 2025 UofM Graduate School Blog – Volume 1 continues the Cost of Graduate School Guide with a deep dive into hidden and variable expenses such as residency-based tuition differences, program-specific fees, and differential tuition. The blog provides practical tips for prospective students on how to ask the right financial questions when comparing programs. It also features a student spotlight on Billy Brooks, a dual MHA/MBA candidate motivated to transform healthcare access and equity. Upcoming events include a Virtual Fall 2025 Open House with Financial Aid and USBS, a Dissertation Writers Retreat, and both in-person and virtual Graduate Student …

Characterization Of Lactobacilli-Containing Catheter Segments Developed By Using Selective Laser Sintered Mold., Caden Maners

Master of Engineering Theses

Catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs) are a major healthcare burden with current prevention strategies offering limited success. This study presents a novel, self-coating biomaterial approach using a silicone-based bioink embedded with thermally sensitive probiotic strains (L. crispatus, L. rhamnosus, and L. reuteri). Catheter segments were fabricated via bio-injection molding using 3D-printed CAD molds. These Lactobacilli, selected for their probiotic and antimicrobial potential, serve as a non- antibiotic strategy to reduce infection risk. These segments were evaluated for mechanical strength (Shore A hardness), thermal stability (TGA/DSC), porosity and bacterial presence (SEM), biofilm formation (crystal-violet assay), as well as mass retention in …

Modeling Framework To Quantify And Gauge Project Cost Risks Due To Construction Material Price Volatilities Using Predictive Probabilistic Deep-Learning Algorithms And Stochastic Risk Modeling, Yasser Jezzini, Rayan H. Assaad, Islam H. El-Adaway

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Material price fluctuations pose significant challenges for executing construction projects and adhering to budgetary estimates. Existing research studies focused on forecasting construction material prices rather than quantifying and gauging overall project cost risks related to price volatilities, and they relied on traditional time-series forecasting methods that are incapable of offering full probabilistic distributions of price fluctuations and of providing a comprehensive assessment of risk uncertainties associated with material price fluctuations. This paper addresses these gaps by developing an integrated framework to quantify and gauge project risks due to construction material price volatilities. The framework's validity and practicality were demonstrated using …

Investigating The Thixotropy Of Fresh Struvite Cement-Based Composite: Insights On Mechanisms Of The Pastes’ Thixotropic Behavior, Ugochukwu Ewuzie, Abdulkareem O. Yusuf, Damilola Daramola, Monday Uchenna Okoronkwo

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Struvite (ST) recovered during wastewater treatment has been sparsely applied in cement-based composites. This study systematically evaluated the thixotropic behavior of cement-struvite (CST) pastes, a mix of 5–20 % ST by mass of cement, and proposed the interaction mechanisms leading to the pastes' thixotropy. The hysteresis loop area was used to establish the pastes' thixotropy and investigate its relationship with increased ST content, temperature, and yield stress. In the thixotropic behavior model used, the equilibrium shear stress was employed to examine the CST pastes' irreversible change; the characteristic time of deflocculation was used to study the flocs destruction process; and …

Gallium-Containing Bioactive Glasses: Their Influence On Ion Release And The Bioactivity Of Resulting Glass Polyalkenoate Cements, Lana Margaret Placek, Danielle Lee Perry, Mark Robert Towler, Anthony William Wren

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

A series of glasses (0.48SiO2 − [0.40-x]ZnO − 0.12CaO-xGa2O3, x = 0, 0.8, 0.16) was developed to formulate a series of Ga-containing glass polyalkenoate cements (GPCs). The solubility of GPCs was tested using DI water, and it was found that the sample containing the highest mol% of Ga, LGa-2, had the most Ga ion release. The GPCs were incubated in SBF, and SEM/EDS analysis revealed that the at% of P increased, while the at% of Si decreased, highlighting the CaP precipitation on the GPC surface. The at% of Ga also decreased, reinforcing the Ga release from the GPC. Cellular testing …

Nasa Design And Analysis Of Pegda Hydrogels For Microgreen Cultivation In Space, Kelly Wu, Gabriel Antigua, Artur Abramyan

Publications and Research

With the growth of the space economy worldwide, sustainable and soil-less food systems for long-duration space missions become increasingly important. In this study, Polyethylene Glycol Diacrylate (PEGDA) hydrogels were experimented with as a biocompatible medium in arugula microgreen growth without utilizing soil. Among the most considerable challenges was the fact that the plants' root growth exceeded the hydrogel capacity, which caused seedling dislodgment and starvation. To combat this, computer-aided design (CAD) was utilized to 3D print different mold designs to try and control root development further. The most promising of these designs were coil and tree-branch molds, promoting lateral or …

Research On Technology Opportunity Identification By Integrating Technology Attribute Analysis And Competitive Environment Scanning —— A Case Study Of Industrial Robots, Daobin Gao

Journal of Scientific Information Research

[Purpose/significance] Placing technology opportunity identification in the perspective of technology attribute analysis and competitive environment scanning provides intelligence support for enterprises to select technology opportunities and formulate technology competitive strategies in complex and changing market competition environments.

