Digital Commons Network^™

Learning Latent Structure In High-Dimensional Data Via Geometry And Graphs, Haozhe Chen

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Modern datasets often contain many measured variables for each observation, such as gene-expression levels, brain activity signals, or features in tabular data. These data are also often noisy, meaning that useful patterns are mixed with measurement error or irrelevant variation. Although such datasets can appear complex, they are frequently represented by simpler hidden structures, such as trajectories, clusters, or relationships between observations. This dissertation develops methods for uncovering these hidden structures by learning geometric and graph-based representations directly from data. The first part introduces Functional Information Geometry, which represents local patterns in high-dimensional data using functional features and constructs a …

The Impact Of Early Exposure To Engineering Concepts In The Form Of Family, School Classes, And Stem Extracurriculars On The Long-Term Sense Of Belonging In Undergraduate Women In Engineering, Hannah Lloyd

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Engineering continues to struggle with the underrepresentation of women, and many women who begin engineering programs report feeling isolated or uncertain about whether they belong. A strong sense of belonging has been linked to greater confidence, persistence, and success in engineering. This study examined how early experiences with engineering before college may influence students' sense of belonging later in their undergraduate engineering programs.

Using survey responses from undergraduate engineering students across the United States, this study explored several types of early exposure to engineering, including family influence, school-based engineering and STEM courses, extracurricular programs such as robotics clubs and engineering …

Investigating Factors That Affect Students' Help-Seeking Strategies In A University-Level Foundational Mathematics Course, Randall I. Haws

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Quantitative literacy, or the ability to understand and use mathematical information, is an important skill developed in college. However, required math courses can be a major obstacle for many students, and those who struggle to complete them are more likely to leave school without earning a degree. Understanding why some students seek help while others do not is key to improving student success.

This study explores how students in a university-level foundational mathematics course (college algebra) seek help and what factors influence their use of available support services. A total of 118 students completed a survey about their help-seeking behaviors, …

Integrated Soil-Water Processes And Irrigation Management For Agricultural Water Optimization In Semi-Arid Regions, Tejinder Singh

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Water is one of the most important resources for agriculture in the western United States. In semi-arid regions, farmers depend on irrigation to grow crops, but water supplies are becoming less reliable because of drought, declining snowpack, groundwater depletion, and increasing competition for limited water. Improving agricultural water use is therefore not simply about applying less water. It also requires understanding where water goes after it enters a field, how long it remains available to crops, and how farmers can use that information to make better irrigation decisions. This dissertation follows water through irrigated agricultural systems to better understand how …

Does Acceptance Matter? The Moderating Role Of Acceptance Of Pornography Use In Sexual And Relationship Satisfaction, Alexandra L. Gillespie

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

With more or the general population reporting regular pornography use there has been an increase in interest in the consequences of regular use, especially for romantic relationships. Previously completed research has shown that there are likely other explanations for why pornography use is related to both positive and negative outcomes. This study examines how acceptance might change the influence the relationship between frequency of use and relationship and sexual satisfaction for individuals. This relationship may yield greater understanding of why some individuals report benefits and others report negative effects of pornography use. Findings indicated that for men their level of …

Understanding And Predicting Precipitation Characteristics In The United States Through Machine Learning, Numerical Modeling And Measurements, Cody Luther Ratterman

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Precipitation is one of the most important yet uncertain variables in the climate system. It varies dramatically in terms of timing, accumulation, rate, and phase, depending on location, season, circulation patterns, and atmospheric conditions. Precipitation forecasts, especially snowfall, are essential to supporting drought mitigation and water management in the Intermountain West. Because rainfall and snowfall lead to opposite effects on snowpack, accurately partitioning rain and snow is important to estimate snowpack levels, winter recreation, mountain ecosystems and runoff. The research findings in this dissertation have advanced the understanding and prediction of precipitation and snowpack in the U.S. by addressing the …

Developing A New Uas Method For Estimating Heat Exposure On Western Us Trails, Jared Young

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Heat exposure and the risks to human health that stem from it have been studied extensively in the context of urban and occupational settings. Less studied however, is the effect of heat exposure in a recreational setting such as on hiking trails. What makes this fact more surprising is that recreation, especially in the Western US, is extremely popular, with national parks such as Zion and Arches bringing in hundreds of thousands of visitors every year. With millions of recreationists exposed to the hazard of heat every year, it is critical that recreationists are made aware of the dangers they …

The Role Of Roughness And Geometry In 2d Depth-Averaged Models: A Comparative Study Using Laboratory Flume Experiments, Adrienne Luymes Mckell

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Hydraulic models are commonly used to predict how water moves through rivers and streams, helping engineers manage flood risk and design infrastructure such as bridges, culverts, and restoration projects. One challenge in these models is representing the effects of riverbed roughness, including features such as rocks, vegetation, and other obstacles that slow water flow.

