Digital Commons Network^™

A Post-Pandemic Visit From St. Nicholas, Curt Macdougall

Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop Blog

It started with a garage sale a few months ago, in those halcyon days between the vaccine and the variants.

Build A Bigger Table, Eric F. Spina

President's Blog: From the Heart

"As you enter the world outside this campus, I urge you to build a bigger table. Invite others with alternative viewpoints and those who look different from you to join you around your table. And, most importantly, stay at that table when conflicts and tensions arise," I told the Class of 2021 at winter commencement.

Winsupply Inc. To Double Internship Opportunities For Students, University Of Dayton

News Releases

Winsupply Inc. is working with the University of Dayton to double the number of internship opportunities, providing work experience and hands-on learning opportunities to 20 students next year.

National Science Foundation Awards University Of Dayton Researchers $201k To Investigate Massive Algae Blooms In Warming Arctic Ocean, Dave Larsen

College of Arts and Sciences Newsroom

The National Science Foundation awarded two University of Dayton researchers a grant to model critical changes in Arctic sea ice to detect and predict the growth and movement of large algae blooms in the Arctic Ocean, related to that region’s warming climate.

Ud In The News Dec. 3-10, University Of Dayton

News Releases

Commonweal, Newsweek, National Geographic; The Attitude on the Pacifica Network, which has 220 affiliates; and Catholic News Service are among the national news outlets sharing UD faculty expertise. Local media featured the Greater West Dayton Incubator's grand opening.

University Of Dayton Biologist Awarded American Association Of University Women Fellowship For Research On Cancer Migration, Allison Brace

College of Arts and Sciences Newsroom

The American Association of University Women awarded Loan Bui, visiting assistant professor of biology, a $29,680 fellowship to help further her research at the University of Dayton on cures for diseases such as cancer.

Student Overcomes Obstacles To Be Called 'Doctor;' University Of Dayton Winter Graduation Set For Dec. 18, University Of Dayton

News Releases

Getting a Ph.D was an all or nothing venture for Andrew Reinhardt. He already had a job, but he had always wanted a doctorate and a career doing research. So when he had the opportunity to pursue that goal in UD's electro-optics and photonics department, he said he jumped at it, and nothing was going to stop him, not even cerebral palsy and the autism spectrum disorder Asperger's syndrome.

Does Human Rights Derogation Limit Covid-19 Infections?, Brian K. Gran, Reema Sen

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

The purpose of this project is to model and understand socio-legal responses to the spread of COVID-19—in particular, emergency measures that derogate from states’ human rights commitments. Derogation of human rights in response to COVID-19 is unprecedented, according to some experts (Scheinin 2020). This project investigates whether combinations of conditions, such as moderate human rights derogation in combination with strong health infrastructures, reduce degrees of virus transmission and promote prevention. Its preliminary findings indicate that suspension of some rights appears crucial to limiting COVID-19 infections, but suspension of many rights has limited impacts, raising questions for practices of human rights …

Back On The Porch, Heidi Gauder, Zachary Lewis

University Libraries Blog Archive

Porch Reads, Roesch Library's popular book club-style leisure reading program, returns with a collection of edgy, spine-tingling graphic fables, and students devour it.

Ud In The News Nov. 19-Dec. 3, University Of Dayton

News Releases

In the past two weeks, 13 faculty and staff representing eight units either contributed pieces to, were interviewed for, or mentioned in stories by The Conversation, Times Higher Education, The Academic Minute, The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, The Washington Post, Christian Science Monitor, The Telegraph in the United Kingdom, K-12 Dive and Optics.org. Several local and regional media also highlighted our announcement of UD's new arts center.

Developing A Practice In Remote Sensing For Next-Generation Human Rights Researchers, Theresa Harris, Jonathan Drake, Umesh K. Haritashya, Wumi Asubiaro Dada, Fredy Cumes

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

Remote sensing is increasingly recognized as an important tool for documenting human rights abuses. When used alongside interviews, case studies, surveys, forensic science, and other well-established research methods in human rights and humanitarian practice, remotely sensed data can effectively geolocate and establish chronologies for mass graves, forced displacement, destruction of cultural heritage sites, and other violations. But as a highly technical field of science that relies on ever-changing technologies, remote sensing and geospatial analysis are not readily accessible for human rights and humanitarian practitioners. The community of practice grew out of innovative work by practitioners at NGOs and specialized inter-governmental …

Covid-19, The Sustainable Development Goals, And The Right To Science, Nathaniel Weisenberg

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

Across the globe, the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated long-standing inequalities in access to treatment (such as vaccinations), access to reliable scientific information, scientific literacy, and much more. One promising approach to chart a more equitable response to the pandemic and future international health crises is to articulate the connections between the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and a human right that has garnered increased attention among scholars, activists, and the human rights community: the right to science.