[Method/process] Using patents as the data source, first, the BERTopic model is used to explore potential technical topics, Secondly, starting from the technical attributes, and from both global and local perspectives, we propose indicators of technical importance and technical attention, and use their cross screening to select candidate sets of technical opportunities, Finally, a market competition intensity index that takes into account market …

Analysis Of Vision Transformers And Domain Adaptation In Long-Range Facial Recognition, Zachary Michael Swanson

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Atmospheric turbulence presents a significant barrier to long-range facial recognition, introducing severe geometric distortions and blur that degrade image quality. This thesis investigates deep learning approaches for mitigating these effects, with a focus on transformer based architectures and domain adaptation strategies.

An in-depth benchmarking study was performed using convolutional neural networks (CNNs) and vision transformers (ViTs) on the Husker BRIAR Research Collection from up to 500m (HBRC-500) face dataset. The results demonstrated that vision transformers, particularly hierarchical vision transformers like the shifted-window (Swin) transformer, outperform CNN-based models at long distances due to their ability to model global spatial relationships and …

An Exponential Cone Integer Programming And Piece-Wise Linear Approximation Approach For 0-1 Fractional Programming, Hoang Giang Pham, Thuy Anh Ta, Tien Mai

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

We study a class of binary fractional programs commonly encountered in important application domains such as assortment optimization and facility location. These problems are known to be NP-hard to approximate within any constant factor, and existing solution approaches typically rely on mixed-integer linear programming or second-order cone programming reformulations. These methods often utilize linearization techniques (e.g., big-M or McCormick inequalities), which can result in weak continuous relaxations. In this work, we propose a novel approach based on an exponential cone reformulation combined with piecewise linear approximation. This allows the problem to be solved efficiently using standard cutting-plane or branch-and-cut procedures. …

Towards Efficient Privacy-Preserving Deep Learning: He-Friendly Structures, Flexible Pruning, He-Efficient Architectures, And Secure Transformer Token Drop, Yifei Cai

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Deep learning (DL) has become a powerful tool for solving complex problems, but developing DL models typically requires vast datasets, high computational resources, and expert knowledge—barriers that limit accessibility. Machine Learning as a Service (MLaaS) addresses this challenge by allowing resource-rich providers to deliver pre-trained DL models as services. However, privacy concerns arise: clients hesitate to share sensitive data, while providers protect their proprietary models. To address this, privacy-preserving MLaaS integrates cryptographic techniques into DL computations, as seen in frameworks like Cryptonets, SecureML, GAZELLE, CrypTFlow2, Cheetah, and BOLT. Among them, Homomorphic Encryption (HE) enables computation on encrypted data but remains …

Advanced Study Of Nickel-Titanium Alloy: Effects Of Point Defects On Mechanical And Thermodynamic Properties, Diego Armando Juarez Rosales

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

High-throughput first-principles calculations of point defects are emerging as a powerful tool to accelerate materials discovery in applications [1]. Substitutional, antisite, and vacancy defects can play an important role in the mechanical and thermal properties of intermetallic alloys [2]. In this present work I compute the thermal and mechanical properties of shape-memory alloy nickel-titaniun (NiTi) in the B19â?? martensitic and B2 austenitic phases from molecular dynamics (MD), using a second nearest neighbor (2NN) modified embedded atom method (MEAM) [3] classical potential in the temperature range from 200K to 600K and composition range from 45 atomic percent to 55 atomic percent …

Investigation Of The Effect Of Material Density And Particle Size On Mixed Powder Spreading Behavior In Powder Bed Fusion Process, Alfred Kofi Apianing Achenie

Theses and Dissertations

Powder spreading marks a crucial step in the Laser powder bed fusion process, directly impacting the powder bed uniformity and paving the way for subsequent stages in the process. The laser powder bed fusion process depends heavily on the composition of the metallic powder feedstock. While most existing studies focus on pre-alloyed powders, limited work has explored the use of elemental powder blends as feedstock as used in in-situ alloying. Pre-alloyed powders are often costly, exhibit irregular morphologies and offer limited flexibility in material selection. This study uses Discrete Element Method (DEM) simulations to investigate how variations in material density …