This study investigated whether it is better to represent these roughness features in detail or to simplify them while still accounting for their effects. Laboratory measurements from a controlled channel experiment were used to create two computer models: one that included the detailed shape of the …

The Role Of Autonomy, Competence, And Relatedness In The Relationship Between Ai Use, Resilience, And Motivation Among Engineering Students, Daniel Kane

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

The purpose of this study was to determine how the widespread use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) influences engineering students’ motivation and resilience. Specifically, the role of autonomy, competence, and relatedness as defined in Self-Determination Theory (SDT) was assessed to determine how these basic psychological needs interact with students’ AI use and motivation or resilience. The following research questions guided the study: (1) To what extent do the three basic psychological needs defined in SDT (autonomy, competence, and relatedness) mediate the relationship between the frequency of AI use and students’ levels of motivation (on the self-determination continuum) or resilience in an …

A Cfd-Dem Framework For Characterizing Nanoparticle Adhesion Effects On Creeping-Flow Permeability In Composite Manufacturing, Gavin Stoker

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Modern aircraft, spacecraft, and high-performance vehicles are increasingly built from composite materials, engineered combinations of plastics and fibers that are lighter and stronger than traditional metals. Researchers are now pushing these materials further by mixing in microscopic particles thousands of times smaller than a human hair, called nanoparticles, to make them even tougher and more resistant to damage. The challenge is getting those nanoparticles distributed evenly. During manufacturing, liquid plastic resin is pumped through a network of tightly packed fibers, carrying the nanoparticles along with it. But nanoparticles tend to clump together and stick to surfaces as they travel, clogging …

Experimental And Numerical Investigation Of Flow Coefficients In Three-Way, T-Port, Ball Valve, Tyler A. Mindrum

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Many systems that move fluids, like water distribution networks and heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, rely on valves to control flow. This study evaluates a three-way valve, which can direct flow in multiple directions, but has not been extensively researched. Testing included physical data collection and computer simulations to compare how the valves behaved under different valve openings and flow conditions. The results showed that computer simulations can predict the general flow behavior of three-way valves, but that physical testing is still important, especially for valves with complex internal geometries.

Counterfactual Explanations For Time Series Classification: From Localized Perturbations To Realistic Generation, Peiyu Li

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Machine learning models are often used to classify signals collected over time, such as heart rhythms, movement recordings, industrial sensor measurements, and scientific observations. These models can be accurate, but they are often difficult to understand. Users may need to know not only what a model predicted, but also what would have needed to change for the model to reach a different decision.

This dissertation studies counterfactual explanations for time series data. A counterfactual explanation answers a “what-if” question. For example, if a model classifies a signal as one activity instead of another, the explanation shows how the signal would …

Developing A Resilient Park For Palisade State Park: A Model For Intermountain West State Parks, Hirone T. Warner

All Graduate Reports and Creative Projects, Fall 2023 to Present

Palisade State Park in central Utah is a cherished natural resource, offering diverse recreational opportunities and serving as an important ecological habitat. However, the park faces increasing challenges due to increasing visitation and the impacts of climate change. This thesis presents a strategic master plan for Palisade State Park, designed to guide its development over the next 20 years.

Recognizing the need for a sustainable approach, this project adopts a participatory method, involving park users, residents, and environmental experts in the planning process. The goal is to create a master plan that not only addresses the park’s immediate needs but …

Method Validation Of The Cdc Bottle Bioassay And A Historical Record Of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons In Glacier National Park, Evah F. Peard

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Certain contaminants can persist in the environment for long periods of time, build up within living tissues, travel far from their origin, and harm both ecosystems and organisms. This thesis focuses on two types of contaminants: insecticides and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Insecticides are manufactured to control pests while PAHs are found in oil and gas products and can be produced by industry, vehicle engines, and wildfires. Understanding how harmful these contaminants are and where they end up in the environment is critical for protecting environmental health.

First, I evaluated a widely used test developed by the Centers for Disease …

Modulating Linear Frequency Modulated Pulses To Send Communications Data In A Bistatic Sar Scenario, Jarren T. Worthen

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) is the technology that enables the creation of images using radar waves, allowing images to be formed regardless of weather. In bistatic SAR a radar platform uses a radar pulse from a separate platform to form an image. It is important that these radar systems are able to communicate with each other. Rather than wasting energy and space flying with a separate communication system, the radar systems could use the already existing SAR system to send data between each other while still forming SAR images. The work of this thesis is to show how very simple …

Fibrous Protein Biomaterials: Characterization Of Solitary Bee Silk And Cocoons, And Development Of Recombinant Hagfish And Bee Silk Materials, Oran Wasserman