Both the SDGs – adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2015 – and the right to science, included in the Universal …

Summaries Of Mini-Grant Awards, 2018-2021, University Of Dayton. Vocation Implementation Team

Historical Context of Vocation at UD

This document describes the projects funded by grants of up to $1,000 from 2018 to 2021 to support the design and development of programs, activities, and events inside and beyond the classroom that offer students opportunities to explore, discern, and act on their vocations. Funding came from a NetVUE Vocation across the Academy grant with support from the Council of Independent Colleges and Lilly Endowment.

Vocation may be defined as “Answering a call to discover one’s unique gifts and employ them in service for the common good in ways that are personally satisfying and bring meaning to one’s life” ("The …

Evaluating Deep-Learning Models For Debris-Covered Glacier Mapping, Zhiyuan Xie, Vijayan K. Asari, Umesh K. Haritashya

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

In recent decades, mountain glaciers have experienced the impact of climate change in the form of accelerated glacier retreat and other glacier-related hazards such as mass wasting and glacier lake outburst floods. Since there are wide-ranging societal consequences of glacier retreat and hazards, monitoring these glaciers as accurately and repeatedly as possible is important. However, the accurate glacier boundary, especially the debriscovered glacier (DCG) boundary, which is one of the primary inputs in many glacier analyses, remains a challenge even after many years of research using conventional remote sensing methods or machine-learning methods. The GlacierNet, a deep-learning-based approach, utilized the …

Why Searle's Objection To Twin Earth Is Problematic, Paul F. Scheeler

Honors Theses

The philosopher John Searle wrote that, “The fundamental question in the philosophy of language has always been: How does language relate to reality?” For much of history, people assumed the answer to this question was “the mind”, and the debate was then about how the mind related language to reality. Starting in the 1970s, this view was challenged by the philosopher Hilary Putnam and others who claimed that meaning is not only in the mind but also involved the environment (a view known as semantic externalism). In this paper, I will give some background to Putnam’s semantic externalism and will …

Viability Of Postconsumer Thermoplastics In Consumer Grade Additive Manufacturing, Peter A. Fabe

Honors Theses

Consumer grade additive manufacturing, colloquially referred to as 3D printing, has become a popular means of rapid prototyping and fabrication used by engineers, educators, artists, and hobbyists alike. As companies begin to produce recycled filament as feedstock for fused filament fabrication (FFF) 3D printers, it is important to quantify differences in the mechanical properties of virgin and first-reuse recycled plastics so that users can determine the viability of recycled filament for various end-use applications. This thesis explores the mechanical properties of two common postconsumer thermoplastics, rPLA and rPETG (where rPLA/rPETG denotes 100% recycled PLA/PETG), in comparison to their virgin counterparts …

Undergraduate Student Attitudes Toward Online Learning, University Of Dayton. Center For Online Learning, Justin Keen

LTC Documents, Reports, and Promotional Materials

The transformation to higher education from the COVID-19 pandemic has challenged instructors, staff, and administrators to adapt to the signs of the times and think broadly about how to continue to help students learn in this changing environment. As the pandemic continues, it is clear that some elements of online learning should be retained – but which elements and how much?

In order to better understand how University of Dayton students are thinking and feeling about their online educational experiences, the Center for Online Learning posted a survey on the homepage of Isidore that was open from Monday, Nov. 29, …

Estimating Smart Wi-Fi Thermostat-Enabled Thermal Comfort Control Savings For Any Residence, Abdulelah D. Alhamayani, Qiancheng Sun, Kevin Hallinan

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

Nowadays, most indoor cooling control strategies are based solely on the dry-bulb temperature, which is not close to a guarantee of thermal comfort of occupants. Prior research has shown cooling energy savings from use of a thermal comfort control methodology ranging from 10 to 85%. The present research advances prior research to enable thermal comfort control in residential buildings using a smart Wi-Fi thermostat. "Fanger's Predicted Mean Vote model" is used to define thermal comfort. A machine learning model leveraging historical smart Wi-Fi thermostat data and outdoor temperature is trained to predict indoor temperature. A Long Short-Term-Memory neural network algorithm …

Optimizing Hvac Energy Consumption Through Occupancy Detection With Machine Learning Based Classifiers, Vibhu Sharma, Abhimanyu Singh

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Graduate Student Publications

Heating, Ventilating, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems are pivotal for maintaining indoor comfort and air quality in buildings. However, inefficient HVAC operation can lead to unnecessary energy consumption and increased costs. This research explores the application of machine learning (ML) techniques for occupancy detection using environmental factors to optimize HVAC energy consumption. Analyzing a dataset comprising environmental observations like temperature, humidity, light, and CO2 levels alongside occupancy status, we evaluate various ML algorithms, including K-Nearest Neighbors (KNN), Support Vector Machines (SVM), and others, for accurately predicting room occupancy. Additionally, we conduct exploratory data analysis (EDA) using box plots to visualize …