Redundant Functions Of Mir156-Targeted Squamosa Promoter Binding Protein-Like Transcription Factors In Promoting Cauline Leaf Identity, Darren Manuela, Liren Du, Qi Zhang, Yifei Liao, Tieqiang Hu, Jim P. Fouracre, Mingli Xu

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Performance Enhancement In Rewound Industrial Retrofit Solutions For Five- And Six-Phase Permanent Magnet Assisted Synchronous Reluctance Machines, Kotb B. Tawfiq, Ayman M. El-Refaie, Peter Sergeant, Hatem Zeineldin, Ahmed Al-Durra, Ehab F. El-Sadaany

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

This paper investigates upgrading aging three-phase Permanent Magnet Assisted Synchronous Reluctance Machines (PMaSynRMs) into multiphase configurations—specifically six- and five-phase windings—without modifying the existing stator or rotor laminations. This retrofit supports circular economic principles by extending machine life and reducing material waste and cost. Four configurations are examined: the original three-phase winding, asymmetrical six-phase winding, symmetrical six-phase winding, and five-phase winding. The feasibility of rewinding existing three-phase stators is explored for different slot/pole combinations. Balanced rewound five-phase windings are feasible only when the stator's slot/pole ratio is greater than or equal to 9. Both symmetrical and asymmetrical rewound six-phase windings are …

Identification Of Authentic Gnss Signals In Time-Differenced Carrier-Phase Measurements With A Software-Defined Radio Receiver, Zhen Zhu, Sanjeev Gunawardena, Eric Vinande, Jason Pontious

Faculty Publications

The time-differenced carrier phase can be computed from measurements recorded by a multi-global navigation satellite system software-defined radio receiver such as PyChips, from which the user displacement and receiver clock drift can be solved. PyChips is able to simultaneously track authentic and inauthentic signals in separate channels, which makes it possible to observe both types of measurements with corresponding navigation data. A random sample consensus algorithm has been introduced to assess the consistency between the measurements and data. This algorithm successfully separated authentic channels from inauthentic channels when they are broadcast simultaneously.

Distinctive Transpassivation Behavior And Characteristics Of Passive Films Of Laser Powder Bed Fusion Produced And Annealed Ti–6al–4v In Hank's Solution, Yi Fan Zhang, Liang Yu Chen, Ze Xin Wang, Hong Yu Yang, Maksym Bobrov, Dobuvyy Oleksandr, Yong Liu, Lai Chang Zhang

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Passivated Ti alloys typically demonstrate enhanced corrosion resistance due to the formation of passive films. Intriguingly, in comparison to the annealed Ti–6Al–4V, laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) produced Ti–6Al–4V exhibits significantly attenuated transpassivation behavior in Hank's solution. This work investigated the electrochemical responses of both samples before and after the transpassivation region to illustrate the underlying mechanism for the phenomenon. In the passivation region, both samples displayed analogous passivation behavior, with the annealed and LPBF-produced Ti–6Al–4V having the current densities of 6.64 × 10⁻⁶ and 8.14 × 10⁻⁶ A cm⁻² at 1 V, respectively. Between 1.5 V …

Performance Of Interrupted Minichannel Heat Sink Using Various Coolant Fluids, Ernie Mat Tokit, Mohd Zamri Yusoff, Hussein A. Mohammed

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

The advancement in the micro electro mechanical system, MEMS, had been utilized for several years before. This embarked on the compact and high density of power generation for tiny devices. This led to the development of a heat dissipating system for high-power-density devices. Hence, the work intends to simulate the fluid flow performance of interrupted minichannel heat sinks due to the redeveloping and interrupting of the boundary layer merging in previous work that augments the heat dissipation. The study is conducted through numerical work of laminar steady flow, by governing the Navier-Stokes and energy equation. Three interrupted minichannel heat sinks …

Advances In Noninvasive Imaging For Detecting Radiation-Induced Lung Injury (Rili), Austen Nissen, Said H. Audi, Anne V. Clough, Brian Fish, Amit Joshi, Meetha Medhora, Jason Walter Sidabras, Heather A. Himburg

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Purpose: Dr. Richard Hill performed pioneering work in the field of radiation-induced normal tissue injury to the lung including noninvasive imaging studies aimed at identifying imaging biomarkers of radiation-induced lung injury (RILI). RILI is a life-threatening toxicity of radiation exposure relevant to both cancer patients undergoing thoracic radiation therapy (RT) and victims of accidental radiation exposure. The ability to detect RILI noninvasively has the potential to guide treatment planning for RT and, in the case of victims of acute radiation exposures, inform the decision to start mitigative therapies. As part of this special issue of IJRB honoring Dr. Hill’s many …

Designing A Portable And Accessible Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy System For Real-Time Detection Of Cervical Intraepithelial Neoplasia, Allison Scarbrough, Diana Moses, Tongtong Lu, Bing Yu

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Significance: Over 80% of cervical cancer cases occur in lower-to-middle income countries (LMIC’s). This is partly because current screening techniques lack affordability, accessibility, and/or reliability for use in LMIC’s.