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

This dissertation explores two complementary aspects of fibrous protein biomaterials: the characterization of understudied naturally occurring solitary bee silk and cocoons; and recombinant expression and biomaterial formation of recombinant hagfish intermediate filaments (rHIF) and a single Osmia lignaria Say (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae) silk protein. Some solitary bee species, which make up about 75% of all bee species, spin silk to construct protective cocoons during development. Despite the importance of silk and cocoons to the solitary bees' life history, their properties remain largely unexplored. This dissertation presents a novel method for isolating and testing individual silk fibers without interfering with the development …

Visualizing The Phase Space Of Two Interacting Spherical Magnets Via Lagrangian Descriptors, Matthew Pontius

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

This thesis studies the motion of one spherical magnet sliding on another fixed spherical magnet. Although the setup is simple, the resulting motion can range from regular and predictable to chaotic as the energy increases. To understand this behavior, mathematical tools are used to visualize how all possible motions are organized in phase space. These methods reveal patterns such as stable regions, repeating motions, and chaotic trajectories. The results show how order and chaos coexist in this system and provide insight into how small changes in the initial conditions can lead to very different outcomes.

Integrating Space Use And Demography To Support Management Of An Endangered Alpine Ungulate, Danielle J. Berger

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

The places animals choose to live affect the food they find, the dangers they face, and the weather conditions they experience. These experiences influence whether individual animals survive and reproduce, which in turn affects the size and health of animal populations. Although scientists have long believed that animal movements play an important role in population trends, there has been limited real-world evidence showing this connection. Advances in GPS tracking technology now allow researchers to follow animals over long periods and better understand how movement influences survival. Using 20 years of GPS tracking data from the endangered Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep …

Strain Monitoring And Site Characterization At Birds Landing From Transmission Tower Implosions Recorded Using Das And Nodal Stations, Prajwal Panthi

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

When two old electrical transmission towers in the Sacramento River Delta in California were demolished by Pacific Gas and Electric Company, Utah State University saw an opportunity hiding inside the demolition. Because one of the towers stood close to the Sacramento River and its protective levee, they used the controlled collapse not only to monitor strains in the levee and surrounding ground, but also to learn what lied beneath the ground surface.

To capture this event, the researchers buried a 1.4-kilometer fiber optic cable along the ground and connected it to a system called Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS), which can …

Assessing Ecological Integrity Of Streams Across The Western U.S., Jennifer L. Courtwright

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Large-scale assessments of stream health (ecological integrity) are required by policies such as the U.S. Clean Water Act and provide critical information needed to properly manage public lands. Our ability to quantify the ecological condition of streams in the western U.S. and identify the causes of degraded conditions has previously been impeded by a lack of standardized large-scale datasets, high natural temporal and spatial variability of ecological attributes, and poor-quality land use data. I compiled large-scale monitoring datasets and built models to predict the values of ecological attributes (metrics) at a given site in the absence of human impacts. In …

Evaluating Data Management Practices And Ontology Development For Transportation Safety Assets, Brig Dean Adams

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Data has begun to permeate transportation agencies, with every process, asset, and event generating a great volume of data. This data helps engineers and decision makers determine maintenance schedules, devise infrastructure investment strategies, improve safety, and plan for future needs. Due to the size of transportation agencies and the diversity of the data they collect, their data is often stored in different systems, managed by different groups, and described using inconsistent terminology. These challenges make it difficult to locate information, combine data from multiple sources, and confidently use data to support important decisions.

This research examined how transportation safety asset …

Criticality In A Heterogeneous Neutron Transport Rod Model, Samuel Kaleb Crowford

All Graduate Reports and Creative Projects, Fall 2023 to Present

This work studies the stochastic behavior of neutron populations in a one-dimensional rod model using Monte Carlo simulation. The first part of this project reproduces the computational results of Dumonteil, Horton, Kyprianou, and Zoia (2025) by independently implementing the Monte Carlo algorithm described in their article, with the asymptotic behavior of the first moment analyzed in relation to the dominant eigenvalue and adjoint eigenfunction of the neutron transport operator. The model is then extended to a heterogeneous setting by introducing a central region where fission is suppressed. A global expectation over initial positions and directions is used to estimate the …

Modeling Power Distribution Architectures And Maintaining Constant Power With Misalignment In Dynamic Wireless Charging Systems For Electric Vehicles, Mayank Chawla

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

With increasing demand for wireless power transfer systems from phone charging and medical devices, in-motion wireless charging of electric vehicles offers a unique advantage of charging the vehicle while in motion on an electrified roadway. Compared to the stationary or wired charging, electric vehicle users can significantly save time and cost with a reduction in the battery size. However, with large-scale infrastructure required for a wireless charging roadway and the driver’s ability to align with the electrified roadway, come significant challenges for the practical implementation of in-motion wireless charging systems.This dissertation aims to solve some of the problems associated with …