Enhancing Hvac Energy Efficiency Using Artificial Neural Network-Based Occupancy Detection, Vibhu Sharma

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Graduate Student Publications

This study investigates the utilization of Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) for occupancy detection to optimize Heating, Ventilating, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) energy consumption. Leveraging environmental factors such as temperature, humidity, light, and CO2 levels, alongside occupancy status, various ANN architectures' efficacy in accurately predicting room occupancy is evaluated. The research involves comprehensive data analysis, including exploratory data analysis (EDA) and model evaluation on training, validation, and test datasets. The study demonstrates the potential of ANN-based occupancy detection in enhancing HVAC system efficiency by dynamically adjusting heating, cooling, and ventilation settings based on real-time occupancy information. Practical implications and future research …

University To Build 'Roger Glass Center For The Arts', University Of Dayton

News Releases

The University of Dayton’s first building dedicated to visual and performing arts will be named for local entrepreneur and philanthropist Roger Glass ‘67, president and CEO of Marion’s Piazza.

Engineering That Truly Matters': Students Give Local Man With Cerebral Palsy Gift Of Family Bike Rides In Time For 27th Birthday, University Of Dayton

News Releases

A local man with cerebral palsy will receive the gift of going on family bike rides again — just in time for his 27th birthday — thanks to a group of University of Dayton engineering students who designed an electric bike with a trailer that can be easily transported and pulled by his family.

Ud Researchers Take Step Toward Eliminating Need For Separate Devices For Day, Night Cameras, University Of Dayton

News Releases

Cell phones, cars and many other devices have separate cameras and sensors for day and night vision, but that need could go away thanks to University of Dayton researchers who developed a single device that can switch between day and night vision applications.

Engineering Researchers Receive Patent For Improved System Of Tracking Objects For Safety, Search And Rescue Applications, University Of Dayton

News Releases

University of Dayton engineering researchers working with researchers at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base have patented a better way to track objects navigating through, around and between hidden spots. The system will improve security and search and rescue applications.

Research Institute Receives U.S. Air Force Award To Support Advanced Autonomous Capabilities, University Of Dayton

News Releases

The University of Dayton Research Institute has been awarded a $88 million contract from the Air Force Research Laboratory for research and development to advance, evaluate and mature Air Force autonomous capabilities. The contract was awarded with initial funding of $1.8 million.

Students Tour Pilgrimage Exhibit, Kayla Harris

Marian Library Blog Archive

Nearly 600 University of Dayton students embark on a "Journey of Faith" in the Marian Library gallery.

Pour Some Water On Me: Prince And The Ohio Players, De Angela Duff

Content Presented at the First and Second Dayton Funk Symposia

In Prince’s incomplete and posthumous memoir, The Beautiful Ones, The Ohio Players is referenced four times. However, Prince’s love of The Ohio Players was evident, decades before the release of this book. Prince has covered Ohio Players’ classics, such as “Skin Tight,” “I Want To Be Free,” “Love Rollercoaster,” and “Heaven Must Be Like This,” in numerous rehearsals, shows, and after shows over the years. However, The Ohio Players are rarely discussed by music critics as one of Prince’s influences. This presentation will attempt to deconstruct why, while also exploring Prince’s funk roots and influences.

"My Name Is Prince, And I Am Funky!" Prince’S Funk And How He Helped Bring It To A New (Power) Generation, Andrea Foy

Content Presented at the First and Second Dayton Funk Symposia

Throughout his career, Prince Rogers Nelson crossed many genres, pop, rock, punk, R&B, jazz, soul, and funk. He created funky jams from Erotic City to Housequake to Musicology. This presentation addresses an understudied and essential fact that Prince Rogers Nelson is funky. This presentation will outline his contribution to the funk genre through a study of his collaboration with funk legends, including The Time, George Clinton, Sly & The Family Stone, Larry Graham and Maceo Parker, Chaka Khan, Mavis Staples, and Rick James.

Program: 2021 Dayton Funk Symposium And Line Dance Party, University Of Dayton

Content Presented at the First and Second Dayton Funk Symposia

Program includes a welcome from Sharon Davis Gratto, Graul Chair in Arts and Languages; a schedule of presentations; and biographies of presenters, performers, and panelists.

Entrepreneurially Minded Learning In The Unit Operations Laboratory Through Community Engagement In A Blended Teaching Environment, Erick S. Vasquez, Kelly Bohrer, Abraham Noe-Hays, Arthur Davis, Matthew Dewitt, Michael J. Elsass

Chemical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications

Online and blended learning opportunities in Chemical Engineering curriculum emerged due to COVID-19. After eight weeks of in-person Unit Operations Laboratory sessions, a remote-learning open-ended final project was assigned to student teams. The assignment involved aspects related to entrepreneurial-minded learning (EML) and community-based learning (CBL). Results show correlations between self-directed learning and the EML framework. Continuous support and involvement of a community partner correlate to students' m