Aim: To develop an optical technique for cervical cancer screening that is affordable, accessible, and reliable for use in LMIC’s.

Approach: We developed a portable diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) system, which costs < $2500 USD to manufacture, and employs a Raspberry Pi to extract the absorption (μ_a) and reduced scattering (μ'_s) coefficients of biological tissue. The system was subject to travel and intentional rough handling. It was further used to capture 320 DRS spectra taken from 64 tissue-mimicking phantoms. Two …

Impactor Displacement As A Predictor Of Thoraco-Abdominal Organ Injury: Comparison Of Isolated Organ To Whole Body Tests., Jack Seifert, Jared Michael Koser, Alok Shah, Lance Frazer, Frank A. Pintar, Narayan Yoganandan, Dan Nicolella, Brian D. Stemper

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Purpose

Body armor is used to protect the wearer from penetrating injuries. However, when the armor defeats the projectile, it deforms at high rates into the wearer, referred to as back face deformation (BFD). This deformation can cause a variety of superficial and internal injuries and consequently should be considered when designing body armor. However, current design standards do not adequately consider the effects of BFD, and new data are necessary to inform future design thresholds for BFD. The objective of this study was to develop blunt impact injury risk curves for in vitro thoraco-abdominal organs and determine their applicability …

A Comparative Study Of The Pullout Strength Of Geostraps And Geogrids In Reinforced Soil, Kshitij Gaur, Ashutosh Trivedi, Sanjay Kumar Shukla

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

The sustainable development of geotechnical infrastructure necessitates using durable, efficient, and environmentally resilient reinforcement materials. This study investigates the pullout performance of geostraps to assess their potential as a sustainable alternative to conventional geosynthetics. This study focuses on the pullout performance of geostraps, flexible, polymeric reinforcement materials. There has not been a thorough study of their pullout resistance, which directly affects the stability and durability of reinforced soil structures. Pullout tests were conducted on sandy soil in a controlled environment. The experimental findings from the pullout test were then validated in a numerical model. The model was used to determine …

A Study On The Multifunctional Properties And Application Perspectives Of Zno/Sic Composite Materials, Mohammad Nur-E-Alam

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

ZnO/SiC nanocomposite materials possess significant potential for various technological fields due to their extraordinary optical, electrical, thermal, and mechanical properties. The synthesis methods, material properties, and diverse applications of ZnO/SiC composites have been systematically explored in this study. The potential application areas of this nanocomposite include their roles in photocatalysis, optoelectronic devices, gas sensors, and photovoltaic systems. The synergetic effects of ZnO and SiC are analyzed to highlight their advantages over their individual components. Future research directions must focus on the remaining challenges to optimize these nanoscale composite materials for industrial and emerging applications.

Decentralised Consensus Control Of Hybrid Synchronous Condenser And Grid-Forming Inverter Systems In Renewable-Dominated Low-Inertia Grids, Hamid Soleimani, Asma Aziz, S. M.Muslem Uddin, Mehrdad Ghahramani, Daryoush Habibi

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

The increasing penetration of renewable energy sources (RESs) has significantly altered the operational characteristics of modern power systems, resulting in reduced system inertia and fault current capacity. These developments introduce new challenges for maintaining frequency and voltage stability, particularly in low-inertia grids that are dominated by inverter-based resources (IBRs). This paper presents a hierarchical control framework that integrates synchronous condensers (SCs) and grid-forming (GFM) inverters through a leader–follower consensus control architecture to address these issues. In this approach, selected GFMs act as leaders to restore nominal voltage and frequency, while follower GFMs and SCs collaboratively share active and reactive power. …

Advancing Food Nutrition Estimation Via Visual-Ingredient Feature Fusion, Huiyan Qi, Bin Zhu, Chong-Wah Ngo, Jingjing Chen, Ee-Peng Lim