"Building Something Great!": Fifth-Grade Teachers Nurturing Hope Through Professional Learning Communities – A Telling Case, Matthew H. Huffaker

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Teachers and educational leaders face numerous obstacles that can seem insurmountable but overcome through collaboration. “High-hope thinking provides a special advantage when we face obstacles in our goal attainment” (Snyder, 1994). Effective PLCs provide the fertile ground for teacher collaboration, influencing schoolwide communities and student learning (DuFour et al., 2016; Hord, 2004; van Es, 2012). Collaboratively identifying challenges and coming up with solutions with the support of others (what effective PLCs do) is an ideal setting for observing hope.

This study explored how hope is fostered among teachers during their weekly professional learning community meetings. Further, this study examined how …

Toward Risk-Informed Design Of Supercooling Heat Exchangers: Statistical Inference And Experimental Investigation Of Heterogeneous Ice Nucleation, Daniel B. Gardner

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Ice-based cooling storage systems can reduce electricity costs and grid strain by making ice during off-peak hours and using it for air conditioning during the day. One promising design works by chilling water below its freezing point as it flows through a heat exchanger, then allowing it to freeze in a separate storage tank. The challenge is that the chilled water can freeze prematurely inside the heat exchanger itself, blocking the flow and shutting the system down. Preventing this unwanted freezing requires understanding how and where ice begins to form on surfaces, a process called nucleation.

This dissertation investigates ice …

The Impact Of Ai On The Landscape Design Process, Jacob Owen Huff

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming more common in design fields, including landscape architecture. For example, AI has been used to visually analyze park aesthetics and generate landscape design concepts (Jahani et al., 2022; Senem et al., 2023; Ploennigs & Berger, 2023). This study explores how AI, specifically an image-generation tool called Midjourney, affects the design process for landscape architecture students.

Students completed two design projects—one using AI-generated images and one using traditional, non-AI precedent images. Their final designs were evaluated by professional landscape architects who did not know which designs had been influenced by AI. Students also completed surveys about …

A Laboratory Investigation Of Energy Dissipators At Embankment Dams, Nathan L. Young

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Dams play a critical role in protecting communities from flooding and providing reliable water supplies. When large amounts of water pass through a dam’s spillway during floods, the discharge can travel at high speeds and carry potentially destructive kinetic energy that can damage the dam or erode downstream channels if that energy is not properly controlled. To reduce this risk, engineers commonly use hydraulic structures called energy dissipators that slow spillway discharge and safely release it downstream.

Commonly used energy dissipators at embankment dams include stilling basins that rely on a hydraulic jump – a sudden rise in water depth …

The Role Of Individual Specialization In Migration Phenology And How Restored Habits Are Used By Native And Nonnative Fishes, Austin Garner

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Native fish species around the world have declined due to habitat loss, habitat fragmentation, and the spread of non-native species. Because these problems often happen at the same time and interact, recovery efforts can stall unless they address all of the factors limiting a species' comeback. The June sucker (Chasmistes liorus), native only to Utah Lake, UT, has declined for many of these reasons, though its recovery effort has made significant progress due in large part to a successful hatchery program. Yet, the recovery efforts have not yet been able to establish a self-sustaining population in Utah Lake, …

Magnetic Properties And Ultrafast Spin Dynamics In Quantum Materials, Trung Kien Mac

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Modern electronics mostly work by moving electric charge, which generates heat and hence wastes energy, especially as devices become smaller and faster. An alternative is to use the spin of electrons (a tiny magnetic property) and related “valley” states in certain atomically thin materials to store and process information more efficiently. This thesis explores how magnetism and spin behavior can be created and measured in a family of ultra-thin materials known as van der Waals quantum materials. Three kinds of materials are studied. First, atomically thin semiconductors are shaped into narrow nanoribbons. Because of their narrow size, their edges can …

Comparative Analysis Of Strain-To-Velocity Conversion Methods For Active-Source Das Data And Collocated Nodal Stations, Prajwal Panthi, Brady R. Cox

Civil and Environmental Engineering Student Research

Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) provides dense spatial measurements of the dynamic strain along fiber optic cables, offering high-resolution wave sensing for ground motion monitoring and subsurface imaging applications. However, DAS records the axial strain or strain rate, whereas traditional seismic and engineering ground motion equipment and derived metrics are based on particle displacement, velocity, or acceleration, necessitating reliable strain-to-velocity conversion methods. This study evaluates three widely used conversion approaches: the fk-rescaling, curvelet-based conversion, and slant-stack methods. These approaches are applied to a unique high-energy, near-field, active-source dataset collected at the Birds Landing Site in Sherman Island, California. The dataset includes …