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Nutrition estimation is an important component of promoting healthy eating and mitigating diet-related health risks. Despite advances in tasks such as food classification and ingredient recognition, progress in nutrition estimation is limited due to the lack of datasets with nutritional annotations. To address this issue, we introduce FastFood, a dataset with 84,446 images across 908 fast food categories, featuring ingredient and nutritional annotations. In addition, we propose a new model-agnostic Visual-Ingredient Feature Fusion (VIF2 ) method to enhance nutrition estimation by integrating visual and ingredient features. Ingredient robustness is improved through synonym replacement and resampling strategies during training. The ingredient-aware …

Ac Electric Fields Manipulate And Concentrate Dna Molecules On Electrodes, Akila Wijesinghe, Dharmakeerthi Nawarathna

Graduate Student Government Association Research Conference

Point-of-care (POC) electric field-based biosensors have emerged as a promising tool to detect early cancer biomarkers such as circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA), microRNA (miRNA), and proteins. To be effective in screening in clinical settings, these biosensors must be simple and easy to use. In this study, we have studied the manipulation of short DNA molecules suspended in a sessile drop to achieve this goal. Alternative current (AC) electric fields were used to polarize DNA molecules and produce dielectrophoretic (DEP) force on DNA molecules. DEP force is used to manipulate polarized DNA molecules towards the higher electric field gradients (toward the …

The Utilization Of Basic Oxygen Furnace Slag As Fine Aggregates In Concrete: Physical, Mechanical, And Durability Properties, Hakan Ozkan

Journal of Sustainable Construction Materials and Technologies

This study examines the feasibility of using basic oxygen furnace slag (BOFS) as an alternative to fine crushed limestone aggregate in concrete. BOFS is sourced from two steel production facilities in Türkiye, designated as I-BOFS and E-BOFS. The experimental results showed that as the E-BOFS aggregate replacement ratio increased, the water-to-cement (w/c) ratio increased to maintain the target workability. The concrete mixtures incorporating E-BOFS exhibited consistent reductions in the compressive strength with an increase in the BOFS ratio. At the same time, I-BOFS maintained higher compressive strength, with only minor losses up to 80% of the substitution ratio. Flexural strength …

Development Of A Self-Cured Alkali-Activated Mortar, Kübra Ekiz Barış

Journal of Sustainable Construction Materials and Technologies

Alkali-activated mortars (AAM) can be produced with self-curing (SC), which supplies internal moisture to accelerate alkaline-activation reactions. The aim of using SC is to make AAMs with an early-age strength without any additional curing energy consumption and higher CO2 emissions, and to obtain in-situ practical advantages that enable the large-scale application of AAMs. The previous study produced natural pozzolan-based AAMs by applying energy-intensive heat (HC), microwave (MWC), and hybrid (HC+MWC) curing. This study investigates alternative curing regimes that reduce production energy without compromising material properties. The impacts of air curing (AC), water curing (WC), and SC on the properties were …

Naoh Molarity Effect On Mechanical And Hydrochloric Acid Resistance Of Geopolymer Mortar Based On Slag, Mahmoud Ziada, Zahraa Mohammed Kamil Al-Mayali

Journal of Sustainable Construction Materials and Technologies

The present research investigates the influence of different sodium hydroxide (NaOH) molarities on the mechanical characteristics and hydrochloric acid (HCl) resistance of geopolymer grouts manufactured from ground granulated blast-furnace slag (GGBS). Geopolymer mortars have attracted interest as sustainable substitutes for traditional cementitious materials due to their advantageous environmental effects and enhanced durability features. This study involved the fabrication of geopolymer mortar specimens by altering the NaOH molarity (M) from 6 M to 14 M. The mechanical and physical qualities were assessed using compressive strength, capillary water absorption, flexural strength, slump flow, and ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV) tests. Subsequently, the geopolymer …

Effect Of Expanded Perlite And Exfoliated Vermiculite Aggregate Additives On Water Vapor Permeability Performance Of Cement-Based Lightweight Mortars, Lütfullah Gündüz, Şevket Onur Kalkan

Journal of Sustainable Construction Materials and Technologies

Vapor diffusion is the movement of water vapor molecules through porous materials such as wood, insulation products, and lightweight wall elements due to differences in vapor pressure. Vapor retarders are used to control vapor diffusion through wall sections and surfaces. All building materials provide some resistance to vapor diffusion, and the amount of resistance varies depending on the material's properties. These properties can vary with relative humidity and moisture content, age, temperature, and other factors. Vapor resistance is usually expressed using the inverse term of ``vapor permeability,'' which is the relative ease of vapor diffusion through a material. Water vapor …